Isaiah 16–20
The Holy Bible interpreted through Divine Principle insight and the words of True Father.
This study page continues Isaiah with chapters 16 through 20. Commentary is attached where the text strongly reflects Divine Principle themes such as mercy amid judgment, the failure of prideful nations, gleaning remnant imagery, reliance on Heaven instead of alliances, and God’s sovereign guidance over world history even through symbolic prophetic acts.
16:1 Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. 16:2 For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.
16:3 Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth. 16:4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler...
16:5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness. 16:6 We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud...
16:10 And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field... 16:13 This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning Moab since that time. 16:14 But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three years... the glory of Moab shall be contemned...
17:1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. 17:3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim... 17:4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin...
17:6 Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top... 17:7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. 17:8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands...
17:10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation... 17:12 Woe to the multitude of many people... 17:13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them...
Damascus and Ephraim are brought low, and Jacob’s glory is thinned. Divine Principle strongly resonates because Heaven sometimes reduces false fullness so that a surviving remnant or gleaning may remain for restoration.
One of the most beautiful lines in the chapter is that man will look to his Maker and have respect to the Holy One of Israel. This is the reversal of idolatry and self-made religion: the eyes turn back to the Creator.
The root problem is forgetting the God of salvation. True Father often emphasized that when a people forget Heaven, even strong nations and noisy multitudes become unstable before God’s rebuke.
18:1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: 18:2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea... Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled...
18:3 All ye inhabitants of the world... see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains... 18:4 For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs... 18:5 For afore the harvest... he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks...
18:7 In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled... to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.
Isaiah 18 presents a striking picture of God watching the nations in stillness before acting. Divine Principle strongly resonates because Heaven’s providence often includes silent observation and timing before decisive intervention appears.
The pruning before harvest is a powerful providential image. True Father often emphasized that Heaven cuts back what is immature or wrongly ripened so that the true offering may eventually be brought to God’s mountain.
19:1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt... 19:2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians... 19:3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof... 19:5 And the waters shall fail from the sea... 19:11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools...
19:16 In that day shall Egypt be like unto women... 19:18 In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan... 19:19 In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt... 19:20 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt...
19:22 And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it... 19:23 In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria... 19:24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria... 19:25 Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.
Egypt is judged through confusion, failing spirit, and broken counsel. Divine Principle strongly resonates because civilizations built apart from God eventually experience inner disintegration and the collapse of their false wisdom.
One of the remarkable features of this chapter is that God does not only smite Egypt; He smites and heals it. This strongly resonates with restoration through indemnity, where judgment is not merely destructive but can open the way to healing and return.
The highway between Egypt, Assyria, and Israel is extraordinary. True Father often emphasized that Heaven’s final goal is not permanent national hatred but reconciliation under God, where even former enemies can be brought into a larger providential blessing.
20:1 In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod... 20:2 At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah... saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins... and he did so, walking naked and barefoot. 20:3 And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;
20:4 So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives... 20:5 And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. 20:6 And the inhabitant of this isle shall say... how shall we escape?
Isaiah’s embodied sign-act is a vivid prophetic warning. Divine Principle strongly resonates because Heaven sometimes requires the central figure to bear symbolic suffering in order to reveal the true condition and future of nations.
The message is simple and severe: do not place hope in Egypt and Ethiopia. True Father often emphasized that when prepared people lean on worldly power instead of God, shame and fear follow. False expectation must collapse so reliance can return to Heaven.
Isaiah 16 brings together refuge for outcasts and the promise of a throne established in mercy. Divine Principle strongly resonates because Heaven’s true government is not cold domination but righteous kingship that protects the vulnerable and judges in truth from the Davidic center.
Moab’s pride becomes the cause of her downfall. True Father often emphasized that pride closes the door to grace, while humble alignment with Heaven opens the way to protection.
The prophecy is time-bound and precise. This fits a providential view of history in which judgment is not vague but unfolds according to Heaven’s appointed timing.