We're going to Isaiah chapter 21 We have been going through Isaiah, and this is now message number 28, entitled Three Burdens. And we'll be looking at this chapter, but I want to read verses 1 to 4 as we get started. So Isaiah chapter 21, looking at verses 1 to 4. The burden of the desert of the sea, as whirlwinds in the south pass through, so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land. A grievous vision is declared unto me. The treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam. Besiege, O Media. All the sighing thereof have I made to cease. Therefore, my loins filled with pain. Pangs have taken hold upon me as the pangs of a woman that travaileth. I was bowed down at the hearing of it. I was dismayed at the seeing of it. My heart panted. Fearfulness affrighted me. The night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me." So as we've been going through the book of Isaiah, we have encountered prophecies after prophecies, many of them having to do with judgments that were coming, some of those that would be in the near time to when the prophet Isaiah spoke, some of those that would be in the far future time toward the end of this age. Well, we just looked at chapters 19 and 20 that had the burden of Egypt and mostly in chapter 19, that far forward look to what the Bible tells us about the end of time. And then in chapter 20, more close to the time of the prophecy would be certain judgments that would be coming upon Egypt and coming upon the nation of Cush as well. And we know of various things that were promised there in judgment. the crippling of the economy, the destroying of peace and things that the people trusted in. And we've seen that be a common thread in these messages of judgment, that God will bring an end to the things that people are trusting in apart from him. Now, the latter part of chapter 19, of course, described the blessings upon those that would return to the Lord, that would turn to the Lord. in that time, the blessedness of Christ's coming kingdom. And chapter 20 was more immediate. giving us images of Egypt being carried away into captivity and experiencing desolation, which they did at the hands of the Assyrians a few years after that this was written. And there's also an emphasis here. There's a message to those of Israel, particularly that southern kingdom of Judah, that they were not to trust in other nations, but rather to trust in God. God sent them prophet after prophet, warning them, rebuking them for their sins, calling them to faithfulness and to trust in Him, but rather they were looking to others for help for their problems. Well, we also notice in chapter 20 we encounter one of those somewhat rare cases where we have Isaiah that was called to a ministry of nakedness, walking around naked and barefoot for three years. And, of course, that's unusual. We do have some other instances. But he was called to do so as a symbolic act of what was going to happen to Egypt and to Cush at the hands of the Assyrians. They were essentially going to be stripped and led away as captives after the Assyrian invasion. So really when you think about it, it's very much in line with what we've read about these other judgments that God has spoken how he would cause the princes to fail. In other words, those leaders of governments in those nations that they were trusting in to deliver them, to keep them safe, to protect them, all those things, it would cause those to fail. Their economy, their trade, whether it be their agriculture or whatever that it might be, would cause those things to fail. their society, their culture, and all of those things would fail. And of course, those trusting in idols, those would be proven to fail. And now it's even come down to the point where they're even being stripped bare and just exposed and laid open to humiliation, laid open to violation, just laid open to all of these things. And we noticed how also, when we think about these messages of judgment. And sometimes the book of Isaiah, it's in the Old Testament. There's a lot of references to people and places and names we can't hardly pronounce and that we're not very familiar with. And it can seem like. that, well, this word doesn't really have anything to do with me or with my situation or with anything going on today, and that is certainly not true. Just as we saw that reminder in Hebrews, that every creature, every being before God is completely naked. in that sense, stripped of all covering. There's nothing to cover, to protect, or to hide us from the eyes of God. And he sees us, and he sees us truly. He sees us for who we are, for what we are. He sees and knows all of our sins, all of our failures, all of our struggles, all of these things, and there is no covering for that judgment of God, except, of course, in the person, the blood, and the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And belief in him is the only covering that we have from the eyes of God's judgment. We also talked about how that we can see that in these messages of judgment, there's also a consistent message of how things like peace and prosperity can be good things, but they're also things that when we experience them, They can tempt us to put our trust in other things beside God. We come to trust and rely upon our investments and our accounts and the wealth that we have, whatever that might be. Maybe we have a good job and we've come to trust in that and we've come to trust in various leaders and on and on, all those sort of things. They can tempt us to trust in things beside God. Now, while God does give us good gifts, He does bless us with those things, we can receive them gratefully, we can be grateful and express thanksgiving and praise to Him for those things. We're not to trust in them. They're gifts. They're not the giver. We trust in the giver of the gifts. But there's also another side of that as well. Because not only can we be tempted in peace and prosperity and when we're doing really well and health and all of these various things, we can be tempted to trust in other things. We can also experience that kind of temptation when we're on the other side. poverty and deprivation and maybe suffering lack and suffering things that we want. And we look and we think, well, you know, if I only had this, then that would be the answer. If I only had that, that would be the answer. And that's just as much trusting in something else beside God. So whether we are succeeding or whether we are suffering, there are temptations there to put our trust and our hope in things that are not God and ultimately will not save. And so we saw all this mention of nakedness and all of that. I realize these things can be somewhat maybe awkward to talk about and to think about. And then you question, you're like, why is this in the Bible? And why would something like this be here? But it really does very accurately and very vividly display our standing before God. And the fact that we really are, we are completely exposed before him. And that's not only externally. That's also internally, within our thoughts, within our minds, within our emotions, the things going on in our hearts. We are completely exposed before God. There is no hiding from Him. So this message then that Isaiah was urging upon his nation of Judah, that southern kingdom of Israel in that day, was to stop trusting in these other things, to hear God's word, hear what God says, and trust in him alone. And as we read through this today, and again, these people and events and places and some of these things are so far removed from us and seem so foreign to us, Still yet, there's a message here that is the same. Only trust in God for salvation because everything else will fail to deliver. Now, these burdens to these different nations in this section Isaiah chapters 13 to 23. These burdens to these nations, we've noticed also, they provide many warnings, but they also provide some comforts. There are messages of hope in these messages of woe as well. God does not, so on the one hand, these teach us that God does not ignore sins. When you're looking through this list, you'll realize there are some very powerful nations. Egypt was a powerful nation at that time. Assyria, a powerful nation. Babylon was a rising power at that time, and Babylon will be referenced as well. But there are also others, and some that we'll see in this chapter before us, that were really pretty small. They weren't major players in what was going on in the world at that time, and they seemed rather insignificant. And yet, God has a message for them. So all of these nations, God does not ignore. And all the things going on within these nations that he's going to bring this judgment for, It doesn't matter how big or how small that they might be or how mighty or powerful or significant or insignificant that they might seem. And then, of course, the other side of that as well, again, is the comfort. And that's that there's a profound and amazing grace in these messages as well. Why? Because it's repeated again, those that turn to the Lord will be saved, they will be delivered, they will not be destroyed by these judgments. And there's also the comfort of knowing that while the picture out the window looks very chaotic and very uncertain and maybe even some degree of just randomness, just being completely out of control. But these messages to the nations in Isaiah shows us as well how that God really is in control. That doesn't mean that we're going to know or understand everything that's happening and why. We don't. We're not told that. But we do know that God is in control and God is using these nations. He's bringing judgment on these nations. He's raising them up. He's bringing them down. And he's doing so in according to His purpose because he is the ruler of this creation of this universe so With that in mind, we go to chapter 21 where we have three burdens that are given. The first in verses 1 to 10 will be the burden of Babylon. And then in verses 11 to 12, the burden of Edom. And Edom is an example of one of those nations that was really small and insignificant at this time. The burden of Arabia as well finishes out the chapter in verses 13 to 17. So we want to look at these. So beginning here with verse number one. So, and of course this is another good example of things we're encountering in Isaiah. We get language that seems somewhat obscure. What is the exact reference and what does this mean? Well, this is a reference here. to Babylon. Now, Babylon is actually not named until you get to about verse 9 in these first 10 verses. But Babylon is who this burden is addressed to. Babylon, of course, was very significant in the overthrow of Judah and Jerusalem and the Davidic dynasty that happened under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who was king of Babylon at that time around 586 BC. Now this time of this overthrow of Judah and Jerusalem, this actually began what is sometimes referred to in the Bible as the times of the Gentiles. And that word for Gentiles, the word actually means nations and typically refers to non-Israelite nations, other nations. It's the age of nations. That time began with that destruction of Jerusalem, and it began another time. It's a time that's also referred to as the time of God's indignation. In other words, when God's wrath is being revealed against Israel in particular, and it will culminate in what we've already seen at the end of that, at this age, which this present age is what we are still in, at the end of this age in what is known as the Day of the Lord when He returns to bring judgment upon the nations of the earth and upon Israel. And it will be a purging judgment where all wicked and unbelieving will be destroyed. And then the time ends with the salvation and the restoration of united Israel in the kingdom and of those of these nations that turn to the Lord. So Babylon is certainly very significant and particularly at this time and even historically and into the future. Very significant, not a small, obscure nation. And Babylon has been addressed already, and we'll see Babylon again be addressed, and you turn to other prophets in the Old Testament, and you'll see Babylon being addressed again. So Babylon is certainly very significant in God's purpose. Now this phrase here, this desert of the sea, is obviously a very contradictory type of terms, but what it shows, what it shows us is the emptiness of the promise. In other words, the promise of deliverance through the strength of Babylon that would destroy Assyria proves to be empty. Again, just like a desert of the sea. And there's sort of a disconnect that happens there between the promise and the hope of help and the reality of the devastation. Imagine you make it to what you think is the sea and it is a desert. It's that sort of thing. Now, the whirlwinds refers to sudden storms in the deserts, obviously, and it's imagery that describes the swift overthrow of Babylon. because that's the way that it's going to happen. And we have record of that later in the Bible and historically as well. This overthrow of Babylon, they were on their way up at the time that this was spoken. They're going to conquer the Assyrian Empire. They're going to spread, and they're going to seem to be just invincible, but yet they're going to be overthrown very swiftly, just like a whirlwind in the desert, a sudden sandstorm that comes up in the desert. So that's what they're going to experience, and they're going to experience that at the hands of the Medes and the Persians. Now, this reference here in verse number two, a grievous vision is declared unto me. A treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam, besiege, O media, all the sighing thereof have I made to cease." Now, this reference to Elam is a reference to Persia. Actually, Persia sort of overtook Elam, so it's a reference to Persia. Persia to the Persians at that time, and Media to the Medes at that time, and they formed that empire, the Medo-Persian empire. And their army took Babylon and killed Belshazzar in 539 BC, and that's what is being referred to. Verse 3, Now this is another instance where we get a description of Isaiah's reaction to what he's seeing. I mean, Isaiah was just a man that God called and made him to be a prophet. And so Isaiah was given these visions, he was given this imagery, he was given words from the Lord when God spoke to him and told him to go and to tell Israel this or to go and tell Judah that. And so Isaiah saw, and we've noticed that some of the prophecies are referred to as the visions of Isaiah. These were the things that were shown to him. So this destruction that was going to come on Babylon, Isaiah saw it. He saw it, even though it was a little less than 200 years away from the time that he is writing, he saw it. And the violence of this vision caused him great grief and sorrow." Notice he said that my loins are filled with pain. In other words, he was internally pained, moved at seeing this, that he describes himself being like a woman at travail. In other words, a woman that's in labor, that's going to give birth soon. You might see him sort of bowed over, maybe steadying themselves on something while having labor pains and trying to to get through this birth. He's saying that that's what he was like and he was so dismayed by what he saw. In verse 4 he continued, Now again, this is describing a suddenness. There's a suddenness to this destruction, and even the experience of the prophet was a suddenness. Everything essentially, he says, was turned. It was turned to fear. It was turned away from pleasure and so on. Everything was turned for him at the effect of this vision. So he was having this experience at what was to come. Now, we could also see that in some way, it seems like Isaiah was somewhat vicariously suffering what the people were going to suffer in this slaughter that was going to take place. And he is experiencing that as the prophet, and he's giving expression to it. Now, we saw this a little earlier in Isaiah as well, and again, it speaks Again, of the fact that there is yet hope. There is yet a hope because of the promise of the Messiah to come. There is a hope to be had as well. Then he goes on to begin to describe this in verse 5. So, What we learn about actually the night that the Medo-Persians invaded Babylon and they killed Belshazzar, they overthrew Babylon and took over that empire, that's recorded. When that happened, that's recorded in Daniel 5, 539 BC, and it was in the midst of a feast. this great feast was taking place. There was a large celebration, and in a sense it was a celebration of the pride of Babylon that was taking place. And the fact that they were feasting the way that they were, they're eating, they're drinking, they're partying, they're having all of these things, when their very doom, their very destruction was at the door, and they're just feasting and partying away. And it just speaks to the pride. It's not that they were unaware of a threat from the Medes and the Persians. They were aware of the threat, but they were so proud and so confident in themselves that they're just eating and drinking, having a great feast, when again, those footsteps are drawing ever closer to them. Verse 6, hath the Lord said unto me, he said this to Isaiah, go set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth. So he had Isaiah, who again, Isaiah's in Jerusalem, he's part of the southern kingdom of Israel, the kingdom of Judah, and he tells Isaiah to go and to set a watchman to watch for and to wait for this news to come that Babylon has fallen. And in verse seven, and he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses and a chariot of camels, and he hearkened diligently with much heed." So he sees on the horizon, he's the watchman, he's in the watchtower, he sees on the horizon these messengers coming. Verse 8, and he cried, "'A lion! My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I sit in my ward whole nights.'" So he sounds the alarm. So he sees the chariot coming and he sounds the alarm, verse 9, So the watchman And here's this announcement. Babylon has fallen. Again, 539 B.C., when Cyrus, the king of the Medo-Persian Empire with that army, came and killed Belshazzar and overthrew the Babylonians. That's Daniel 5, verse 30 to 31 that speaks of that in later time. But also, of course, we have, again, one of the things that we've talked about, how that it makes prophecies like this somewhat difficult because sometimes we have references to events that took place historically and sometimes we have references right along with that or of things that happened in the far future or the things that happened historically are giving us sort of a preview of something greater that is to take place. And of course, we do have that here in the case, because in the book of the Revelation, which speaks of that end time when Babylon in that day will fall, Revelation chapter number 18. And we've already seen some prophecies about that, about their fall, their destruction in that time and the extent of it. Verse 10, O my threshing and the corn of my floor, that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you. So Isaiah is here prophesying that Babylon will be threshed, like the threshing of wheat or grain. They're going to be threshed. They're going to be beaten and separated, the chaff from the wheat and so on. And this is a common imagery of God's judgment upon a people. So even as this threshing, though, Again, we get another consistent message, even as threshing yields grain. And it's an imagery of judgment. Again, the beating, the winnowing, the burning of the chaff, all of these things that take place, it's an imagery of judgment to come. But also the threshing of grain, it yields a produce, it yields a fruit, it yields grain. And so there's something that comes out of it. There's something good that comes out of it. And so likewise, this threshing would yield a remnant and the fall of Babylon was actually a blessing to Israel in that it precipitated that future return from captivity because Cyrus overthrows Babylon and within just a short time they would begin returning to Jerusalem just like had been prophesied. And so the fall of Babylon, Isaiah here doesn't speak to that return, but we do have references to that in Jeremiah and and Daniel as well, and we see that actually happening in the books like of Ezra and Nehemiah. So this was the burden of Babylon. So now we get to the next one, the second burden, and that is the burden of Edom here in verses 11 to 12. The burden of Dumas. He calleth to me out of Seir. Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, the morning cometh and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire ye, return, come. So again, somewhat obscure sort of language, but when we understand historically and biblically the context, Duma and Seir refers actually to Edom, the place of Esau's descendants. So they have an ancient history within the Bible back to the early earlier chapters of Genesis. And so the question comes to the watchman, what of the night? So in the case of Edom, and again, I talked about a little earlier how they were a small, insignificant sort of nation. And those are nations that when you have aggressors, those are usually some of the first that are going to fall because they're very vulnerable. They're very easy picking. And so when a nation is being an aggressor against other nations, seeking to conquer other nations, it's going to pick off these small insignificant nations who just really don't have any way of defending themselves against that threat. So that's the threat. that Edom was under from the Assyrian Empire at that time. And that's what these questions have to do with asking of the watchman. Essentially, it's a question that's asking, how long will the oppression and the suffering at the hands of Assyria continue? And the fact that the watchman says, the morning is coming. is an indication that it's going to end soon from the time that this was asked. So the watchman, obviously, the night is still present. When is the morning coming? It's coming soon. So the coming morning means that it will end soon. But this isn't the last word. Notice that the watchman answered, not only is the morning coming, but also the night is coming. In other words, Edom that thought they would have relief at the fall of Assyria. That sounds like welcome news. So imagine that you are part of a very small nation that is suffering at the hands of a larger aggressive nation. And you receive word that that nation that's been oppressing you has been defeated. It's been destroyed. It's been overthrown. That seems like that's going to be good news. But the watchman says, wait, the night is also coming. What does that mean? Well, what that means is they will then undergo renewed oppression at the hands of the Babylonians. The Babylonians defeated the Assyrians, then later the Medo-Persians defeated the Babylonians, and so on. So that's where they are in that line. So it will be morning, it will be some good news and some relief, but then it's also night because another oppressor is going to rise to take their place. And this is exactly how history goes in the world. And then we can read of judgments against Edom in Isaiah as well as in some of the other prophets. Let me get to this last one here in verses 13 to 17, and this is the burden of Arabia. In Arabia shall you lodge, O ye traveling companies of Dedanim. The inhabitants of the land Timab brought water to him that was thirsty. They prevented with their bread him that fled. For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year according to the years of an hireling and all the glory of kadar shall fail and the residue of the number of archers the mighty men of the children of kadar shall be diminished for the lord god of israel has spoken it now this refers to the arabian tribes um and particularly Qadar. These are primarily the descendants of Ishmael, though there has been some sort of assimilation with some other descendants, like the descendants of Abraham from Keturah and some of the descendants of Esau, and so there's been some blending there. But if you go back into the earlier part of Genesis. We know that Abraham was promised that Ishmael would be blessed and would be a great nation. And there would be 12 princes that were promised. These were later named Nebaioth, Kedar, Abdel, Mibsam, Mishma, Duma, Masa, Hadad, Tima, Yatur, Nafish, and Kedema. And so this is what is being referred to here under this name of Arabia, and it would have been in the location of that Arabian Peninsula. Now, the fleeing of those of Arabia speaks of those fleeing for refuge from Assyria. Again, at this time, though we've already seen references to Babylon and we've seen reference to the fall of Assyria, the rise of Babylon, the fall of Babylon, the rise of the Medo-Persians, still yet at the time that this prophecy was spoken, Assyria was still that power. They were still the aggressor toward these nations. And so these of Arabia would be fleeing from refuge from Assyria, but the refuge would not last because they would ultimately go on to fall to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. And there's reference to this actually in Jeremiah chapter 49 when this took place. So once again, as we think about this chapter and these messages and these nations and all of these, we again notice these recurring themes. Syria was the great threat and the great power at this time. But what many of these nations, in particular the nation of Israel as well, should understand from this prophecy is that Assyria was just merely an instrument in God's hand. They were an instrument of judgment. And God was using Assyria to punish these nations. And when these woes are spoken to them, and these burdens are spoken to them, they're being punished by the Assyrians, and God is using them for that punishment because of their own sins. And then when Assyria falls, He picks up Babylon and he uses Babylon as an instrument and he's going to punish these nations with Babylon. And then, of course, he's going to bring judgment and Babylon's going to fall. And when they're done, he picks up the Medes and the Persians and they overthrow Babylon. And then they are oppressing these other nations and on and on. Now, the point again is. At that time, we're given a lot of insight into what God was actually doing with all of these various nations and this sort of chaos in the world. And so we look out today, and we see a lot of chaos in the world, and we see a lot of troubles among the nations and for the peoples, and we see various sufferings and oppressions, all these things that are taking place in the world. But it feels like we don't really understand why, or we don't really understand what's going on, and we don't. I mean, we're not given that sort of revelation as what was given in this time. But because revelations like this were given, we know that it is a part of God's purpose. So I can't tell you what is happening with this particular nation, or why this nation fell, or why this nation rose, or what's happening in this conflict between these nations. We're not given that sort of revelation. We are given enough to know what the significance is. We are told that these things would simply continue, that it's just going to continue to go. Just like in this day, you had all these little nations in particular that were going to be so overjoyed and rejoicing that Assyria would fall, only to realize that Babylon would take their place and be even worse. And then after that, the Medes and the Persians would come in, and on and on it goes. You get the rise of the Greeks and then you get the rise of Rome and then on and on it goes. Nations come and nations go. There's always oppressors and aggressors and these things just simply continue to churn and churn and churn and churn. But what we do know is that God has purposed the end. And this age is not just stuck in some cycle that never ends. It is actually going somewhere. We may not be able to look out and to see where each piece is and how each piece fits, and we're trying to make a puzzle to get us all the way out to the end. We're not able to do that. But we do have assurance that God has a purpose from the beginning of this creation to the end. And all of these nations and all of these events, all these things that have taken place historically, that are happening today and will happen into the future, all the way up to the end of this age, are all a part of His purpose. So again, what's the message? Well, the message is that putting your hope and trust in nations and governments and leaders and technology and military strength and weapons. Putting your hope and trust in these things is vain. It's vain. They will not deliver us from the judgment to come. Also, we see, especially in this particular chapter, We see this message reinforced that you can't flee. And again, it goes right along with the idea in the previous chapter of just simply being stripped naked with nothing to cover you before God. You can't flee. You can't run. There's no place to run to. There's no place to hide. The only refuge that we have, and we saw that studied in the Psalms referred to again and again and again, the only refuge that we have is in Jesus Christ, God's Son, alone. It's the only refuge and the only hiding place, the only place of safety, the only place of deliverance from wrath. Well, so, international politics and stripes and all these things, it's all very complex. But no matter how chaotic that it appears, God is yet in control. And notice how Isaiah ended this very chapter, the Lord God of Israel has spoken it. In other words, mark it down. It's going to happen. And many of these things that he's spoken about has come to pass just exactly as he said. And the last of all, again, we see maybe some of these smaller, insignificant nations, and we think, well, why would the prophet even bother giving a message to them? I mean, Babylon was this rising power, that makes sense. Assyria was a dominant power, that makes sense to speak to them. Why would you speak to these little nations that seem to have no power to even affect anything that's going on in the world? Well, it continues that message that sin, as God views sin, unrighteousness, wickedness, all of these things, they're going to be purged from the earth. His Son is going to come to the earth to reign over this earth. And these things are going to be purged from the earth. And God is the judge. We don't get to decide. we don't get to decide how we're going to be judged. I don't know if you had the experience, but sometimes in school. Sometimes, you know, teachers would give you the option of maybe the grading scale that you wanted used, or sometimes they would say, well, look, we've got this many elements of our grade, and you can choose what percentage of your grade each one will be. So you, you know, you go through and you say, well, those tests will be hard, so I'll make them a very small percentage, and these other things will be easier, so I'll make them a large percentage so that I can get a good grade in this class and pass and go on to the next one. Well that may happen in life and we may find ways to sort of game the system or set up ways in which we're going to be judged but that's not the case with God. It's not the case before him. We don't decide how we're going to be judged. God is the judge and we see him executing his judgment in passages like this and we have these promises of that judgment yet to come and once again brings us back to the fact that the only safety and the only salvation from this judgment is through faith in Jesus Christ, trusting in Him completely for salvation.