FRAMEWORKS:
Isaiah 13: A prophecy against Babylon [1]
Context
Part
1: Words of Judgment: Ch.1-39
1.1
The Sins of Israel & Judah Ch.1-12
1.2
Judgment against heathen nations Ch.13-23
1.3
God's Purpose in Judgment Ch.24-27
1.4
Jerusalem's true and false hopes Ch.28-35
1.5
Events during the Reign of Hezekiah Ch.36-39
1.2
Judgment against heathen nations Ch.13-23
13:1-14:27
Against Babylon
14:28-32
Against Philistia
15:1-16:14
Against Moab
17:1-18:7
Against Syria with Israel
19:1-20:6
Against Egypt
[Introductory
Comment: As the ‘context listing' above
shows, Isaiah now presents a number of specific words against
peoples in the region outside Israel, the first, running on into
the next chapter is against Babylonia. With each of these ‘words'
it is worth noting [similar to say the words against these same
peoples by Jeremiah or Ezekiel – Jer 46-51, Ezek 25-32] that when
compared to specific words against Israel and later Judah, whereas
those words gave in great detail the reasons why judgment was
coming, i.e. the words were calls to repentance, within all the
words to these other peoples, the words are simply words of the
destructions that will be coming upon them with little or no calls
to repentance. It might be concluded that such calls were implied.]
v.1-2
This is a warning against Babylon
v.3-8
An army will come to bring God's destruction
v.9-13
It will be a time of great judgment
v.14-16
It will be a time of great destruction of people
v.17,18
It will come at the hands of the Medes
v.19-22
Babylon will be utterly destroyed and cleared out
[Chapter
Comment: The timing of this prophecy
is interesting – see Notes at end of Chapter 5 – for Isaiah prophesied
between 760-690 BC but Babylon didn't arise to
ascendancy until about 609, only to fall to Cyrus
the Persian in 539 and later to Darius the Mede
in 522. In the same way that Cyrus is mentioned
later in Isaiah [44:28, 45:1,3] – and quite probably is motivated
or directed by the Lord through reading Isaiah's prophecy, Isaiah
is speaking into events that will not occur for somewhere between
150 to 200 years ahead. Sceptics of prophecy should remember there
are many prophecies in the Old Testament that speak to the ‘end
times' or ‘last days', so whether it is 200 years or 2000 years
(or more!) we should accept that God can speak His plans through
His prophets.
Using
a wider perspective, we know that Babylon existed as a city as
early as 2000BC, had a number of kings in the following centuries,
was sacked by the Hittites in 1595, was under Assyrian control
by 1220, was captured by the Chaldeans in 734, was occupied by
the Assyrians by 729 and Nebuchadnezzar became king as noted above.
However, apart from Babylon, it is only the Medes [v.17] who are
mentioned and so Isaiah could not have been referring to any other
part of history than that noted in the first paragraph above.
The
prophecy in this chapter calls down through history to Babylon
[v.1,2], warning them that God will bring a conqueror against
them [as they have conquered others] from other lands [v.3-5]
to execute God's judgment on Babylon [v.6-16] at the hands of
the Medes [v.17,18] who will utterly destroy Babylon and its lands
[v.19-22] It thus looks down on the scope of history to warn what
will be the eventual downfall of the people that God will use
to discipline His people.]
v.1-2
This is
a warning against Babylon
v.1
(The focus turns
on Babylon) A
prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:
v.2
(Get their attention)
Raise
a banner on a bare hilltop, shout
to them; beckon to them to
enter the gates of the nobles.
v.3-8
An army will come to bring God's destruction
v.3
(God has called
for a people to bring His judgment) I
have commanded those I prepared for battle;
I
have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath— those
who rejoice in my triumph.
v.4
(God's
army is coming together from the nations) Listen,
a noise on the mountains,like
that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,
like
nations massing together! The Lord
Almighty
is mustering an
army for war.
v.5
(They come from
far and wide to destroy) They
come from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens— the Lord
and
the weapons of his wrath— to
destroy the whole country.
v.6
(Weep for this
is God's judgment) Wail,
for the day of the Lord
is
near;
it
will come like destruction from the Almighty.
v.7
(Fear will create
weakness) Because
of this, all hands will go limp, every
heart will melt with fear.
v.8
(Terror will
encompass all) Terror
will seize them, pain
and anguish will grip them; they
will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each
other,
their
faces aflame.
v.9-13
It will be a time of great judgment
v.9
(It's God's
day of wrath coming) See,
the day of the Lord
is
coming —a
cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger— to make the land desolate
and
destroy the sinners within it.
v.10
(Darkness will
come) The
stars of heaven and their constellations will
not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and
the moon will not give its light.
v.11
(It's a day of punishment
on all evil and wickedness and arrogance) I
will punish the world for its evil, the
wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the
haughty and
will humble the pride of the ruthless.
v.12
(Humanity will
disappear) I
will make people scarcer than pure gold, more
rare than the gold of Ophir.
v.13
(heavens and
earth will shake) Therefore
I will make the heavens tremble; and
the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the Lord
Almighty,
in
the day of his burning anger.
v.14-16
It will be a time of great destruction of people
v.14
(The remnant will flee
to their people) Like
a hunted gazelle,
like
sheep without a shepherd, they will all return to their own people,
they
will flee to their native land.
v.15
(Those who are
caught will die) Whoever
is captured will be thrust through;
all
who are caught will fall by the sword.
v.16
(Children will
die, homes looted, women raped) Their
infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their
houses will be looted and their wives violated.
v.17,18
It will come at the hands of the Medes
v.17
(I will use
the Medes who care nothing for riches) See,
I will stir up against them the Medes, who
do not care for silver and
have no delight in gold.
v.18
(They will mercilessly
destroy) Their
bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on
infants, nor
will they look with compassion on children.
v.19-22
Babylon will be utterly destroyed and cleared out
v.19
(This will be
Babylon's destruction) Babylon,
the jewel of kingdoms,
the
pride and glory of the Babylonians, will be overthrown by God
like
Sodom and Gomorrah.
v.20
(She will be
utterly desolate and empty) She
will never be inhabited
or
lived in through all generations; there no nomads will pitch their
tents, there
no shepherds will rest their flocks.
v.21
(Only the wild
desert animals will habit her) But
desert creatures will lie there, jackals
will fill her houses; there the owls will dwell, and
there the wild goats will leap about.
v.22
(The will settle
in its emptiness; it's coming soon) Hyenas
will inhabit her strongholds, jackals
her luxurious palaces. Her time is at hand, and
her days will not be prolonged.
Continue
to Chapter 14