Isaiah's World

Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow. -Aesop

To read any book in the Bible serially, it is hard to get the full impact of its idiosyncrasies. This collection gives us a sense of how superstitious Isaiah and his contemporaries perceived the world. Because of the limitations of travel it was a small world bordered by Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Mediteranean Sea, Red Sea, Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea. Who could imagine then that the sky was infinitely big? From appearances alone, heaven looks in my estimation to be no more than fifty miles high surrounding earth.

The protagonist in the first chapter of Genesis is a conscious being whose words create order from the primeval waters. On command, Yahweh divided the primeval waters into two halves, with the upper waters held up by a firmament, and earth floating on the lower waters. On command he made the sun, moon and stars attached to the firmament like ceiling lights. On command he made life. In Isaiah's world, nothing moves unless Yahweh commands it. The heaven in Isaiah's world was not a supernatural heaven; it is the same heaven we see every day.

In Isaiah's world we see the roots of ancient astrology, the belief that God controls the movement of heavenly bodies. It is first mentioned in verse 14 where it says to let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens and let them be for signs and for seasons. More about signs later.

¹⁴And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, (Gen. 1:14)

Our brains are constructed to recognze patterns. Not knowing the modern principle of casuality, ancients tried to make sense out of the world by associating patterns they did not know with patterns they knew. On this page we see how Isaiah associated natural phenomenon with the human form. This is the root of every theistic religion I am aware of. The writing style can be characterized as personification, metaphor and anthropomorphism.

This page addresses one issue as to why the Bible is not credible as the source of a presumed kind of a God. Just because Isaiah believed he was God's mouthpiece, that doesn't prove it to be so. The Bible reflects the ignorance and superstition of the age when it was written. Two thousand years of accumulated knowledge can't be turned back.

²⁰but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken. (Isa. 1:20)

To get a sense of Isaiah's world, try to forget what your education has taught you and just observe with your eyes.

The Underworld

He sees dead bodies disappear into the ground. He sees heavenly bodies disappear nightly below the horizon to return the next day. What is there to think, except that the dead go under the world as in underworld. This gives us the definition for "Sheol" and "Pit."

Let a sign of Yahweh be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.

¹¹"Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven." (Isa. 7:11)

Sheol beneath is stirred up. Your pomp is brought down to Sheol.

⁹Sheol beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come, it rouses the shades to greet you, all who were leaders of the earth; it raises from their thrones all who were kings of the nations.
¹¹Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, the sound of your harps; maggots are the bed beneath you, and worms are your covering.(Isa. 14:9, 11)

You are brought down to Sheol to the depths of the Pit.

¹⁵But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit.¹⁶Those who see you will stare at you, and ponder over you: 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, (Isa. 14:15-16)

Down to the stones of the Pit

¹⁹but you are cast out, away from your sepulchre, like a loathed untimely birth, clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the Pit, like a dead body trodden under foot. (Isa. 14:19)

The dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.

¹⁹Thy dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For thy dew is a dew of light, and on the land of the shades thou wilt let it fall. (Isa. 26:19)

We have made a covenant with death and with Sheol

¹⁴Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers, who rule this people in Jerusalem!¹⁵Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement; when the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter" (Isa. 28:14-15)

I am consigned to the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years

¹⁰I said, In the noontide of my days I must depart; I am consigned to the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years. (Isa. 38:10)

For Sheol cannot thank thee

¹⁷Lo, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but thou hast held back my life from the pit of destruction, for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.¹⁸For Sheol cannot thank thee, death cannot praise thee; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for thy faithfulness (Isa. 38:17-18)

He shall not die and go down to the Pit

¹⁴He who is bowed down shall speedily be released; he shall not die and go down to the Pit, neither shall his bread fail. (Isa. 51:14)

Down to Sheol

⁹You journeyed to Molech with oil and multiplied your perfumes; you sent your envoys far off, and sent down even to Sheol. (Isa. 57:9)

Earth

Flat earth on foundations

An earth that is spread out implies it is flat.

²⁴Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: "I am the LORD, who made all things, who stretched out the heavens alone, who spread out the earth-Who was with me? (Isa. 44:24)

⁵Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: (Isa. 42:5)

Earth has four corners.

¹²He will raise an ensign for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. (Isa. 10-12)

¹²He will raise an ensign for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. (Isa. 11:12)

Earth has foundations -they are probably at the four corners.

¹⁸He who flees at the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit; and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble. (Isa. 24:18)

²¹Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?(Isa. 40:21)

¹³My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together. (Isa. 48:13)

¹⁶And I have put my words in your mouth, and hid you in the shadow of my hand, stretching out the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, 'You are my people.'" (Isa. 51:16)

Earth will be shaken out of its place

¹³Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the LORD of hosts in the day of his fierce anger. (Isa. 13:13)

Earth is violently shaken; it staggers like a drunken man

¹⁹The earth is utterly broken, the earth is rent asunder, the earth is violently shaken.²⁰The earth staggers like a drunken man, it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again. (Isa. 24:19-20)

Earth has ends.

From the ends of the earth

²⁶He will raise a signal for a nation afar off, and whistle for it from the ends of the earth; and lo, swiftly, speedily it comes! (Isa. 5:26)

²⁸Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary, his understanding is unsearchable. (Isa. 40:28)

⁵The coastlands have seen and are afraid, the ends of the earth tremble; they have drawn near and come. (Isa. 41:5)

⁹you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, "You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off" (Isa. 41:9)

¹⁰Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the end of the earth! Let the sea roar and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants. (Isa. 42:10)

⁶I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, (Isa. 43:6)

²²"Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. (Isa. 45:22)

²⁰Go forth from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it forth to the end of the earth; (Isa. 48:20)

⁶he says: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." (Isa. 49:6)

¹⁰The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. (Isa. 52:10)

¹¹Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him." (Isa. 62:11)

Personified earth

Did Isaiah personify Earth or did he mean the people of the earth? Verses 24:4 and 34:1 below suggest he personified earth just as he personified the heavens as illustrated below.

Earth mourns and withers; the heavens languish together with the earth

⁴The earth mourns and withers, the world languishes and withers; the heavens languish together with the earth. (Isa. 24:4)

Let the earth listen and all that fills it. -"all that fills it" would include people, leaving earth to listen

¹Draw near, O nations, to hear, and hearken, O peoples! Let the earth listen, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes from it. (Isa. 34:1)

Give ear O earth

²Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken: "Sons have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. (Isa. 1:2)

He rises to terrify the earth

¹⁹And men shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the glory of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. (Isa. 2:19)

The earth is full of his glory

³And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." (6:3)

Exult O earth

¹³Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! for The LORD has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted. (Isa. 49:13)

Earth shall be full of knowledge

⁹They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. (Isa. 11:9)

New Earth

Apocalypticism appears in Isaiah.

¹Behold, the LORD will lay waste the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants. (Isa. 24:1)

¹⁷"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. (Isa. 65:17)

²²"For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, says the LORD; so shall your descendants and your name remain. (Isa. 66:22)

Natural Disasters

Yahweh has control over natural disasters.

²⁵Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and smote them, and the mountains quaked; and their corpses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away and his hand is stretched out still. (Isa. 5:25)

⁶you will be visited by the LORD of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire. (Isa. 29:6)

Yahweh will bring thunder, earthquake, great noise,

⁶you will be visited by the LORD of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire. (Isa. 29:6)

The mountains quake

¹O that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at thy presence (Isa. 64:1)

Heaven

Heaven has ends

⁵They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, the LORD and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole earth. (Isa. 13:5)

The heavens are stretched out like a curtain and cover earth like a tent. The "circle of the earth" defines the Zodiac.

²²It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; (Isa. 40:22)

The heavens are spread out

¹³My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together. (Isa. 48:13)

¹³and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and fear continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor? (Isa. 51:13)

Heaven has windows

As a side note, we see the play of windows in the Noah's Ark fable.

¹¹In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.
¹²And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. (Gen. 7:11-12)

²the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, (Gen. 8:2)

Yahweh clothes the heavens with blackness

³I clothe the heavens with blackness, and make sackcloth their covering." (Isa. 50:3)

Heaven is Yahweh's throne

¹Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool; what is the house which you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? (Isa. 66:1)

Host of heaven

"Host of Heaven" refers to the personified stars of heaven.

The heavens sing

²³Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it; shout, O depths of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and will be glorified in Israel. (Isa. 44:23)

¹³Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! for The LORD has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted. (Isa. 49:13)

The heavens tremble

²Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken: "Sons have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. (Isa. 1:2)

¹³Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the LORD of hosts in the day of his fierce anger. (Isa. 13:13)

The heavens languish

⁴The earth mourns and withers, the world languishes and withers; the heavens languish together with the earth (Isa. 24:4)

Yahweh will punish the host of heaven

²¹On that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth.(Isa. 24:21)

The host of heaven shall rot away

⁴All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree.
⁵For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom, upon the people I have doomed. (Isa. 34:4-5)

The host have names

²⁶Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing. (Isa. 40:26)

Sun, moon and stars

Yahweh has controlling power over personified celestial bodies.

The stars and their constellations, the sun and moon will be dark.

¹⁰For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising and the moon will not shed its light. (Isa. 13:10)

The king of Babylon has his own star, the Day Star, son of Dawn. This probably describes Venus which appears brighter than the stars in the early morning at certain times of the year. In verse 13, the ascension to heaven is reminiscent of Jesus' ascent to heaven.

⁴you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:
¹²"How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!¹³You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far north; (Isa. 14:4, 12-13)

As an aside, the King James calls him Lucifer.

¹²How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! (Isa. 14:12 KJV)

The moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed.

²³Then the moon will be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before his elders he will manifest his glory. (Isa. 24:23)

The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold. -It's an impossibility.

²⁶Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the LORD binds up the hurt of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow. (Isa. 30:26)

He made the sun turn back.

⁸Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps." So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined. (Isa. 38:8)

The stars will fall out of the sky.

⁴All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree. (Isa. 34:4)

¹³You are wearied with your many counsels; let them stand forth and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at the new moons predict what shall befall you. (Isa. 47:13)

The sun shall be no more and the moon will be dark.

¹⁹The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you by night; but the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. (Isa. 60:19)

The sun shall go down no more, nor will the moon withdraw itself.

²⁰Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended. (Isa. 60:20)

In Deuteronomy, worshipping the sun or the moon or the host of heaven was punishable by stoning to death.

²"If there is found among you, within any of your towns which the LORD your God gives you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, in transgressing his covenant,
³and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden,
⁴and it is told you and you hear of it; then you shall inquire diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abominable thing has been done in Israel,
⁵then you shall bring forth to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones.
⁶On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses he that is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
⁷The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from the midst of you. (Deut. 17:2-7)

Cloud

"Cloud" symbolizes the Milky Way.

⁵Then the LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy and a pavilion. (Isa. 4:5)

Yahweh rides on a swift cloud. This is reminiscent of the New Testament prophecies of Jesus returning on a cloud.

¹An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. (Isa. 19:1)

The Milky Way can be thought of as the highway to heaven, the "Holy Way" because it cuts a wide swath straight up from the ground.

⁸And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not pass over it, and fools shall not err therein. (Isa. 35:8)

Monsters

They weren't on the ground; they were in heaven.

A seraphim is a serpent with wings.

²Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
³And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." (Isa. 6:2)

⁶Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. (Isa. 6:6)

⁶An oracle on the beasts of the Negeb. Through a land of trouble and anguish, from where come the lioness and the lion, the viper and the flying serpent, they carry their riches on the backs of asses, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people that cannot profit them. (Isa. 30:6)

²⁹"Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you, that the rod which smote you is broken, for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder, and its fruit will be a flying serpent. (Isa. 14:29)

Yahweh will slay Leviathan, the twisting dragon in the sea.

¹In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea. (Isa. 27:1)

A satyr is a mythical creature with the ears and tail of a horse, the trunk of a man and the hind legs of a goat. In Greek mythology: Pan.

¹⁴And wild beasts shall meet with hyenas, the satyr shall cry to his fellow; yea, there shall the night hag alight, and find for herself a resting place. (Isa. 34:13)

Yahweh had cut Rahab in pieces that pierced the dragon.

⁹Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces, that didst pierce the dragon? (Isa. 51:9)

Light verses darkness

Light was personified as good and darkness as evil. This is where the term "enlighten" came from.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness.

²⁰Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isa. 5:20)

Behold darkness and distress.

³⁰They will growl over it on that day, like the roaring of the sea. And if one look to the land, behold, darkness and distress; and the light is darkened by its clouds. (Isa. 5:30)

The people walked in darkness and have seen a great light.

²The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. (Isa. 9:2)

Who walks in darkness and has no light, yet trust in the name of the Lord?

¹⁰Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant, who walks in darkness and has no light, yet trusts in the name of the LORD and relies upon his God? (Isa. 50:10)

Your light shall break forth like dawn and your healing shall spring up speedily.

⁸Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. (Isa. 58:8)

The light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth.

¹Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.²For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. (Isa. 60:1-2)

Your sun shall no more go down and the moon shall withdraw; for the Lord shall be your everlasting light.

²⁰Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended. (Isa. 60:20)

Signs

I've used this occasion to scan the Old Testament for evidence of astrology. The Hebrews weren't mathematical like the Babylonians, but they still believed in signs from heaven.

²⁷The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. (Job 20:27)

This verse can be interpreted as meaning words came to Isaiah from watching the stars-hosts.

¹⁴The LORD of hosts has revealed himself in my ears: "Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you till you die," says the Lord GOD of hosts. (Isa. 22:14)

Let the lights in the firmament be for signs and for seasons .

¹⁴And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, (Gen. 1:14)

¹⁴And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years,
¹⁵and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so.
¹⁶And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also.
¹⁷And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth,
¹⁸to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. (Gen. 1:14-17)

The sign of the covenant is a bow in the cloud.

¹²And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:
¹³I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
¹⁴When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds,
¹⁵I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
¹⁶When the bow is in the clouds, I will look upon it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth."
¹⁷God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth." (Gen. 9:12-17)

The heavens are telling the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech and night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard. Yet their voice goes out through all the earth and their worlds to the end of the world.

¹The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.²Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.³There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard;⁴yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,⁵which comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man runs its course with joy.⁶Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and there is nothing hid from its heat. (Ps. 19:1-6)

Yahweh covers himself with light.

¹Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, thou art very great! Thou art clothed with honor and majesty,²who coverest thyself with light as with a garment, who hast stretched out the heavens like a tent,³who hast laid the beams of thy chambers on the waters, who makest the clouds thy chariot, who ridest on the wings of the wind,⁴who makest the winds thy messengers, fire and flame thy ministers.⁵Thou didst set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be shaken.⁶Thou didst cover it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. (Ps. 104:1-6)

Those who dwell at earth's farthest bounds are afraid at thy signs. Thou make the outgoings of the morning and the evening shout for joy.

⁸so that those who dwell at earth's farthest bounds are afraid at thy signs; thou makest the outgoings of the morning and the evening to shout for joy. (Ps. 65:8)

We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet.

⁹We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long. (Ps. 74:9)

The Lord has given me signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts who dwells in Mount Zion. He disparages mediums and wizards for not consulting their God.

¹⁸Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
¹⁹And when they say to you, "Consult the mediums and the wizards who chirp and mutter," should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? (Isa. 8:18-19)

Yahweh hates the wise. -"wise" implied alien astrologers.

¹¹The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; the wise counselors of Pharoah give stupid counsel. How can you say to Pharaoh, "I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings"?¹²Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you and make known what the LORD of hosts has purposed against Egypt. (Isa. 19:11-12)

The wisdom of the wise men shall perish.

¹⁴therefore, behold, I will again do marvelous things with this people, wonderful and marvelous; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hid." (Isa. 29:14)

This is the sign to you from the Lord. Behold I will make the shadow caste by the sun turn back ten steps.

⁷"This is the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he has promised:
⁸Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps." So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined. (Isa. 38:7-8)

The Lord frustrates the omens of liars, makes fools of diviners and turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish.

²⁴Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: "I am the LORD, who made all things, who stretched out the heavens alone, who spread out the earth-Who was with me?-²⁵who frustrates the omens of liars, and makes fools of diviners; who turns wise men back, and makes their knowledge foolish;; (Isa. 44:24-25)

Let those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at the new moons predict what shall befall you.

⁵Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms.
¹²Stand fast in your enchantments and your many sorceries, with which you have labored from your youth; perhaps you may be able to succeed, perhaps you may inspire terror.¹³You are wearied with your many counsels; let them stand forth and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at the new moons predict what shall befall you.¹⁴Behold, they are like stubble, the fire consumes them; they cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. No coal for warming oneself is this, no fire to sit before! (Isa. 47:5, 12-15)

Do not be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them.

²Thus says the LORD: "Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them (Jer. 10:2)

He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth.

²⁷He delivers and rescues, he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions." (Dan. 6:27)

Conclusion

Now that we've seen how much of nature Isaiah personified, is it no wonder that the Hebrews personified the invisible as an almighty being who was in charge of their welfare.

References

Skeptics Annotated Bible

The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy

The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible

Ken's Guide to the Bible