Babylon Will be Punished
August 15, 2019
Commentary
This passage starts off expressing Isaiah’s “burden of Babylon” (v. 1). The prophet was carrying a heavy weight because of the solemn nature of his message. He was announcing judgments that would involve the destruction of many cities and the slaughter of thousands of people. No wonder he felt burdened. The army referred to in these verses is clearly God’s because He said He summoned His warriors to carry out His wrath against Babylon; that is, they would do His bidding (vv. 2-5). This army was a great multitude of entire nations. Coming for war they would assemble from faraway lands, though Isaiah was writing about the military strife in his day, a similar mustering of vast armies will occur just before the millennial kingdom (Rev. 16:12-16).
The “Day of the Lord” refers to the time of the Lord’s judgment on this wicked world and deliverance of His people (vv. 6-13). In Isaiah’s day that judgment was coming because of the tremendous political turmoil of the next several decades that would culminate with the fall of Babylon to the Assyrians. That political turmoil was similar to the judgment which will come on the whole world just before God establishes His millennial kingdom on the earth.
The people attacked would be utterly powerless to stop the invasion. They would be like antelope and sheep, defenseless creatures that are easy prey for hunters (vv. 14-16). People within the Assyrian Empire from other countries would try to escape the coming destruction (they will flee to their native lands). Terrible things would happen, including death by the sword (v. 15), infanticide, plundering, and rape (v. 16). The destruction would be unrelenting in that the invaders would not be dissuaded by money and they will have no mercy on babies (v. 16).
Application
This passage says that God uses the wrath of men against each other to bring about His purposes. I need to praise Him for what he is doing and not fret about the things I think He should be doing.
Isaiah 13:1– 16 (NET)
1 This is an oracle about Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:
2 On a bare hill raise a signal flag; shout to them, wave your hand, so they might enter the gates of the princes!
3 I have given orders to my chosen soldiers; I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger — my boasting, arrogant ones.
4 There is a loud noise on the mountains— it sounds like a large army! There is great commotion among the kingdoms — nations are being assembled! The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is mustering forces for battle.
5 They come from a distant land, from the horizon. It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment, coming to destroy the whole earth.
6 Wail, for the Lord’s day of judgment is near; it comes with all the destructive power of the Sovereign One.
7 For this reason all hands hang limp, every human heart loses its courage.
8 They panic— cramps and pain seize hold of them like those of a woman who is straining to give birth. They look at one another in astonishment; their faces are flushed red.
9 Look, the Lord’s day of judgment is coming; it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger, destroying the earth and annihilating its sinners.
10 Indeed the stars in the sky and their constellations no longer give out their light; the sun is darkened as soon as it rises, and the moon does not shine.
11 I will punish the world for its evil, and wicked people for their sin. I will put an end to the pride of the insolent, I will bring down the arrogance of tyrants.
12 I will make human beings more scarce than pure gold, and people more scarce than gold from Ophir.
13 So I will shake the heavens, and the earth will shake loose from its foundation, because of the fury of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, in the day he vents his raging anger.
14 Like a frightened gazelle or a sheep with no shepherd, each will turn toward home, each will run to his homeland.
15 Everyone who is caught will be stabbed; everyone who is seized will die by the sword.
16 Their children will be smashed to pieces before their very eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives raped.
Illustration: You Don’t Give at All Until You Have Given All
Before the judgment seat of Christ my service will not be judged by how much I have done but by how much of me there is in it. No man gives at all until he has given all. No man gives anything acceptable to God until he has first given himself in love and sacrifice. (A. W. Tozer -1897-1963).