ISAIAH

Isaiah 13

quote:

"The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. 2 Lift up a standard on the bare hill, Raise your voice to them, Wave the hand that they may enter the doors of the nobles. 3 I have commanded My consecrated ones, I have even called My mighty warriors, My proudly exulting ones, To execute My anger. 4 A sound of tumult on the mountains, Like that of many people! A sound of the uproar of kingdoms, Of nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts is mustering the army for battle. 5 They are coming from a far country, From the farthest horizons, The LORD and His instruments of indignation, To destroy the whole land. 6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. 7 Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man's heart will melt. 8 They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame. 9 Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light. 11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. 12 I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold And mankind than the gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the LORD of hosts In the day of His burning anger. 14 And it will be that like a hunted gazelle, Or like sheep with none to gather them, They will each turn to his own people, And each one flee to his own land. 15 Anyone who is found will be thrust through, And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword. 16 Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces Before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished. 17 Behold, I am going to stir up the Medes against them, Who will not value silver or take pleasure in gold. 18 And their bows will mow down the young men, They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb, Nor will their eye pity children. 19 And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans' pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation; Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there. 21 But desert creatures will lie down there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there. 22 Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers And jackals in their luxurious palaces. Her fateful time also will soon come And her days will not be prolonged."

Chapters 13-23 of Isaiah introduce a section called "The Book of Burdens". Isaiah was carrying a heavy weight because of the nature of these prophecies. It is a message of judgment against ten world powers and their downfall, leaving no doubt that God is sovereign and in control of the world's nations and events. In the day Isaiah spoke these words given to him through a vision, Babylon was no more than an insignificant nation overshadowed by Assyria. Who but God could have known that 170 years later it would be a nation that would rise to such prominence.

The Lord of Hosts has the power to summon the armies of the world to accomplish His tasks, and in this instance, He musters the army of the Medes of Persia and calls them His "sancified ones", setting them apart to do His work. Though compared to the destruction of Sodom and Gommorah , the destruction of Babylon was not immediate. In 539 BC Cyrus left the walls and the city of Babylon still standing. Later in 518 BC the walls were destroyed. Then Xerxes destroyed the temple of Belus. After the death of its last great conqueror, Alexander the Great, the city declined and was not rebuilt.

Isaiah looked beyond the time of Babylon's destruction to a future judgment (verses 6, 9-13; Matthew 24:29-30). It would be a time that God would pour His wrath upon the whole world. "Babylon" came to symbolize the world system man has built in rebellion against God that will ultimately be destroyed – Revelation 14:8 "And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality."

Babylon glorified in its self-sufficiency. What identifies the sinfulness of men is their pride which leads them to think they do not need God. Like sheep without a shepherd they are dispersed and lost without any direction. In Jesus, God provided a great shepherd. An enormous price was paid for our deliverance from the wrath to come. Let us be those who accept His grace, submit to His will and take refuge in Him. Let us not live in fear of the future, but take joy in our salvation.

Malachi 3:2a

"But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears?"

Nahum 1:6-7
"Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire And the rocks are broken up by Him. 7 The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him."