Isaiah 21:6 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For thus the Lord said to me: “Go, set a watchman; let him announce what he sees.

NIV: This is what the Lord says to me: 'Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees.

NASB: For this is what the Lord says to me: 'Go, station the lookout, have him report what he sees.

CSB: For the Lord has said to me, "Go, post a lookout; let him report what he sees.

NLT: Meanwhile, the Lord said to me, 'Put a watchman on the city wall. Let him shout out what he sees.

KJV: For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.

NKJV: For thus has the Lord said to me: “Go, set a watchman, Let him declare what he sees.”

The powerful vision from the Lord has let Isaiah see and feel the destruction to come on Babylon. This reckoning is likely at the hands of the Assyrians in 689 BC (Isaiah 21:3–4). The prophet has also seen either the Babylonians, or his own people in Judah, going about their daily routines and perhaps even celebrating Babylon's seeming success against the Assyrians. Isaiah has called out to the leaders to prepare for battle (Isaiah 21:5).

He now reports a message from the Lord calling for a watchman. This person is to be a lookout posted on the wall who makes regular reports about what he sees. It will become clear that it is Isaiah who answers the Lord's call. The prophet will stand looking for riders to bring news of the fall of Babylon.

This will all be terrible news for anyone in Judah hoping that an alliance with Babylon would save them from the wrath of the Assyrians. The Lord does not want His people to be dependent on other nations, or their gods, to save them. He wants them to trust in Him alone.

Chapter 21:1–10 contains Isaiah's prophecy against Babylon. God sends Isaiah a fierce vision which causes him great physical suffering and emotional terror. His heart falters, and his body trembles at what he witnesses. Isaiah calls the leaders to prepare for battle. He obeys the Lord's call for a watchman, taking his post on the tower until the riders come. When they arrive, the prophet announces that Babylon is fallen and her gods have all been smashed.

This chapter delivers oracles against three people groups. Isaiah is terrified to the point of physical pain by the vision he sees. God reveals the terrible things coming for Babylon. Isaiah answers the Lord's call to be a watchman. When he sees the arrival of riders approaching the city, he announces that Babylon has fallen. The oracle against Dumah presents a question from an Edomite with an unsatisfying answer. The oracle against Arabia pictures starving refugees that must be fed and declares that the warriors of Kedar will be nearly wiped out within a year.

Earlier chapters included prophecies about nations such as Aram, Egypt, and Cush. Chapter 21 presents three more oracles against Israel's regional neighbors. What Isaiah sees is so horrific that he suffers intense physical pain just from watching. He answers the call to be a watchman, eventually announcing that Babylon has fallen. An oracle against Dumah provides no real answer to the question of how long the night of suffering will continue for Edom. Arabia, too, will suffer at the hand of powerful regional forces. Next is a prophecy about Jerusalem.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).

Accessed 5/5/2024 6:06:42 AM