Isaiah 2:16
against every ship of Tarshish, and against every stately vessel.
against every ship of Tarshish
The phrase "against every ship of Tarshish" refers to the ships that were known for their long voyages and trade, often associated with wealth and commerce. The Hebrew word for "Tarshish" is תַּרְשִׁישׁ (Tarshish), which is believed to refer to a distant port or region, possibly in Spain or the western Mediterranean. In the biblical context, Tarshish represents the pinnacle of human achievement in trade and exploration. The mention of God being "against" these ships symbolizes His judgment against human pride and reliance on material wealth. Historically, these ships were large and capable of carrying significant cargo, symbolizing the economic power and self-sufficiency that nations and individuals often place above their reliance on God. This serves as a reminder that no matter how advanced or prosperous human endeavors become, they are ultimately subject to God's sovereign will.

and every stately vessel
The phrase "and every stately vessel" emphasizes the grandeur and majesty of human creations. The Hebrew word for "stately" is שָׂכִי (saki), which can be translated as "beautiful" or "majestic." This term highlights the pride and splendor associated with human achievements and constructions. In the context of Isaiah's prophecy, these vessels represent the epitome of human craftsmanship and the pride that often accompanies such accomplishments. The judgment against these vessels signifies God's opposition to human arrogance and the tendency to idolize our creations. It serves as a powerful reminder that all human glory is fleeting and that true majesty belongs to God alone. The historical context of this passage reflects a time when nations took great pride in their naval prowess and the ability to dominate trade routes, yet Isaiah's prophecy underscores the futility of such pride in the face of divine judgment.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Isaiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah's ministry spanned the reigns of several kings of Judah. He is known for his prophecies concerning both judgment and redemption.

2. Tarshish
A distant port city, often associated with wealth and trade. It is frequently mentioned in the Bible as a symbol of maritime power and economic prosperity.

3. Ships of Tarshish
These ships symbolize human pride and reliance on material wealth and trade. They were known for their grandeur and were a source of national pride.

4. Stately Vessels
These represent human achievements and the pride associated with them. They are symbols of human ingenuity and the desire for self-sufficiency.

5. Judgment Day
The context of Isaiah 2 speaks of the "Day of the Lord," a time of divine judgment against human pride and idolatry.
Teaching Points
Human Pride and Its Consequences
Isaiah 2:16 warns against the pride that comes from human achievements and wealth. Believers are reminded to place their trust in God rather than in material possessions.

The Futility of Materialism
The ships of Tarshish symbolize the futility of relying on material wealth. Christians are encouraged to seek eternal treasures rather than temporary riches.

God's Sovereignty Over Nations
The judgment against the ships of Tarshish demonstrates God's control over nations and their economies. Believers should find comfort in God's sovereignty and justice.

Preparation for the Day of the Lord
Isaiah's prophecy serves as a reminder to live in readiness for the Day of the Lord, focusing on spiritual growth and obedience to God.

Humility and Dependence on God
The passage calls for humility and a recognition of our dependence on God. Christians are encouraged to cultivate a humble heart and rely on God's provision.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the imagery of the "ships of Tarshish" in Isaiah 2:16 reflect human pride and self-reliance?

2. In what ways can we see the futility of materialism in today's world, and how does this passage challenge us to live differently?

3. How does the theme of God's sovereignty in Isaiah 2:16 provide comfort and assurance in uncertain times?

4. What practical steps can we take to prepare for the "Day of the Lord" as described in Isaiah 2?

5. How can we cultivate humility and dependence on God in our daily lives, avoiding the pitfalls of pride and self-sufficiency?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Ezekiel 27
This chapter describes the fall of Tyre, a city known for its trade and wealth, similar to Tarshish. It highlights the futility of relying on material wealth.

Revelation 18
The fall of Babylon is depicted, emphasizing the judgment against economic systems that oppose God. This parallels the judgment against the ships of Tarshish.

Proverbs 16:18
This verse speaks about pride leading to destruction, which aligns with the theme of Isaiah 2:16, where human pride is judged.
Bad Pictures Should be AvoidedT. De Witt Talmage, D. D.Isaiah 2:16
Gustave Dore's PicturesT. De Witt Talmage, D. D.Isaiah 2:16
PicturesT. De Witt Talmage, D. D.Isaiah 2:16
The Far-Reaching Influence of ArtJ. H. Hitchens, D. D.Isaiah 2:16
The Proper Use of ArtJ. H. Hitchens, D. D.Isaiah 2:16
The Prostitution of ArtT. De Witt Talmage, D. D.Isaiah 2:16
The Value of Bible PicturesT. De Witt Talmage, D. D.Isaiah 2:16
Retribution and its ResultsW. Clarkson Isaiah 2:6-21
Man HumiliatedR. Macculloch.Isaiah 2:12-17
Scepticism Discomfited by Christ's AdventC. J. Vaughan, D. D.Isaiah 2:12-17
Ships of Tarshish AreA. B. Davidson, LL. D.Isaiah 2:12-17
The Day of the LordSir E. Strachey, Bart.Isaiah 2:12-17
The Day of the Lord and the Majestic Beauty of NatureF. Delitzsch.Isaiah 2:12-17
The Day of the Lord Upon the Proud and LoftyR. Macculloch.Isaiah 2:12-17
The Lord of HostsR. Macculloch.Isaiah 2:12-17
The Lord's Day for the ProudW. Clarkson Isaiah 2:12-17
The Day of JudgmentE. Johnson Isaiah 2:12-22
People
Amoz, Isaiah, Jacob, Tarshish
Places
Bashan, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Tarshish, Zion
Topics
Beautiful, Boats, Craft, Delightful, Desirable, Fair, Imagery, Pictures, Pleasant, Ship, Ships, Stately, Tarshish, Vessel, Works
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 2:16

     5517   seafaring
     5587   trade

Isaiah 2:11-17

     5849   exaltation

Isaiah 2:12-17

     5003   human race, and God

Isaiah 2:12-18

     5315   fortifications

Library
For Godly Sorrow Worketh Repentance to Salvation, not to be Repented Of; but the Sorrow of the World Worketh Death. 2 Corinthians 7:10.
In this chapter the apostle refers to another epistle which he had formerly written to the church at Corinth, on a certain subject, in which they were greatly to blame. He speaks here of the effect that it; had, in bringing them to true repentance. They sorrowed after a godly sort. This was the evidence that their repentance was genuine. "For behold this self-same thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation,
Charles G. Finney—Lectures to Professing Christians

Sirs, what must I do to be Saved? and they Said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Who of God is Made unto us Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption, Acts 26:30, 31, with 1 Corinthians 1:30.
There can be no objection to putting these texts together in this manner as only a clause in the first of them is omitted, which is not essential to the sense, and which is irrelevant to my present purpose. In the passage first quoted, the apostle tells the inquiring jailer, who wished to know what he must do to be saved, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." And in the other he adds the explanatory remark, telling what a Savior Jesus Christ is, "Who of God is made unto us wisdom,
Charles G. Finney—Lectures to Professing Christians

A vision of the Latter-Day Glories
We shall not, to-day, look through all the dim vista of Zion's tribulations. We will leave the avenue of troubles and of trials through which the church has passed and is to pass, and we will come, by faith, to the last days; and may God help us while we indulge in a glorious vision of that which is to be ere long, when "the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it." The prophet saw two
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

But to Know Whether Christianity Wants, or Admits of War...
But to know whether Christianity wants, or admits of war, Christianity is to be considered as in its right state. Now the true state of the world turned Christian, is thus described by the great gospel-prophet, who showed what a change it was to make in the fallen state of the world. "It shall come to pass," says he, "in the last days," that is, in the days of Christendom, "that the mountain of the Lord's house" (his Christian kingdom) "shall be established in the top of the mountains, and all nations
William Law—An Humble, Affectionate, and Earnest Address to the Clergy

Sweet is the Solace of Thy Love,
"I, even I, am He that comforteth you." -- Isaiah 2:12 Sweet is the solace of Thy love, My Heavenly Friend, to me, While through the hidden way of faith I journey home with Thee, Learning by quiet thankfulness As a dear child to be. Though from the shadow of Thy peace My feet would often stray, Thy mercy follows all my steps, And will not turn away; Yea, thou wilt comfort me at last, As none beneath Thee may. Oft in a dark and lonely place, I hush my hastened breath, To hear the comfortable words
Miss A. L. Waring—Hymns and Meditations

General Remarks on the History of Missions in this Age.
THE operations of Christianity are always radically the same, because they flow from its essential character, and its relations to human nature; yet it makes some difference whether it is received amongst nations to whom it was previously quite unknown, either plunged in barbarism or endowed with a certain degree of civilization, proceeding from some other form of religion, or whether it attaches itself to an already existing Christian tradition. In the latter case, it will indeed have to combat
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

The Condition of the World when Our Lord Returns Proves that his Second Advent Cannot be Post-Millennial.
God's Word makes known the exact conditions which are to obtain here immediately preceding the Redeemer's Return. The Holy Spirit has given a number of graphic portrayals of the world as it will exist when our Lord comes back to it. One of these pictures is to be found in Isaiah 2--"For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

A Clearing-Up Storm in the Realm
(Revelation, Chapters vi.-viii.) "God Almighty! King of nations! earth Thy footstool, heaven Thy throne! Thine the greatness, power, and glory, Thine the kingdom, Lord, alone! Life and death are in Thy keeping, and Thy will ordaineth all: From the armies of Thy heavens to an unseen insect's fall. "Reigning, guiding, all-commanding, ruling myriad worlds of light; Now exalting, now abasing, none can stay Thy hand of might! Working all things by Thy power, by the counsel of Thy will. Thou art God!
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation

"And Truly Our Fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And These Things Write we unto You, that Your Joy May Be
1 John i. 3, 4.--"And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." It was sin that did first break off that fellowship that was between God and man, and cut off that blessed society in which the honour and happiness of man consisted. But that fundamental bond being loosed, it hath likewise untied all the links of society of men among themselves, and made such a general dispersion and dissipation of mankind,
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Place of Jesus in the History of the World.
The great event of the History of the world is the revolution by which the noblest portions of humanity have passed from the ancient religions, comprised under the vague name of Paganism, to a religion founded on the Divine Unity, the Trinity, and the Incarnation of the Son of God. It has taken nearly a thousand years to accomplish this conversion. The new religion had itself taken at least three hundred years in its formation. But the origin of the revolution in question with which we have to do
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

Completion Op the Fifth Continental Journey.
1849-50. The disorganized state of Germany presented a serious obstacle to John and Martha Yeardley's resuming their labors on the Continent. FROM JOHN YEARDLEY TO JOHN KITCHING. Scarborough, 6 mo. 23, 1849. We spent two days at Malton with our dear friends Ann and Esther Priestman, in their delightful new abode on the bank of the river: we were comforted in being at meeting with them on First-day. On Second-day we came to Scarborough, and soon procured two rooms near our own former residence. The
John Yeardley—Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel

The Image and the Stone
'This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 37. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 38. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath He given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. 39. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Upbringing of Jewish Children
The tenderness of the bond which united Jewish parents to their children appears even in the multiplicity and pictorialness of the expressions by which the various stages of child-life are designated in the Hebrew. Besides such general words as "ben" and "bath"--"son" and "daughter"--we find no fewer than nine different terms, each depicting a fresh stage of life. The first of these simply designates the babe as the newly--"born"--the "jeled," or, in the feminine, "jaldah"--as in Exodus 2:3, 6, 8.
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Concerning Salutations and Recreations, &C.
Concerning Salutations and Recreations, &c. [1273] Seeing the chief end of all religion is to redeem men from the spirit and vain conversation of this world and to lead into inward communion with God, before whom if we fear always we are accounted happy; therefore all the vain customs and habits thereof, both in word and deed, are to be rejected and forsaken by those who come to this fear; such as taking off the hat to a man, the bowings and cringings of the body, and such other salutations of that
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

The General Resurrection
Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. A n object, great in itself, and which we know to be so, will appear small to us, if we view it from a distance. The stars, for example, in our view, are but as little specks
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

Sennacherib (705-681 B. C. )
The struggle of Sennacherib with Judaea and Egypt--Destruction of Babylon. Sennacherib either failed to inherit his father's good fortune, or lacked his ability.* He was not deficient in military genius, nor in the energy necessary to withstand the various enemies who rose against him at widely removed points of his frontier, but he had neither the adaptability of character nor the delicate tact required to manage successfully the heterogeneous elements combined under his sway. * The two principal
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8

This Question I Should Briefly Solve, if I Should Say...
24. This question I should briefly solve, if I should say, because I should also justly say, that we must believe the Apostle. For he himself knew why in the Churches of the Gentiles it was not meet that a venal Gospel were carried about; not finding fault with his fellow-apostles, but distinguishing his own ministry; because they, without doubt by admonition of the Holy Ghost, had so distributed among them the provinces of evangelizing, that Paul and Barnabas should go unto the Gentiles, and they
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

The Extent of Messiah's Spiritual Kingdom
The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever! T he Kingdom of our Lord in the heart, and in the world, is frequently compared to a building or house, of which He Himself is both the Foundation and the Architect (Isaiah 28:16 and 54:11, 12) . A building advances by degrees (I Corinthians 3:9; Ephesians 2:20-22) , and while it is in an unfinished state, a stranger cannot, by viewing its present appearance, form an accurate judgment
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

The Prophet Micah.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. Micah signifies: "Who is like Jehovah;" and by this name, the prophet is consecrated to the incomparable God, just as Hosea was to the helping God, and Nahum to the comforting God. He prophesied, according to the inscription, under Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. We are not, however, entitled, on this account, to dissever his prophecies, and to assign particular discourses to the reign of each of these kings. On the contrary, the entire collection forms only one whole. At
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Things to be Meditated on as Thou Goest to the Church.
1. That thou art going to the court of the Lord, and to speak with the great God by prayer; and to hear his majesty speak unto thee by his word; and to receive his blessing on thy soul, and thy honest labour, in the six days past. 2. Say with thyself by the way--"As the hart brayeth for the rivers of water, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, even for the living God: When shall I come and appear before the presence of God? For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Subterraneous Places. Mines. Caves.
Thus having taken some notice of the superficies of the land, let us a little search into its bowels. You may divide the subterraneous country into three parts: the metal mines, the caves, and the places of burial. This land was eminently noted for metal mines, so that "its stones," in very many places, "were iron, and out of its hills was digged brass," Deuteronomy 8:9. From these gain accrued to the Jews: but to the Christians, not seldom slavery and misery; being frequently condemned hither by
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

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