September 23, 2021

We Are Singing, Not Sighing

Isaiah 19–24

Will McIlroy
Thursday's Devo

September 23, 2021

Thursday's Devo

September 23, 2021

Central Truth

During times of suffering, I can sing, not sigh, for I know that my God will comfort me. 

Key Verse | Isaiah 24:14-15

They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;
over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the west.
Therefore in the east give glory to the LORD;
in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

Isaiah 19–24

An Oracle Concerning Egypt

An oracle concerning Egypt.

Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud
    and comes to Egypt;
and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,
    and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,
    and they will fight, each against another
    and each against his neighbor,
    city against city, kingdom against kingdom;
and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,
    and I will confound 1 19:3 Or I will swallow up their counsel;
and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers,
    and the mediums and the necromancers;
and I will give over the Egyptians
    into the hand of a hard master,
and a fierce king will rule over them,
    declares the Lord God of hosts.

And the waters of the sea will be dried up,
    and the river will be dry and parched,
and its canals will become foul,
    and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up,
    reeds and rushes will rot away.
There will be bare places by the Nile,
    on the brink of the Nile,
and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched,
    will be driven away, and will be no more.
The fishermen will mourn and lament,
    all who cast a hook in the Nile;
and they will languish
    who spread nets on the water.
The workers in combed flax will be in despair,
    and the weavers of white cotton.
10  Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed,
    and all who work for pay will be grieved.

11  The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish;
    the wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
    “I am a son of the wise,
    a son of ancient kings”?
12  Where then are your wise men?
    Let them tell you
    that they might know what the LORD of hosts has purposed against Egypt.
13  The princes of Zoan have become fools,
    and the princes of Memphis are deluded;
those who are the cornerstones of her tribes
    have made Egypt stagger.
14  The LORD has mingled within her a spirit of confusion,
and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds,
    as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
15  And there will be nothing for Egypt
    that head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do.

Egypt, Assyria, Israel Blessed

16 In that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand that the LORD of hosts shakes over them. 17 And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the LORD of hosts has purposed against them.

18 In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction. 2 19:18 Dead Sea Scroll and some other manuscripts City of the Sun

19 In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border. 20 It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. 21 And the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them. 22 And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the LORD, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.

23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.

24 In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”

A Sign Against Egypt and Cush

In the year that the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and captured it— at that time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

Then the LORD said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush, 3 20:3 Probably Nubia so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt. Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. And the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?’”

Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon

The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.

As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
    it comes from the wilderness,
    from a terrible land.
A stern vision is told to me;
    the traitor betrays,
    and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O Elam;
    lay siege, O Media;
all the sighing she has caused
    I bring to an end.
Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
    pangs have seized me,
    like the pangs of a woman in labor;
I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;
    I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;
    the twilight I longed for
    has been turned for me into trembling.
They prepare the table,
    they spread the rugs, 4 21:5 Or they set the watchman
    they eat, they drink.
Arise, O princes;
    oil the shield!
For thus the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman;
    let him announce what he sees.
When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
    riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
let him listen diligently,
    very diligently.”
Then he who saw cried out: 5 21:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac; Masoretic Text Then a lion cried out, or Then he cried out like a lion
“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
    continually by day,
and at my post I am stationed
    whole nights.
And behold, here come riders,
    horsemen in pairs!”
And he answered,
    “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
and all the carved images of her gods
    he has shattered to the ground.”
10  O my threshed and winnowed one,
    what I have heard from the LORD of hosts,
    the God of Israel, I announce to you.

11 The oracle concerning Dumah.

One is calling to me from Seir,
    “Watchman, what time of the night?
    Watchman, what time of the night?”
12  The watchman says:
“Morning comes, and also the night.
    If you will inquire, inquire;
    come back again.”

13 The oracle concerning Arabia.

In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge,
    O caravans of Dedanites.
14  To the thirsty bring water;
    meet the fugitive with bread,
    O inhabitants of the land of Tema.
15  For they have fled from the swords,
    from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
    and from the press of battle.

16 For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end. 17 And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.”

An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem

The oracle concerning the valley of vision.

What do you mean that you have gone up,
    all of you, to the housetops,
you who are full of shoutings,
    tumultuous city, exultant town?
Your slain are not slain with the sword
    or dead in battle.
All your leaders have fled together;
    without the bow they were captured.
All of you who were found were captured,
    though they had fled far away.
Therefore I said:
“Look away from me;
    let me weep bitter tears;
do not labor to comfort me
    concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

For the Lord God of hosts has a day
    of tumult and trampling and confusion
    in the valley of vision,
a battering down of walls
    and a shouting to the mountains.
And Elam bore the quiver
    with chariots and horsemen,
    and Kir uncovered the shield.
Your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
    and the horsemen took their stand at the gates.
He has taken away the covering of Judah.

In that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest, and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower pool, 10 and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. 11 You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.

12  In that day the Lord God of hosts
    called for weeping and mourning,
    for baldness and wearing sackcloth;
13  and behold, joy and gladness,
    killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,
    eating flesh and drinking wine.
“Let us eat and drink,
    for tomorrow we die.”
14  The LORD of hosts has revealed himself in my ears:
“Surely this iniquity will not be atoned for you until you die,”
    says the Lord God of hosts.

15 Thus says the Lord God of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16 What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? 17 Behold, the LORD will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you 18 and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master's house. 19 I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. 20 In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father's house. 24 And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father's house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. 25 In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken.”

An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon

The oracle concerning Tyre.

Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
    for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor!
From the land of Cyprus 6 23:1 Hebrew Kittim; also verse 12
    it is revealed to them.
Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;
    the merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.
And on many waters
your revenue was the grain of Shihor,
    the harvest of the Nile;
    you were the merchant of the nations.
Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken,
    the stronghold of the sea, saying:
“I have neither labored nor given birth,
    I have neither reared young men
    nor brought up young women.”
When the report comes to Egypt,
    they will be in anguish 7 23:5 Hebrew they will have labor pains over the report about Tyre.
Cross over to Tarshish;
    wail, O inhabitants of the coast!
Is this your exultant city
    whose origin is from days of old,
whose feet carried her
    to settle far away?
Who has purposed this
    against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants were princes,
    whose traders were the honored of the earth?
The LORD of hosts has purposed it,
    to defile the pompous pride of all glory, 8 23:9 The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike
    to dishonor all the honored of the earth.
10  Cross over your land like the Nile,
    O daughter of Tarshish;
    there is no restraint anymore.
11  He has stretched out his hand over the sea;
    he has shaken the kingdoms;
the LORD has given command concerning Canaan
    to destroy its strongholds.
12  And he said:
“You will no more exult,
    O oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon;
arise, cross over to Cyprus,
    even there you will have no rest.”

13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people that was not; 9 23:13 Or that has become nothing Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected their siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin.

14  Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
    for your stronghold is laid waste.

15 In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days 10 23:15 Or lifetime of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

16  “Take a harp;
    go about the city,
    O forgotten prostitute!
Make sweet melody;
    sing many songs,
    that you may be remembered.”

17 At the end of seventy years, the LORD will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18 Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the LORD. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the LORD.

Judgment on the Whole Earth

Behold, the LORD will empty the earth 11 24:1 Or land; also throughout this chapter and make it desolate,
    and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;
    as with the slave, so with his master;
    as with the maid, so with her mistress;
as with the buyer, so with the seller;
    as with the lender, so with the borrower;
    as with the creditor, so with the debtor.
The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;
    for the LORD has spoken this word.

The earth mourns and withers;
    the world languishes and withers;
    the highest people of the earth languish.
The earth lies defiled
    under its inhabitants;
for they have transgressed the laws,
    violated the statutes,
    broken the everlasting covenant.
Therefore a curse devours the earth,
    and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt;
therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,
    and few men are left.
The wine mourns,
    the vine languishes,
    all the merry-hearted sigh.
The mirth of the tambourines is stilled,
    the noise of the jubilant has ceased,
    the mirth of the lyre is stilled.
No more do they drink wine with singing;
    strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
10  The wasted city is broken down;
    every house is shut up so that none can enter.
11  There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;
    all joy has grown dark;
    the gladness of the earth is banished.
12  Desolation is left in the city;
    the gates are battered into ruins.
13  For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth
    among the nations,
as when an olive tree is beaten,
    as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.

14  They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;
    over the majesty of the LORD they shout from the west. 12 24:14 Hebrew from the sea
15  Therefore in the east 13 24:15 Hebrew in the realm of light, or with the fires give glory to the LORD;
    in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
16  From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,
    of glory to the Righteous One.
But I say, “I waste away,
    I waste away. Woe is me!
For the traitors have betrayed,
    with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”

17  Terror and the pit and the snare 14 24:17 The Hebrew words for terror, pit, and snare sound alike
    are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!
18  He who flees at the sound of the terror
    shall fall into the pit,
and he who climbs out of the pit
    shall be caught in the snare.
For the windows of heaven are opened,
    and the foundations of the earth tremble.
19  The earth is utterly broken,
    the earth is split apart,
    the earth is violently shaken.
20  The earth staggers like a drunken man;
    it sways like a hut;
its transgression lies heavy upon it,
    and it falls, and will not rise again.

21  On that day the LORD will punish
    the host of heaven, in heaven,
    and the kings of the earth, on the earth.
22  They will be gathered together
    as prisoners in a pit;
they will be shut up in a prison,
    and after many days they will be punished.
23  Then the moon will be confounded
    and the sun ashamed,
for the LORD of hosts reigns
    on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and his glory will be before his elders.

Footnotes

[1] 19:3 Or I will swallow up
[2] 19:18 Dead Sea Scroll and some other manuscripts City of the Sun
[3] 20:3 Probably Nubia
[4] 21:5 Or they set the watchman
[5] 21:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac; Masoretic Text Then a lion cried out, or Then he cried out like a lion
[6] 23:1 Hebrew Kittim; also verse 12
[7] 23:5 Hebrew they will have labor pains
[8] 23:9 The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike
[9] 23:13 Or that has become nothing
[10] 23:15 Or lifetime
[11] 24:1 Or land; also throughout this chapter
[12] 24:14 Hebrew from the sea
[13] 24:15 Hebrew in the realm of light, or with the fires
[14] 24:17 The Hebrew words for terror, pit, and snare sound alike

Dive Deeper | Isaiah 19–24

One will be hard pressed to find a sermon on this section of Scripture. If you are like me, you probably tend to gloss right over these chapters when reading Isaiah. They are not pretty. The inner character of these cultures has been revealed, and God has made it clear that He will hold the nations accountable. 

While previous chapters address specific nations, chapter 24 is directed toward the whole earth. God's judgment is extensive and thorough. The earth will be emptied and plundered, and all the inhabitants will suffer for their guilt (Isaiah 24:1-3). The party is over, and all the partiers can do now is sigh (Isaiah 24:7).

Sometimes, when I read passages like this, I begin to lose heart. Our world does not seem much different than the world described in this passage. As my eyes march down the page, I am met with the promise that this world will cause great affliction. I am reminded of the many times in my life have I put my trust in "things," only to be left embittered by them in the end.  

Before losing hope, Scripture reminds us that there is a remnant within the ruin. As believers, we can rest in the promise that we are wonderfully secured in our own city. When we are faced with the burdensome anxiety of the world, we should battle it with the promises of God's presence (Isaiah 41:10). Through the trials and tribulations, we can still sing. Through every sorrow, even the darkest, I plead with you to lift up your voices and sing for joy (Isaiah 24:14).

When I am experiencing tremendous stress, I remind myself that these sufferings "are not worth comparing with the glory" that will be revealed to me (Romans 8:18). During these times of suffering, I can sing, not sigh, for I know that my God will comfort me.

Discussion Questions

1. In what areas do you find yourself finding joy in the world, instead of God?

2. Think of the last time you found yourself in the midst of suffering. How did you respond during that trial?

3. Where do you find hope in a world full of suffering?