Isaiah 18:2-7

2 He who sends ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to the people scattered and peeled, to the people full of fears from their beginning, and until now, a people tired of waiting and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

3 All ye inhabitants of the world and neighbours of the land, when he lifts up a banner as an example on the mountains, ye shall see it; and when he blows the shofar, ye shall hear it.

4 For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will look forth from my dwelling place like a clear sun after the rain and like a cloud filled with dew in the heat of the harvest.

5 For before the harvest, when the fruit is perfect, and after the flower is past and the fruit is mature, then he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks and take away and cut down the branches.

6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains and to the beasts of the earth; and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.

7 In that time the present shall be brought unto the LORD of the hosts, the people scattered and peeled, the people full of fears from their beginning and until now, a people tired of waiting and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of the hosts, to the Mount Zion.

Isaiah 18:2-7 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 18

This chapter is a prophecy of the desolation of a land or country, described by the wings with which it was shaded, and by the rivers by which it was situated, Isa 18:1 by its messengers and message to another nation, which is also described, Isa 18:2 all the nations of the world are called upon to observe the judgment about to be inflicted on it, Isa 18:3 and a promise is made, that at the same time God will take up his rest and dwelling among his own people, and refresh and protect them, Isa 18:4 and the time, and manner, and nature of the destruction of the people before threatened, are metaphorically expressed, Isa 18:5,6 and the issue of all will be the glory of God, since these people will be brought, in after times, as a present to him in Mount Zion, Isa 18:7.