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<title>Blue Letter Bible: Text Commentaries</title>
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<h2><a onclick="return mV('Isa',13,'1-');">Isa 13</a> - The Burden against Babylon</h2>
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<p><span><a onclick="return mV('Isa',13,'1-');">Isa 13</a> begins a section ending at <a onclick="return mV('Isa',23,18);">Isa 23:18</a> where he prophesies against the nations. It is fitting for judgment to begin at the house of God, so the <span class="c6">Lord</span> has first spoken to Israel and Judah. But now, the <span class="c6">Lord</span> speaks against the nations, beginning with Babylon.</span></p>
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<p><span>A. Judgment upon Babylon.</span></p>
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<p class="c1"><span>1. (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',13,1);">1</a>) The burden against Babylon.</span></p>
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<p class="c2"><span>The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.</span></p>
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<p class="c4"><span>a. <b><span class="c3">Burden</span></b></span>: In the prophets, a <b><span class="c3">burden</span></b><span> is a "heavy" message of weighty importance, heavy in the sense that it produces sorrow or grief.</span></p>
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<p class="c5"><span>i. </span>"<i>Massa</i> comes from the verb 'to lift up' (<i>nasa</i>), and so it can mean 'to carry' or 'to lift up the voice.' From the first meaning comes the translation 'burden,' or 'load'; and from the second meaning we get the translation 'oracle,' or 'utterance.'" (Wolf) Grammatically, we may be able to say "oracle." But since these are <i>heavy</i> oracles, we are justified in calling them <i>burdens</i>!</p>
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<p class="c4"><span>b. <b><span class="c3">Against Babylon</span></b>: Isaiah finished his prophetic career in 685 <span class="c6">b.c.</span>, almost 100 years before Judah finally fell before the Babylonian Empire (586 <span class="c6">b.c.</span>). At the time of this prophecy, Babylon was a significant nation, but they were definitely behind the Assyrian Empire in status. Yet the <span class="c6">Lord</span> who knows the end of all things can speak of the judgment on the pride of Babylon hundreds of years before the judgment comes.</span></p>
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<p class="c5"><span>i. This <b><span class="c3">burden against Babylon</span></b></span> will last until the end of <a onclick="return mV('Isa',14,'1-');">Isa 14</a>. Clarke says of this passage, "The former part of this prophecy is one of the most beautiful examples of that can be given of the elegance of composition, variety of imagery, and sublimity or sentiment and diction, in the prophetic style; and the later part consists of an ode of supreme and singular excellence."</p>
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<p class="c5"><span>ii. Why is God speaking to <b><span class="c3">Babylon</span></b>? This prophecy was probably never published in Babylon, so it wasn't really given as a warning to them. Instead, the reason was for the help of the people of God. First, by showing them that God was indeed just, and would judge the wicked nations around them. Israel and Judah were feeling the sting of God's discipline, and in those times we wonder if God is unfairly singling us out. This is assurance to them that He isn't. Second, Babylon (and other nations in this section) were nations that had come against Israel and Judah, and God showed His love to His people by announcing His vengeance against their enemies.</span></p>
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<p class="c1"><span>2. (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',13,'2-8');">2-8</a>) An army comes against Babylon.</span></p>
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<p class="c2"><span>"Lift up a banner on the high mountain, raise your voice to them; wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles. I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have also called My mighty ones for My anger; those who rejoice in My exaltation." The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together! The <span class="c6">Lord</span> of hosts musters the army for battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven; the <span class="c6">Lord</span> and His weapons of indignation, to destroy the whole land. Wail, for the day of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> <i>is </i>at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will be limp, every man's heart will melt, and they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of <i>them; th</i>ey will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; they will be amazed at one another; their faces <i>will be like </i>flames.</span></p>
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<p class="c4"><span>a. <b><span class="c3">The <span class="c6">Lord</span> of hosts musters the army for battle</span></b></span>: This is an army of judgment against the Babylonian Empire, prophesied decades before they were even a superpower. This powerful army is described vividly, with sights and sounds of battle presented.</p>
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<p class="c4"><span>b. </span><b><span class="c3">They will be amazed at one another</span></b>: When Babylon fell suddenly by a clever, surprise attack by Cyrus, the citizens of the city were completely shocked (<a onclick="return mV('Dan',5,'1-');">Dan 5</a>).</p>
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<p class="c1"><span>3. (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',13,'9-16');">9-16</a>) The terrors of judgment upon Babylon.</span></p>
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<p class="c2"><span>Behold, the day of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. "I will punish the world for <i>its </i>evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, a man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> of hosts and in the day of His fierce anger. It shall be as the hunted gazelle, and as a sheep that no man takes up; every man will turn to his own people, and everyone will flee to his own land. Everyone who is found will be thrust through, and everyone who is captured will fall by the sword. Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished."</span></p>
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<p class="c4"><span>a. <b><span class="c3">The day of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> comes</span></b></span>: Isaiah now speaks in the "prophetic tense," having in mind both a <i>near</i> fulfillment (the day of judgment against the Babylonian Empire), and an <i>ultimate</i> fulfillment (the final day of judgment at the return of Jesus). </p>
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<p class="c5">i. <b><span class="c3">The day of the <span class="c6">Lord</span></span></b> is an important phrase, used some 26 times in the Bible. It speaks of not a single day of judgment, but of the season of judgment when the <span class="c6">Lord</span> sets things right. It is as if today is man's day, but the <span class="c6">Lord</span>'s day is coming!</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">The stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened</span></b>: Several prophetic passages describe the cosmic disturbances that will precede and surround the return of Jesus (<a onclick="return mV('Joe',2,10);">Joe 2:10</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',6,'12-14');">Rev 6:12-14</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Isa',34,4);">Isa 34:4</a>). In fact, Jesus was probably quoting or paraphrasing this passage from Isaiah in <a onclick="return mV('Mat',24,29);">Mat 24:29</a>: <i>Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.</i></p>
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<p class="c5">i. In the near fulfillment of the judgment of Babylon, they <i>felt</i> like the whole world was coming apart. In the ultimate fulfillment connected with the return of Jesus, the whole world <i>will</i> be falling apart.</p>
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<p class="c4"><span>c. <b><span class="c3">I will punish the world for its evil</span></b></span>: This prophetic identification of Babylon with the world, ripe for ultimate judgment, is consistent through the Scriptures. We aren't surprised that Isaiah has prophetically combined the vision of Babylon's judgment with the judgment of the whole <b><span class="c3">world for its evil</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Babylon is mentioned 287 times in the Scriptures, more than any other city except Jerusalem. Babylon was a literal city on the Euphrates river; right after the flood (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',11,'1-10');">Gen 11:1-10</a>), Babylon "Was the seat of the civilization that expressed organized hostility to God." (Tenney, <i>Interpreting Revelation</i>). Babylon was later the capitol of the empire that cruelly conquered Judah. "Babylon, to them (the Jews), was the essence of all evil, the embodiment of cruelty, the foe of God's people, and the lasting type of sin, carnality, lust and greed." (Tenney) To those familiar with the Old Testament, the name <i>Babylon</i> is associated with organized idolatry, blasphemy and the persecution of God's people. In the New Testament, the worlds system of the last days is characterized both religiously and commercially as Babylon (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',17,'1-');">Rev 17</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,'1-');">18</a>). Therefore, <span>Babylon is a "Suitable representation...of the idolatrous, pagan world-system in opposition to God." (Martin)</span></p>
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<p class="c4"><span>d. <b><span class="c3">Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place</span></b></span>: <a onclick="return mV('Hag',2,6);">Hag 2:6</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',12,'25-28');">Hbr 12:25-28</a> echo this same thought. Since God can shake the heavens and move the earth, and since God Himself is unshakable, it makes a lot more sense to trust in God than even the ground we stand on and the air we breathe.</p>
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<p class="c4">e. <b><span class="c3">It shall be as the hunted gazelle</span></b>: The picture of God's judgment, upon both Babylon and the world in general, is <i>unrelenting</i>. It is like one of the nature movies where the <b><span class="c3">hunted gazelle</span></b> is overtaken by the lion, and it utterly consumed. There is no escape from God's unrelenting judgment.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. If you take comfort in Jesus, remember that this is the same <i>unrelenting</i> judgment that was poured out upon Him on the cross. In this picture from Isaiah, <i>Jesus was the </i><b><span class="c3">hunted gazelle</span></b>, and <i>willingly</i> made Himself so!</p>
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<p><span>B. Desolate Babylon.</span></p>
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<p class="c1"><span>1. (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',13,'17-22');">17-22</a>) Babylon is laid waste.</span></p>
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<p class="c2"><span>"Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not regard silver; and <i>as for </i>gold, they will not delight in it. Also <i>their </i>bows will dash the young men to pieces, and they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye will not spare children. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from generation to generation; nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there. But wild beasts of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of owls; ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will caper there. The hyenas will howl in their citadels, and jackals in their pleasant palaces. Her time <i>is </i>near to come, and her days will not be prolonged."</span></p>
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<p class="c4"><span>a. <b><span class="c3">I will stir up the Medes against them</span></b></span>: If this prophecy was made decades before the Babylonian Empire defeated the Assyrian Empire and became a superpower, it was even more before the time when <b><span class="c3">the Medes</span></b> came <b><span class="c3">against</span></b> the Babylonians, conquering them as instruments of God's judgments.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. It is specifically worded passages like this that drive skeptics of the Bible crazy, pushing them to regard the Isaiah as written <i>after</i> the events prophesied. But doesn't God know the future, and know it specifically?</p>
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<p class="c4"><span>b. <b><span class="c3">Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah</span></b></span>: <span>"The phrase 'Sodom and Gomorrah' suggests not only complete destruction but also its moral cause." (Grogan)</span></p>
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<p class="c4"><span>c. <b><span class="c3">It will never be inhabited</span></b></span>: The ancient city of Babylon, once conquered, <b><span class="c3">will never be inhabited</span></b> again. "When Cyrus conquered Babylon, he did not devastate the city. The walls were left standing until 518 <span class="c6">b.c.</span>, and general desolation did not set in until the third century <span class="c6">b.c.</span> Babylon gradually fell into decay, and the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled. Babylon became completely depopulated by the time of the Muslim conquest in the seventh century <span class="c6">a.d.</span>, and to this day it lies deserted." (Wolf)</p>
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<p class="c5"><span>i. This is also true in its ultimate fulfillment. When Jesus returns in glory and conquers the world system, He will rule the earth for 1,000 years. As He does, there will be no more "world system" in opposition to God as we know it. In this sense, the world system in opposition to God <b><span class="c3">will never be inhabited</span></b></span> again.</p>
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<p class="c4"><span>d. <b><span class="c3">Owls...ostriches...wild goats...hyenas</span></b></span>: T<span>he animals mentioned here are impossible to identify precisely. The picture is of the darkness and confusion surrounding the fall of Babylon.</span></p>
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<p class="c5"><span>i. </span>"The 'wild goats' (v. 21) are sometimes associated with demons in goat form that are called 'satyrs' (<a onclick="return mV('Lev',17,7);">Lev. 17:7</a>; <a onclick="return mV('2Ch',11,15);">2Ch 11:15</a>)." (Wolf)</p>
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<p class="c4"><span>e. What good is this to us? Calvin's note applies a chapter like this: </span>"Whenever therefore we behold the destruction of cities, the calamities of nations, and the overturning of kingdoms, let us call those predictions to remembrance, that we may be humbled under God's chastisements, may learn to gather wisdom from the affliction of others, and may pray for an alleviation of our own grief."</p>
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