Isaiah 24-27 is usually regarded by scholars as “apocalyptic”, and as later than the time of Isaiah of Jerusalem. However, we view their content as entirely applicable to the Assyrian crisis.[1] The “Zion triumphant” perspective of these chapters fits the history of the Assyrian crisis in that Jerusalem is delivered. The rivalry between Judah and Assyria in the parochial eyes of Isaiah leads him to proclaim the survival of Jerusalem.
The main critical “evidence” that leads to the non-Isaianic dating for these oracles is the description of “the city” or “cities”. What is the identity of the city, and has the city been devastated and the population gone into captivity? If the city is Jerusalem,[2] the details may apply equally to the Babylonian or Assyrian crisis. The following points suggest an Assyrian application if the city is Jerusalem:
1) The population is still present in the city and in a state of siege: every house is “shut up” and “no man” is allowed in (Isa 24:10). The city is in a state of “confusion” suggesting siege conditions and irrational despair (Isa 24:10). The city is said to be “broken” (rbv, Isa 24:10), but this verb is a broad term; it could signal the capture and sacking of a city, or it could indicate a rupture or breach in the city. An example of the latter usage is Isa 30:13, where a city wall is said to be ruptured. The other details suggest a city under siege and city walls that have received a breach.
2) The gate is said to be “battered” (ttk, Isa 24:12, RSV). This might suggest that the gate has been broken down and the siege army has broken through and ransacked the city. However, this is unlikely; it is more likely that the gate has been battered and shorn up, and the invader has not yet broken through. The people are still safe in the city, but in dire straits. The verb is one of attack rather than one for breaking through: thus it has been translated as “smite” and “beat” in the KJV. The verb is used in Isa 30:14 as part of the figure “vessel that is broken in pieces” (KJV). This text refers to the sudden breaking of the peace treaty between Assyria and Judah. This led to the siege of Jerusalem and as a consequence the “joy” that was in the city vanished (Isa 24:11).
3) The city is said to be “desolate” in that desolation is “left in the city” (Isa 27:10). The verb for “remaining” (rav, Isa 24:6) is used and this implies some sort of exodus from the city, with appropriate looting, so that the city only has desolation left or remaining. This picture is not one describing what is left after the ransacking of the city, but rather it is one describing what is left once those who can escape have abandoned the city. The idea of there being a surviving remnant in the land is prominent in Isaiah (e.g. Isa 28:5, 37:31). The city is intact but in a dire state “in the midst of the land” (Isa 24:13).
4) Whereas “the city of confusion” is Jerusalem, not every reference to a city in Isaiah 24-27 is a reference to Jerusalem. Cities were turned into heaps in the land, and this is the claim of Isa 25:2, “you have made a city a heap”; the LXX interprets with a plural, “you have made cities a heap”.
The sacking of the Judean “fortified cities” (rcb, Isa 25:2) is the hallmark of the Isaianic account of the Assyrian campaign (rcb, Isa 36:1, 37:26), rather than any sixth century prophets’ account of the Babylonian invasion. In a similar vein, the Assyrian invader sacked “citadels of foreigners” (Isa 25:2). These fortresses were set up by those foreigners taking advantage of the chaos in the land. The claiming of territory by foreigners in the wake of the Assyrian threat is suggested by such texts as Isa 1:7.
Another reference to the cities of the land is found in Isa 27:10-11, “the fortified city is solitary” (RSV). These cities, after they had been sacked by the Assyrian army, were left abandoned, and since many of them would have been “fenced” and of wooden construction, their fate was to be used for firewood (Isa 27:11).
5) Jerusalem is described as “the lofty (bgf) city” with “inhabitants of the height” (Isa 26:5, RSV). This city is laid low, but it is cast down in order for the poor and the needy to trample it under foot (Isa 26:6). In this kind of language, Isaiah is not describing the effects of a hostile enemy, but the replacement of corrupt rulers who had sought appeasement with Assyria and who had persecuted the poor and the needy. This interpretation is suggested by the intertextual links with Isa 2:11, 17 which state that “the haughtiness (bgf)” of men shall be humbled “in that day”. The description “lofty city” means a “haughty city”, a city ruled by haughty men. In the day that the Lord delivers Jerusalem, these men will be humbled in the dust—their policy of appeasement shown to be a false policy.
In contrast to these men, Isaiah uses the terms “the poor” and “the needy” as ciphers for those whom the Lord views with favour (Isa 3:14-15, 10:2, 14:32, 32:7)
6) Oracles about the survival of the city are included in Isaiah 24-27. Thus Yahweh will reign from Mount Zion (Isa 24:23); and a feast will be celebrated on the mountain of the Lord (Isa 25:6-8). Oracles are also included that suggest that the people in the city wait for salvation in that place (Isa 25:9, 26:1-4). The juxtaposition of these oracles of hope alongside oracles of doom suggests an imminent expectation of deliverance of the city.
For these reasons, we take Isaiah 24-27 as descriptive of the Assyrian Crisis.
[1] See E. Kissane, The Book of Isaiah (Dublin: Browne & Nolion, 1941), 267, 303, and J. E. Watts, Isaiah 1-33, (Waco: Word, 1989), 313-351.
[2] For a discussion of the identity of the city see A. van der Kooij, “The Cities of Isaiah 24-27 according to the Vulgate, Targum and Septuagint” in, Studies in Isaiah 24-27, (eds. H. J. Bosman & H. van Grol; Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2000), 183-188.
Is Pentecost Happening Today? (Part 7) – Tongues Shall Cease