Isaiah 21-23

What’s Happening?

Israel was meant to save the nations, not depend on them for salvation. God had called Israel’s capital Jerusalem to be a mountain city that beckoned all nations of the world to come and live in God’s light and protection (Isaiah 2:1-5). But when the kingdom of Assyria began swallowing whole nations in its military conquest, Jerusalem, though a towering mountaintop, did not lift her gaze up to God for help. Instead, she looked down toward the plains of Babylon and the coasts of Tyre. The prophet Isaiah reminds Jerusalem’s people of their purpose and that only God can save them. He prophesies that Babylon’s military power will fall and Tyre’s economy will crumble. And in between these powers, Isaiah addresses the city of Jerusalem whose misplaced trust has turned her from a mountain of salvation into a valley of destruction.

The military might of Babylon and the seafaring commerce of Tyre are doomed to fall and are powerless to save God’s people. In fact, these nations cannot even save themselves. God shows Isaiah a vision of a mighty army marching against Babylon which will quickly crush it to the ground. (Isaiah 21:1-9). After Babylon’s fall, the swift attackers destroy all of Babylon’s allies too (Isaiah 21:11-17). The message is clear. The nations Israel trusted are doomed to crumble. Isaiah then prophesies the fall of Tyre (Isaiah 23:1-5). He warns Jerusalem that Tyre’s wealth cannot save her either. Much like the sudden end that met Babyon and its allies, Tyre’s fleets will soon sink, and its economy will collapse (Isaiah 23:6-14). God is Jerusalem’s only hope. Jerusalem must look to God for salvation and not the doomed nations who can’t save themselves or their allies. 

In the middle of denouncing the doomed powers of land and sea, Isaiah denounces Jerusalem for rejecting her calling. The mountain city of God’s light and salvation has turned into a valley of darkness and destruction like the nations they were meant to save. Instead of calling the nations into God’s light, they had joined the nations in their darkness. The irony is heavy. The mountain of Jerusalem has become a valley. Her leaders trust in ruined nations and broken walls rather than the protection of the all-powerful God (Isaiah 22:8-11). On a day of disaster, they hold a day of feasting (Isaiah 22:1-7). They claim they can see, but their vision is as good as someone stuck in a pit. Jerusalem’s steward is just as blind as the ones he is meant to leave. He has commissioned the carving out of his future royal tomb, unaware that he will be exiled long before he’s able to use it (Isaiah 22:15-16). Isaiah warns that this bad steward will drag the whole city down with him. He will be replaced by a better steward who will bear the weight of raising Jerusalem back to the height of her calling (Isaiah 22:17-25). Like a firmly fastened peg or nail, on this leader will hang the restored calling of Jerusalem and the hope of God’s people.

Where is the Gospel?

Jesus fulfilled everything Jerusalem’s leaders failed to be. He is the light of the world, shining into the deepest darkness (John 8:12). In his ministry, Jesus didn’t just embody Israel’s calling to bring light to the nations—he expanded it. He ministered to the people of Tyre, whose wealth could not save them (Matthew 15:21-28; Luke 6:17-18). He healed Gentiles and Jews alike, proclaiming that God’s kingdom is for all nations. When Jesus called his followers to be a city on a hill, he gave them the very calling that Jerusalem had abandoned: to trust in God and to be a beacon of salvation for the world (Matthew 5:14; John 14:1). Where Israel looked to Babylon’s armies and Tyre’s fleets, Jesus told his people to look to him.

But Jesus did more than teach and heal—he fulfilled Isaiah’s vision by defeating the powers that threaten to swallow us all. The threats of sin, death, and a broken world loom over every human being like the unstoppable armies of Assyria. But Jesus went to battle against these enemies. He brought light into the darkest valley of all, where no vision could exist— the grave itself. And when the powers of sin and death thought they had overcome him, Jesus walked out of the tomb and ascended to the highest throne (Acts 2:24). He is the faithful King, the steadfast peg, the one we can hang all our hopes on (Isaiah 22:23). Jesus is not like the doomed powers of military strength, economic stability, or death. He is stronger and more dependable, and he will never fail. He doesn’t just restore us to the mountaintop; he holds us there forever.

Jesus invites us to be the city on a hill that he created us to be. In him, we are made into the light of the world—set apart to call others out of their valleys of darkness and destruction, just as Jesus has called us out of ours (Colossians 1:12-14). This is the vision Jesus casts for his people: trust in him, not in the powers of this world. Share his light and the power of his resurrection in a world that desperately needs it.

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who is worthy of trust. And may you see Jesus as the light of the world who overcame the darkness of death and brought his people to his kingdom of light.