Conclusion of "A Hard Vision"

Note: First, let me let my readers know that for some reason, I have had to jump through a lot of hoops to get to do my blogs since before yesterday afternoon and I am not a happy camper. I do not know how I even got in this time. I must have gotten lucky. So, just to let you know if there is not one of my spiritual blogs on tomorrow. It is not because I haven't tried to get in to do it.  For some reason. I keep getting locked out or something.   But I have not been able to get in the usual way. I am able to sign in, but for some reason. I have to fight tooth and nail with the devil and whoever else is blocking me from doing my blog.  I worship and serve Jehovah God and only Jehovah God.   Now for my blog. Thank you very much!

Note how Isaiah describes the effect of this vision upon him:  That is why my hips have become full of severe pains.  Convulsions themselves have grabbed hold of me, like the convulsions of a woman that is giving birth.  I have become disconcerted  so that I do not hear; I have become disturbed so that I do not see.  My heart has wandered about; a shuddering itself has terrified me.  The twilight for which I had an attachment has been made for me a trembling."  (Isaiah 21:3, 4)   The prophet, it seems enjoys the twilight hours, a lovely time for quiet contemplation.  But nightfall has not lost its charm, bringing instead only fear, pain, and trembling. He suffers  convulsions like those of a woman in labor, and his heart  "has wandered about."  On scholar renders this phrase "my heart beats wildly," noting that the expression refers to "a feverish and irregular beating of the pulse."  Why such distress?  Evidently, Isaiah's feelings are prophetic.  On the night of October 5/6, 539 B.C.E., the Babylonians will experience similar terror.

As darkness falls on that fateful night, terror is the last thing on the Babylonians' minds.  Some two centuries in advance, Isaiah foretells:  "Let there be a setting of  the table in order, an arranging of the location of seats, an eating a drinking!"  (Isaiah 21:5a) Yes, the arrogant King Belshazzar is hosting a feast.  Seats are arranged for a thousand of his grandees, as well as many wives and concubines.  (Daniel 5:1, 2)  The revelers know that there is an army outside the walls, but they believer  that their city is  impregnable.  Her massive walls and deep moat appear to make her capture impossible; her many gods make it unthinkable.  So let there be 'an eating, a drinking!"  Belshazzar gets drunk, and he probably is not alone. The besotted state of the high officials is suggested by the need to rouse them, as Isaiah's next words prophetically show.

"Get up, you princes, anoint the shield."  (Isaiah 21:5b)  Suddenly, the party is over.  The princes  have to rouse themselves! The aged prophet Daniel has been called to the scene, and he sees how Jehovah throws Babylonian King Belshazzar into a state  of terror similar to that described by Isaiah.   the king's grandees are plunged into a confusion as the combine forces of Medes, Persians, Elamites breach the city's defenses.  Babylon falls quickly! What, though, does it mean to "anoint the shield"?  The Bible sometimes refers to a nation's king as its shield because he is the defender and protector of the land."  (Psalm 89:18)  So this verse in Isaiah is likely foretelling the need for a new king.  Why?  Because Belshazzar is killed  that "very night."  Thus, there is a need to "anoint the shield,," or appoint a new king. -Daniel 5:1-9, 30.

All lovers of true worship draw comfort from this account.  Modern-day Babylon the Great, is as much a treacherous dealer and despoiler as was her ancient counterpart.  To this day religious leader conspire to have Jehovah's Witnesses banned, persecuted, or punitively taxed.  But as this prophecy reminds us, Jehovah sees all such treacherous dealing, and he will not let it go unpunished.  He will bring an end to all religions  that misrepresent him and mistreat his people.  (Revelation 18:8)  Is such a thing possible?  To build our faith, we have only to see  how his warnings regarding the fall of both ancient  Babylon and her modern-day counterpart have already been fulfilled.

Next time: "She Has Fallen!"

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, 2000