Jerusalem will remain (Zech 14:10-14:11)

“The whole land

Shall be turned

Into a plain

From Geba

To Rimmon,

South of Jerusalem.

But Jerusalem shall remain aloft

On its site,

From the Gate of Benjamin

To the place

Of the former gate,

To the Corner Gate.

It will remain

From the Tower of Hananel

To the king’s wine presses.

It shall be inhabited.

Never again shall it be doomed

To destruction.

Jerusalem shall abide in security.”

Although the whole land south of Jerusalem from Geba to Rimmon would be turned into a plain, Jerusalem would remain aloft from the fray, tall and strong.  Geba would be the northern boundary of Judah, about 5 miles north of Jerusalem, but actually in Benjamin.  Rimmon was the southernmost town in Judah, in the old Simeon territory, about 13 miles south of Hebron.  Jerusalem would be safe from its norther Gate of Benjamin to the wines presses in the southern part of the city.  Never again would Jerusalem be destroyed, because it would live in security.

Oracle about Babylon (Isa 21:1-21:1)

“The oracle

Concerning the wilderness of the sea.

As whirlwinds

In the Negeb sweep on,

It comes from the desert,

From a terrible land.”

This is an oracle about the wilderness of the sea. Although obscure, many believe this to be Babylon since the Euphrates River could be the wild sea indicated here. The whirlwinds of the Negeb are from the desert area south of Israel, formerly part of the Simeon territory that was considered a terrible land. These would be winds of change for the captured Israelites. In fact, it was the Persians who did defeat Babylon, not the Israelites. The Assyrians controlled Babylon at the time of Isaiah in the 8th century BCE.