Isaiah 22:1 - Meaning and Application

The title of this prophecy is worth noticing. It is called the burden of the valley of vision, meaning Judah and Jerusalem, and that makes good sense. Jerusalem could be called a valley, because mountains surrounded it, and Judah had many fertile valleys. Under God’s judgments, though Jerusalem had seemed like a high mountain, it would be brought low, sunk down, and made dark and unclean, like a valley.

It is called the valley of vision most clearly because God was known there, and his name was honored there. There the prophets learned God’s mind through visions, and there the people saw their God and King at work in his sanctuary. Babylon, a place far from God, though rich and powerful, was called the desert by the sea. But Jerusalem, trusted with God’s messages, was a valley of vision.

How blessed are the people whose eyes can see, and who have prophets among them by office. Where Bibles and ministers are found, there is a valley of vision, and fruit should be expected there. Yet this is called a burden, and it is a heavy one. Church privileges, if people do not use them well, will not keep them safe from God’s judgments. “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you.” The valley of vision has its own burden. “Woe to you, Capernaum” (Matthew 11:23). The more anyone is lifted up in means and mercies, the heavier their doom will be if they abuse them.

This burden on the valley of vision would not completely destroy it, but only terrify it. It does not refer to Jerusalem’s destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, but to Sennacherib’s attack, which was foretold earlier (Isaiah 10) and will be seen in history later (Isaiah 36). It is prophesied again here because the ruin of nearby lands, foretold in the earlier chapters, would come by the Assyrian army. Jerusalem must know that, when the cup goes around, it will be handed to her too. It will not be a fatal cup, but it will be a cup of trembling.

The first thing foretold is the city’s fear when Sennacherib’s army came near. Jerusalem used to be full of commotion, a city of trade, with people hurrying in every direction about business. It was also a place of joy and celebration. Where there is much trade, there is much noise. Where many people gather, there is always a great stir. But now, what has happened, that the shops are empty and there is no more walking in the streets and marketplace? Now people have gone up to the roofs (Isaiah 22:1), either to grieve in solitude, to be safer from the enemy, or to look out for help and watch the enemy’s movements.

Let both busy people and those given to pleasure remember that they should rejoice as if they did not rejoice, because something may soon happen that stops both business and joy. It may send them, like a lonely sparrow, to the housetop (Psalm 102:7). But why is Jerusalem so frightened? Her slain people were not killed by the sword (Isaiah 22:2). Some understand this as death by famine, since Sennacherib’s army had laid waste the countryside and destroyed the crops, so food would be scarce and costly in the city. That would lead many poor people to die from eating what was unhealthy. Others understand it as death by fear. No one had actually been killed, yet they were so discouraged that fear seemed to stab them as surely as a sword.

The next thing is the shameful flight of Judah’s rulers, who ran from all parts of the country to Jerusalem (Isaiah 22:3). They fled together, almost as if by agreement, and were found in Jerusalem. They left their cities, which they should have defended, to be plundered by the Assyrian army. Since no one resisted, the enemy easily captured the fortified cities of Judah (Isaiah 36:1). These rulers were “bound from the bow,” meaning they were so shaken that they could not use weapons. They not only left their own cities like cowards, but when they reached Jerusalem, they were useless there too, as if their hands had been tied. Fear made them tremble so badly that they could not even draw a bow.

See how easily God can take courage away from people, and how surely fear will weaken them when they give in to it. Then comes the deep grief this would cause among all thoughtful, godly people. The prophet says this touched him personally, and he resolved to share his people’s sorrows (Isaiah 22:4, 5). He does not want to announce his grief. He tells others to look away from him. He will give himself over to sorrow, weep in private, and weep bitterly. He will not welcome comfort, because his grief is too strong and he is, as it were, attached to his pain.

What caused such sorrow? The prophet himself had little to lose, and he had already been hardened by hardship when he walked naked and barefoot. But now he grieves for the ruin of the daughter of his people. It is a day of trouble, trampling, and confusion. Their enemies are troubling them and crushing them, while their friends are confused and do not know how to help. The Lord God of hosts is now contending with the valley of vision. The enemy’s battering rams are breaking down the walls, and the people are crying out in vain to the mountains, either asking them to keep the enemy away or to fall on them and cover them. They look for help across the mountains, and they appeal, as God does, to the mountains to hear their case and judge between them and their cruel neighbors (Micah 6:1).

Finally, the prophet points to the great number and strength of the enemies who would invade the land and surround the city (Isaiah 22:6, 7). Elam, that is, the Persians, comes with a quiver full of arrows, with chariots and horsemen. Kir, that is, the Medes, prepares for battle too, drawing the sword and uncovering the shield, ready for the siege of Jerusalem. Then the pleasant valleys around Jerusalem, which had been covered with flocks and grain, will be filled with war chariots. At the city gate, the horsemen will take their places in battle order, cutting off supplies and forcing their way in. What a dreadful condition for a city surrounded on every side by such an army.