The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim.
The burden upon Arabia concerns the descendants of Ishmael, who dwelt in proximity to Israel and Edom yet were never brought into subjection. The prophecy spanning Isaiah 21:11-17 records how conquerors harassed the Arabs and brought some of their tribes to the verge of extermination.
The oracle stands among the instances in which the Lord employs symbolic things, including nations themselves, to instruct His people and to forewarn them concerning where they stand in the course of time and how near they are to eternity.
Isaiah 21:11-16 portrays the flight of the remnant church who keep the commandments of God from their persecutors in the time of trouble immediately ahead. That end-time application follows the pattern of Matthew 24:20, which applied first and primarily to the early church in Judea fleeing before Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, yet carries a special force for the final crisis.
The burden upon Arabia concerns the descendants of Ishmael, who dwelt in proximity to Israel and Edom yet were never brought into subjection. The prophecy spanning Isaiah 21:11-17 records how conquerors harassed the Arabs and brought some of their tribes to the verge of extermination.
The oracle stands among the instances in which the Lord employs symbolic things, including nations themselves, to instruct His people and to forewarn them concerning where they stand in the course of time and how near they are to eternity.
Isaiah 21:11-16 portrays the flight of the remnant church who keep the commandments of God from their persecutors in the time of trouble immediately ahead. That end-time application follows the pattern of Matthew 24:20, which applied first and primarily to the early church in Judea fleeing before Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, yet carries a special force for the final crisis.