Slices
Prepare
These are dense, complex passages. Begin by reading this in a modern paraphrase, asking God to help you understand.
Bible passage
A prophecy about Jerusalem
22 A prophecy against the Valley of Vision:
What troubles you now,
that you have all gone up on the roofs,
2 you town so full of commotion,
you city of tumult and revelry?
Your slain were not killed by the sword,
nor did they die in battle.
3 All your leaders have fled together;
they have been captured without using the bow.
All you who were caught were taken prisoner together,
having fled while the enemy was still far away.
4 Therefore I said, ‘Turn away from me;
let me weep bitterly.
Do not try to console me
over the destruction of my people.’
5 The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day
of tumult and trampling and terror
in the Valley of Vision,
a day of battering down walls
and of crying out to the mountains.
6 Elam takes up the quiver,
with her charioteers and horses;
Kir uncovers the shield.
7 Your choicest valleys are full of chariots,
and horsemen are posted at the city gates.
8 The Lord stripped away the defences of Judah,
and you looked in that day
to the weapons in the Palace of the Forest.
9 You saw that the walls of the City of David
were broken through in many places;
you stored up water
in the Lower Pool.
10 You counted the buildings in Jerusalem
and tore down houses to strengthen the wall.
11 You built a reservoir between the two walls
for the water of the Old Pool,
but you did not look to the One who made it,
or have regard for the One who planned it long ago.
12 The Lord, the Lord Almighty,
called you on that day
to weep and to wail,
to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth.
13 But see, there is joy and revelry,
slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,
eating of meat and drinking of wine!
‘Let us eat and drink,’ you say,
‘for tomorrow we die!’
14 The Lord Almighty has revealed this in my hearing: ‘Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for,’ says the Lord, the Lord Almighty.
15 This is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:
‘Go, say to this steward,
to Shebna the palace administrator:
16 what are you doing here and who gave you permission
to cut out a grave for yourself here,
hewing your grave on the height
and chiselling your resting-place in the rock?
17 ‘Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you
and hurl you away, you mighty man.
18 He will roll you up tightly like a ball
and throw you into a large country.
There you will die
and there the chariots you were so proud of
will become a disgrace to your master’s house.
19 I will depose you from your office,
and you will be ousted from your position.
20 ‘In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. 21 I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. 22 I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 23 I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a seat of honour for the house of his father. 24 All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots – all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.
25 ‘In that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘the peg driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.’ The Lord has spoken.
Explore
The ‘Valley of Vision’ is Jerusalem, the focal point for much of the prophetic energy in the Old Testament. It is a somewhat ironic name for the city in this chapter: a right vision is just what these Israelites seem to lack. Verses 1 to 3 outline a scene of flailing chaos. Revelry mixes with squalid, ignoble death. Note the two things not happening. No one is standing ready to fight for the city. And even later, as the enemy draws near, no one is turning to God for help (v 11b). The Lord does indeed have a word for them – see verse 12 – but to the corrupted hearts of the Israelites, this seems too hard a road to take (v 13).
Are we any different? Modern life aims to shield us from ‘tumult and trampling and terror’ – and can do quite a convincing job. It is, indeed, very difficult for most people to envisage threats and horrors to come, especially when food, wine and fun are (mostly) to be had right now. Shebna, the steward of Jerusalem, may make us wonder whether God might be saying to our own leaders, ‘What are you doing here?’ Eliakim is a far better official. His name means ‘God will raise up’. Even so, historically, this security will not last (v 25).
Respond
Pray that God will raise up great and godly leaders for our own times.
Deeper Bible study
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.’1 Ask God to help you see new truths in his Word today.
Our reading today is part of a series of prophecies against the nations in the eighth century BC – Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Ethiopia, Egypt. Now, however, Isaiah’s prophetic glare turns to Judah and, in particular, to Jerusalem, called the ‘Valley of Vision’ (vs 1,5) because the city was situated in a valley surrounded by mountains.2 What attracted God’s judgement?
The people were spiritually oblivious – revelling when they should have been repenting (vs 12–14). Isaiah may have been thinking of when the Assyrian king Sennacherib suddenly retreated from Jerusalem,3 which should have been an opportunity for the people to turn to God. Today, we have the same opportunity to turn to God in a wider sense because, as Peter reminds us, ‘The Lord … is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance’.4 How have you responded to the times when God has delivered you? Isaiah challenges us to be even more spiritually perceptive. Instead of merely refraining from thoughtless behaviour, turning to God should also cause us actively to pursue his priorities – concern for justice and care for the poor. Turning to God must affect our hearts and actions.
The leaders were spiritually ineffective – (vs 15–25). Shebna is focused on his own status and legacy (v 16) rather than his God-given responsibilities. Even Eliakim, who starts off well, falters and is removed (v 25). Ironically, the key to being an effective leader is learning to be a follower of what God says, which requires trust in times of pressure and uncertainty. The implication is that God is sovereign over leaders in any age, a truth that should give us hope as we pray for God to intervene in the troubling situations of our day.
Has God ever dramatically intervened in your life? Take time to thank him for what happened and to ask him for help to apply what you learned.
1 Ps 119:18 2 Ps 125:1,2 3 Isa 37:36,37 4 2 Pet 3:9
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Ezekiel 32,33; 2 Peter 1
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for the Local Mission Partners across England and Wales as they prepare to take the Christmas message into schools and communities in the next month. Pray for openness to the amazing message that God came to us in the person of Jesus Christ.
