The Valley of Vision
1 The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops? 2 You that are full of shouting, a tumultuous city, a joyous town, your slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead in battle. 3 All your rulers fled away together. They were bound by the archers. All who were found by you were bound together. They fled far away. 4 Therefore I said, “Look away from me. I will weep bitterly. Don’t labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people. 5 For it is a day of confusion, and of treading down, and of perplexity from the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, in the valley of vision, a breaking down of the walls, and a crying to the mountains.” 6 Elam carried his quiver, with chariots of men and horsemen; and Kir uncovered the shield. 7 Your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate. 8 He took away the covering of Judah; and you looked in that day to the armor in the house of the forest. 9 You saw the breaches of David’s city, that they were many; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool. 10 You counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. 11 You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you didn’t look to him who had done this, neither did you have respect for him who planned it long ago. 12 In that day, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, called to weeping, to mourning, to baldness, and to dressing in sackcloth; 13 and behold, there is joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.” 14 Yahweh of Armies revealed himself in my ears, “Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
A city under siege does everything competent and never asks the one question, and holds a party instead.
The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?
The oracle in the middle of the foreign nations is addressed to Jerusalem, which is the point of putting it there. The roofs are full of people, and the chapter opens by asking why.
You that are full of shouting, a tumultuous city, a joyous town, your slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead in battle.
The city is celebrating and its dead did not die fighting. They died of famine or plague inside the walls, which is what a siege actually kills people with.
All your rulers fled away together Isaiah 22:3.
Therefore I said, “Look away from me. I will weep bitterly. Don’t labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The prophet refuses consolation in the middle of a party. He is the only person in the chapter behaving as the situation warrants.
8 He took away the covering of Judah; and you looked in that day to the armor in the house of the forest. 9 You saw the breaches of David’s city, that they were many; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool. 10 You counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. 11 You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you didn’t look to him who had done this, neither did you have respect for him who planned it long ago.
Five verbs of competent emergency management, and every one of them was the right thing to do. They inventoried the armory, surveyed the walls, secured the water supply, surveyed the housing stock, demolished houses for building material, and built a reservoir. Hezekiah's tunnel and the pool are archaeological facts.
You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you didn’t look to him who had done this, neither did you have respect for him who planned it long ago.
The indictment is the whole chapter and it is aimed at nothing they did. They looked at the armory and the walls and the water; they did not look at the one who had arranged the crisis. Competence is not being criticized — the omission is.
12 In that day, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, called to weeping, to mourning, to baldness, and to dressing in sackcloth; 13 and behold, there is joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.”
Two lists set against each other. What was called for, and what happened. The city held a feast, and the meat it ate was the breeding stock it would need afterward.
"Let's eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die."
The slogan is quoted, and Paul quotes it again as the logical position of anyone who does not believe in the resurrection 1 Corinthians 15:32. It is not stupidity; it is a conclusion, correctly drawn from a premise this chapter says was wrong.
Yahweh of Armies revealed himself in my ears, “Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
The severest sentence in the oracles, and it falls on Jerusalem rather than on any foreign nation.
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