“‘Therefore,
The time is
Surely coming.’
Says Yahweh,
‘I shall send
To him
Decanters
To decant him.
They will empty
His vessels.
They will break
His jars in pieces.’”
Yahweh warns, via Jeremiah, that he was going to send decanters to Moab soon. Decanters are those who move wine from one delicate container to another. However, these decanters were going to empty out his jars and break them into pieces to make them useless.
“Flee!
Save yourselves!
Be like a wild ass
In the desert!
Because you trusted
In your strongholds,
With your treasures,
You also shall be taken.
Chemosh shall
Go out into exile,
With his priests,
With his attendants.
The destroyer shall come
Upon every town.
No town shall escape.
The valley shall perish.
The plain shall be destroyed.
As Yahweh has spoken.
Set aside salt for Moab.
She will surely fall.
Her towns shall become
A desolation,
With no inhabitants in them.”
Jeremiah warns the Moabites to flee and save themselves. They should take off like a wild donkey in the desert. They had trusted in their treasures and fortresses, but to no avail. The local god of Moab, Chemosh, was going to be exiled along with his priests and attendants. Every town would be destroyed, since none would escape. Both the valleys and the plains would be destroyed. All the towns of Moab would fall and become a desolation with nobody living in them. Prepare some salt for Moab to help with her wounds.
“Thus says Yahweh.
‘Do not let the wise
Boast in their wisdom!
Do not let the mighty
Boast in their might!
Do not let not the wealthy
Boast in their wealth!
But let those who boast,
Boast in this!
They understand me.
They know me.
I am Yahweh.
I act with steadfast love.
I act with justice.
I act with righteousness in the earth.
In these things,
I delight.’
Says Yahweh.”
Yahweh warns, via Jeremiah, that the wise should not boast in their wisdom. The mighty should not boast in their might. The wealthy should not boast in their wealth. If they want to boast it should be in understanding and knowing Yahweh. He should be their boast, because he acts with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness. Yahweh delights in those things.
“The snorting of their horses
Is heard from Dan.
At the sound of
The neighing of their stallions
The whole land quakes.
They come.
They devour the land.
They devour all that fills it.
They devour the city.
They devour all those who dwell in it.
See!
I am letting snakes loose among you.
These are adders
That cannot be charmed.
They shall bite you.’
Says Yahweh.”
Here Yahweh, via Jeremiah, warns them that the destroyer is coming from the north, much like in chapter 4 of this work. The horses and the stallions are snorting and neighing in the territory of Dan, the most northern part of Israel, near Syria. The land was beginning to quake as they are getting closer. They would come and devour the land with everything in it. They would devour their cities and everyone living there. Yahweh was going to let the snakes and the adders loose in Judah so that they would bite them.
“Flee for safety!
O children of Benjamin!
From the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in Tekoa!
Raise a signal on Beth-haccherem!
Evil looms out of the north!
Great destruction looms out of the north!
I have likened
My daughter Zion
To the loveliest pasture.
Shepherds with their flocks
Shall come against her.
They shall pitch their tents
Around her.
They shall pasture.
All in their places.”
Jeremiah warns the people of Benjamin, who were just north of Judah and Jerusalem. He wanted them to sound the trumpet at Tekoa, which was about 12 miles south of Jerusalem. Meanwhile at Beth-haccherem, about 2 miles south of Jerusalem, they were to raise a signal. There would be an attack on Jerusalem. The problem was that evil and great destruction was coming from the north. Zion and her lovely pastures would be threatened by shepherds who would surround them with pitched tents. This was an allusion to the armies and kings that were going to surround the towns and fields of Judah.
“Declare in Judah!
Proclaim in Jerusalem!
Say!
‘Blow the trumpet
Through the land!
Shout aloud!
Say!
‘Gather together!
Let us go Into the fortified cities!’
Raise a standard toward Zion!
Flee for safety!
Do not delay!’”
Jeremiah warns the people of Judah and Jerusalem that they ought to gather together in their fortified cities. They should sound a trumpet throughout the land, as well as shout and cry out. They should raise the standard in Zion. They should flee to safety without delay. They should get their defenses ready for an attack.
“Whom did you dread?
Whom did you fear?
Thus you lied.
You did not remember me.
You did not give me a thought.
Have I not kept silent?
Have I not closed by eyes?
Thus you do not fear me.
I will concede your righteousness.
I will concede your works.
But they will not help you.
When you cry out,
Let your collection of idols
Deliver you!
The wind will carry them off.
A breath will take them away.
Whoever takes refuge in me
Shall possess the land.
They shall inherit
My holy mountain.”
Third Isaiah warns in the first person singular what Yahweh has done with these idolaters. They no longer dreaded or feared Yahweh. They had lied to him. They did not remember or give him any thought. Yahweh had been silent and closed his eyes, so that they no longer feared him. Even though they might have been righteous and done some good things, these actions would no longer help them. If they had a problem, let them call their collection of idols to help them. The wind will carry away their useless idols. On the other hand, anyone who takes refuge in Yahweh will possess the land. They will inherit his holy mountain.
“Turn back to him
Whom you have deeply betrayed!
O people of Israel!
On that day
All of you shall throw away
Your idols of silver,
Your idols of gold,
That your hands have sinfully made for you.”
Isaiah warns that they have to turn back to Yahweh, whom they have betrayed. They have to throw away their silver and gold idols that they have sinfully made for themselves. Once again, this is an indication that idolatry may have been taking place in Jerusalem.
“The Assyrians will be terror-stricken
At the voice of Yahweh,
When he strikes with his rod.
Every stroke of the staff of punishment
That Yahweh lays upon them
Will be to the sound of timbrels,
Will be to the sound of lyres.
Battling with brandished arm,
He will fight with them.
His burning place of Topheth
Has long been prepared.
Truly,
It is made ready
For the King Molech.
Its pyre is made deep.
It is made wide.
There is fire in abundance.
There is wood in abundance.
The breath of Yahweh,
Like a stream of sulfur,
Kindles it.”
Isaiah warns Assyria that Yahweh will come after them. The Assyrians would be afraid of the voice of Yahweh. However, it is the stick or rod in his strong arm that they really have to fear. While music played, the clanging timbrels and the sweet sounding lyres, Yahweh would punish them. He had long prepared to light the fire that would destroy them. The burning place would be like Topheth, the ancient burning sacrifice place outside Jerusalem, where there were sacrifices to the Canaanite god king Molech. The abundant wood pile was prepared. All it needed was the sulfur breath of Yahweh to kindle and start this fire.
“Woe to you!
Ariel!
Ariel!
This is the city
Where David encamped!
Add year to year!
Let the festivals run their round!
Yet I will distress Ariel!
There shall be moaning!
There shall be lamentation!
Jerusalem shall be to me
Like an altar hearth.
Like David,
I will encamp against you.
I will besiege you with towers.
I will raise siege works against you.
Then deep from the earth,
You shall speak.
From low in the dust,
Your words shall come.
Your voice shall come from the ground
Like the voice of a ghost.
Your speech shall whisper
Out of the dust.”
Ariel is a symbolic name for Jerusalem and its altar. Yahweh, via Isaiah, warns Jerusalem about what is going to happen to it. Perhaps this is before the siege of Jerusalem in 701 BCE. Jerusalem was where King David had lived and where festivals continued on an annual basis. However, Yahweh was going to encamp against it and set up siege works against it. They would be able to speak only from below the earth and the dust. Their voices would be reduced to a whisper, like a ghost in the middle of this dust pile.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 