1 Woe to the land of buzzing wingsbeyond the rivers of Cush,
2 which sends emissaries by sea,in swift craft across the water!They say, Go speedily, you messengers!Go to a people perpetually on the move,a nation dreaded far and wide,a people continually infringing,whose rivers have annexed their lands.
3 All you who live in the world,you inhabitants of the earth,look to the ensignwhen it is lifted up in the mountains;heed the trumpet when sounded!
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who rallies a remnant of Jehovah's people dispersed among the nations to renew their covenant with Jehovah and gather in a new exodus to Zion.
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A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who rallies a remnant of Jehovah's people dispersed among the nations to renew their covenant with Jehovah and gather in a new exodus to Zion.
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4 For thus said Jehovah to me:I will watch in silence over my dwelling placewhen the searing heat overtakes the reapers,aand when the rainclouds appearamid the fever of reaping.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who rallies a remnant of Jehovah's people dispersed among the nations to renew their covenant with Jehovah and gather in a new exodus to Zion.
blue
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who rallies a remnant of Jehovah's people dispersed among the nations to renew their covenant with Jehovah and gather in a new exodus to Zion.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance, whom Jehovah empowers to burn up the evildoers of his people and the nations in his Day of Judgment.
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5 For before the harvest,when the time of flowering is pastand the set blossoms are developing into young fruit,they will cut down the fruit-bearing twigs with knivesand remove the new branches by slashing.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who rallies a remnant of Jehovah's people dispersed among the nations to renew their covenant with Jehovah and gather in a new exodus to Zion.
blue
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who rallies a remnant of Jehovah's people dispersed among the nations to renew their covenant with Jehovah and gather in a new exodus to Zion.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance, whom Jehovah empowers to burn up the evildoers of his people and the nations in his Day of Judgment.
red
6 All shall be left to the birds of preyof the mountainsand to the beasts of the land:the birds of prey will feed on them all summerand the beasts of the land all winter.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who rallies a remnant of Jehovah's people dispersed among the nations to renew their covenant with Jehovah and gather in a new exodus to Zion.
blue
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who rallies a remnant of Jehovah's people dispersed among the nations to renew their covenant with Jehovah and gather in a new exodus to Zion.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance, whom Jehovah empowers to burn up the evildoers of his people and the nations in his Day of Judgment.
red
7 At that time shall tribute be broughtto Jehovah of Hostsfrom a nation perpetually on the move,from a nation dreaded far and wide,a people continually infringing,whose rivers have annexed their lands,to the place of the name of Jehovah of Hosts:Mount Zion.
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who rallies a remnant of Jehovah's people dispersed among the nations to renew their covenant with Jehovah and gather in a new exodus to Zion.
blue
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who rallies a remnant of Jehovah's people dispersed among the nations to renew their covenant with Jehovah and gather in a new exodus to Zion.
blue
A chaos motif and pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance, whom Jehovah empowers to burn up the evildoers of his people and the nations in his Day of Judgment.
red
Apocalyptic Commentary
Isaiah 18
Jehovah pronounces a curse on the “land of buzzing wings”—on Egypt (Isaiah 7:18)—which lives in fear of the expansionist aims of Assyria, a land of rivers that overflow their banks and invade other lands (Isaiah 8:7-10). Egypt’s emissaries and messengers hastily attempt to forestall what portends to be an invasion of Egypt, the world’s great superpower. Aggressive and militant, Assyria is “dreaded far and wide” (Isaiah 8:9; 20:6; 51:13). As it has done to other nations—annexing their lands—so it threatens its rival world power that suffers from internal weakness and decline (Isaiah 19:13-15).
At the very time Jehovah brings catastrophe on those who don’t repent, he prepares a way of deliverance for those who do repent. Indeed, the destruction of the wicked is the deliverance of the righteous because when the wicked are destroyed the righteous no longer suffer oppression at their hands. As Jehovah’s Day of Judgment involves “all you who live in the world,” Jehovah gives all a chance to repent. He raises up his servant—his ensign to the nations—to rally his exiled people (Isaiah 11:10-12; 49:22; 62:10-11), warning them as a trumpet and summoning them home (Isaiah 27:13; 55:4-5; 58:1).
In the same way a rainstorm spells disaster at a grain harvest, so Jehovah’s Day of Judgment arrives at the worst moment: (1) literally at harvest time, depriving Jehovah’s unrepentant people of food; and (2) figuratively at Jehovah’s harvest of the wicked when they are least expecting it. Jehovah’s informing his servant of the approaching calamity spells hope for those who heed his summons (v 3). Although Jehovah is a sanctuary for those who love him (Isaiah 8:14; 25:4-5), he doesn’t hinder the searing heat—the archtyrant’s destruction—from overtaking the wicked (Isaiah 9:18-19; 33:14-16).
Before the fruit harvest—indicating the time of year—the enemy invades the land and despoils the orchards, leaving little that sustains life. While the land’s desolation by aliens and its overrunning by wildlife represent covenant curses, the birds of prey and beasts of the land additionally signify infestation by bands of marauders who seek subsistence wherever they can find it: “The whole land shall revert to wilderness” (Isaiah 7:24); “Hawks and falcons shall possess it, and owls and ravens inhabit it” (Isaiah 34:11); “All you wild beasts, you animals of the forest, come and devour!” (Isaiah 56:9).
In the end, Assyria, the nation that caused worldwide desolation, is subdued (Isaiah 14:25). Its survivors—“so few a child could record them” (Isaiah 10:19)—are the descendants of the lost Ten Tribes who went captive into Assyria in 722 B.C. (2 Kings 18:9-12). They escape destruction by coming in an exodus to Zion (Isaiah 11:11, 16; 19:23; 43:6). Brought by the spiritual kings and queens of the Gentiles, they bring their “tribute” or “gifts” (say) to the God of their fathers (Isaiah 49:22-23; 60:3-17). In the millennial age, they comprise one of three groups of Jehovah’s elect people (Isaiah 19:24-25).