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Isaiah 18 Bible study: I will be still
While ambassadors go by sea and swift messengers are sent (18:2), and the whole world is told to look and listen (18:3), the LORD says, "I will be still, and I will see in my dwelling place" (18:4). The chapter that opens with "Ah" (18:1) ends at Mount Zion with a present brought to the LORD of Armies from a people described in nearly the same Hebrew words as 18:2's (18:7).
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“For the LORD said to me, “I will be still, and I will see in my dwelling place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.””
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“Isaiah 18:7 describes a people with the words "tall and smooth", as Isaiah 18:2 does.”
Is that in Isaiah 18, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Hurry, then stillness
The chapter opens in motion. A land "that sends ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus on the waters" (18:2), and a call: "Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth" (18:2) (tap ambassadors, papyrus). Then the whole world is told to watch and listen: "All you inhabitants of the world, and you dwellers on the earth, when a banner is lifted up on the mountains, look! When the trumpet is blown, listen!" (18:3) (tap banner, trumpet). Here is what almost everyone misses: what "the LORD said to me" (18:4) is not a call to hurry. It is, "I will be still, and I will see in my dwelling place" (18:4) (tap still, see, dwelling place). In chapter 7 the message the LORD gave for Ahaz began, "Be careful, and keep calm" (7:4), and keep calm is the same verb. Here the LORD says it of himself. The chapter doesn't say what the messengers carry, or why they are sent.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Isaiah 18
That was a taste
The rest of Isaiah 18 is waiting in Favor
- Before the harvest
- The same words, twice
- For the LORD said to me
- Beyond the rivers of Cush, again
- A banner to see, a trumpet to hear
- 6 questions as you read
- 13 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Isaiah 18 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
שָׁקַטshaqatsay sha-KAT
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "be quiet, undisturbed". Strong's: "to repose (usually figurative)". "I will be still, and I will see in my dwelling place" (18:4). Isaiah has the verb seven times in Hebrew, and here the LORD says it of himself. In chapter 7 it was in the message the LORD gave for Ahaz: "Be careful, and keep calm" (Isaiah 7:4). In 62:1 it stands with not: "for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest" (Isaiah 62:1).
For your group
Isaiah 18 Bible study questions
- 1"I will be still, and I will see in my dwelling place" (18:4). When God has seemed still to you, what helped you keep believing that he sees?
- 2"when a banner is lifted up on the mountains, look! When the trumpet is blown, listen!" (18:3). What helps you notice what God is doing, and what gets in the way?
- 3The chapter ends with "a present" brought "to the LORD of Armies" (18:7). What is one thing you could offer God this week in your time, your attention or your thanks?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Isaiah 18 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home