What is the meaning of Isaiah 21:5? They prepare a table • The vision opens with a scene of deliberate preparation: “They prepare a table” (Isaiah 21:5). The picture is one of confident banquet planning—no hint that danger could be near. • Similar complacency marks Belshazzar’s great feast the very night Babylon fell (Daniel 5:1–4). • Scripture repeatedly warns that luxurious ease can dull spiritual alertness (Amos 6:1; Revelation 18:7). They lay out a carpet • “They lay out a carpet” suggests spreading rich rugs or cushions for reclining guests—an added touch of opulence. • The detail underscores the wealth of Babylon, matching Isaiah 14:4’s description of the “oppressor” in splendor. • While guests focus on comfort, God’s prophecy continues to advance unhindered (Isaiah 46:10). They eat, they drink • The revelers plunge into food and wine, heightening the contrast between human indulgence and divine judgment. • Daniel 5:3–4 records the same careless drinking party, even praising idols with vessels taken from God’s temple. • Jeremiah 51:39 foretold, “When they become heated, I will prepare them a feast and make them drunk, so that they may shout with laughter—then sleep forever.” Rise up, O princes • Abruptly the banquet mood shatters: “Rise up, O princes.” The call reaches Babylon’s leaders too late. • Isaiah 47:8–11 echoes the suddenness—disaster falls in “a moment, in a single day.” • The shift illustrates 1 Thessalonians 5:3: “While people are saying, ‘Peace and security,’ destruction comes upon them suddenly.” Oil the shields • Soldiers in the ancient Near East rubbed leather shields with oil to keep them supple and battle-ready (2 Samuel 1:21). • The command implies an enemy already at the gates—likely the Medes and Persians (Isaiah 21:2). • Believers today are urged to maintain spiritual readiness just as carefully (Ephesians 6:16; 1 Peter 1:13). summary Isaiah 21:5 paints Babylon’s final hours: lavish preparations, carefree feasting, and then a jarring summons to battle. The verse warns that worldly security can vanish in an instant and calls God’s people to vigilant readiness, confident that every prophetic word will be fulfilled exactly as spoken. |
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