Fourfold Fullness

Isaiah uses the word “fill” four times in 2:6-8.  A fourfold fullness is a fullness that extends to the four points of the compass.  From one boundary to another, Judah is filled from the east, with gold and silver, with horses and chariots, with idols.

There is a progression here.  ”Filled from the east” is obscure.  Say what?  Filled with gold and silver is clear; but in isolation it might be a positive statement.  Judah is rich, just as in the days of Solomon.

“Filled with horses and chariots” might, at a stretch, be taken in a positive sense.  Again it’s a Solomonic allusion.  But there are only two ways that Judah could be filled with horses and chariots: First, if they are the horses and chariots of enemies (bad!); second, if they are the horses and chariots of Judah’s kings (also bad!).

Finally, we get to the punch line: A land full of idols is clearly a corrupt land.  And the progression points us to the fact that the other fillings are also idolatrous.  From the east come idols; gold and silver have become idols (literally, v. 20); horses and chariots are idols.

And, of course, haunting the whole passage is Isaiah’s earlier declaration that the hands of the people of Judah are “filled with blood” (1:15).