Isaiah 18
1Ah, the land of the rustling of wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia; 2that sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people terrible from their beginning onward, a nation that meteth out and treadeth down, whose land the rivers divide! 3All ye inhabitants of the world, and ye dwellers on the earth, when an ensign is lifted up on the mountains, see ye; and when the trumpet is blown, hear ye. 4For thus hath Jehovah said unto me, I will be still, and I will behold in my dwelling-place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. 5For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becometh a ripening grape, he will cut off the sprigs with pruning-hooks, and the spreading branches will he take away and cut down. 6They shall be left together unto the ravenous birds of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth; and the ravenous birds shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. 7In that time shall a present be brought unto Jehovah of hosts from a people tall and smooth, even from a people terrible from their beginning onward, a nation that meteth out and treadeth down, whose land the rivers divide, to the place of the name of Jehovah of hosts, the mount Zion.
What is Isaiah 18 about?
Beyond the rivers of Cush a land of whirring wings sends its ambassadors in vessels of reed, and the prophet bids all the world watch for the LORD's lifted signal. He looks on from His dwelling as quiet and clear as heat in sunshine, waiting until the moment to cut off the proud sprigs and leave them to the birds and beasts of the field. Afterward a people tall and scattered will bring their tribute to Mount Zion, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts. God's unhurried sovereignty over the nations and the far-off peoples' homage to Zion anticipate the gathering of all lands to Him.
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 18