Isaiah 21:11
11 The burden [massa'] of Dumah [Duwmah]. He calleth [qara'] to me
out of Seir [Se`iyr], Watchman [shamar], what of the night [layil]?
Watchman [shamar], what of the night [layil]? KJV-Interlinear
11 The oracle concerning Edom. One keeps calling to me from Seir, "Watchman, how far gone is the night? Watchman, how far gone is the night?" NASB
Those who ignore
this second prophecy, of the second series of prophecies, will be those who are in terror. Isaiah will paint a picture of continued
darkness, continued misery and suffering, and a very frightened world.
It begins
abruptly. Not that anything prior ends,
and then this series of events begin, but that the world will continue ignoring
the more than obvious warnings, and the judgments will not only continue but will
intensify.
Dumah, means
silence, stillness, the underworld. This
indicates the land of the dead where there is silence, and makes it clear that
death is coming.
This is a play
on words. Dumah sounds like Edom with
regard to its meaning, and the mention of Seir, confirms that Edom is the
source of the question, ‘What of the night?
What of the night?’
This question is
from an Edomite and the repeated question indicates his desperation.
Isaiah will
answer in the next verse, and that answer is going to be vague. But then the question itself is being asked
by someone who really does not want to know.
They are simply asking for busy work, still pretending interest, but now,
more afraid than they are interested in spiritual truth.
With judgment
crashing down upon the entire world, a normal person would repent and turn to
Christ. But, stubborn people who cling
to their canal beliefs, will cling to their fears, and will reject over and
over again, any possible solution.
Spiritual
dysfunction, leads to stubbornness, leads to unrealistic and irrational decisions,
leads to bad decisions, leads to death.
The night, is
the darkness of trouble, the time of misery, the time when one cannot see in
the dark, which is the darkness of their soul, and therefore unleashes even
more uncertainty and fear, which eventually will spiral out of control into
even worse terror.
