Глава 21

“Like a storm passing through the desert, coming out of the desert” (Is. 21:1). The prophet speaks of the Medes and Elamites, whom the Lord chose as instruments for the destruction of Babylon. “A terrible vision and a cruel vision came to me,” that is, a vision of the Medes and Elamites raising their weapons and striving to destroy Babylon. “The predator plunders, the desolator devastates, go, Elam, hasten, Midia.” The Prophet says this to those who plunder and devastate Babylon, that is, he encourages the Medes and Elamites to strive for Babylon, so that by their hand Babylon will be repaid for its deeds with murder, captivity, and plunder. “I have ceased all sighing,” that is, those sorrows and tears, the cause of which was Babylon, throughout the whole earth will cease with its destruction (Is. 21:2). “The beauties I desired were turned into horror to me” (Is. 21:4). The wealth of the land of the Babylonians and the beauty of the cities in which they were proud - all this disappeared and turned into horror for them. “Prepare the same meal as you were wont to prepare in times of mourning” (Isa. 21:5), that is, a meal of bitter herbs. The Prophet laughs (mocks) at Babylon, which until then had laughed at everyone. “The Lord said to me: When you go, set a guard for yourself, and if you see it, tell it” (Is. 21:6). By this the prophet wants to show the Babylonians that he is proclaiming what was said by the Lord Himself, directly revealing to them the will of God. “And the riders saw two horsemen, one rider on a donkey, and one rider on a veld” (Is. 21:7). The rider on the donkey is the king of the Medes, and the rider on the camel is the king of the Elamites. This shows that God, through the peoples of the ignorant and weak, will destroy the great and powerful kingdom. “And I heard the hearing of many,” that is, I heard the rumor about the armies going to Babylon. Or with these words, the prophet calls on all nations hostile to the Babylonians to look and rejoice at the punishment that befell the Babylonians for all the disasters the nations suffered from these enemies. “And the guard cried out... in my ears, and said: My lord, I stood on guard all day and... whole nights” (Is. 21:8). By saying this, the prophet shows God’s special care for the people of Judah, due to which this people did not suffer disasters along with Babylon. “And behold, ... a messenger came, one of two horsemen, and answered with the word: Babylon is fallen, fallen, and all her idols - with this, that is, the complete fall of the city, ends the prophecy about Babylon, - and everything that was made with hands was crushed” (Is. 21:9). The gods to whom the Babylonians resorted and from whom they did not receive any help for themselves, could not save themselves from crushing. The image of Babylon can also be understood as sin, destroyed by our Lord. Just as Babylon devastated and enslaved many nations and kingdoms, so sin entangled all nations with its nets, like voiceless fish, and people would not have been freed from its dominion if our Lord had not overcome and crushed its dominion, Who alone could do this. From the time of the coming of our Lord until now, sin, like mental Babylon, has been conquered and overthrown by the saints at all times. “And behold... a messenger came, one of the two horsemen, and answered and said: Babylon is fallen, fallen, and all her idols, and all that was made with her hands, are broken upon the earth, because of the scarcity of the harvest, and because of the scarcity of the threshing floor.” Both the Babylonians and their gods lost their strength, just as the strength of people exhausted by hunger weakens. “I have heard from the Lord... tell it to you" (Is. 21:10). This is in accordance with what is said elsewhere: “The Lord will not do... the works of the lords, unless He reveals His secrets to His servant the prophet” (Am. 3:7). “A vision in the city of Idumea, that is, of the Edomite city that was on Mount Seir, called to me from Seir (Sear): the watchman that is in the night” (Is. 21:11), that is, from Seir God, who guards the Israelites who were in slavery in Idumea, called to me. "And he said: the morning is coming." The coming morning is called here the news of the deliverance of the Israelites, sent through the prophet. “And the night comes” (Is. 21:12), that is, the time at which the prophecy of deliverance will come to them. Or the night is called here the deliverance itself. This can include what was said by the prophet before: “and... the Lord will apply His hand to be jealous for the remains of His people, even if He arises from the Assyrians and from Egypt” (Is. 11:11), as well as from Seir, from where God calls to the prophet. The vision of Idumea contains mainly a prophecy about Idumea itself, but very much in it refers to the remnant of the Israelites who were in slavery in Seir. “If you seek, seek” (Is. 21:12). "Vision on Arabia" Sleep in the oak grove in the evening” (Is. 21:13). The Arabians, otherwise called the sons of Kedar, during the Assyrian invasion of Arabia were forced to move to other lands, and their famous cities: Falassar, Harran, Ana, Ava and Gozan were conquered by the Assyrians. This is evident from what the king of Assyria said to Hezekiah; mocking the God of Hezekiah and Hezekiah, who resisted after the Assyrians had conquered so many kings, the messenger tried to prove that the Jews hoped in vain in their God and in the king, when the gods of other nations could not save them. “You who live in the land of Teman, bring water to meet him who is thirsty; take the bread from those who flee... for they flee from swords” (Is. 21:14–15). The Prophet convinces the inhabitants of Teman, that is, the Arabians, to go out to meet the Jews with bread and water when they flee from the Assyrians, whose invasion is near. “As if the Lord spoke to me: yet another summer, like the summer of a mercenary, the glory of the sons of Kedar will fail” (Is. 21:16), that is, either after one year their glory will perish or their humiliation will continue for one year. “And the remnant of the bows of the mighty sons of Kedar will be small” (Is. 21:17). This shows that the Arabians had many archers, military men, but the Assyrians reduced their number, however, not by their own strength, but by the decree of God pronounced on them for their sins. You might be interested in: