The Oracle Concerning Edom
Isaiah 21:11-12
August 20, 2023
This morning we return to our study of the oracles of Isaiah after stepping aside last week to commission our students and teachers back into school.
And we are presented with a bit of a unique challenge
As we come across an oracle that consists of only 2 verses.
The danger with such a short text is that it is so easy to just sort of read such a cryptic conversation and then just sort of say whatever you want.
• Maybe we’ll talk about watchmen…
• Maybe we’ll talk about morning coming after night (i.e. hope)…
• Or maybe you read the question “how far gone is the night?”
• Then just go off on your own tangent regarding our own hardships or maybe
even dip into eschatology.
I will freely admit, passages like this
Present a unique challenge as we seek to understand them.
At times like this we lean even more heavily upon passages like
1 Corinthians 2:11-13
1 Corinthians 2:11-13 “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.”
So as with all Scripture, but certainly difficult ones like this,
We lean heavily upon the Holy spirit who is our teacher
And trust Him to help us understand as we study.
AS ALWAYS, CONTEXT IS IMPORTANT.
• And while this oracle concerning Edom does come to us out of the blue
• And while everything that is said about Edom is contained in these 2 verses
• We still understand the segment we are in.
We are listening to Isaiah’s oracles.
They are judgments pronounced by God
On the nations surrounding Judah.
We have seen Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Egypt, Cush, and even Babylon.
There has been a similar theme that has rung true in each one of them.
Namely, do not trust in these nations for deliverance,
For they can’t even deliver themselves.
You will remember that the bully in the playground is ASSYRIA.
God has actually referred to them as “the rod of My anger” (10:5)
• God is the angry One.
• God is the One inflicting wrath.
• Assyria is merely the club God is using.
And God’s explanation for why He is using Assyria to pummel the nations
Has also been clearly articulated.
Isaiah 10:5-6 “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation, I send it against a godless nation And commission it against the people of My fury To capture booty and to seize plunder, And to trample them down like mud in the streets.”
• God sends Assyria “against a godless nation”
• God commissions them “against the people of My fury”
So while Assyria is themselves a godless nation.
And while God will also eventually judge Assyria.
The only way to see the Assyrian assault on the ancient east
Is that they are the chosen instrument
By which God is unleashing His wrath against sinners.
Men have rebelled against the One who created them.
And God is punishing them for that sin by sending Assyria against them.
And, as we have said,
Since this is the wrath of God,
NO MAN is going to be able to deliver anyone from them.
The Philistines couldn’t – Sargon of Assyria invaded Ashdod in 711 B.C. and left 3,000 skeletons in a mass grave.
The Moabites couldn’t – When Assyria attacked they all had to flee south into Edom.
The Syrians couldn’t – Shalmaneser would destroy Damascus of Syria in 720 B.C.
Cush and Egypt couldn’t – we read about Assyria leading them away into exile barefoot and “with buttocks uncovered”.
Babylon couldn’t – Sennacherib defeated Merodach Baladan in 702 B.C. and eliminated them as a potential savior. “Fallen, Fallen is Babylon”.
So the OVERWHELMING POINT of each of these oracles
Is that there is no other Savior besides the LORD.
If you want to be saved from the Assyrian threat,
Then you are going to have to look to God as your salvation.
That is true of all men, not just Judah.
And it remains true today.
Jesus Christ is the only Savior this world will ever receive.
Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
Hopefully by now that point has been ingrained in our minds.
• God is angry…
• God is punishing…
• And the only hope of salvation is God Himself…
AND WITH THAT CONTEXT,
We now look to this next oracle concerning Edom.
Edom you know.
• They are the descendants of Esau and they are perpetual enemies of Israel.
• The entire book of Obadiah is a message of judgment concerning Edom, especially for the way they would treat Israel during the time of the Babylonian invasion.
• Edom was located on the southeastern border of Israel (modern day Jordan) on the other side of the dead sea.
And they also, like the other nations,
Had found themselves under Assyrian oppression.
But Isaiah uses them for A UNIQUE POINT as we will see in our text.
Let’s break these 2 verses down into 3 points.
#1 THE QUESTION
Isaiah 21:11
I would remind you again that the oracles which Isaiah gave
Were NOT for the benefit of the nations that were addressed.
The oracles of Isaiah were for the benefit of Judah.
So here we have Isaiah telling an interesting story to his congregation.
“One keeps calling to me from Seir…”
It would be the equivalent of me standing here today saying,
• “I keep getting phone calls from this guy in California…”
• “He calls me over and over and over and he always asks me the same question.”
“Watchman…”
• “Watchman” is a title given to prophets since they are those who are supposed to see the coming wrath of God and warn the people accordingly.
• Ezekiel 3 is all about this.
But Isaiah says this guy keeps calling me and he says, “Watchman, how far gone is the night? Watchman, how far gone is the night?”
I keep getting this phone call from this guy in California and he just keeps asking me, how much longer is this judgment going to last?
That is what “the night” represents.
• It represents the hardship…
• It represents the punishment of God…
• It represents the current state of suffering…
So here we have a pagan,
• Who at the very least recognizes that Isaiah is a messenger of God.
• He also seems to understand that God is somehow involved in the current
affliction of Edom.
• And so he keeps reaching out to Isaiah wanting to know how much longer this
is going to go on.
IS IT NEARLY OVER?
Now certainly a familiar point could be made here.
If Judah had any intention of running to Edom for help,
• Obviously that is a bad idea,
• Because Edom, like all the other nations has enough trouble of their own.
But I don’t think that is Isaiah’s main point here.
He is driving to something much bigger.
But you have here Edom asking Isaiah,
How much longer is this going to last?
That’s a good question.
#2 THE ANSWER
Isaiah 12a
“The watchman says, “Morning comes but also night.”
So based on Isaiah’s answer, what is the prognosis?
NO END IN SIGHT.
• Oh, there may be some moments of temporary relief.
• Some moments may be easier than others.
• But even if you experience what feels like a new day or a new dawn,
• Rest assured, more night is coming.
This thing is not nearly over.
Edom wants to know “How long?” and Isaiah says, “LONG”.
If the message stopped there it would be nothing but depressing.
• There is no end in sight…
• You are doomed to suffer perpetually…
• There is no light at the end of the tunnel…
• You had better learn to speak Assyrian…
But, as God commonly does, Isaiah has a little more to say.
He does answer the question, but he also has SOME ADVICE.
#3 THE SOLUTION
Isaiah 21:12b
Isaiah goes on to say, “If you would inquire, inquire; Come back again.”
Here is where we find the entire point of what Isaiah has to say.
It is the heart of the message Isaiah would have his people hear.
FIRST we notice Isaiah’s insinuation that Edom should “inquire” BETTER
You understand what is implied by the statement,
“If you would inquire, inquire;”
That is to say,
• “If you’re going to ask, then ask right.”
• “If you’re going to seek, then seek right.”
That makes sense to us.
There is a right way and there is a wrong way to seek God.
There is a right way and there is a wrong way to approach Him.
And the insinuation of Isaiah is that Edom has yet to ask correctly.
You understand this as a parent
When a child wants something from you.
• When I was growing up I’d ask for something and my grandpa would say,
“What’s the magic word?”
• And you say, “Please”.
It was just his way of teaching politeness.
It was his way of teaching the proper way to approach other people.
Be kind, be polite, ask nicely.
If you’re going to ask me for something then ask me the right way.
And we understand that about God don’t we?
Consider Isaiah 58.
Isaiah 58:1-4 “Cry loudly, do not hold back; Raise your voice like a trumpet, And declare to My people their transgression And to the house of Jacob their sins. “Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways, As a nation that has done righteousness And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God. They ask Me for just decisions, They delight in the nearness of God. ‘Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’ Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers. “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.”
There were frustrated people because they asked God for something
And He didn’t grant it.
They even went through the religious motion of fasting and still God did not grant their request.
And they are frustrated.
• “Why have we fasted and You do not see?”
“Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?”
And God’s answer is because you don’t ask correctly.
• “Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire…”
• “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist…”
In other words, you ask Me out of selfish motives.
“You expect me to operated as a genie in a bottle and just grant your requests like I’m legally bound to give you whatever your selfish heart wants.”
“It’s as though you think that you are the sovereign one
And I am the servant.”
You don’t ask right.
James said the same didn’t he.
James 4:1-3 “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”
You seem to think that My entire existence is simply so that I can grant you whatever you want.
• When you want deliverance…I’m the deliverer.
• When you want provision…I’m the provider.
• When you want rain…I control the weather.
• When you want healing…I’m the healer.
You just come to Me in order that I might grant you whatever you want.
YOU DON’T ASK CORRECTLY.
Or we think of Jesus’ parable on prayer:
Luke 18:9-14 “And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
There you have a man who has forgotten how to humble himself.
• He thinks he deserves God’s blessing.
• He thinks he deserves God’s favor.
• He thinks that he has sufficiently earned every good thing that he desires
• And He thinks that God is somehow obligated to give it to him.
But God adamantly answers that man without giving him justification.
YOU DON’T ASK CORRECTLY.
And this is all bound up in THE POINT that Isaiah is making to Edom.
But I do hope you understand that he is not really making that point to the Edomites. Who is Isaiah really preaching to? (Judah)
I know he is talking about the Edomite request,
But we all know who this sermon is really for.
“If you would inquire, inquire;”
Ask correctly.
And Jesus will speak of the same things.
Take the Sermon on the Mount.
• You know that the Sermon on the Mount is all about righteousness.
• That’s the point of the entire sermon.
• God demands righteousness and YOU DON’T HAVE IT.
Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
But the problem is that
• You are light that doesn’t shine.
• You are salt that doesn’t taste.
• You commit heart murder.
• You commit heart adultery.
• You malign scripture to condone your sin.
• You don’t keep your word.
• You don’t love like God.
• Your giving, praying, and fasting is hypocritical, you do it for earthly recognition.
• You love money.
• You worry about the wrong things.
• You don’t seek the right things, like My kingdom.
• You try to justify yourself by comparing yourself to others (i.e. judging)
God demands righteousness and you don’t have it.
Well, how do I get it?
How do I obtain the righteousness that God demands that I have?
Matthew 7:7-11 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”
Such an important passage.
If you want righteousness “ask…seek…knock”
Incidentally, the Greek tense there implies an ongoing action of
“keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking”
There must be a dedicated desire to receive from God
That which you do not possess and that which only He can provide
Like that widow
• Who stood before the unrighteous judge,
• You go to God in humility and desperation and perseverance
• Because He is the only one who can grant what you need.
Jesus stated it also like this:
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
And if you will seek God with that kind of humility and persistence
Then God will grant it because He is good and “your Father who is in heaven [will] give what is good to those who ask Him!”
• “good” there is not the good thing you want, like the sports car.
• “good” is that thing we had at creation and lost at the fall.
• “good” is the righteousness which God demands from you.
There is “none good, not even one”, but if you ask God for goodness
With faith and humility, He will give it to you.
So you see even in the New Testament that it matters how you ask.
There must be faith.
There must be humility.
HOWEVER – neither of those attributes are the attribute
That Isaiah focuses on when he tells the Edomites to ask correctly.
Isaiah says, “Come back again.”
Here is where I think the entire secret to the entire oracle is found.
Here is where we see the message that is really for Judah.
3 English words, 2 Hebrew words.
“Come” translates (AW-THAW)
• And it means exactly as it is translated.
• It means “Come”
• Same word as in verse 12, “Morning comes but also night”
But the interesting word is the next one.
“back again” is the Hebrew word (SHOOB)
And Isaiah loves this word.
It has been a foundational word for his preaching. (50x)
Perhaps a more clear translation of this word would be “return”.
You saw it just a couple chapters ago.
Isaiah 19:22 “The LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and will heal them.”
• After God strikes and then heals Egypt they will “return to the LORD”
In fact, it is even translated “repentant” in Isaiah 1:27
Isaiah 1:27 “Zion will be redeemed with justice And her repentant ones with righteousness.”
• The returning ones; the repentant ones will be redeemed.
You also know that those who refuse to return will not be saved.
Remember Isaiah’s commissioning?
Isaiah 6:10 “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.”
• It is the blind and deaf and hard hearted people who will not “return and be
healed.”
It is actually even a word that Isaiah uses regarding God.
Isaiah 12:1 “Then you will say on that day, “I will give thanks to You, O LORD; For although You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, And You comfort me.”
• God has turned away His anger from the repentant.
Isaiah 14:27 “For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”
• God’s hand can’t be turned back.
Do you remember chapter 9 and the first part of chapter 10 when we read the same statement 4 TIMES?
“In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”
• Same word – SHOOB
• God’s anger does not turn away.
ISAIAH LOVES THE WORD.
But mostly he loves it and uses it
As a call to Israel regarding how they should seek God.
Isaiah 31:6 “Return to Him from whom you have deeply defected, O sons of Israel.”
Isaiah 55:7 “Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”
God’s call is for Israel to SHOOB; to return to Him.
And if they will, He will redeem them.
If they return to Him, He will save them.
Isaiah 59:20 “A Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the LORD.”
Isaiah 44:22 “I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud And your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
In fact, it will be the work of God and His Christ to return Israel to Himself.
Isaiah 49:5-6 “And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the LORD, And My God is My strength), He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
So you get that this is a big word for Isaiah.
HE LOVES IT.
He sees it as the secret regarding how you should approach God
In the midst of His judgment.
“If you would inquire, inquire; come [return]”
• It is to come back to the One that you have abandoned.
• It is to come back to the One that you have despised.
IF ALL YOU DO
• Is come to God because you want Him to fix your problem
• And then you plan on going back to your sinful lifestyle
• Then you can forget it.
That is the MISTAKE we read about in chapter 58.
You just come lifting up your desires.
Or as James said that is asking with wrong motives.
In this crisis you had better seek God
And you had better seek Him correctly.
And by now I think you understand the word we are driving at.
REPENTANCE.
Edom comes asking Isaiah how much longer until God does something about Assyria?
Isaiah responds by saying, “Is this how you intend to approach God? Would you really approach Him as though He is a lazy butler?”
If you want to know how much longer until God intervenes…
Well, “How long will it be until you repent and return to God?”
Why does the wrath of God fall on man?
Romans 1:18-21 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
Do you want a Savior?
Do you want a Deliverer?
Then I’d start with repentance.
I’d start with the admission that you have rebelled against your Creator.
• He created mankind to walk in holiness and truth
• And we have instead chosen only to seek after sin.
God said it Himself:
Romans 3:11-12 “THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”
When God did send a Savior to the world,
He first sent A FORERUNNER to prepare the way for that Savior.
What did that forerunner tell you to do?
Luke 3:3-6 “And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT. ‘EVERY RAVINE WILL BE FILLED, AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL WILL BE BROUGHT LOW; THE CROOKED WILL BECOME STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH; AND ALL FLESH WILL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.’”
When the Savior arrived and started preaching, what was His first message to the people?
Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
When Israel rejected Christ and crucified Him
And God raised Him from the dead
And Peter stood and told the people what they had done.
They wanted to know what they should do now in order that they might be made right with God.
Acts 2:38 “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
And when they cornered Peter again later in the temple court after Peter healed a cripple, Peter reiterated the message.
Acts 3:11-20 “While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement. But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. “But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses. “And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all. “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. “But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you”
When Paul went and preached to the pure pagans of Athens.
Men who had given God’s glory to every other false deity they could imagine.
Acts 17:30-31 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
I THINK YOU GET THE POINT.
Isaiah has spent 8 chapters and his first 6 oracles
To teach you that there is only 1 Savior from the judgment of God.
• He is that Savior.
• In the New Testament He reveals Himself in the person of Jesus Christ.
• There will be no other Savior.
• There will be no other Deliverer.
But now in the 7th oracle
Isaiah teaches you how you must approach that Savior.
• He does not owe salvation to you.
• He is not legally bound to save everyone.
• He saves those who seek Him.
• He saves those who seek Him correctly.
• He saves those who turn from their sin so that they might draw near to Him.
If you were with us Wednesday night
We saw a great picture of this with Jacob.
• Jacob had come back from the land of Laban (Padan-Aram) where God had spent 20 years sanctifying him.
• God had brought him safely home and Jacob had even built and altar declaring that God was his God.
But the strange thing is that
Jacob DID NOT dwell near the place where he encountered God.
Instead of settling in Luz, Jacob settled in Shechem
And we wonder why Jacob would not dwell closer to God?
The answer came in chapter 35 when God specifically told Jacob to move to Bethel.
Genesis 35:1-3 “Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments; and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”
Do you see what had kept Jacob from drawing near to God?
All of his idols.
• You can’t take your sin with you when you approach God.
• You can’t take your pride with you.
• You can’t take your idolatry with you.
• You can’t take your immorality with you.
If you want to approach God for salvation
You must approach Him correctly.
You have to leave your sin and seek Him.
You have to enter that narrow gate and run after Him.
And if you will, He will save.
HE PROMISED HE WILL.
This is the message to Edom,
But it is really for Judah and today it is for you and me.
If we think you can hold on to your sin
And yet be saved in the day of judgment,
We do not understand who God is.
He will forgive you.
He will save you.
He will do those things if you will seek Him.
But if you are going to inquire then inquire correctly.
You come and return to Him.
Leave your sin, leave your pride, humble yourself and He will save.
That has always been the heart of God.
That has always been the gospel.
And this morning it is my invitation to you.
• Return to the God who created you.
• Repent of the sin by which you have alienated from Him.
• Cry out to Him for salvation and deliverance.
HE WILL SAVE YOU.
Matthew 7:7-11 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”
