The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?
A voice from Edom calls across the dark to Israel's watchman, and asks twice how far the night has run. The answer is only a few words long, yet it holds a sunrise, a deeper darkness, and an open door.
The names in this short prophecy carry their own history.
The burden of Dumah is compressed into very few words. He was, as Genesis 25:14 shows, of the stock of Ishmael, and Seir was a dwelling-place of the sons of Esau. These "burdens" on the various peoples were bringing upon them a "night" of God's displeasure. What was the prospect that lay before them? The answer was indeed prophetic. A morning was surely coming, but a night was coming also. The morning will be for those who fear God and are subject to Him: the night for those who are His foes.
The question is not neutral. Edom had a long-standing quarrel with God's people, and the sneer strikes at their God.
Dumah, or Edom, has a lasting hatred against God's people. His people may be in an extremely poor state, and the world says with insolence against them, Where is your God? Here is the answer of the Spirit of God to this insolence, in verse 12: "What time of the night?" The Edomites spoke against Jerusalem. They did so not because it was corrupt, but just because it was the city of the great King.
The mockery works by pointing at a warning that has not yet landed.
The divine warning having come to Dumah, his reply is to pour scorn upon the message, for in mockery he says, "Watchman, what time of the night? Watchman, what time of the night?" It was as much as to say: we have heard of the coming judgment for a long time now, but it has not come yet. What have you to say about it now? In the Old Testament, Dumah stands for the people Peter writes about in the New Testament: "knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days… They will say, 'Where is the promise of His coming?'" (2 Peter 3:3-4). For such people the delay only hardens their unbelief. Yet the delay is God's mercy, giving them time for repentance.
A short answer meets a proud question. It carries both a warning and an offer.
The Edomite cry is one of proud scorn and self-security. The brief answer is full of serious warning. Let them not trust to hopes of the bright morning; for the dark and dangerous night would certainly come. Even so, a door was still open for repentance. Let them "return, come." How great is the patience of God! He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. The world may insult all through the night, but the morning will surely come. But there is no morning for the earth until He comes, Who was and is the true Light.
The doubling of the words is not filler.
"Watchman, what time of the night? Watchman, what time of the night?" The enquirer repeats his question so as to impress us with its solemnity. Man's day, already so long, has been but a dark night since he fell into sin. It pleased God to give glimpses of light now and then, and they are very refreshing when we find them. But only faith sees them clearly.
Isaiah's answer is not the last word on the subject. A second watchman speaks from the other side of the cross, and the two are held together.
Another (and he, the anointed apostle for these last times) sent to us from the risen Son of man, lifted above the night of chaos and of ruin, and seated in the glory of God, cries, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand, let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." The prophet and the apostle are each right, and in the mind of the Lord, in their own work and season, giving out these different lessons to the people of God.
The watchman does not end with the forecast. He ends with an invitation to the very man who mocked.
Until the judgment comes, the way is still open for the mocker to repent. So the watchman adds, "if you will inquire, inquire: return, come." God is not a hard Master. He delights in forgiveness. Here, through His servant the watchman, He invited the mocker to "inquire." Does he wish to know about the Lord? Is he really interested in having the blessing of God? If so, the way is still open, he can enquire of God, and can return to God. Whatever his attitude may be, God still invites him to "come."
The answer names two outcomes and no third. That forces a decision.
There is the morning of joy and the night of grief. A man may ask in scorn, or he may ask in earnest, "Watchman, what time of the night?" But the brief and full reply is "The morning comes." It is a morning of unusual brightness. Yet a night of deep darkness is coming too, a night of terrible darkness… Do you hesitate to make up your mind? Which is your future to be, a morning of joy, or a night of weeping? It must be the one or the other. There is no middle place, no middle condition.
- Night — Since the fall, man's long day has been a dark night; the repeated question is meant to press how serious that is.
- Scorn — Edom's call is mockery. It is the voice that asks where the promise of His coming is, and the delay only hardens unbelief.
- Morning — The watchman promises a morning, but there is no morning for the earth until the true Light comes.
- Also the night — The same answer warns of darkness for those who stay God's foes. Morning and night are the only two futures. There is no middle place.
- Come — Before either arrives, God's last word to the mocker is an invitation to enquire, return, and come.
The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night if ye will inquire, inquire; return, come.
Isaiah 21 collects short messages of judgment against the nations. This one runs only two verses. A voice calls out of Seir and asks a watchman how much of the night is left. The watchman's short reply cuts both ways. So who gets the morning, and who gets the night?
The names in the verse before this one tell us who is speaking. Seir is Edomite country, outside Israel.
The burden of Dumah takes up very few words. He was, as Genesis 25:14 shows, a descendant of Ishmael, and Seir was a home of the sons of Esau. These "burdens" on the various peoples were bringing on them a "night" of God's displeasure.
The question comes twice, and not from anxiety. Commentators read it as a taunt: these people have heard warnings for years and seen nothing happen.
God's warning came to Dumah, and his answer is to pour scorn on the message. In mockery he says, "Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?" He might as well have said: we have heard about the coming judgment for a long time now, and it has not come yet. What have you to say about it now? In the Old Testament Dumah stands for the people Peter writes about in the New Testament: "scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing... They will say, 'Where is the promise of His coming?'" For such people the delay hardens their unbelief. Yet the delay is God's mercy, giving them time to repent.
The watchman's reply does not match the mood of the question. His few words split his hearers in two.
"Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?" says Edom. "The morning comes" for the faithful, says the answer of faith, "and also the night" for the scorners. "If you will inquire, inquire." The answer of God is here, "Return, come." The answer is magnificent.
The scorner assumes the bright morning is already his. One writer ties the morning to a person and to an age still to come.
The Edomite cry is one of proud scorn and self-confidence. The short answer is loaded with serious warning. They must not trust their hopes of a bright morning, for the dark and dangerous night will surely come... Let the world insult as much as it likes during the night; the morning will still come. But there is no morning for the earth until He comes who was and is the true Light. It will be His to judge the inhabited earth... It will be an age of government, when the One whose right it is reigns. He alone can put down all evil.
Some writers apply the exchange to our own time. They hear in the question the voice of people who feel the dark and want out of it.
It is night indeed, but the darkness is not total... But we do confess that the present time is night already. So we get the anxious question, "What of the night... what of the night?" This is the cry of people who suffer in the dark but want to be out of it. The watchman tells them the night is nearly over, the day is near, their rescue is close.
The invitation to ask is not an invitation to guess. It comes with a method and a test.
We should weigh the last words of the oracle, "If you will inquire, inquire." People say, This is a subject on which opinions differ, and that is their excuse for ignoring it. Yet there are sure and safe ways to inquire. Sit before God's word. Let it rule all your thoughts... We are not saying you should reject everything you hear. We are saying you should test it all by the Scriptures of truth.
The oracle ends with two words spoken to a mocker. (The ESV renders them "come back again.") The door is not shut on the man who has been sneering.
Until the judgment comes, the way is still open for the mocker to repent. So the watchman adds, "if you will inquire, inquire: return, come." God is not a hard Master. He delights in forgiveness. Here, through His servant the watchman, He invited the mocker to "inquire." Does he wish to know about the Lord? Is he really interested in having the blessing of God? If so, the way is still open, he can inquire of God, and can return to God. Whatever his attitude may be, God still invites him to "come."
- Scorn asks. The question comes out of Seir, from Edom's side, and it mocks a judgment that seems slow in coming.
- Faith answers. The watchman's short reply splits his hearers: morning for the faithful, and also night for the scorners.
- Morning waits for Christ. There is no morning for the earth until the true Light comes to reign, and scorners must not count on it.
- Night is now. Writers apply the same night to the present, and the same comfort: the night is nearly over, deliverance is near.
- Mercy still speaks. The oracle ends with an invitation, not a verdict: inquire, and return. God leaves the mocker a door.