“Amos said.
‘Yahweh roars
From Zion.
Yahweh utters his voice
From Jerusalem.
The pastures
Of the shepherds wither.
The top of Carmel
Dries up.’”
Amos used the same phraseology as the prophet Joel, in chapter 3 of his work, that Yahweh would roar and speak from Zion and Jerusalem. However, instead of being a refuge, here Yahweh had a warning about the pastures of the shepherds withering away, while the mountain top of Mount Carmel would dry up.
“Yahweh roars
From Zion.
Yahweh utters his voice
From Jerusalem.
The heavens
With the earth
Shake.
But Yahweh is a refuge
For his people.
Yahweh is a stronghold
For the people of Israel.”
Yahweh will roar and speak from Zion and Jerusalem. Both heaven and earth would shake. However, Yahweh would be a refuge and stronghold for his people, the people of Israel.
“They shall go after Yahweh.
He will roar
Like a lion.
When he roars,
His children
Shall come trembling
From the west.
They shall come trembling
Like birds
From Egypt.
They shall come trembling
Like doves
From the land of Assyria.
‘I will return them
To their homes.’
Says Yahweh.”
The compassion of Yahweh will lead the Israelites to return to Israel and Ephraim. Yahweh would roar like a lion. When his children, the Israelites, heard this roar, they would come trembling back to Israel. They would come from the west, like birds from Egypt. They would also return like trembling doves from Assyria. Yahweh said that he would return them to their homes.
“‘Like lions,
They shall roar together.
They shall growl
Like lions’ whelps.
While they are inflamed,
I will set out their drink.
I will make them drunk,
Until they become merry.
I will make them sleep
A perpetual sleep.
They will never wake.’
Says Yahweh.
‘I will bring them down
Like lambs
To the slaughter,
Like rams,
Or like goats.’”
The mighty lion Babylon will no longer roar or growl. They will be reduced to young baby lions, whelps. They would get drunk and be merry until they fell into a perpetual sleep. Thus they will never wake up again. They will be like lambs, rams, and goats brought to the slaughter. They would not realize what hit them.
“‘Like lions,
They shall roar together.
They shall growl
Like lions’ whelps.
While they are inflamed,
I will set out their drink.
I will make them drunk,
Until they become merry.
I will make them sleep
A perpetual sleep.
They will never wake.’
Says Yahweh.
‘I will bring them down
Like lambs
To the slaughter,
Like rams,
Or like goats.’”
The mighty lion Babylon will no longer roar or growl. They will be reduced to young baby lions, whelps. They would get drunk and be merry until they fell into a perpetual sleep. Thus they will never wake up again. They will be like lambs, rams, and goats brought to the slaughter. They would not realize what hit them.
“Thus says Yahweh.
‘Who gives the sun
For light by day?
Who has the fixed order
Of the moon
With the stars
For light by night?
Who stirs up the sea
So that its waves roar?
Yahweh of hosts
Is his name.
If this fixed order
Were ever to cease
From my presence,
Then also the descendants
Of Israel
Would cease
To be a nation
Before me forever.’
Says Yahweh.
Thus says Yahweh.
‘If the heavens above
Can be measured,
If the foundations
Of the earth below
Can be explored,
Then I will reject
All the offspring of Israel
Because of all
That they have done.’
Says Yahweh.”
Yahweh says that he makes sure that there is a sun for daylight with the moon and the stars for light at night. Yahweh stirs up the seas so that they roar. It is Yahweh who keeps all this in a fixed order. If these things ceased to exist, then the descendants of Israel would cease to be a nation forever before him. In other words, as long as there is a sun, a moon, stars, and a roaring sea, Israel will be a nation, according to Yahweh. Yahweh then said that if they could measure the heights of the heavens or the depths of the earth’s foundations, then he would reject the offspring of Israel, because they must have done something wrong.
“‘Do you not fear me?’
Says Yahweh.
‘Do you not tremble before me?
I placed the sand
As a boundary for the sea.
This is a perpetual barrier
That it cannot pass.
Though the waves toss,
They cannot prevail.
Though they roar,
They cannot pass over it.
But these people have a stubborn heart.
They have a rebellious heart.
They have turned aside.
They have gone away.
They do not say in their hearts.
‘Let us fear Yahweh our God.
He gives the rain in its season.
He gives the autumn rain.
He gives the spring rain.
He keeps for us
The weeks appointed for the harvest.’
Your iniquities have turned these away.
Your sins have deprived you of good.”
Why don’t they fear Yahweh? Why don’t they tremble before him? Yahweh has placed sand as a perpetual barrier against the sea so that the sea cannot pass over it. Even though the waves toss and roar, they still were not able to prevail and pass over the sand. They have a stubborn and rebellious heart. They have turned away and gone astray. They do not fear Yahweh their God. Yahweh gives the perfect rain for every season with autumn and spring rains. Yet they have sunshine for the harvest time. Yahweh, via Jeremiah reminds them that their iniquities have turned them away from him. Their sins have deprived them of the good things in life.
“Is Israel a slave?
Is he a home born servant?
Why then has he become plunder?
The lions have roared against him.
They have roared loudly.
They have made his land a waste.
His cities are in ruins.
They are without inhabitants.
Moreover,
The men of Memphis
Have broken the crown of your head.
The men of Tahpanhes
Have broken the crown of your head.”
Jeremiah points out, via the oracle of Yahweh, that the Israelites have become slaves or house servants to Egypt and Assyria. The lions roar loudly against them. People plunder them as the land has been laid waste. The cities are in ruins without anybody living in them. Moreover the Egyptian cities of Memphis, the capital, and Tahpanhes, the border town, have broken the Israelite crowns.
“I am Yahweh!
Your God!
I stir up the sea
So that its waves roar!
Yahweh of hosts is my name.
I have put my words
Into your mouth.
I have hidden you
In the shadow of my hand.
I have stretched out the heavens.
I have laid the foundations of the earth.
I say to Zion.
‘You are my people.’”
Once again, Second Isaiah makes clear that Yahweh is speaking in the first person singular. He is their God. He makes the waves of the sea roar. Yahweh of hosts is his name. He puts words in their mouths. He has hidden them in the shadow of his hands. In his usual manner of speaking, he has stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. Clearly he says to Zion that they are his people in a covenant way.
“Sing to Yahweh a new song!
Sing of his praise
From the ends of the earth!
Let the sea roar!
Let all that fills it roar!
Let the coastlands roar!
Let their inhabitants roar!
Let the desert lift up its voice!
Let its towns lift up their voice!
Let the villages that Kedar inhabits
Lift up their voice!
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy!
Let them shout
From the top of the mountains!
Let them give glory to Yahweh!
Let them declare his praise in the coastlands!
Yahweh goes forth
Like a soldier.
Like a warrior,
He stirs up his fury.
He cries out!
He shouts aloud!
He shows himself mighty
Against his foes.”
This section of Second Isaiah is like a hymn, a song, a psalm, a new victory chant to a victorious Yahweh, instead of an admonition directly from him as in the preceding section. They were to sing a new song to Yahweh praising him from the ends of the earth. The seas and everything in it should roar. The coastline with its inhabitants should roar praise for Yahweh. The desert and its towns should roar with praise for Yahweh. Even the Kedar Arab tribe and its villages should lift up their voices. Sela, the capital of Edom, and its inhabitants should also sing for joy. They should all shout from the mountain tops to give glory to the Lord, so that even the coastlands can hear it. The soldier Yahweh was a great furious warrior who cried out and shouted aloud as he showed his might against his enemies. This clearly was a military victory chant because of mighty Yahweh.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 