Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 13:1
The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
1. The superscription, prefixed by an editor who attributed the prophecy to Isaiah.
The burden ] Rather, The utterance, or “oracle.” The word occurs ten times in the headings of this section of the book (also in ch. Isa 30:6). The Heb. is mass’, and means literally a “lifting up (of the voice).” See 2Ki 9:25. The A.V., following several ancient versions, takes it in its commoner sense of “burden” (thing lifted), a confusion which seems as old as the time of Jeremiah (Jer 23:33-40) and Ezekiel (Eze 12:10).
which Isaiah did see ] See on Isa 1:1, Isa 2:1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The burden of Babylon – Or, the burden respecting, or concerning Babylon. This prophecy is introduced in a different manner from those which have preceded. The terms which Isaiah employed in the commencement of his previous prophecies, were vision (see the note at Isa 1:1), or word Isa 2:1. There has been considerable diversity of opinion in regard to the meaning of the word burden, which is here employed. The Vulgate renders it, Onus – Burden, in the sense of load. The Septuagint Horasis – Vision. The Chaldee, The burden of the cup of malediction which draws near to Babylon. The Hebrew word mas’s’a’, from nas’a’, to lift, to raise up, to bear, to bear away, to suffer, to endure), means properly that which is borne; that which is heavy; that which becomes a burden; and it is also applied to a gift or present, as that which is borne to a man 2Ch 17:11.
It is also applied to a proverb or maxim, probably from the weight and importance of the sentiment condensed in it Pro 30:1; Pro 31:1. It is applied to an oracle from God 2Ki 4:25. It is often translated burden Isa 15:1-9; Isa 19:1; Isa 21:11, Isa 21:13; Isa 22:1; Isa 23:1; Isa 30:6; Isa 46:1; Jer 23:33-34, Jer 23:38; Neh 1:1; Zec 1:1; Zec 12:1; Mal 1:1. By comparing these places, it will be found that the term is applied to those oracles or prophetic declarations which contain sentiments especially weighty and solemn; which are employed chiefly in denouncing wrath and calamity; and which, therefore, are represented as weighing down, or oppressing the mind and heart of the prophet. A similar useage prevails in all languages. We are all familiar with expressions like this. We speak of news or tidings of so melancholy a nature as to weigh down, to sink, or depress our spirits; so heavy that we can scarcely bear up under it, or endure it. And so in this case, the view which the prophet had of the awful judgments of God and of the calamities which were coming upon guilty cities and nations, was so oppressive, that it weighed down the mind and heart as a heavy burden. Others, however, suppose that it means merely a message or prophecy which is taken up, or borne, respecting a place, and that the word indicates nothing in regard to the nature of the message. So Rosenmuller, Gesenius, and Cocceius, understand it. But it seems some the former interpretation is to be preferred. Grotins renders it, A mournful prediction respecting Babylon.
Did see – Saw in a vision; or in a scenical representation. The various events were made to pass before his mind in a vision, and he was permitted to see the armies mustered; the consternation of the people; and the future condition of the proud city. This verse is properly the title to the prophecy.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 13:1-5
The burden of Babylon
The prophets burden
Whenever we find the word burden in this association it means oracle, a speech of doom; it is never connected with blessing, hope, enlarged opportunity, or expanded liberty; it always means that judgment is swiftly coming, and may at any moment burst upon the thing that is doomed.
(J. Parker, D. D.)
The power to see
Which Isaiah did see. How did he see it? The word see needs to be defined every day. Blind men may see. We do not see with the eyes only, else truly we should see very little; the whole body becomes an eye when it is fun of light, and they who are holiest see farthest. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Men see morally, intellectually, sympathetically, as well as visually. How could Isaiah see this burden of Babylon when it did not fall upon the proud city for two centuries! Is there, then, no annihilation of time and space? Are we the mean prisoners we thought ourselves to be is it so, that we are caged round by invisible iron, and sealed down by some oppressive power, or blinded by some arbitrary or cruel shadow? We might see more if we looked in the right direction; we might be masters of the centuries if we lived with God. Isaiah is never weary of saying that he saw what he affirms. He does not describe it as having been seen by some other man; having written his record he signs it, or having begun to deliver his prophecy he writes it as a man writes his will; he begins by asserting that it is his testament, his own very witness, for he was there, saw it, and he accepts the responsibility of every declaration. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Babylon stands for the spirit of the world
In the New Testament, Babylon, more than any other city, stood for the personification of the forces of the world against God. In the history of Israel Babylon was the scourge of God to them. They were as grain under the teeth of the threshing machine. In the Captivity the Jews felt the weight of Babylons cruelty, so that in the prophetic literature of the Exile, Babylon became the type of oppression and of the insolence of material force. Thought is carried back to primitive times in the Book of Genesis, in which Babylon is pictured in the vain and arrogant attempt to rival God: Go to, let us build us a city, and tower whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. So deeply had the experience of Babylons cruelty entered into the heart of Israel that even in the New Testament, St. John, in the Book of Revelation, uses the word Babylon to describe the material power of Rome. He could not get a better word than just the old word Babylon to represent the overwhelming force of the great Roman Empire, with its legions of soldiers, with its policy which made the whole world a network of nerves running back to their sensitive centre in the haughty city on the Tiber. St. John saw past the glitter and the conquest, and recognised in pagan Rome the mighty Babylon which lifts her impious head against God. To him she was the scarlet woman; he heard, her say in the pride of her heart, as the prophet had heard Babylon say, I sit a queen and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Thus the very name Babylon came to take on the religious signification of the spirit of the world; it stood for the dead weight of the material which resists the spirit. (Hugh Black, M. A.)
The doom of Babylon
Here the prophet pronounces doom upon the bloated empire which seemed to stand so secure, and notes the evidence of weakness in spite of apparent prosperity and careless trust in material resources. Disregard of human rights, lusts, and selfishness and pride of life, and the impious atheism which disregarded all this he declared would all exact their inevitable price. Cruelty and oppression would react upon the tyrant after their usual historic fashion. The huge accumulations on which they rested would only attract the foe, would weaken her hands in her hour of trial, and make her, in spite of her wealth, an easy prey to the spoiler. To Babylon would come a time when she would have more money than men. It is a picture of absolute ruin which the prophet gives, when the great city would be depopulated (Isa 13:12). (Hugh Black, M. A.)
The Babylonian spirit
The Babylonian spirit has not left the world, and every great civilisation (for it is not confined to one) is menaced in the same way by the temptation of forgetfulness of God, cruelty of sheer force, insolence of pride, and the empty trust of wealth. Our foes are the old foes with a new face on them. (Hugh Black, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XIII
God mustereth the armies of his wrath against the inhabitants
of Babylon, 1-6.
The dreadful consequences of this visitation, and the terror
and dismay of those who are the objects of it, 7-16.
The horrid cruelties that shall be indicted upon the
Babylonians by the Medes, 17, 18.
Total and irrecoverable desolation of Babylon, 19-22.
This and the following chapter, – striking off the five last verses of the latter, which belong to a quite different subject, – contain one entire prophecy, foretelling the destruction of Babylon by the Medes and Persians; delivered probably in the reign of Ahaz, (see Vitringa, i. 380,) about two hundred years before its accomplishment. The captivity itself of the Jews at Babylon, which the prophet does not expressly foretell, but supposes, in the spirit of prophecy, as what was actually to be effected, did not fully take place till about one hundred and thirty years after the delivery of this prophecy: and the Medes, who are expressly mentioned Isa 13:17, as the principal agents in the overthrow of the Babylonian monarchy, by which the Jews were released from that captivity, were at this time an inconsiderable people; having been in a state of anarchy ever since the fall of the great Assyrian empire, of which they had made a part, under Sardanapalus; and did not become a kingdom under Deioces till about the seventeenth of Hezekiah.
The former part of this prophecy is one of the most beautiful examples that can be given of elegance of composition, variety of imagery, and sublimity of sentiment and diction, in the prophetic style; and the latter part consists of an ode of supreme and singular excellence.
The prophecy opens with the command of God to gather together the forces which he had destined to this service, Isa 13:2-3. Upon which the prophet immediately hears the tumultuous noise of the different nations crowding together to his standard; he sees them advancing, prepared to execute the Divine wrath, Isa 13:4-5. He proceeds to describe the dreadful consequences of this visitation, the consternation which will seize those who are the objects of it; and, transferring unawares the speech from himself to God, Isa 13:11, sets forth, under a variety of the most striking images, the dreadful destruction of the inhabitants of Babylon which will follow, Isa 13:11-16, and the everlasting desolation to which that great city is doomed, Isa 13:17-22.
The deliverance of Judah from captivity, the immediate consequence of this great revolution, is then set forth, without being much enlarged upon, or greatly amplified, Isa 14:1; Isa 14:2. This introduces, with the greatest ease and the utmost propriety, the triumphant song on that subject, Isa 14:4-28. The beauties of which, the various images, scenes, persons introduced, and the elegant transitions from one to another, I shall here endeavour to point out in their order, leaving a few remarks upon particular passages of these two chapters to be given after these general observations on the whole.
A chorus of Jews is introduced, expressing their surprise and astonishment at the sudden downfall of Babylon; and the great reverse of fortune that had befallen the tyrant, who, like his predecessors, had oppressed his own, and harassed the neighbouring kingdoms. These oppressed kingdoms, or their rulers, are represented under the image of the fir trees and the cedars of Libanus, frequently used to express any thing in the political or religious world that is super-eminently great and majestic: the whole earth shouteth for joy; the cedars of Libanus utter a severe taunt over the fallen tyrant, and boast their security now he is no more
The scene is immediately changed, and a new set of persons is introduced. The regions of the dead are laid open, and Hades is represented as rousing up the shades of the departed monarchs: they rise from their thrones to meet the king of Babylon at his coming; and insult him on his being reduced to the same low estate of impotence and dissolution with themselves. This is one of the boldest prosopopoeias that ever was attempted in poetry; and is executed with astonishing brevity and perspicuity, and with that peculiar force which in a great subject naturally results from both. The image of the state of the dead, or the infernum poeticum of the Hebrews, is taken from their custom of burying, those at least of the higher rank, in large sepulchral vaults hewn in the rock. Of this kind of sepulchres there are remains at Jerusalem now extant; and some that are said to be the sepulchres of the kings of Judah. See Maundrell, p. 76. You are to form to yourself an idea of an immense subterranean vault, a vast gloomy cavern, all round the sides of which there are cells to receive the dead bodies; here the deceased monarchs lie in a distinguished sort of state, suitable to their former rank, each on his own couch, with his arms beside him, his sword at his head, and the bodies of his chiefs and companions round about him. See Eze 32:27. On which place Sir John Chardin’s MS. note is as follows: “En Mingrelie ils dorment tous leurs epees sous leurs tetes, et leurs autres armes a leur cote; et on les enterre de mesme, leurs armes posees de cette facon.” In Mingrelia they always sleep with their swords under their heads, and their other arms by their sides; and they bury their dead with their arms placed in the same manner. These illustrious shades rise at once from their couches, as from their thrones; and advance to the entrance of the cavern to meet the king of Babylon, and to receive him with insults on his fall.
The Jews now resume the speech; they address the king of Babylon as the morning-star fallen from heaven, as the first in splendour and dignity in the political world, fallen from his high state; they introduce him as uttering the most extravagant vaunts of his power and ambitious designs in his former glory. These are strongly contrasted in the close with his present low and abject condition.
Immediately follows a different scene, and a most happy image, to diversify the same subject, to give it a new turn, and an additional force. Certain persons are introduced who light upon the corpse of the king of Babylon, cast out and lying naked on the bare ground, among the common slain, just after the taking of the city; covered with wounds, and so disfigured, that it is some time before they know him. They accost him with the severest taunts; and bitterly reproach him with his destructive ambition, and his cruel usage of the conquered; which have deservedly brought him this ignominious treatment, so different from that which those of his rank usually meet with, and which shall cover his posterity with disgrace.
To complete the whole, God is introduced, declaring the fate of Babylon, the utter extirpation of the royal family, and the total desolation of the city; the deliverance of his people, and the destruction of their enemies; confirming the irreversible decree by the awful sanction of his oath.
I believe it may with truth be affirmed, that there is no poem of its kind extant in any language, in which the subject is so well laid out, and so happily conducted, with such a richness of invention, with such variety of images, persons, and distinct actions, with such rapidity and ease of transition, in so small a compass, as in this ode of Isaiah. For beauty of disposition, strength of colouring, greatness of sentiment, brevity, perspicuity, and force of expression, it stands, among all the monuments of antiquity, unrivalled. – L.
NOTES ON CHAP. XIII.
Verse 1. The burden of Babylon] The prophecy that foretells its destruction by the Medes and Persians: see the preceding observations.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The burden: this title is commonly given to sad prophecies, which indeed are grievous burdens to them upon whom they are laid. See 2Ki 9:25; Jer 23:33,36.
Of Babylon; of the city and empire of Babylon by Cyrus, for their manifold and great sins, and in order to the deliverance of his people.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. burdenweighty ormournful prophecy [GROTIUS].Otherwise, simply, the prophetical declaration, from a Hebrewroot to put forth with the voice anything, as in Nu23:7 [MAURER].
of BabylonconcerningBabylon.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The burden of Babylon,…. That is, a prophecy concerning Babylon, as the word is rendered, Pr 31:1. The Septuagint and Arabic versions translate it “the vision”; it signifies a taking up w a speech against it, and pronouncing a heavy sentence on it, such an one as should sink it into utter destruction; which will be the case of mystical Babylon, when it shall be as a millstone cast into the sea, never to be brought up again, Re 18:21. The Targum is,
“the burden of the cup of cursing to give Babylon to drink:”
after some prophecies concerning the Messiah and his kingdom, and the church’s song of praise for salvation by him, others are delivered out concerning the enemies of the people of God, and their destruction, and begin with Babylon the chief of these enemies, and into whose hands the people of Israel would be delivered for a while; wherefore this prophecy is given forth, in order to lay a foundation for comfort and relief, when that should be their case; by which it would appear that they should have deliverance from them by the same hand that should overthrow them:
which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see: by a spirit of prophecy; for this he saw not with his bodily eyes, though it was as clear and certain to him as if he had. The Targum is,
“which Isaiah the son of Amoz prophesied.”
w a “tollere”.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The heading in Isa 13:1, “Oracle concerning Babel, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see,” shows that chapter 13 forms the commencement of another part of the whole book. Massah (from ) , efferre , then effari , Exo 20:7) signifies, as we may see from 2Ki 9:25, effatum , the verdict or oracle, more especially the verdict of God, and generally, perhaps always, the judicial sentence of God,
(Note: In Zec 12:1. the promise has, at any rate, a dark side. In Lam 2:14 there is no necessity to think of promises in connection with the mas’oth ; and Pro 30:1 and Pro 31:1 cannot help us to determine the prophetic use of the word.)
though without introducing the idea of onus (burden), which is the rendering adopted by the Targum, Syriac, Vulgate, and Luther, notwithstanding the fact that, according to Jer 23:33., it was the scoffers who associated this idea with the word. In a book which could throughout be traced to Isaiah, there could be no necessity for it to be particularly stated, that it was to Isaiah that the oracle was revealed, of which Babel was the object. We may therefore see from this, that the prophecy relating to Babylon was originally complete in itself, and was intended to be issued in that form. But when the whole book was compiled, these headings were retained as signal-posts of the separate portions of which it was composed. Moreover, in the case before us, the retention of the heading may be regarded as a providential arrangement. For if this “oracle of Babel” lay before us in a separate form, and without the name of Isaiah, we should not dare to attribute it to him, for the simple reason that the overthrow of the Chaldean empire is here distinctly announced, and that at a time when the Assyrian empire was still standing. For this reason the majority of critics, from the time of Rosenmller and Justi downwards, have regarded the spuriousness of the prophecy as an established fact. But the evidence which can be adduced in support of the testimony contained in the heading is far too strong for it to be set aside: viz., (1.) the descriptive style as well as the whole stamp of the prophecy, which resembles the undisputed prophecies of Isaiah in a greater variety of points than any passage that can be selected from any other prophet. We will show this briefly, but yet amply, and as far as the nature of an exposition allows, against Knobel and others who maintain the opposite. And (2.) the dependent relation of Zephaniah and Jeremiah – a relation which the generally admitted muse-like character of the former, and the imitative character of the latter, render it impossible to invert. Both prophets show that they are acquainted with this prophecy of Isaiah, as indeed they are with all those prophecies which are set down as spurious. Sthelin, in his work on the Messianic prophecies (Excursus iv), has endeavoured to make out that the derivative passages in question are the original passages; but stat pro ratione voluntas . Now, as the testimony of the heading is sustained by such evidence as this, the one argument adduced on the other side, that the prophecy has no historical footing in the circumstances of Isaiah’s times, cannot prove anything at all. No doubt all prophecy rested upon an existing historical basis. But we must not expect to be able to point this out in the case of every single prophecy. In the time of Hezekiah, as Isa 39:1-8 clearly shows (compare Mic 4:10), Isaiah had become spiritually certain of this, that the power by which the final judgment would be inflicted upon Judah would not be Asshur, but Babel, i.e., an empire which would have for its centre that Babylon, which was already the second capital of the Assyrian empire and the seat of kings who, though dependent then, were striving hard for independence; in other words, a Chaldean empire. Towards the end of his course Isaiah was full of this prophetic thought; and from it he rose higher and higher to the consoling discovery that Jehovah would avenge His people upon Babel, and redeem them from Babel, just as surely as from Asshur. The fact that so far-reaching an insight was granted to him into the counsels of God, was not merely founded on his own personality, but rested chiefly on the position which he occupied in the midst of the first beginnings of the age of great empires. Consequently, according to the law of the creative intensity of all divinely effected beginnings, he surveyed the whole of this long period as a universal prophet outstripped all his successors down to the time of Daniel, and left to succeeding ages not only such prophecies as those we have already read, which had their basis in the history of his own times and the historical fulfilment of which was not sealed up, but such far distant and sealed prophecies as those which immediately follow. For since Isaiah did not appear in public again after the fifteenth year of Hezekiah, the future, as his book clearly shows, was from that time forth his true home. Just as the apostle says of the New Testament believer, that he must separate himself from the world, and walk in heaven, so the Old Testament prophet separated himself from the present of his own nation, and lived and moved in its future alone.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Doom of Babylon. | B. C. 739. |
1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. 2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. 3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. 4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. 5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
The general title of this book was, The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, ch. i. 1. Here we have that which Isaiah saw, which was represented to his mind as clearly and fully as if he had seen it with his bodily eyes; but the particular inscription of this sermon is the burden of Babylon. 1. It is a burden, a lesson they were to learn (so some understand it), but they would be loth to learn it, and it would be a burden to their memories, or a load which should lie heavily upon them and under which they should sink. Those that will not make the word of God their rest (Isa 28:12; Jer 6:16) shall find it made a burden to them. 2. It is the burden of Babylon or Babel, which at this time was a dependent upon the Assyrian monarchy (the metropolis of which was Nineveh), but soon after revolted from it and became a monarchy of itself, and a very potent one, in Nebuchadnezzar. This prophet afterwards foretold the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, ch. xxxix. 6. Here he foretels the reprisals God would make upon Babylon for the wrongs done to his people. In these verses a summons is given to those powerful and warlike nations whom God would make us of as the instruments of his wrath for the destruction of Babylon: he afterwards names them (v. 17) the Medes, who, in conjunction with the Persians, under the command of Darius and Cyrus, were the ruin of the Babylonian monarchy.
I. The place doomed to destruction is Babylon; it is here called the gates of the nobles (v. 2), because of the abundance of noblemen’s houses that were in it, stately ones and richly furnished, which would invite the enemy to come, in hopes of a rich booty. The gates of nobles were strong and well guarded, and yet they would be no fence against those who came with commission to execute God’s judgments. Before his power and wrath palaces are no more than cottages. Nor is it only the gates of the nobles, but the whole land, that is doomed to destruction (v. 5); for, though the nobles were the leaders in persecuting and oppressing God’s people, yet the whole land concurred with them in it.
II. The persons brought together to lay Babylon waste are here called, 1. God’s sanctified ones (v. 3), designed for this service and set apart to it by the purpose and providence of God, disengaged from other projects, that they might wholly apply themselves to this, such as were qualified for that to which they were called, for what work God employs men in he does in some measure fit them for. It intimates likewise that in God’s intention, though not in theirs, it was a holy war; they designed only the enlargement of their own empire, but God designed the release of his people and a type of the destruction of the New-Testament Babylon. Cyrus, the person principally concerned, was justly called a sanctified one, for he was God’s anointed (ch. xlv. 1) and a figure of him that was to come. It is a pity but all soldiers, especially those that fight the Lord’s battles, should be in the strictest sense sanctified ones; and it is a wonder that those dare be profane ones who carry their lives in their hands. 2. They are called God’s mighty ones, because they had their might from God and were now to use it for him. It is said of Cyrus that in this expedition God held his right hand, ch. xlv. 1. God’s sanctified ones are his mighty ones. Those whom God calls he qualifies; and those whom he makes holy he makes strong in spirit. 3. They are said to rejoice in his highness, that is, to serve his glory and the purposes of it with great alacrity. Though Cyrus did not know God, nor actually design his honour in what he did, yet God used him as his servant (ch. xlv. 4, I have surnamed thee as my servant, though thou hast not known me), and he rejoiced in those successes by which God exalted his own name. 4. They are very numerous, a multitude, a great people, kingdoms of nations (v. 4), not rude and barbarous, but modelled and regular troops, such as are furnished out by well-ordered kingdoms. The great God has hosts at his command. 5. They are far-fetched: They come from a far country, from the end of heaven. The vast country of Assyria lay between Babylon and Persia. God can make those a scourge and ruin to his enemies that lie most remote from them and therefore are least dreaded.
III. The summons given them is effectual, their obedience ready, and they make a very formidable appearance: A banner is lifted up upon the high mountain, v. 2. God’s standard is set up, a flag of defiance hung out against Babylon. It is erected on high, where all may see it; whoever will may come and enlist themselves under it, and they shall be taken immediately into God’s pay. Those that beat up for volunteers must exalt the voice in making proclamation, to encourage soldiers to come in; they must shake the hand, to beckon those at a distance and to animate those that have enlisted themselves. And they shall not do this in vain; God has commanded and called those whom he designs to make use of (v. 3) and power goes along with his calls and commands, which cannot be resisted. He that makes men able to serve him can, when he pleases, make them willing too. It is the Lord of hosts that musters the host of the battle, v. 4. He raises them, brings them together, puts them in order, reviews them, has an exact account of them in his muster-roll, sees that they be all in their respective posts, and gives them their necessary orders. Note, All the hosts of war are under the command of the Lord of hosts; and that which makes them truly formidable is that, when they come against Babylon, the Lord comes, and brings them with him as the weapons of his indignation, v. 5. Note, Great princes and armies are but tools in God’s hand, weapons that he is pleased to make use of in doing his work, and it is his wrath that arms them and gives them success.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
ISAIAH – CHAPTER 13
PROPHECIES AGAINST FOREIGN, HOSTILE NATIONS, (Isa 13:1 to Isa 23:18)
AN ORACLE CONCERNING BABYLON (13:1-14:23)
An “oracle” (a burden orally expressed) involved a revelation given to a prophet of God which was, in turn, to be uttered to men. The following series of oracles were designed, not only as a warning of judgment upon hostile nations, but also as a means of encouragement for Judah.
“Babylon”, in the Old Testament, is always “Babel” – bearing indisputable evidence of its deep roots in the “city of confusion”, (Gen 11:1-9). More than a city, or kingdom (though it is both, at various times), it symbolizes a highly organized world-system (religious, political and commercial) which is diametrically opposed to God’s order for man and the universe, incessantly antagonistic to the Most High; vainly proud of her accomplishments and brilliantly daring in her innovations of evil; there is, nevertheless, abundant evidence that the hand of divine restraint has been a constant check on her recklessness. And a close analysis, of the extensive ramifications of her workings, will reveal confusion, division and antagonism among her various branches. Her end is destruction. And with her all who have stopped their ears against divine warnings and pleadings to pursue the lusts aroused by her alluring deceptiveness.
Verse 1-16: THE FALL OF BABYLON
1. In verses 1-2 there is the command of the Lord for His servants to raise a banner as a rallying signal for His troops (Isa 5:26; Jer 50:2; Jer 51:25); they are to be urged onward, by voice and hand, toward the gates of Babylon, (Isa 10:32; Isa 19:16; Isa 45:1-3; Jer 51:58).
2. The Lord commands His sanctified ones; His strong and proudly-exultant warriors are summoned to execute His fierce anger upon Babylon, (comp. Joe 3:11).
3. In a passage with obvious eschatalogical or end time implications, the prophet declares what he has seen and heard, (Verse 4-8).
a. An uproar of multitudes upon the mountains! (Isa 5:30; Isa 17:12; Joe 3:14). A tumult of gathering kingdoms!
b. From distant lands, even from the ends of heaven, the Lord is mustering His battle-host, (Isa 5:26; Isa 7:18).
c. They are instruments of His indignation, to destroy the whole land, (Isa 42:13; Isa 10:5; Isa 24:1; Isa 34:2).
4. The “Day of the Lord” is viewed as “at hand” – a day of destruction which comes from the Almighty, (Verse 6; 10:3; 24:21-23; 34:2; Jer 10:15; Eze 30:3; Amo 5:18).
a. The hands of human ingenuity will dangle helplessly at one’s sides, (Eze 7:17).
b. Once-courageous hearts will melt with fear, (Verse 7; comp. Isa 19:1; Lev 26:36-37).
c. Dismayed, seized by pain and agony; they will writhe as women in the travail of child-birth – each one standing aghast at the terror of his dearest friend, (Verse 8; comp. Isa 66:4; Eze 21:7; Dan 5:6; Mic 7:16-17; Nah 2:10; Heb 10:27).
5. Again “the Day of the Lord” is pictured as coming, “cruel, with wrath and fierce anger”, for the desolation of the land and the destruction of sinners out of it, (Verse 9; 34:1-8; Joe 2:31; Joe 3:15; Mat 24:29; Mar 13:24; Luk 21:35).
6. The stars, constellations, sun and moon will refuse their light -increasing the wretchedness of the wicked, (Verse 10; 5:30; Joe 2:10).
7. Manifesting His presence for the punishment of the wicked (Verse 11; Isa 3:11; Isa 14:5; Isa 26:21), the Lord will cause the arrogance of presumptuous sinners to cease, (Isa 2:11; Pro 8:13) – humbling the pride of oppressive tyrants (comp. Isa 25:10-11; Isa 29:5; Isa 29:20; Isa 49:25-26), and illustrating the fact that “the way of transgressors is hard”, (Pro 13:15).
8. The extent of this threatened slaughter, and extremely diminished population, is expressed by a powerful comparison, (Verse 12; Isa 4:1; Isa 6:11-12; 1Ki 9:28; Psa 45:9).
9. The judgment of the Lord, in the heat of His fierce anger, is likened to the shaking of both of the heavens and the earth (Verse 13-14; Isa 2:19; Isa 24:1; Jer 10:10; Hag 2:6-7), which results in the flight of non-Babylonians to their own lands and people, (comp. Isa 17:13; Isa 33:3).
a. It should be noted that “heavens” is sometimes used, symbolically, to designate the height of political glory-the leaders of human government, (Jer 4:23-25; Eze 32:7; Isa 34:4-5).
b. And “earth” sometimes denotes the multitude of people by whose strength “the heavens” are supported, (Rev 12:16; Gen 6:11; etc.).
c. An “earthquake”, in its figurative usage, is suggestive of civil revolution, (Joe 2:10).
10. The purposed destruction of Babylon is to be complete -without pity or respect of persons, (Verse 15-16; Isa 14:19; Jer 50:25-27; Jer 51:3-4).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1. The burden of Babylon From this chapter down to the twenty-fourth, the Prophet foretells what dreadful and shocking calamities awaited the Gentiles and those countries which were best known to the Jews, either on account of their being contiguous to them, or on account of the transactions of commerce and alliances; and he does so not without weighty reasons. When various changes are taking place, some think that God sports with the affairs of men, and others, that everything is directed by the blind violence of fortune, as profane history sufficiently testifies; very few are aware that these things are appointed and regulated by the purpose of God. There is nothing of which it is more difficult to convince men than that the providence of God governs this world. Many indeed acknowledge it in words, but very few have it actually engraven on their heart. We tremble and shudder at the very smallest change, and we inquire into the causes, as if it depended on the decision of men. What then shall be done, when the whole world is thrown into commotion, and the face of affairs is so completely changed in various places, that it appears as if everything were going to ruin?
It was therefore highly useful that Isaiah and other prophets should discourse about calamities of this nature, that all might understand that those calamities did not take place but by the secret and wonderful purpose of God. If they had uttered no prediction on those subjects, such a disordered state of affairs might have shaken and disturbed the minds of the godly; but when they knew long beforehand that this would happen, they had in the event itself a mirror of the providence of God. When Babylon was taken, which they had previously learned from the mouth of the Prophet, their own experience taught them that the prediction had not been made in vain, or without solid grounds.
But there was also another reason why the Lord commanded that the destruction of Babylon and other nations should be foretold. These predictions were of no advantage to Babylon or the other nations, and these writings did not reach them; but by this consolation he intended to alleviate the grief of the godly, that they might not be discouraged, as if their condition were worse than that of the Gentiles; which they would have had good reason to conclude, if they had seen them unpunished escape the hand of God. If the monarchy of Babylon had remained unshaken, the Jews would not only have thought that it was in vain for them to worship God, and that his covenant which he had made with Abraham had not been fulfilled, since it fared better with strangers and wicked men than with the elect people; but a worse suspicion might have crept into their minds, that God showed favor to accursed robbers, who gave themselves up to deeds of dishonesty and violence, and despised all law both human and divine. Indeed, they might soon have come to think that God did not care for his people, or could not assist them, or that everything was directed by the blind violence of fortune. Accordingly, that they might not faint or be thrown into despair, the Prophet meets them with the consoling influence of this prediction, showing that the Babylonians also will be punished.
Besides, the comparison taught them how severe was the punishment that awaited them, which they had knowingly and willingly brought upon themselves. For if God pronounces such dreadful threatenings against the unbelieving and irreligious Gentiles, who wandered in darkness, how much greater will be his rigour and severity against a rebellious people who have intentionally sinned against him!
The servant who knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, is justly beaten with many stripes. (Luk 12:47.)
Thus when God threatened such dreadful punishment against the blind Gentiles, the Jews, who had been instructed in the law, might behold as in a mirror what they had deserved.
But the chief design which Isaiah had in view in these predictions was, to point out to the Jews how dear and valuable their salvation was in the sight of God, when they saw that he undertook their cause and revenged the injuries which had been done to them. He spoke first of the desolation and ruin that would befall the kingdom of Judah and of Israel, because judgment must begin at the house of God. (1Pe 4:17.) God takes a peculiar care of his own people, and gives his chief attention to them. Whenever therefore we read these predictions, let us learn to apply them to our use. The Lord does not indeed, at the present day, foretell the precise nature of those events which shall befall kingdoms and nations; but yet the government of the world, which he undertook, is not abandoned by him. 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.
The burden. As to the word burden, which frequently occurs, I shall state briefly in what sense it ought to be understood. It was generally employed by the prophets of God, whenever they threatened any afflictive event, in order to inform the people that no afflictive event happened which the Lord himself did not lay as a burden on men’s shoulders. The wickedness and obstinacy of the people having constrained the prophets to preach incessantly about God’s chastisements, the consequence was, that as a matter of ordinary jesting they called all the prophecies by the name of a burden; as is evident from Jer 23:36, where the Lord kindles into fierce indignation, because they not only spoke of his word contemptuously, but also held it up to dislike. This word makes known to the godly, that the Lord appoints all calamities and afflictions, that every one may suffer the punishment of his own sin.
Which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw. He expressly states that what he is about to utter was revealed to him by a heavenly vision, that the weight which is thus given to it may render it victorious over all the judgments pronounced by the flesh. It was difficult to believe that a monarchy so flourishing, and so prodigiously rich, could be overturned in any way. Their eyes being dazzled by beholding such vast power, the Prophet draws away their attention from it to believe the heavenly revelation, that they may expect by faith the judgment of God which they could not comprehend by the unaided exercise of their own minds.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE PROUD CITY DOOMED
Isa. 13:1. The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
In 2 Kings 17 we find an account of the invasion of Israel by the Assyrians (2Ki. 17:1-6). Then follows a long enumeration of the sins which had brought this Divine visitation upon the ten tribes, ending with the words, So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day (2Ki. 17:23). If the scourge was no longer in the hands of the king of Assyria, it would be transferred to other hands not less terrible.
1. Would this scourge destroy the life of the Jewish nation? This was the awful question which presented itself to the minds of the prophets when they saw one and another limb of this nation lopped off, when they saw that a great numerical majority of the tribes would be carried away. Isaiahs eyes were opened to see whence the permanence of the race was derived, how great critical moments of its life discovered Him who was everlastingly present with it. The child born in hours of trouble and rebuke had borne witness to him of the continuance of the regal family as well as of the people of Gods covenant, when the rage of their enemies as well as their own faithlessness were threatening them with destruction. Nor was this all. In the miserable, heartless reign of Ahaz the vision had been presented to him of a Rod coming out of the stem of Jesse, which should stand for an ensign of the people. To it should the Gentiles seek, and His rest should be glorious. Consider the Rod out of Jesse, what it betokened (Isa. 11:10-12)! The immediate fruits which Isaiah saw coming out of this root might have appeared in the days of any patriotic and prosperous prince, and did actually appear in the latter days of Hezekiah. No doubt Hezekiah might become, and did actually become, an ensign to the nations, just as Solomon had been before him, one to whom they brought presents, whose alliance they sought, whose elevation out of a deep calamity was a proof that some mighty God was with him. But
2. Though we need not seek in any more distant days than those of Hezekiah for a very satisfactory fulfilment of these predictions (and let it never be forgotten that what may seem to us, when we look back over 3000 years, an exaggerated description of deliverance and restoration, must have seemed inadequate and almost cold to those who experienced the blessing),though Hezekiah was a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and though the Spirit of the Lord did rest upon him (Isa. 11:2),though the peacefulness and order of his last years might faithfully carry out the symbols of the wolf and the lamb lying down togther, yet it was no less impossible for the prophet to think chiefly of Hezekiah when he was uttering these words than it would have been for him to fancy that he was the King whom he saw sitting on the throne, and his train filling the temple in the year that Uzziah died (chap. Isa. 6:1-4). There was, however, this great blessing which came to Isaiah from his being able to connect the Divine King with an actual manthe belief that a man must embody and present the Godhead, that only in a man could its blessedness and glory appear, acquired a force and vividness from his hope of Hezekiahs government and from his actual experience of it, which we may say, without rashness or profaneness, would have been otherwise wanting in him. In using that language, we are only affirming that any method but the one which we know the Divine Wisdom has adopted for conveying a truth to a mans spirit must be an imperfect method. Hezekiahs existence was necessary to the instruction of Isaiah, and through him of all generations to come. Perhaps Shalmaneser and Sennacherib were, in another way, scarcely less necessary.
Apparently the prophet passes in this chapter to an entirely new subject. The Assyrian seems to be forgotten. He opens with the burden of Babylon; he goes on to the burden of Damascus, &c. But Babel or Babylon represented to the prophets the attempt to establish a universal society, not upon the acknowledgment of the Divine care and protection, but upon the acknowledgment of a mere power in nature against which men must try to measure their own. The order and history of the Jewish nation were made, from age to age, silently to testify against it. Babylon is the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees excellency (Isa. 13:19); her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged (Isa. 13:22). But these and similar words must refer to more than the destruction of a certain Chaldean city then or afterwards. How can we limit them to it when we find such words as those in Isa. 13:11-13? Instead of being, as some suppose, an interpolated fragment, the burden of Babylon comes in to make all the visitations upon the other tribes of the earth intelligible. They are diverse but harmonious portions of the same Divine message to mana message of terror, but also of deliverance and hope. In chap. 14 we feel how wonderfully these are combined.
But though most feel something of the grandeur of this poetry, and a few the truth of this prophecy, we do not enough consider upon what both are founded. The God-Man was the ground upon which the Jewish nation stood; here you have the contrastthe Man-God; he would ascend up to heaven and exalt his throne above the stars of God. This is the natural ruler of a society which counts the gold of Ophir more precious than human beings. We have here the Babylonian power and the Jerusalem power, that parody of human and Divine greatness which is seen in an earthly tyrant, that perfect reconciliation of divinity and humanity which is seen in the Redeemer. Consider both images well. Both are presented to us; we must admire and copy one of them; and whichever we take, we must resolutely discard the other. If we have ever mixed them together in our minds, a time is at hand that will separate them for ever. The Babylonian mark and image, your own evil nature, a corrupt society, the evil spirit, have been striving to stamp you ever since your childhood. Each hour you are tempted to think a man less precious than the gold of Ophir; the current maxims of the world take for granted that he is; you in a thousand ways are acting on those maxims. Oh, remember that in them, and in the habits, which they beget, lies the certain presage of slavery for men and nations, the foretaste of decay and ruin, which no human contrivances can avert, which the gifts and blessings of Gods providence only accelerate. May God grant us power to cast Babylonian principles out of our hearts, that when they come before us we may despise them and laugh them to scorn, knowing that not against us but against the Holy One the enemy is exalting himself. In that day may we be able to sing the song which the prophet said should be sung in the land of Judah (Isa. 26:1-4).F. D. Maurice, M.A.: Prophets and Kings, pp. 272290.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
III.
PEOPLE AND PAGANS CHAPTERS 13 23
A. IMPLACABLE EMPIRE CH. 1314
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
1.
BABYLON
a. PREDICTION OF JUDGMENT
TEXT: Isa. 13:1-8
1
The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
2
Set ye up an ensign upon the bare mountain, lift up the voice unto them, wave the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
3
I have commanded my consecrated ones, yea, I have called my mighty men for mine anger, even my proudly exulting ones.
4
The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as of a great people! the noise of a tumult of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! Jehovah of hosts is mustering the host for the battle.
5
They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even Jehovah, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
6
Wail ye; for the day of Jehovah is at hand; as destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
7
Therefore shall all hands be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt;
8
and they shall be dismayed; pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman in travail: they shall look in amazement one at another; their faces shall be faces of flame.
QUERIES
a.
How does Isaiah know of an empire 100 years from his time?
b.
Who is from the uttermost part of heaven?
c.
How was it the day of Jehovah?
PARAPHRASE
This is the vision God showed Isaiah (son of Amoz) concerning Babylons doom. See the flags waving as their enemy attacks. Shout to them, O Israel, and wave them on as they march against Babylon to destroy the palaces of the rich and mighty. I, the Lord, have set apart these armies for this task; I have called those rejoicing in their strength to do this work, to satisfy my anger. Hear the tumult on the mountains! Listen as the armies march! It is the tumult and the shout of many nations: the Lord of Hosts has brought them here, From countries far away. They are His weapons against you, O Babylon. They carry his anger with them and will destroy your whole land. Scream in terror, for the Lords time has come, the time for the Almighty to crush you. Your arms lie paralyzed with fear; the strongest hearts melt, and are afraid. Fear grips you with terrible pangs, like those of a woman in labor. You look at one another, helpless, as the flames of the burning city reflect upon your pallid faces.
COMMENTS
Isa. 13:1-5 REQUIEM FOR BABYLON: This is the beginning of the third part of Isaiahs prophecy to the Remnant and consists of the judgments upon the pagan nations. In this section Isaiah interprets to his readers, those faithful who will heed him, the activity of the Divine government as God deals with the heathen empires and their sin. He especially is led to write of pagan destinies in relation to Gods faithful kingdom-people. These prophecies were not for the benefit of the Babylonians but for the people of God. From them they would learn that the hostile power of the world in its most powerful manifestation would finally be brought to ignominious defeat and ruin. No power that sets itself against God, be it as haughty and pretentious as was Babylonia, can prevail. Israel would learn that God does not permit to go unpunished the wickedness of those who have set themselves against the Lord and against His anointed, and who oppose His people.
To see the opponents of Gods purposes punished would bring consolation and encouragement to the Jews, for it would teach them how precious their salvation was in Gods sight. God is in control of all things. A topsy-turvy world is not really topsy-turvy. Even the darkest moments are in Gods providential control and rule.
Isaiah probably wrote this section around 730 B.C. Babylon did not come to world domination until about 606 B.C., some 124 years later, and Babylon was not conquered until 536 B.C., nearly 200 years after Isaiah predicted it. How could Isaiah know it? Plainly, it was by super-natural revelation directly from God. Isaiah states that it was an oracle he saw (i.e. in a vision).
The three means of summoning the invaders of Babylon, raising an ensignlifting up the voicemotioning with the hand, indicate the highest degree of urgency! Israel is bidden to cheer the conquerors of Babylon on.
The supreme note is the authority and government of God. He is directing the campaign against Babylon. The mighty hosts here assembled are not named but they are described as my consecrated ones, my mighty ones and my proudly exulting ones, showing they were chosen of God and led by God. The Medes and Persians were a mountain people and Isaiah hears the noise of a mighty host of people armed for war and gathering together for conflict. They came from a far countrythe uttermost parts of heaven. Both Media and Persia were, as far as the Hebrews were concerned, at the end of heaven or where heaven and earth meet at the horizon. God is so absolutely the author of this that it is represented as the actual day of Jehovah. Jehovah is at the head of the attacking army.
Isa. 13:6-8 REACTION OF BABYLON: Babylon will not brag and boast on this day of Jehovah as did Nebuchadnezzar upon his housetop (Dan. 4:27). Babylon will scream with terror and howl and mourn, (Cf. Jer. chs. 5051).
The people of Babylon are pictured as paralyzed with astonishment and fright. This harmonizes with both Jer. 50:43; Jer. 51:30; and Dan. 5:6. After having caused Cyrus withdrawal from the walls of Babylon, Belshazzar was surprised by the Persians stealing into the city on a dry river bed whose waters had been physically diverted around the city by the Persian army (see our comments in Daniel, College Press, chapter 5). Convulsing agitation and desperate perplexity came upon the Babylonians. Theirs is the deepest anguish for the day of Jehovah has broken upon them.
This is the ultimate destiny of all earthly kingdoms. This will be the reaction of all men and women who have put their trust in this world and its doomed systems.
QUIZ
1.
What is the main thrust of this section of Isaiahs prophecy?
2.
For whose benefit were these prophecies against the nations?
3.
How would the doom of the pagan empires be a source of encouragement?
4.
How much is God involved in the downfall of Babylon?
5.
What was Babylonias reaction to be to Gods judgment?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XIII.
(1) The burden of Babylon . . .The title burden, which is repeated in Isa. 15:1; Isa. 17:1; Isa. 19:1; Isa. 21:1; Isa. 22:1; Isa. 23:1, indicates that we have in this division a collection of prophetic utterances, bearing upon the future of the surrounding nations, among which Babylon was naturally pre-eminent. The authenticity of the first of these oracles has been questioned, partly on the ground of differences of style, partly because it seems to anticipate the future destruction of Babylon with a distinctness which implies a prophecy after the event. The first of these objections rests, as will be seen from the numerous coincidences between these and other portions of Isaiah, on no sufficient evidence. The second implies a view of prophecy which excludes the element of a divinely given foreknowledge; and that view the present writer does not accept.
Accepting the two chapters as Isaiahs, we have to ask how Babylon came at the time within the prophets historical horizon, and what were at the time its political relations with Assyria. (1) It is obvious that the negotiations which Ahaz had opened with Tiglath-pileser, the passage to and fro of armies and ambassadors, the journeys of prophets like Jonah and Nahum, the commerce of which we have traces even in the days of Joshua (Jos. 7:21), must have made Babylon, as well as Nineveh, familiar to the leading men of Judah. As a matter of fact, it was probably more familiar. Babylon was the older, more famous, more splendid city Nineveh (if we accept the conclusions of one school of historians) had been overpowered and destroyed by the Medes under Arbaces, and the Babylonians under Belesis (B.C. 739), the Pul of Bible history, under whom Assyria was a dependency of Babylon (Lenormant, Anc. Hist., p. 38). In Tiglath-pileser the Assyrians found a ruler who restored their supremacy. The Chaldans, however, revolted under Merdach-baladan, and Sargon records with triumph how he had conquered him and spoiled his palace. As the result of that victory, he took the title of king of Babylon. Merdach-baladan, however, renewed his resistance early in the reign of Sennacherib, and though again defeated, we find him courting the alliance of Hezekiah either before or after the destruction of that kings army (Isaiah 39). We can scarcely doubt that the thought of a Babylonian, as of an Egyptian, alliance had presented itself to the minds of the statesmen of Judah as a means of staying the progress of Assyrian conquests. The chapters now before us, however, do not seem written with reference to such an alliance, and in Isa. 14:25 Babylon seems contemplated chiefly as the representative of the power of Assyria. It seems probable, accordingly, that the king of Babylon in Isa. 14:4 is to be identified with Sargon, the Assyrian king, who took the title of Vicar of the Gods in Babylon (Records of the Past, vol. xi. 17).
The word burden, prefixed to this and the following prophecies, is a literal translation of the Hebrew. It seems to have acquired a half-technical sense as announcing the doom which a nation or a man was called to bear, and so to have acquired the meaning of an oracle, or prophecy. This meaning, which is first prominent in Isaiah (in Pro. 30:1; Pro. 31:1 it is used of an ethical or didactic utterance thought of as inspired), was afterwards given to it in the speeches of the false prophets (Lam. 2:14); and in Jer. 23:33-40 we have a striking play upon the primary and derived meaning of the word. (See Note on Jer. 23:33.) It continued in use, however, in spite of Jeremiahs protest, and appears in Zec. 9:1; Zec. 12:1; Mal. 1:1. Oracle is perhaps the best English equivalent. We note as characteristic (see Isa. 1:1; Isa. 2:1), that the burden is described as that which Isaiah saw.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1. The burden of Babylon The word massah, “burden,” is from a verb, meaning to lift, raise, and impliedly to bear; a secondary meaning is, to utter: hence the noun may mean a “burden” mental burden a verdict, or oracular utterance; or, a declaration prophetic and menacing a judicial sentence upon Babylon. See 1Ki 9:25.
Did see The whole vision was serious, substantive truth, pictorially enacted.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Oracle Against Babylon
Yahweh Raises His Forces For The Destruction of Babylon
The first burden borne by Isaiah was the burden of Babylon, a heavy burden indeed. And it begins with the calling together of a world army to destroy Babylon once and for all. This great symbol of all that is evil must be destroyed. It is not describing a particular point in history (although Isaiah may have thought so) but a kind of apocalyptic judgment levelled at Babylon which in earthly terms will come about over the period of time necessary for Babylon to be finally destroyed. While it would take time for it to happen, from this point on Babylon is doomed.
Analysis of Isa 13:1-5 .
The burden of Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. Set yourselves up an ensign on the bare mountains, lift up the voice to them, wave the hand, that they may go into the gate of the princes (Isa 13:1-2).
I have commanded my consecrated ones (‘holy ones’), yes, I have called my mighty men for my anger, my proudly exulting ones (Isa 13:3).
The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people, the noise of a tumult of the kingdoms, of the nations gathered together (Isa 13:4 a).
Yahweh of hosts musters the host for battle. They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even Yahweh and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land (earth) (Isa 13:4-5).
In ‘a’ Yahweh calls on His chosen leader to set up his banner on the bare mountains calling together his forces together under their princes, while in the parallel it is Yahweh of hosts Who is mustering them for battle, calling them together from the farthest parts of the earth as the weapons of His indignation. In ‘b’ those called to fulfil Yahweh’s anger are both consecrated and highly exultant, and in the parallel they gather in the mountains in a great noise of tumult of nations gathered together.
Isa 13:1
‘The burden of Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.’
The fact that Babylon comes first in the list emphasises Isaiah’s growing awareness that the Babel of old (Gen 10:8-10; Gen 11:1-9), God’s old enemy, was raising its head again as the leader of the attempted conspiracy. The ogre had again taken charge. He was aware from Scripture of the place of Babel in the scheme of things as the great enemy of freedom and truth, and proponent of world disintegration as revealed in Genesis 10-11; Genesis 14. And the burden had come on him that Babylon must be destroyed.
This awareness of the old traditions of Babylon’s one time greatness, and its present proud boasting made him aware that this nation, which was at this point already again demonstrating its rising power, would continue to be the great enemy of God’s people and the instrument of His great judgment on them (Isa 39:6-7). It had to be. For was not Babel traditionally the symbol of all that was proud and evil (Gen 11:1-9), the great challenger of God (Isa 13:19; Isa 14:13-14), and even in Isaiah’s day, the great boaster about its future, and its past?
But he was now being made aware that, as in Genesis, Babel/Babylon was doomed, even before it began its present meteoric rise. For God’s judgment had been pronounced on it from the beginning. This was all part of the burden that lay on Isaiah’s heart as he prophesied against Babylon, aware of what it had been, knowing what it was, recognising what it was becoming, surmising what it would do to God’s people, and declaring the end that must finally result, its ultimate destruction, because God was against it. (As with the destruction of the Amalekites promised in Exo 17:14; Exo 17:16, which took generations to unfold, it would happen in God’s time).
Babylon is truly spoken of here in apocalyptic terms. Much of the language used here will reappear in speaking of the end times. And similar language is used of the other arch-enemy of God’s people, the Edomites (chapter 34). Yet although it may be the great enemy of God, Isaiah roots Babylon firmly in history. For while it might be portentous, there was nothing mythical about it. The rising again of Babylon was to be curtailed as a result of ‘world’ forces gathered against them (Isa 13:4-5), and these included the dreadful Medes (Isa 13:17), who would continually be set on them like a man sets his dog on an intruder. And its final destruction would inevitably follow, although how much later Isaiah did not know.
As with all the prophets he saw the future as one whole. The purpose of prophecy was to declare what God was going to do, not when. He foresaw the assaults by the nations that must take place on Babylon; and in its continuing devastations, following its risings again (which he would witness at least twice under Sargon and Sennacherib), he saw the prospect of its final desolation. How they would all fit together he did not know. It was not his concern. That was in God’s hands.
Isa 13:2
‘Set yourselves up an ensign on the bare mountains,
Lift up the voice to them,
Wave the hand,
That they may go into the gate of the princes.’
The nations are called together against Babylon to a perpetual, unceasing battle. A banner is to be set up where all can see it, on the bare mountains (compare Isa 18:3). The banner may well be seen as over an overlord’s tent, from which the orders go out to the nations, both by voice and a directing motion of the arm. The mountains are bare to stress the starkness of the picture. The whole picture is deliberately anonymous. It is the whole world that is being summoned to destroy the monster Babylon.
‘That they may go into the gate of the princes, (or ‘of those who are willing’).’ This was in order that they might enrol under their chosen leaders, or in order to align themselves with the willing volunteers. The gate was always the place of assembly, for the public square, such as it was, would be there. Thus they go there in order to enrol under their leaders, or as willing volunteers. (‘Nadib’ can mean either those who are willing, or the nobility, those willing to take responsibility. Either is possible here). All nations will willingly volunteer to go against Babylon.
Isa 13:3
‘I have commanded my consecrated ones (‘holy ones’), yes, I have called my mighty men for my anger, my proudly exulting ones.’
These are a people consecrated to Yahweh’ purposes (although they probably do not know it). They are His mighty men, there to reveal His anger against Babylon. They are men of great pride and of warlike demeanour. They are joined together with one purpose, the destruction of Babylon, the enemy of the ages. They have been set apart by God for this sacred task.
We are not to see them as particularly morally righteous. Their status lies in the fact that God is using them to fulfil His purpose, (just as ungodly Assyria had previously been described as the rod of God’s anger (Isa 10:5)), and not because of what they are. But they are not just one nation. They are all nations from the ends of the world. (All would participate in it at different times, or will do one day in its reproduction in Revelation, for Babylon was not only a city it was an idea)
Isa 13:4-5
‘The noise of a multitude in the mountains,
Like as of a great people,
The noise of a tumult of the kingdoms,
Of the nations gathered together.
Yahweh of hosts musters the host for battle.
They come from a far country,
From the uttermost part of heaven,
Even Yahweh and the weapons of his indignation,
To destroy the whole land (earth).’
Anyone who reads and listens can hear the sound in the mountains of an army, a great international army, gathered together and inevitably noisy as the different nations expressed themselves, for it is Yahweh ‘of hosts’ who has mustered ‘the host’ to battle. And He has mustered them from a distant country, from the farthest parts, and they have come as the weapons of His anger to destroy the land of Babylon. Such a host would be necessary against the Babylon of Isaiah’s visions.
This could equally describe either an Assyrian confederacy, with its widespread alliances, or the later Medo-Persian army which would include forces from far afield, for prior to attacking Babylon they had expanded to the east, and even the later Persian army under Xerxes. Indeed in the end it was describing all of them. Isaiah does not name the leader of the adversaries. He is not told who it is. It is the one appointed by God to do His bidding. But he knows that such world forces will rise and humiliate Babylon, and will not cease until the task is fulfilled. The fulfilment of this would in fact occur over the centuries until at last the task was complete and Babylon was no more thus it is describing events that occurred more than once. (And Revelation indicates that the idea of Babylon would continue, and would also have to be destroyed). Chapter 13 thus covers a continuous process until the fate of Babylon is accomplished (compare again how God in the same way decreed the end of the Amalekites (Exo 17:14; Exo 17:16; Num 24:20; Deu 25:19), even though it was to take many centuries, and how in chapter 34, He decrees the end of Edom in similar language to here. Babylon, the Amalekites and Edom were all symbols of what was totally rejected by God). This burden cannot be strictly compared with the burdens that follow, for they will be ‘temporary’ in the particular historical situation, but this one is unswerving and final.
There are no particular grounds for seeing anything here as referring specifically to behaviour towards Judah, although they would be seen as being caught up in the general overall picture (see Isa 14:1-3). They were a part of the whole, even if an exclusive part. Furthermore as the account goes on all the nations surrounding Judah will be mentioned, north, south, east and west. So in one sense Judah is in the middle of it. But Babylon’s doom goes beyond all that. It has been necessary almost from the beginning of history. And many nations will be involved in it.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Lord Musters His Army Isa 13:1-5 describes the call and gathering of a great and mighty army that the Lord gathers to implement His divine plan of redemption for Israel. Herodotus (485-425 B.C.) [33] and Xenophon (430-354 B.C.), [34] two Greek historian, record this assembly of a great army of Medes and Persians under Cyrus, and his conquest of the city of Babylon. The description of Cyrus mustering his army and marching them towards Babylon with regular meetings in his tent in preparation for his assault upon the city of Babylon is reflected in Isa 13:1-5. This is the same Cyrus that Ezra mentions in Ezr 1:1, whose decree officially ended the Babylonian Captivity of the Jewish people, allowing many to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple and their city. Daniel records the fall of Babylon under King Belshazzar with the writing on the wall and the prophecy of the fall of this great city (Dan 5:1-30).
[33] See Herodotus 1.191 in Herodotus I, Books I-II, trans. by A. D. Godley, in The Loeb Classical Library, eds. T. E. Page, E. Capps, and W. H. D. Rouse (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1975), 238-241.
[34] See Xenophon, Cyropaedia 7.5.1-34 in The Cyropaedia, or Institutions of Cyrus, and the Hellenics, or Grecian History, trans. J. S. Watson and Henry Dale (London: George Bell and Sons, 1880), 220-225.
It is possible that this army will be used to destroy some or all of the ten nations listed in Isa 13:1 to Isa 27:13. We are given an allusion to the swift movement of the Lord’s army in Isa 19:1, which says that “the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud.”
Isa 19:1, “The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.”
Isa 13:1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
Isa 13:1
Comments – Within the collection of prophecies against the Gentile nations (Isa 13:1 to Isa 27:13), ten of them will begin with the Hebrew word ( ) (H4853), which means, “a burden” (Isa 13:1; Isa 14:28; Isa 15:1; Isa 17:1; Isa 19:1; Isa 21:1; Isa 21:11; Isa 21:13; Isa 22:1; Isa 23:1).
Isa 13:1 Word Study on “see” Gesenius says the Hebrew word “see” ( ) (H2372) means, “to see, to behold.” Strong says it literally means, “to gaze at,” and thus, “to perceive, contemplate (with pleasure),” and specifically, “to have a vision of.”
Isa 13:2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
Isa 13:2
Scripture Reference:
Isa 18:3
Isa 13:3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.
Isa 13:3
Isa 13:4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
Isa 13:4
Isa 13:5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
Isa 13:5
This is the army of the Lord, and He has raised up mighty men to implement His divine purpose and plan for the redemption of mankind. There is no one able to altar this plan.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Judgment upon Babylon Comments – Isa 13:1 to Isa 14:27 records Isaiah’s prophecy against Babylon. This prophecy is the longest and first in a collection of prophecies against foreign nations, revealing that the seat of Satan dwells in this nation. The downfall of this major stronghold of Satan will serve as a testimony of God’s divine power to the other minor strongholds, as He systematically decrees judgment against them.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Prophecies Against the Nations Isa 13:1 to Isa 27:13 records prophecies against twelve nations, culminating with praise unto the Lord. God planted the nation of Israel in the midst of the nations as a witness of God’s plan of redemption for mankind. Instead of embracing God’s promises and commandments to mankind, the nations rejected Israel and their God, then they participated in Israel’s destruction. Although God judges His people, He also judged these nations, the difference being God promised to restore and redeem Israel, while the nations received no future hope of restoration in their prophecies; yet, their opportunity for restoration is found in Israel’s rejection when God grafts the Church into the vine of Israel (Rom 11:11-32). The more distant nations played little or no role in Israel’s idolatry, demise, and divine judgment, so they are not listed in this passage of Scripture.
It is important to note in prophetic history that Israel’s judgment is followed by judgment upon the nations; and Israel’s final restoration is followed by the restoration of the nations and the earth. Thus, some end time scholars believe that the events that take place in Israel predict parallel events that are destined to take place among the nations.
Here is a proposed outline:
1. Judgment upon Babylon Isa 13:1 to Isa 14:27
2. Judgment upon Philistia Isa 14:28-32
3. Judgment upon Moab Isa 15:1 to Isa 16:14
4. Judgment upon Damascus Isa 17:1-14
5. Judgment upon Ethiopia Isa 18:1-7
6. Judgment upon Egypt Isa 19:1-25
7. Prophecy Against Ethiopia & Egypt Isa 20:1-6
8. Judgment upon the Wilderness of the Sea Isa 21:1-10
9. Judgment upon Dumah Isa 21:11-12
10. Judgment upon Arabia Isa 21:13-17
11. Judgment upon Judah Isa 22:1-25
12. Judgment upon Tyre Isa 23:1-18
13. Judgment upon the Earth Isa 24:1-23
14. Praise to God for Israel’s Restoration Isa 25:1 to Isa 27:13
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
General Introduction to the Prophecies of Wrath
v. 1. The burden of Babylon, v. 2. Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, v. 3. I have commanded My sanctified ones, v. 4. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people, v. 5. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, v. 6. Howl ye, v. 7. Therefore shall all hands be faint, v. 8. and they shall be afraid, v. 9. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, v. 10. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light, v. 11. And I will punish the world for their evil and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, v. 12. I will make a man more precious than fine gold, v. 13. Therefore I will shake the heavens,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
THE BURDEN OF BABYLON. The series of prophecies which commences with this chapter and continues to the close of Isa 23:1-18; is connected together by the word massa, burden. It has been argued that the term “burden” is an incorrect translation of massa, as used by Isaiah and later prophets (Nah 1:1; Hab 1:1; Zec 9:1; Zec 12:1; Mal 1:1); and that “utterance,” or “prophecy,” would be more suitable (comp. Pro 30:1; Pro 31:1, where massa is thus rendered in the Authorized Version). But the facts remain that massa means a “burden” in the ordinary sense, and that the prophecies to which it is prefixed are generally (in Isaiah always) of a denunciatory character. The translation may therefore be allowed to standat any rate in the present chapter.
It is remarkable that Babylon heads the list of the Church’s enemies in the present catalogue. Dr. Kay supposes the term “Babel” to be equivalent to “Asshur-Babel,” and to designate “the Assyro-Babylonian Empire.” He thinks that “Babel” heads the list on account of Assyria’s position, under Tiglath-Pileser and Shalmaneser, in the van of Israel’s adversaries. But neither Isaiah nor any other sacred writer knows of an Assyro-Babylonian kingdom or empire. Assyria and Babylonia are distinct kingdoms in Genesis (Gen 10:8-12), in 2 Kings (18-20.), in 2 Chronicles (2Ch 20:12.), in Isaiah (36-39.) and in Ezekiel (23; 30; 31.). They had been at war almost continuously for above seven centuries before the time of Isaiah. Assyria had, on the whole, proved the stronger of the two, and had from time to time for a longer or a shorter period held Babylonia in subjection. But the two countries were never more one than Russia and Poland, and, until Tiglath-Pileser assumed the crown of Babylon in 729 B.C; they bad always been under separate monarchs. Individually, I can only account for the high position here given to Babylon by the prophet, on the supposition that it was thus early revealed to him that Babylonia was the great enemy to be fearedthe ultimate destroyer of Judah and Jerusalem, the power that would carry the Jewish people into captivity.
Isa 13:1
Which Isaiah did see (comp. Isa 1:1; Isa 2:1, etc.). Isaiah always “sees” his prophecies, whether they are of the nature of visions (as Isa 6:1-13.) or the contrary. The word is probably used to express the strong conviction that he has of their absolute certainty.
Isa 13:2
Lift ye up a banner; rather, a standard“an ensign,” as in Isa 5:26 : Isa 11:12. “Ensigns” were used both by the Assyrians and the Egyptians. “Banners,” or flags, do not seem to have been employed in the ancient world. Upon the high mountain; rather, upon a bare mountainone that was clear of trees, so that the signal might be the better seen from it. God’s army having to be summoned against Babylon, the summons is made in three ways:
(1) by a signal or ensign lifted up on a high hill;
(2) by a loud call or shout; and
(3) by waving or beckoning with the hand.
The whole description is, of course, pure metaphor. That they may go into the gates of the nobles. Either that they may enter into the palaces of the grandees in Babylon, or that they may take the towns of the tributary princes.
Isa 13:3
I have commanded my sanctified ones. The pronoun “I” is emphatic”I myself.” Not only will an external summons go forth, but God will lay his own orders on them whom he chooses for his instruments, and bid them come to the muster. All who carry out his purposes are, in a certain sense, “sanctified ones” (comp. Jer 22:7; Jer 51:27; Zep 1:7, etc.). Here the Modes and Persians are specially in. tended (see Isa 13:17). For mine anger; i.e. “for the purpose of executing my anger.” Even them that rejoice in my highness; rather, my proudly exultant ones (Cheyne, Rosenmller, Gesenius). AEschylus calls the Persians ; Herodotus, (1. 41). The high spirits, however, natural to gallant soldiers on going out to war, rather than any special haughtiness or arrogancy, are intended.
Isa 13:4
The noise of a multitude in the mountains. I do not know why Isaiah should not have been “thinking of his geography” (Cheyne). As soon as the Greeks knew anything of the Persians, they knew of them as a mountain people, and attributed their valor and their handy habits to the physical character of their country (Herod; 9. ad fin.). Jeremiah connects the invading army which destroyed Babylon with mountains, when he derives it from. Ararat (comp. Gen 8:4), Minni (Armenia), and Ashchenaz (Jer 51:27). At any rate, the mention of “mountains” here is very appropriate, both Media and Persia being, in the main, mountainous countries. A great people; or, much peoplenot necessarily of one nation only. The host of the battle; rather, a host of war; i.e. a multitude of men, armed and prepared for war.
Isa 13:5
They come from a far country (comp. Isa 46:11). Both Media and Persia were “far countries” to the Hebrews, Persia especially. There is no indication that they knew of any countries more remote towards the East. Hence the expression which follows, “from the end of heaven”the heaven being supposed to end where the earth ended. Isaiah, like the other sacred writers, conforms his language on cosmical subjects to the opinions of his day. Even the Lord. With a most effective anthropomorphism, Jehovah is made to march with the army that he has mustered (verse 4) against the land that has provoked his wrathi.e. Babylonia. The weapons (comp. Isa 10:15; Jer 1:1-19 :25; Jer 51:20). To destroy the whole land. Many critics would render ha-arets by “the earth” here. It may be granted that the language of the prophecy goes beyond the occasion in places, and passes from Babylon to that wicked world of which Babylon is a type; but, where the context permits, it seems better to restrict than to expand the meaning of the words employed.
Isa 13:6
Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand (comp. Joe 1:15); literally, the expression used in both passages is a day of Jehovah. The idiom would not, however, allow the use of the article, so that the phrase is ambiguous. “The day of Jehovah” is properly “that crisis in the history of the world when Jehovah will interpose to rectify the evils of the present, bringing joy and glory to the humble believer, and misery and shame to the proud and disobedient” (Cheyne). But any great occasion when God passes judgment on a nation is called in Scripture “a day of the Lord.” “a coming of Christ.” And so here the day of the judgment upon Babylon seems to be intended. It shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Isaiah is thought to quote from Joel (Joe 1:15) here; but perhaps both prophets quoted from an earlier author. Shaddai (equivalent to “Almighty’) is an ancient name of God, most rarely used by the prophetical writers (only here, and in Eze 1:24; Eze 10:5; Joe 1:15), and never elsewhere by either Isaiah or Joel. It has generally been said to mean “the Strong One;” but recently the theory has found favor that it meant originally “the Sender of storms,” from the Arabic sh‘dajecit, effudit. However this may be, the word is certainly used in the later times mainly to express God’s power to visit and punish, and the present passage might perhaps be best translated, “It shall come as a destruction from the Destroyer (k’shod mish-Shaddai yabo’).”
Isa 13:7
Therefore shall all hands be faint (comp. Jer 1:1-19 :43; Eze 7:17; Zep 3:16). There shall be a general inaction and apathy. Recently discovered accounts of the capture of Babylon by Cyrus show a great want of activity and vigor on the part of the defenders. Every man’s heart shall melt (comp. Deu 20:8; Jos 2:11; Jos 5:1, etc.). The general inaction will spring from a general despondency. This statement agrees much better with the recently discovered documents than does the statement of Herodotus, that, safe within their walls, the Babylonians despised their assailants, and regarded themselves as perfectly secure.
Isa 13:8
They shall be afraid; rather, dismayed. Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; literally, they shall take hold of pangs and sorrows. They shall be amazed; rather, look aghast. Their faces shall be as flames. I know no better explanation than that of Dr. Kay, that a sudden transition is intended flora despondency to extreme excitement.
Isa 13:9
The day of the Lord (see the comment on Isa 13:6). Cruel; i.e. severe and painful, not really “cruel.” To lay the land desolate. As in Isa 13:5, so here, many would translate ha-arets by “the earth,” and understand a desolation extending far beyond Babylonia. But this is not necessary.
Isa 13:10
The stars of heaven shall not give their light. Nature sympathizes with her Lord. When he is angry, the light of the heavens grows dark. So it was at the crucifixion of Christ (Mat 27:45); so it will be at the end of the world (Mat 24:29). So it is often, if not always, at the time of great judgments. The constellations; literally, the Orions. Kesil, the Fool, was the Hebrew name of the constellation of Orion, who was identified with Nimrod, the type of that impious folly which contends against God. From its application to this particular group of stars (Job 9:9; Job 38:31; Amo 5:8), the word came to be applied to constellations in general. The Baby-Ionians very early marked out the sky into constellations.
Isa 13:11
I will punish the world for their evil. Here the prophecy certainly goes beyond the destruction of Babylon, and becomes a general warning to the wicked of all court-tries. Each country is to feel that its turn will come. Punishment will fall especially on the unjust, the proud, and the haughty (comp. Isa 1:28; Isa 2:11-17, etc.).
Isa 13:12
I will make a man more precious than fine gold (comp. Isa 4:1). Population shall he so diminished that man shall be the most highly esteemed of commodities. The more scanty the supply of a thing, the greater its value. The golden wedge of Ophir; rather, pure gold of Ophir. Ophir is mentioned as a gold-region in 1Ki 9:28; 1Ki 10:11; 1Ki 22:48; 1Ch 29:4; 2Ch 8:18; 2Ch 9:10; Job 22:24; Job 28:16; Psa 45:9. Its locality is uncertain. Gold of Ophir appears to have been considered especially pure.
Isa 13:13
I will shake the heavens (comp. Joe 3:16; Hag 2:7; Mat 24:29). In general, this sign is mentioned in connection with the end of the world, when a “new heaven and a new earth” are to supersede the old (Isa 65:17; Isa 66:22; Rev 21:1). Isaiah may, perhaps, pass here from signs connected with the fall of Babylon to those which will announce the last dayeach “day of the Lord” being, as already observed, a type of the final and great day (see the comment on verse 6). Or, possibly, the allusion may be to some “shaking” by God of a supra-mundane kingdom as preliminary to his passing judgment on Babylon (so Dr. Kay; comp. Isa 24:21).
Isa 13:14
It shall be as the chased roe. When the visitation comes on Babylon, there shall be a loosening of all ties between her and the subject nations. Her armies shall disband themselves, the pressed soldiers from foreign countries deserting, and hastening with all speed to their several homes. A flight of the foreign traders and visitors may also be glanced at. As a sheep that no man taketh up; rather, as sheep with none to gather them.
Isa 13:15
Every one that is found every one that is joined unto them; i.e. all the population, both native and foreign.
Isa 13:16
Their children also shall be dashed to pieces. In the barbarous warfare of the time, even children were not spared (see Psa 137:9; Nah 3:10; Hos 13:16). When a town was taken by assault, they were ruthlessly slaughtered. When spared, it was only to be dragged off as captives, and to become the slaves of their captors in a foreign land. Assyrian sculptures often illustrate this latter practice. Their wives ravished (comp. Lam 5:11; Zec 14:2).
Isa 13:17
Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them. Isaiah’s knowledge that the Medes should take a leading part in the destruction of Babylon is, no doubt, as surprising a fact as almost any other in the entire range of prophetic foresight, or insight, as set before us in Scripture. The Medes were known to Moses as an ancient nation of some importance (Gen 10:2); but since his time had been unmentioned by any sacred writer; and, as a living nation, had only just come within the range of Israelite vision, by the fact that, when Sargon deported the Samaritans from Samaria, he placed some of them “in the cities of the Medes” (2Ki 17:6). The Assyrians had become acquainted with them somewhat more than a century earlier, and had made frequent incursions into their country, finding them a weak and divided people, under the government of a large number of petty chiefs. Sargon had conquered a portion of the tribes, and placed prefects in the cities; at the same time planting colonists in them from other parts of the empire. That, when the weakness of Media was being thus made apparent, Isaiah should have foreseen its coming greatness can only be accounted for by his having received a Divine communication on the subject. Subsequently, he had a still more exact and complete communication (Isa 21:2). Which shall not regard silver. The Medes were not a particularly disinterested people; but in the attack on Babylon, made by Cyrus, the object was not plunder, but conquest and the extension of dominion. The main treasures of Babylonthose in the great temple of Boluswere not carried off by Cyrus, as appears both from his own inscriptions, and from Herodotus.
Isa 13:18
Their bows (comp. Jer 1:9, Jer 1:14). Both the Medes and the Persians were skilled archers. Herodotus tells us that every Persian youth was taught three things”to ride, to draw the bow, and to speak the truth”. At Persepolis, Modes and Persians are alike represented as carrying bows and quivers. AEschyius regards the contest between the Persians and the Greeks as one between the arrow and the spear.
Isa 13:19
Babylon, the glory of kingdoms. The “glory“ of Babylon consisted:
1. In her antiquity. She had been the head of a great empire long before Assyria rose to power.
2. In her origination of literature, architecture, and the other arts, which all passed from her to Assyria, and thence to the other nations of Asia.
3. In her magnificence and the magnificence of her kings, which provoked the admiration of the Assyrians themselves. As time went on, she grew in wealth and splendor. Perhaps it was granted to Isaiah to see her in ecstatic vision, not merely such as she was in the time of Sargon under Merodach-Baladan, but such as she became under Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest of her kings, who raised her to the highest pitch or glory and eminence. The beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency. The Kaldi appear to have been originally one of the many tribes by which Babylonia was peopled at an early date, From the expression, “Ur of the Chaldees,” which occurs more than once in Genesis (Gen 11:28, Gen 11:31), we may gather that they were inhabitants of the more southern part of the country, near the coast. The same conclusion may be drawn from the Assyrian inscriptions, especially those of Shalmaneser II.the Black Obelisk king. The term never became a general name for the Babylonian people among themselves or among the Assyrians; but, somehow or other, it was accepted in that sense by the Jews, and is so used, not only by Isaiah, but also by the writers of Kings and Chronicles, by Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Habakkuk. As when God overthrew Sodom. Equally sudden and complete as that destruction.
Isa 13:20
It shall never be inhabited. This part of the prophecy did not receive its fulfillment till many centuries had gone by. From the time of Cyrus to that of Alexander the Great, Babylon was one of the chief cities of the Persian empire. Alexander was so struck with it, and with the excellence of its situation, that he designed to make it his capital. It first began seriously to decline under the Seleucidae, who built Seleucia on the Tigris as a rival to it, and still further injured it by fixing the seat of government at Antioch. But it had still a large population in the first century after our era (Josephus, ‘Ant. Jud.,’ 18.9, 8); and is mentioned as a place of some consequence in the time of Trajan (Die Cass; 68.27), and even in that of Severue (Die Cass; 75.9). But after this it went rapidly to decay. Under the Sassuntans it disappears from sight; and when Benjamin of Tudela, in the twelfth century, visited the spot, there was nothing to be seen of the mighty city but those ruins of the Kasr, or palace, which still arrest the traveler’s attention. The site had become, and has ever since remained, “without inhabitant.” Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there. A superstitious feeling prevents the Arabs from encamping on the mounds of Babylon, which are believed to be the haunts of evil spirits. Neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. The nitrous soil of the Babylonian mounds allows them to produce nothing but the coarsest and most unpalatable vegetation. The shepherds consequently do not feed their flocks on them.
Isa 13:21
Wild beasts of the desert shall lie there. It is not quite clear what particular wild beasts are intended. Those actually noted on the site of Babylon are lions, jackals, and porcupines. These sometimes make their lairs in the ruins. Doleful creatures; in the original, okhim. What animal is meant we cannot say, as the word occurs only in this passage. Mr. Cheyne translates it by “hyenas.” Owls shall dwell there; literally, daughters of the owl (as in Le Isa 11:16; Deu 14:15; Job 30:29; Jer 1:1-19 :39; Mic 1:8; and infra, Isa 34:13; Isa 43:20). Mr. Rich says, “In most of the cavities of the Babil Mound there are numbers of owls and bats.” Sir A. Layard,” A large grey owl is found in great numbers, frequently in flocks of nearly a hundred, in the low shrubs among the ruins of Babylon”. Satyrs shall dance there. The word translated “satyr” is, etymologically, “hairy one,” and ordinarily means “a goat.” Some have supposed “wild goats” to be here intended, but they are not found in Babylonia. The translation “satyr” is defended by many, who think Isaiah might draw upon current beliefs for some features of his description. Dr. Kay gives “baboons,” since the Mokoa kind of baboonis known in Babylonia.
Isa 13:22
Wild beasts of the islands. In the Hebrew, iyyim, which means “wailers” or “howlers,” probably “jackals.” The Revised Version gives “wolves.” In their desolate houses; or, in their castles (Cheyne). And dragons; i.e. “serpents.” These have not been observed recently; but one of our old travelers notes that “the lande of Baby-lone,” in his day, “was fulle of dragons and grote serpentes, and dyverse other veney-mouse ecstes alle abouten”. Near to come. About one hundred and eighty years elapsed between the utterance of this prophecy and the fall of Babylona short period in the lifetime of a nation.
HOMILETICS
Isa 13:1-18
The fall of Babylon a type of the general punishment of the wicked.
Scripture deals with history altogether in the way of example. Whether the subject be Assyria, or Syria, or Egypt, or Babylon, or even the “peculiar people of God,” the object is to teach men by the facts adduced what they have to expect themselves. In Isa 10:1-34. Assyria, here Babylon, is held up as a warning to sinners. The absolute certainty that punishment will overtake them at God’s hands is the main lesson taught; but, beyond this, something is also taught concerning the method and (so to speak) economy of the Divine punishments; as, for example, the following:
I. THAT GOD PUNISHES BY MEANS OF INSTRUMENTS, WHICH ARE GENERALLY PERSONS. God has two sets of instrumentsnatural agents, such as storm, lightning, blight, pestilence, etc.; and intellectual and moral agents, or persons. It depends entirely on his own will whether he will employ agents of the one kind or of the other. In dispensing good to man he employs largely natural agents, “making his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sending rain on the just and on the unjust” (Mat 5:45). But in punishing men he seems to make use, to a greater extent, of persons. Now he raises up a tyrannical and oppressive king, like Rameses II. or Nebuchadnezzar, to carry out his sentence of suffering; now he allows a democratic assembly to establish a reign of terror in a sinful ]and; anon he uses the arrows of savage hordes, or the guns and bayonets of disciplined hosts, to chastise an offending people. Once only has he ever used his power to strike with sudden death on a large scale, and even there he employed a spiritual agent; it was “the angel of the Lord,” who “went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and fourscore and five thousand” (2Ki 19:35).
II. THAT THE INSTRUMENTS ARE FOR THE MOST PART QUITE UNCONSCIOUS THAT GOD IS USING THEM. We are told this distinctly of Assyria. “I will give him a charge howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so” (Isa 10:6, Isa 10:7). And it was, no doubt, equally true of Babylon. The “hammer of the whole earth” (Jer 1:1-19 :23) did not know that she was being used to “break in pieces the nations, and to destroy kingdoms” (Jer 51:20). She too “meant not so,” but was only seeking her own aggrandizement. Even the Medes and the Persians, though “called from a far country to execute God’s counsel”(Isa 47:11), were unconscious of their call-blind instruments in the hand of Jehovah, as much as if they had been an army of locusts. But this only shows the power of God the more, who can make not only good men serve him, but had; not only angels, but devils.
III. THAT GOD‘S PUNISHMENTS COME SUDDENLY AND TAKE MEN BY SURPRISE. Neither Assyria nor Babylon bad much warning of their fate. Each seemed well-nigh at the zenith of its power when the final blow came. “I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon,” says Jehovah, “and thou wast not aware”(Jer 1:1-19 :24); and again we are told, “Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed” (Jer 51:8). God’s punishments are apt to come, even on individuals, suddenly. When a man says to his soul, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry,” then comes the sentence of God, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee” (Luk 12:19, Luk 12:20). Job’s example is an extreme one (Job 1:13-19); but modified instances of men crushed by quick blows of unexpected calamity are within every one’s experience. Destruction comes upon God’s enemies generally “at unawares” (Psa 35:8).
IV. THAT ON FINDING THEMSELVES THE OBJECTS OF DIVINE PUNISHMENT, MEN ARE FILLED WITH TERROR AND DESPONDENCY. The terror and despondency of the Baby-Ionians are strongly marked in the descriptions both of Isaiah and Jeremiah; e.g. “Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: and they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrow shall take bold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another” (Isa 13:7, Isa 13:8). “The land shall tremble and sorrow The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight; they have remained in their holds they became as women” (Jer 51:29, Jer 51:30). Some such feelings come upon all who are conscious that the hand of God is laid upon them, not for chastisement, but for punishment.
V. THAT DIVINE PUNISHMENTS SELDOM STOP AT THEIR IMMEDIATE OBJECTS, BUT PASS ON AND AFFECT OTHERS ALSO. Partly, this would seem to be inevitable from the interconnection of man with man, and of nation with nation; but partly, also, it appears to be the result of the Divine will, which is set on punishing sin, and wherever it finds sin must punish it. Let Israel have to be punished for certain sins, Judah will be found to have committed the same sins; Judah must therefore participate in the punishment. When God arises to judge one nation, he, in a certain sense, arises to judge the whole earth; there must be equity in his dealings. If he has punished Babylonia, and Egypt is as bad, he must punish Egypt; if Egypt is no worse than Ethiopia, he must punish Ethiopia. The sin of Sodom brought destruction on all the cities of the plainthat of the Canaanitish nations on them, and on many of their neighbors. A Jehoram provokes God by his idolatry, and is deservedly smitten (2Ki 9:24). An Ahaziah, far less guilty, but still guilty, shares his fate (2Ki 9:27). The punishment of Babylon led on to the punishment of the “world for its evil” (Isa 41:11), and to such a general depopulation of Western Asia as made a man more precious than the gold of Ophir (Isa 13:12).
VI. THAT DIVINE PUNISHMENTS ARE OFTEN COMPLETE AND FINAL. It was said of Assyria, “There is no healing of thy bruise” (Nah 3:19). And a similar finality attaches to most judgments upon nations. Babylonia, though she made some desperate efforts to throw off the Persian yoke, never recovered herself. Egypt, a few years later, sank finally under foreign dominion. The ten tribes lost their separate existence after their captivity, and became merged in Judah. Judah’s nationality was obliterated by Titus. The history of the world is a history of nations whom God has punished for their sins by final destruction. And the punishment of individuals, too, is often final. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram “went down quick into hell” (Num 16:30). Uzzah was smitten with sudden death for touching the ark (2Sa 6:7). Ananias and Sapphira tell dead for uttering lies (Act 5:5, Act 5:10). The question of punishments in another world is not here at issue. What the example of Babylon teaches is, that God’s punishments, so far as this world is concerned, are often final.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON
Isa 13:1-22
Oracle concerning Babylon.
I. APPROACH OF THE WARRIORS OF JEHOVAH. On the bare mountain the banner is upraised, and with loud cry and commanding gesture of the hand a host of warriors is summoned from all sides. As in verse 26, Jehovah is viewed by the poet as a mighty Battle-Leader, Lord of hosts. His voice is heard, “I have given commission to my anointed ones, have called my heroes for my work of punishment, my proudly rejoicing ones!” And then a noise is heard in the mountains as of a great multitude, for Jehovah is mustering his forces from the remotest parts, and preparing with the weapons of his wrath to destroy the earth. A cry of terror will be heard through the land; men’s hands will droop, their hearts will melt, for the day of judgment is near. Horror will be depicted on every face. The lightning, the fire that burns up the stubble (Joe 2:6), will be flashed back, as it seems, from the amazed eyes. In prophetic thought every great epoch of calamity and ruin is a judgment, a “day of Jehovah.” For wrath and clemency are the two opposite sides of the unity of his being and character. No spring-time is ushered in without storms; no epoch of fruitful manhood is gained without struggles, within or without; no mischief departs from society, no false power is overthrown, without violence. Well for us if, stayed by religious faith, we can see the day of Jehovah shown amidst the darkest times, and when nations are perplexed with fear of change to be able to say, “The Lord reigneth.” If he is a living God, then his will must be felt in political change. Nothing good can pass away; only falsehood must be overthrown.
II. THE DAY OF JEHOVAH. Its description is borrowed:
1. From the most fearful phenomena of nature. The stars are hidden, the sunrise is overclouded, the light of the moon is withdrawn. A universal trembling seems to fill the air, while the earth would bound from its place. So close is the sympathy of the human spirit with nature, its dark or bright aspects seem to be the aspect of the God of nature in wrath or in kindness to man.
2. From the most fearful scenes of war. In a few bold lines the picture is struck out. Fugitives are seen flying in every direction, like frightened gazelles, or like a flock of sheep without its shepherd. Those overtaken are pierced by the spear, or struck down by the sword. Children at the breast are dashed to pieces, houses plundered, women outraged. More horrible is the spectacle of a battle-field than that of Nature in her wildest uproar. It is the opening of the hell in the heart of man.
3. Its moral purpose defined. There is, then, some light to be found even here. The God of justice and holiness is “searching home for evil on the face of the earth, and for the guilt of the unrighteous.”
“Ever and anon some bright white shaft
Burned thro’ the pine-tree roof-here burned and there,
As if God’s messenger thro’ the close wood screen
Plunged and replunged his weapon at a venture,
Feeling for guilty thee and me.”
The thought that God holds inquisition for evil and evil-doers is deeply stamped in Bible lore. There are heresies which he cannot and will not tolerate. They are not identical with what some call heresies. These are often departures from our fashions of life and of thought; but it is only disagreement with him and his law of inward right that is the condemnable dissent. Again, it is his object to bring down the pride and arrogance of the haughty. How deeply marked, again, is this thought of overstepping our proper limits as the essence of sin, from the Fall onwards! It is fixed in the word “transgression.” The “lust to seem the thing we are not” is at the root of display, of ambition, of domineering over others. The prophets saw in the bloated dominion of great states like Egypt and Assyria the effects of these unbalanced lusts, which must sooner or later topple the tyrants into ruin. And thus the purpose of judgment resolves itself into that of sifting mankindto make the people “rarer than fine gold, and men than Ophir’s treasures.” When ill weeds are cleared away, there is a chance for good plants to flourish; and when a mass of human evil has disappeared, room is made for something of another quality, to renew the tradition of the Divine in man.
III. THE FINAL DEVASTATION. (Isa 13:17-22.) Here is a picture of the Medesa horde of savages, who despise civilization, and who will pour in upon Babylon, as in later days Attila came with his hosts to tread on the necks of the Romans. The dread memory of the cities of the plain can alone furnish a parallel to what will be seen on the site of Babylon. Where now the sounds of luxury and mirth are heard in proud palaces, soon not a nomad tent will be pitched, nor a shepherd’s fold; but only the cries of wild creatures will be heard, and satyrs hold their obscene dances. This magnificent picture of the overthrow of human greatness and pride springs, let us observe, from conscience. And none can study such pictures or visit the ruins of ancient cities without a quickening of the pulse of conscience. Such glimpses as we can gain of ancient life in. those proud cities of the Orient bear out the views of the prophet. It was a life which overpassed life’s restrictions, and which ended in death. Mournful is the inscription on Sardanapalus’s tomb, “Let us eat, drink, and love; for the rest is of little worth.” We may learn the lesson that, when men so speak of life, they have abused it; and while we believe that there is a sacredness in human life and in the grand products of human life, this is only so as long as they reflect the purposes of God. Out of such scenes as those the prophet depicts, a solemn voice seems to speak, declaring that human life and glory are held cheap in comparison with those profound and, from us, half-hidden, half-revealed ends towards which the whole creation moves.J.
HOMILIES BY W.M. STATHAM
Isa 13:7
Mental depression.
“Faint.” A common experience enough this. Some people pride themselves on the speciality of their experiences, just as they consider their physical ailments to be altogether peculiar and unique. Faint! Who amongst us does not understand that? Why, we do not know. Care is like the atmosphere; its pressure is enormous, but the thing itself is invisible. “Light as air,” some say; but many temperaments could say, “heavy as air,” which depresses all the nerve-functions of the body. Faint! We like to know not only that it is common, but that greatly heroic spiritual natures have felt it! Read at your leisure Luther’s letter where he says of the evil one, “He lies closer to me than my Catharine,” and where in one part of his diary he is so desolate and disheartened that he suggests, if God wishes the Reformation to go on, he must come and take it in hand himself. Faint! If lousy men feel it, women feel it sometimes morethinking about the children; having the worry of household management; finding it so difficult to preserve elevation of thought amid the cares of common life.
I. WE ARE FAINT IN OUR FAILURES TO REACH OUR OWN IDEAL OF THE DIVINE LIFE. Our ideals have been beautiful. They have charmed our meditation, inspired our purposes, I am not speaking of spiritual excitements or emotions, No, my friend! Rather quiet and meditative hours. When we verily and indeed feel that piety is more than safety, when we feel that we would not do without religion if we could, we are fulfilling all the noblest aspirations within us. And these have been noble. In gazing on the image of Christ we have desire to be conformed to that image. But our condition here, you say, is one in which we have to do with such mean thingsit is such a battle to live at all! Mean things? No, my friend. Nothing is mean that Christ can shine through. We can dignify common life, or God would not have given us common life to dignify. Christian life is beautiful, but it is difficult. It is detail that casts down men and women too. When we read Stanley’s last journey through the dark continent, we find a week’s desolation is crowded into ten lines of print; but it must have been very wearisome sometimes, and now and then all seemed nearly over. Yet the motto was “Onward!” You may have an idea or twobut try and write a book. It is completeness that tries. You may have looked at the Christian life with aesthetic admiration. But now you are in it. God help you, as he will. Be diligent. Gird up the loins of your mind. Be sober. Hope to the end. The ideal shall be realized some day. Not destroyed. You will be without fault before the throne.
II. WE ARE FAINT IN RELATION TO THE MORAL STATE OF THE WORLD. Jesus wept over Jerusalem as he gazed on the city that was doomed, for its own denial and rejection of himself. We are not one whit nearer solving the mystery of moral evil. No one can give us the why of sin. Some of the Germans have tried hard at a philosophy of that, but have failed. It cannot be educational only, or we should never have the sense of guilt. But here it is, and we have it in ourselves. Even now sin exists, if it does not reign. And here it is around us everywhere. We have a mighty Savior, and we want men to love him, to trust him. But they are often so besotted, so blinded, so hardened, that they prefer their slavery. What wonder we are faint-hearted! You tell us that Christ is the same in heaven that he was on earththe same in all sensitive care and love and desire. Yes. And I believe that the world’s sin grieves him stillpains him always. “Ye crucify the Son of God afresh” is not to be frittered away as a mere metaphor! What did Christ say after his ascension to the persecuting Saul? “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” Not “My Church” merely. The Head felt with the members. Fainti spoke of great men just now. Did not Moses shatter the tables of the Law in sad and bitter disappointment? Did not Paul find fickleness in his converts? Did not the Judaizers hamper his work? Did not some of his companions desert him? Was not sin still mighty within him, as well as around him? But Christ, the Conqueror of sin and death, was his Lord. The Holy Ghost gave him inner might.
III. FAINT IN RELATION TO THE DISCIPLINE OF SORROW. We need it. But “no affliction for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous” Faint! You may have left one at home who used to come and drink of the brook by the way at church, who is frail and ill now. You remember some who have had a dire discipline of trial through kith and kin, who have cast the crown of honor into the dust. You would not think much of them if they had not been cast down. Superficial people who say, “Make an effort!” “Cheer up!” only worry the nerves; they-do not really ease trouble, because we cannot be “merry” with a heavy heart. You must lift up with a wise hope, a real trust, a child’s confidence. “Show us the Father,” then we can endure; then we can “rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him.” But you say, “Faintness depresses us.” Mind what you say, because you reveal character. It is just like saying, “Music must always be made for me; I won’t be made sad; I won’t enter an atmosphere of depression.” Human hearts cannot always smile. Faint people must be in a world like this, but it will be only for a season; it will lead them to him who can raise up, who will lay beneath them his own everlasting arms, who will “not destroy,” Never. “Chastened, but not destroyed”tested, but not destroyed. At such times do not rest in “moods” or feelings, but look out of yourselves to Christ,
IV. WE ARE FAINT IS RELATION TO OUR INFLUENCE OVER OTHERS. We had hoped so much to send such bright rays over the dark sea from the lighthouse of our faith; to give the emerald beauty of a new spring to so many sterile places. We have not been such guides, such comforters, as we hoped to be. And the fault has been, not in lack of doing, but in want of being. To live has not been Christ. We have not been watchful enough either, against inimical forces in our fields. The Red Indians come when we are asleep or on a journey, and stamp out our corn. We are “faint“ too because arrest will so soon be laid on our powers. But is it not right to rejoice that we have been able to do some good? Certainly. We have been unprofitable servants at the best, but it would be not only unreal, but wrong, to forget what God may have accomplished through us. Paul said, “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ.” We are not as the men of this world, cast down into the loss of joy and hopeand in despair. No, it is only for a season. We are Christ’s. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”W.M.S.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
Isa 13:1
The burden of the Lord.
“The burden of Babylon” (see Isa 15:1; Isa 17:1; Isa 19:1, etc.). The use of the word “burden,” to signify a message and its subsequent expansion into the phrase “the burden of the Lord” (see Jer 23:33), suggest to us
I. THAT TO ALL MEN EVERYWHERE BELONGS THE SACRED DUTY OF CARRYING THE MESSAGES OF GOD. The term here used may simply signify thisthe bearing of the Word of God to those for whom it was intended. This is a work which belongs to every filial son, to every faithful servant. Possessed of it ourselves, and experiencing its exceeding preciousness, we are to convey it to all who are in need of it. We can all carry to the souls of men “the will of God concerning them in Christ Jesus, “his Divine desire that they should turn from all iniquity, should believe in his Son, their Savior and Lord, and should follow him in every path of purity, integrity, love.
II. THAT ON SOME MEN THERE SOMETIMES DEVOLVES THE PAINFUL DUTY OF DELIVERING BURDENSOME MESSAGES FROM GOD. This was notably the case with the Hebrew prophets. They were frequently commissioned to convey unpleasant, unpalatable truths to men and nations, such as few cared to announce and none liked to receive; e.g. the message of Moses to Pharaoh, of Nathan to David, and of Elijah to Ahab; such, also, as these “burdens” to Babylon, Moab, Egypt. The faithful parent, teacher, minister, has often a message to make known which is a burden in this sense; it is that which is likely to weigh heavy on the heart of him that receives it; it is
(1) the condemnation by the Righteous One of some form of sin and wrong;
(2) it is the purpose of him who is the True One to visit persistent folly and impenitence with the marks of his Divine displeasure both in the body and in the spirit, both here and hereafter.
III. THAT ON THOSE IN WHOM IS THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST, SACRED TRUTH BESTS AS A BURDEN, from which they can only be delivered by faithful utterance. So was it with the Savior himself (Luk 12:50); and so with the prophets (Psa 39:3; Job 32:18; Jer 20:9); and so with the apostles (1Co 9:16). So should it be with us. We ought to feel burdened with a sense of the sin and sorrow of the world, together with the fact that we have in our minds the knowledge of those truths which are divinely suited to destroy that sin and to disperse that sorrow. This is “the burden of the Lord,” resting on the man in whom is much of the Spirit of Christa burden which will only be lifted from him when he has spoken his most earnest word and done his most devoted work, to teach, to heal, to save.C.
Isa 13:2-5
The kingdom of God.
These stirring, eloquent words of the prophet describing the gathering of the hosts at the summons of Jehovah speak to us of
I. THE EXCEEDING BREADTH OF THE DIVINE CLAIM. All things, all nations, are Jehovah’s; all these hosts that are to be gathered together are “my sanctified ones;” they are “my mighty ones.” They did not know him, but, notwithstanding, God claims them as belonging to himself. He does claim all nations and peoples as his own; not only those who own their allegiance, but those also who are ignorant of his Name, and are worshippers at other shrines.
II. THE COMPREHENSIVENESS OF THE DIVINE PURPOSE. God has his purposes
(1) regarding the various nations of the earth. He had a certain work for his own people, Israel, to accomplish. But his “wise designs” covered a far wider area than any Holy Land; they embraced Syria, Assyria, Babylonia, Media, Persia, Egypt, Rome, Greece, etc. He arranged for them a part to play in his great redemptive scheme. But though this large aspect is a true one, and Isaiah, in prophetic vision, heard the “noise of a multitude like as of a great people, a noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together,” coming “from a far country,” yet is it equally true, and it is a truth of at least equal value, that God has his purposes
(2) respecting each humble individual life. The Christian minister has the right, without special vision, to declare to every man that God has a purpose to be fulfilled in his particular life, and that he is marshalling events and mustering “forces” in order that it may be carried out. It ought to raise our estimate of the sacredness and value of the life God has given us to live on the earth when we remember that “every man’s life is a plan of God,” and that by it he desires and designs to accomplish some especial end.
III. THE GREATNESS OF DIVINE POWER.
1. We understand that God has unlimited power over unresisting, inert matter.
2. We have a larger view of his omnipotence when we realize that he controls all sentient life, making every living creature to praise and serve him.
3. Our thought rises far higher as we consider how he is directing the activities of his obedient children, his voluntary servants, in all worlds.
4. We reach the largest and loftiest conception of Divine wisdom and power, in marvelous cooperation, when we dwell on his overruling energy. Jehovah so turns the selfish and ungodly projects of kings and armies to his own Divine account, that he can speak of Medes and Persians as “his sanctified ones,” or as those set apart by him for this especial work; that he can represent them as “rejoicing in his highness” when they were eagerly bent on their own purposes; that he can designate them “the weapons of his indignation.”
(1) We little think how, under Divine interposition, we are contributing to one cause when we are absorbed in another.
(2) How immeasurably preferable is the service which is voluntary and conscious to that which is involuntary and unconscious! It is only the former which gives pleasure to the Supreme, and which will secure approval and reward for the human worker.C.
Isa 13:6
The day of the Lord.
We may truly speak of every day as a “day of the Lord.” For when does the morning come on which we cannot say, “This is the day which the Lord has made’ (Psa 118:24)? Every day brings with it fresh tokens of his presence, new proofs of his power. The refreshment and invigoration of sleep, the provisions of the table, the enjoyment of the hearth, the activities of outward life, the continuance of mental power, etc.,do not all these daily mercies make each returning portion or’ our time a “day of the Lord?” But there is a peculiar sense in which the time of special visitation is to be so regarded. For that is the day on which
I. GOD REVEALS HIS NEARNESS TO US AND HIS INTEREST IN US. We are in danger of imagining that God has withdrawn into a remote solitude, in which he takes no heed of the passing events of his outlying creation; that he is too great and high to concern himself with our “poor affairs.” It is a conception unworthy of him and most injurious to us. When God “arises to judgment,” so that it is as if all visible nature were disturbed and disordered (Isa 13:10, Isa 13:13), and the hearts of men are filled with consternation (Isa 13:7, Isa 13:8), “in the day of his fierce anger” (Isa 13:13), these false imaginings are scattered, and God is found and is felt to be a God at hand and not afar offa God who has much to do with us, and with whom we have everything to do (Heb 4:13).
II. GOD REVEALS HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS TO US. Such events as these (Isa 13:9-11) are “terrible things in righteousness.” The anger or “wrath” of the Lord (Isa 13:9, Isa 13:13) is thus revealed “against all unrighteousness” (Rom 1:18). God is “destroying the sinners” (Isa 13:9) in order that he may set his seal against the sin which they have committed; he is humbling the proud that their “arrogancy may cease” (Isa 13:11), and that human haughtiness may receive his powerful condemnation. In such a “day“ as this, the Lord is making his thought concerning iniquity very clear to the children of men.
III. GOD MANIFESTS HIS POWER TO US. Sin is apt to think itself triumphant; it is arrogant, haughty (Isa 13:11); it says, “Who is the Lord?” etc. (Exo 5:2); it says, “How does God know?” (Psa 73:11); it says, “Let us break asunder the bands of the Lord” (Psa 2:3). In “the day of the Lord,” the nation, the confederacy, the individual man, sees that human bands are nothing but thinnest thread in the hands of almighty power. Then man knows his nothingness in the presence of his Maker; his spirit is subdued (Isa 13:8), and he acknowledges that God is greater than he (Dan 6:26).
IV. GOD ATTESTS HIS FAITHFULNESS AND HIS GOODNESS. God has given many promises to his people that he will appear some day on their behalf. Often his coming seems to be long delayed (Rev 6:10). But “in the day of the Lord” this his Divine word is redeemed; then the enslaved nation is freed from its bondage; then the persecuted Church is delivered from its oppressor; then the wronged family or the injured man is saved from the wrong-doer, and walks in peace and in prosperity. Hence the many utterances of thanksgiving for the “judgments” of the Lord. The outpouring of his wrath, which seems “cruel” (Isa 13:9) to the guilty, shows itself to his suffering people as the long-awaited proof of his fidelity to his word and pity for his people.
1. Let the afflicted wait in hope; their cause will be espoused, their prayers heard and answered.
2. Let the guilty tremble; the day of the Lord will come, a day of darkness and confusion, a day of terror and overthrow for them; even when they may be most confident of continuance in power and sin, the coming of God in judgment may be “at hand.”C.
Isa 13:12
The price of a man.
The aim of the prophet is to show the extent of the disaster which, in the indignation of God (Isa 13:5), should overtake the guilty city. One feature of the ruin should be wholesale slaughter (Isa 13:15). And the result of this would be a terrible reduction of the male population. Men, usually so prevalent, so “cheap” in Babylon, should become scarce and precious; so precious should they be that it might be said, speaking figuratively, that a man would be more precious than gold, even than “the golden wedge of Ophir.” What might thus be affirmed of man, in figurative language, in the day of God’s wrath, shall become true of man, in simple fact and truth, in the day of Divine grace. Under Christ the day will come when the worth of a man shall be felt to be wholly irreducible to terms of gold and silver; that “no mention shall be made of pearls” when it is attempted to form an estimate of the value of a human spirit.
I. UNDER THE INFLUENCE AND DOMINION OF SIN WE HAVE SADLY LOWERED OUR ESTIMATE OF OURSELVES.
1. Men have treated their fellows as nothing worth. They have either treated their sufferings with callous indifference, or they have looked on their neighbors as related in no other way than through the wages market; or they have actually bought and sold themtheir sinews, their intelligence, their honorfor so much gold.
2. Men have pitifully undervalued themselves. They have acted as if they were nothing better than intelligent machines for making money, or than creatures capable of so much enjoyment, or than office-holders who might attain to certain dignities for a few passing years.
II. UNDER CHRIST THE VALVE OF A HUMAN BEING HAS BEEN IMMEASURABLY RAISED. Jesus Christ by his teaching, by the illustration in his own person of what a Son of man can be, by the great purpose of his life and death, has liked up to an altogether different level our conception of mankind. Now, we know:
1. That God made every man for himselffor his layout, his friendship, his likeness, his service.
2. That God is earnestly desirous that every child o! his, however far he may have wandered from his side, should return to the Father’s home (Luk 15:1-32.).
3. That for every child of man a Divine Savior suffered and died (Heb 2:9).
4. That before every man who will accept Jesus Christ as his Redeemer there is a holy life on earth and a blissful, glorious immortality. Instructed, inspired by these high truths, we have come, or are coming, to look on every human spirit as possessed of a value which money does not in any degree represent, which cannot be told in “golden wedges.” It behooves us all
(1) to recognize our own individual worth, and to act on that true Christian estimate;
(2) to recognize in everyone around us, into whatsoever depths of evil he or she may reclaimed and restored, and who may become inexpressibly dear to the Father and Savior of men.C.
Isa 13:19-22
The overthrow of evil.
The minuteness of detail with which this prophecy has been fulfilled goes far to prove that holy men of old did speak “as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” The prediction is profoundly interesting in this light; it is also instructive as foretelling the entire extinction of a world-power which, at the hour of utterance, appeared to rest on immovable foundations. There are great powersnational, ecclesiastical, dynastic, institutional, socialwhich are as Babylon in Isaiah’s time, and which need to be extinguished for the happiness and well-being of the race. Respecting the overthrow of evil, we see
I. ITS APPARENT IMPOSSIBILITY OR DISHEARTENING DISTANCE. How utterly impossible, or at least how hopelessly remote, must the day of Babylon’s overthrow have seemed to the Jews in the time of the prophet! To those of a scoffing spirit, or to the constitutionally incredulous or despondent, the words of Isaiah doubtless seemed visionary, if not altogether wild and vain, So vain may seem to us now the-hopes which are held out of the fall and ultimate extinction of existing evilsthe despotic empire; the usurping and corrupt Church; the huge, wasteful, war-inciting military and naval organizations; strongly entrenched social habits which dishonor and enfeeble the community; venerable systems of erroneous belief which have lasted for centuries and deluded millions of minds, etc. It seems to us desirable, beyond all reckoning, that these things should receive their death-blow, and should be numbered among the things of the past. But how can we venture to expect their defeat and their disappearance? All strong things are in their favor; the majority of mankind favor them; pecuniary interests, deep-rooted habits, social customs, inveterate prejudices, powerful societies, are sustaining them. How hopeless it seems that powers so fortified can be successfully assailed and absolutely demolished!
II. ITS ARRIVAL IN DUE COURSE. Babylon did fall; it was taken and re-taken and taken again, and finally deserted, until it became what is here foretold. Every evil thing shall share its fate. Everything which exalts itself against God, everything which is hostile to the truth, everything which is actually harmful to mankind, shall one day be defeated and destroyed. As the little living seeds dropped into the crack of the huge temple become the upspringing plants which push their way through the strong masonry and at length overturn the tall columns and the massive walls and lay the whole structure on the ground; so the seed of Divine truth, inserted in the temple of error, of vice, of tyranny, of idolatry, of iniquity, shall spring and grow, and thrust and overturn, until the frowning walls have fallen and the structure of sin is a harmless ruin. The great Babylon of sin itself shall one day lie waste and have no inhabitant.
III. ITS MORAL.
1. It is a wretched thing to be on the side of wrong. First and most of all, because it is the wrong side we are espousing, and it ought to be an insufferable thing to us that we are thinking, speaking, working on behalf of that which is evil in the sight of God and hurtful to the truer interests of man. But also because we are certain to be defeated in the end.
2. It is a blessed thing to be engaged on the side of righteousness. First and most, because it is the cause of God, of man, of truth, on which we are leagued; and also because we are sure to win at last. The wise and the good may meet with many a check, but they will gain the victory; the unholy and the evil-minded may snatch many an advantage, but the end shall be a miserable disaster, an utter overthrow, a dragon-haunted desert. Let us see to it that we are fighting on God’s side, and, once sure that we are, let us strike our blow for truth and wisdom, confident that, however strong and high stand the towers of sin, its citadel will be taken, its day will descend into darkness, its million-peopled streets become a doleful desert.C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK
Isa 13:3
The Lord’s sanctified ones.
This term is used of an army, regarded as being consecrated by the sacrifices which were offered at the beginning of the campaign. The assertion made by the prophet is that the Persian army was not really consecrated to Ahura-Mazda, but to Jehovah. Whatever might seem to be the bet, the fact really was that the Persians would fulfill Jehovah’s will and carry out Jehovah’s judgments, A “sanctified one” is, properly, one separated from self-interests and from other people’s concerns, in order that he might carry out God’s will. “Set apart by the purposes and providence of God, disengaged from other projects, that they might wholly apply themselves to something God would have clone: such as were qualified for that to which they were called, for what God employs men in, he does in some measure fit them for.” We learn from this expression, and its connection, that we too may be set apart for God, we may be the Lord’s sanctified ones; and yet, on the one hand, the fact may be unrecognized, or, on the other, the fact may bring to us impulse and honor and the unspeakable joy of service.
I. SET APART FOR GOD WITHOUT OUR KNOWING IT. As of Cyrus, the Lord’s anointed, it is said, “I girded thee, though thou hast not known me.” But in this ease there can be no proper rewards, since the will of the man is not in harmony with the Divine will. God may use his creature man, just as he uses clouds and winds and waves, to fulfill his purposes, and there is no more to be said about it. We are the Lord’s tools, his rod, his staff. Willingly or unwillingly man must do the Lord’s bidding.
II. SET APART FOR GOD WITH OUR OWN GLAD CONSENT. Then we come into the position of willing, loving servants; and then there can be rewards which take three forms. Such willingly sanctified ones
(1) are honored with yet further and higher trusts;
(2) are personally cultured by the doing of their life-work under such conditions; and
(3) are sure to receive, now in their hearts, and by-and-by in some open manner, the Master’s “Well done, good and faithful servants,” the smile and the word of gracious approval. And such rewards are altogether independent of the particular character of the work for which we are set apart. It may be most trying and painful work, even work of judgment or retribution. No matter; the Divine recognition is ever of willingness and faithfulness. God rewards the true man, not the particular form the man’s service must take.R.T.
Isa 13:6
The day of the Lord.
This expression is employed for that crisis in the history of the world when Jehovah will interpose to correct the evils of the present. Such great crises are called “days” in antithesis to the ages of Divine long-suffering. In Christian thought the term is associated with the coming day or time of judgment, and mainly with that in view we dwell on the words. Isaiah was one of a class of prophets to whom God disclosed, in visions, the scenes of the ever-nearing future. Maybe in the quietness of their homes, as they meditated on the condition of the world, and the purposes of God concerning men, they were rapt in vision, and, with various degrees of dimness or of dearness, they saw pass before their entranced view, now the scenes of battle and bloodshed, now the scenes of famine and pestilence; now they beheld the desolation of those nations that oppressed their own peopleNineveh and Babylon buried out of sight, Tyre a place for the fisher’s nets; and now they seemed to hear the wild shout of the foes of Israel, as they burst through into the sacred city; and soon, in smoke and flames, they watched her very temple perish. And yet again, in dimmer lines, as though further on in the march of ages, they seemed to see the last great scene of human historya world arraigned, the thrones set, the books opened. These visions often prostrated those prophets in the intensity of excitement; but they were given to them that they might set them on record, for the sake of their own people and the whole Church of the redeemed, that we all might learn to live in the view of that future, with the infallible decisions of the future ever in our thought, and reminding us that “he which soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” There is much that is most solemnizing in the expression, “the day of the Lord,” if we read it from the Christian standpoint, and see it to mean the day of the Lord Jesus.
I. Our LORD has HAD:
1. His day of humiliation, when he stepped down from his heavenly throne, laid aside “his most Divine array,” and entered our world as the poor man’s babe, born in a stable, laid in a manger, because there was no room for him in the inn.
2. He has had many a day of toil, and patience, and pleading, and prayer among men. Year after year he tarried in the flesh, proving his Divine power to save, and winning men to himself by the tender sacrificings of his love.
3. He has had a day of suffering and anguish for men. “Behold, and see if there ever was sorrow like unto his sorrow, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted him” for our sakes.
4. He has had many a day of inviting grace, when, in the power of his Spirit, he has called us to yield ourselves unto him; when, in the leadings of his providence and the ministry of his Word, he has cried, “My son, give me thy heart;” “Come unto me and I will give you rest.” He has had many a day of patience, of waiting, of long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish.
II. BUT THE DAY OF THE LORD, THE DAY OF DAYS, IS YET TO COME.
1. The day of the Lord’s glory, when the multitudes of the redeemed shall crown him with many crownsshall crown him Lord of all.
2. The day of the Lord’s vindication, when he shall break down the rebellion of lost souls with the proofs of his forbearance and the memory of his repeated calls.
3. The day when the “wrath of the Lamb” must be revealed, and he shall come in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of his Son. There must be an end of this dispensation of redemption, there must be a closing up of it; there must be the “day of the Lord.” For us all that day cometh as a thief in the night.
III. THE DECISIONS OF THE DAY OF THE LORD. The Scriptures do not satisfy our questionings upon the terms of decision on that day. So far as we can gather, there will be a general term, and a more particular one. The more general term may be thus expressed: “No condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.” “Condemned already,” because ye believe not on the Son of God. The more particular term is thus expressed: “We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” How these are to fit into each other it is beyond any human power to explain, because the Bible does not afford us the means of explanation. We can, however, settle two separate facts very clearly. Our life, in its minutest acts, carries eternal issues. Everything we do, beyond its bearing on our present character, has its bearing on our eternal destiny, because on our eternal character. And we are tested by our relation to Christ. The test of the great coming day is first thisIn Christ, or out of Christ. The answer to that settles all elsewhether you shall be in the fold or out of it, in the everlasting peace or out of it, in heaven or out of it.R.T.
Isa 13:6
God as El Shaddai.
It will at once come to mind that this is the name used for God by John Bunyan in his ‘Holy War,’ but it is an unfamiliar one, and one that needs explanation. It is translated in Scripture by the term “the Almighty,” but that properly represents the Hebrew El Gibbor. Cheyne says, “Wherever it occurs (Joe 1:15; Eze 1:24; Eze 10:5), it appears to express the more severe and awful side of the Divine nature. Though used as a mere synonym for El, or Elohim, it must at least be clear that force, and specially force as exhibited in a dangerous aspect in some natural phenomena, is the original meaning of the word, a meaning suitable enough to the earliest stage of biblical religion (see Exo 6:3).” Gesenius thinks that, originally, before it was adopted into biblical religion, Shaddai meant, “God the Sender of storms.” The connection of this physical figure with the term “Almighty” is very plain, for the Controller of the heavenly forces can surely do everything: the greater implies the less, and the great of which we know is so great that the mastery of it assures to us that there must be ability to master what we do not know.
I. THE TERM “MOST MIGHTY” AS APPLIED TO EARTHLY KINGS. It is quite the usual form in which the worth-ship of subjects is presented, and it was especially used of the monarchs of vast Eastern kingdoms, who ruled by an absolute authority. It was not, however, a mere high-sounding title; it gathered up the very various sides of kingly greatness, and put them into a single term. We may illustrate how it found expression for
(1) supreme rank,
(2) exalted dignity,
(3) vast extent of dominion,
(4) ready and hearty allegiance of subjects,
(5) strength of forces,
(6) and absoluteness of will.
It may also have embraced administration of august character.
II. THE TERM “ALL–MIGHTY” AS APPLIED TO THE KING OF KINGS. The term “almighty” rises above “most mighty,” and can be truly applied to God alone. The above divisions may be taken, in which great earthly kings are said to be “most mighty,” and, as applied to God, they may help us to realize the senses in which he is “all-mighty.” And occasion may be made for urging the reverence which is due to him; the awe he claims, which should make “all the earth keep silence before him.” It may be well also to meet the difficulty, that God cannot do absolutely everything, by showing that he can do everything which is not, under the conditions of human thought, absurd in the statement, such as make two straight lines enclose a space, or two and two count five.R.T.
Isa 13:12
The preciousness of man.
Matthew Henry gives very clearly the first ideas and associations of the passage. “There shall be so great a slaughter as will produce a scarcity of men. You could not have a man to be employed in any of the affairs of state, not a man to be enlisted in the army, not a man to match a daughter to, for the building up of a family, if you would give any money for one.” Such a comparison of man with gold would only be suggested to persons familiar with the sale and purchase of slaves. The irony, or satire, in the comparison lies in the over-estimate of gold in a luxurious age. It is a sad sign for any nation when its “gold of Ophir” is valued more than its men. The second clause having the more general term “human being,” we are reminded that it is man as man, and not man in view of his learning, position, manners, or wealth, that the prophet regards as of incomparable value. The position of Ophir is disputed, but J. A. Alexander points out that “whether the place meant be Ceylon, or some part of continental India, or of Arabia, or of Africa, it is hen named simply as an Eldorado, as a place where gold abounded, either as a native product or an article of commerce.” The older idea of the word rendered “precious” was making dear or costly; the modem idea is making rare or scarce. The expression may fittingly introduce the general topic of the value of men, for only in view of their value can their scarcity be treated as a matter of anxiety. That value may be set forth as to be recognized
I. IN HIS MORAL NATURE. He differs essentially from the material and animal creations. Not in possession of mind, but in capacity to apprehend the distinction between right and wrong, and in power to will the right and refuse the wrong. This is what we mean by a moral nature. The animal may decide its action upon some sort of consideration of the consequences, pleasurable or painful, that may attend on its conduct. Man does not merely act in view of consequences; he estimates the character of the action, judging it in the light of what he apprehends of God, as, to him, the ideal of righteousness. As a moral being, then, man transcends all creatures, and there can be no possible comparison of him with any material thing, even the finest gold of Ophir. This moral nature belongs to all men everywhere, and cannot be overlaid, or crushed, wholly out, by any poverty, ignorance, or debasement of vice. The man is always a man, and to his moral nature God, and his fellow moral beings, may always hopefully appeal.
II. IN HIS POSSIBILITIES FOR GOOD OR EVIL. He must be a precious being who can rise to be as saintly as some have become, and can sink to be as Satanic as others have become. Dr. Horace Bushnell has a fine sermon in ‘New Life,’ p. 16, entitled, “The Dignity of Human Nature shown from its Ruins.” After speaking of many who “magnify the dignity of human nature, by tracing its capabilities, and the tokens it reveals of a natural affinity with God and truth. They distinguish lovely instincts, powers, and properties allied to God, aspirations reaching after God,” he undertakes to “show the essential greatness and dignity of man from the ruin itself which he becomes;” and then he says, “Nor is it anything new, or a turn morn ingenious than just, that we undertake to raise our conceptions of human nature in this manner, for it is in just this way that we are accustomed to get our measures and form our conceptions of many things; of the power, for example, of ancient dynasties, and the magnificence of ancient works and cities, such, for example, as Egypt, Rome, Thebes, Karnac, Luxor, or Nineveh. So it is with man. Our most veritable, though saddest, impressions of his greatness, as a creature, we shall derive from the magnificent ruin he displayed. In that ruin we shall distinguish fallen powers that lie as broken pillars on the ground; temples of beauty, whose scarred and shattered walls still indicate their ancient, original glory; summits covered with broken stones, infested by asps, where the palaces of high thought and great aspiration stood, and righteous courage went up to maintain the citadel of the mindall a ruin nowarchangel ruined.” We estimate the value of raw material by “what can be made of it.” On that condition man is seen to be more precious than aught else; he may be changed into the Divine image, from glory to glory.
III. IN HIS IMMORTALITY. Man’s natural immortality is gravely disputed in these days, but an opinion on that difficult subject is not necessary in the treatment of this subject from our present point of view. It is possible for man to become immortal, and that stamps his incomparable value. Continuity is a common sign of value; but, further than that, the being who can be immortal must have capacity for immortal spheres. In conclusion, it may be shown that the preciousness of man, or the sanctity of human life, is the foundation of social order, and the inspiration of human brother hoed and self-denial.R.T.
Isa 13:19
The fall of pride.
The type of pride, in Scripture, is Babylon; to the grandeur of it the Chaldees pointed in self-admiring triumph. “The words of this text paint the impression which the great city, even in Isaiah’s time, made upon all who saw it. So Nebuchadnezzar, though his work was mainly that of a restorer, exulted in his pride in the greatness of the city of which he claimed to be the builder (Dan 4:30). So Herodotus describes it as the most famous and strongest of all the cities of Assyria, adorned beyond any other city on which his eyes had ever looked.” God’s dealings with nations are illustrations, in the large, of his dealings with families and individuals. The evil recognized as characteristic of a nation may be equally characteristic of a family and of an individual, on whom, therefore, the appropriate Divine judgments will be sure to fall. Nations stand forth prominently in the world’s eye, and keep their lessons in history for the instruction of all the ages. This may be illustrated from the Babylonian kingdom of the ancient days, and from Napoleonic France of modern times. The following points will readily suggest illustration from history, and from the circle of our actual experience.
I. PRIDE OF CONQUEST HAS NEVER PROVED LASTING. See the stories of Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander, Tamerlane, Charlemagne, Buonaparte, and others. It is equally true of cases of private acquisition. The man who grasps his neighbor’s property, and joins field to field, has to learn that God hateth the proud. The riches gathered fly away, or the son that follows him squanders it all.
II. PRIDE OF SOCIAL GRANDEUR HAS NEVER PROVED LASTING. Beckford thought to outrival all country mansions with his Fonthill Abbey, and it fell, and great was the fall thereof. Grant thought to build a palace in the west of London, grander than all around him, and it has passed under the hammer of the auctioneer.
III. PRIDE OF COMMERCIAL PROSPERITY HAS NEVER PROVED LASTING. Venice and Genoa and the Holland ports illustrate this. God’s providence brings round the judgment when the pride has become overwhelming. God holds a limit beyond which he never permits a nation, a family, or an individual to go. As soon as pride begins to take the honor due to God, stability is over, our foundations begin to shift, and the night of the first wild storm all that we have raised so anxiously lies about us in ruins. There is a day of God always near at hand for the proud.R.T.
Isa 13:21, Isa 13:22
Literal fulfillment of prophecy.
The language of modern travelers illustrates the fulfillment of the prediction. Layard says, “Owls start from the scanty thickets, and the foul jackal stalks among the furrows.” “It is a naked and hideous waste.” Dr. Plumptre says, “The work was, however, accompanied by slow degrees, and was not, like the destruction of Nineveh, the result of a single overthrow. Darius dismantled its walls, Xerxes pulled down the temple of Belus. Alexander contemplated its restoration, but his designs were frustrated by his early death. Susa and Ecbatana, Seleucia and Antioch, Ctesiphon and Bagdad, became successively the centers of commerce and of government.” By the time of Strabo (B.C. 20) the work was accomplished, and the “vast city” had become a “vast desolation.” In illustrating the literal fulfillment of this prophecy, the dean further says, “The Bedouins themselves, partly because the place is desolate, partly from a superstitious horror, shrink from encamping on the sites of the ancient temples and palaces, and they are left to lions, and other beasts of prey. On the other hand, Joseph Wolff, the missionary, describes a strange weird scenepilgrims of the Yezidis, or devil-worshippers, dancing and howling like dervishes amid the ruins of Babylon.” It is interesting to note the following passage from the Itinerary of Benjamin Bar-ions, given by Matthew Henry. “This is that Babel which was of old thirty miles in breadth; it is now laid waste. There are yet to be seen the ruins of a palace of Nebuchadnezzar, but the sons of men dare not enter in, for fear of serpents and scorpions, which possess the place.” For further indications of the precision of fulfillment, encyclopedias and books of Eastern travel should be studied. We point out here that prophecy is usually poetic, and, rather, vaguely descriptive and suggestive, than precise or minute. Sometimes, however, for the verifying of all prophecies, some portions are made precise, and are literally fulfilled, as in the case el Baby]on; and the two following points may be usefully illustrated:
I. LITERAL FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY CONFIRMING THE DIVINE WORD.
II. GENERAL FULFILMENTS THEREBY SHOWN TO BE EQUALLY CONFIRMATORY. When once the principle is established, we are freed from all bondage to demands for exact and minute agreements, and can freely read Scripture prophecy as full of poetical figure and imagery.R.T.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Isa 13:1. This prophesy respecting Babylon may be divided into two parts; the former part contained in the present chapter: wherein we have, first, the title, Isa 13:1.; secondly, the matter comprehended in this first part, which describes figuratively and strongly the calamity of Babylon, Isa 13:2-16 and in the subsequent verses confirms the former prediction. Vitringa is of opinion, from the great similarity of phrases particularly which is found in both, that this prophesy was delivered at the same time with the preceding one concerning Assyria, beginning chap. Isa 10:5. The great design of delivering this and the following prophesies of the same kind was, first to set forth the reasons of the divine justice in punishing the enemies of the church, in order to console the minds and confirm the faith of the pious. A second and more immediate design was, to comfort the minds of true believers against that sad and sorrowful event, the Babylonish captivity; and the third to announce, under this figure, the destruction of the spiritual Babylon, the whole kingdom of sin and Satan. See Rev 14:8; Rev 17:5. It is necessary for every reader who would completely understand the prophesies which respect the several states mentioned in this SECOND part, to make themselves well acquainted with the history of those states. The excellent and judicious Vitringa has affixed to his comment an historical account of each kingdom. We just subjoin from him a brief detail of the state of the Babylonish empire. The kingdom of Babylon was founded by Nimrod, who made Babel the seat of his empire; It was then occupied by the Arabs, who less regarded Babylon; but the Syrians, having founded their monarchy in the East, seized the Babylonish empire, repaired, fortified, adorned and enlarged Babylon, and at first, most likely, governed that province by nobles or deputies, and then placed kings over it, among whom Nabonassar was famous. Those kings became obnoxious to the Assyrians; and afterwards shook off their yoke. It is uncertain whether Merodach-baladan was the first who did so, or the kings who followed Assar-Addin, and principally Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar; the Medes and other nations having before, and perhaps on account of the slaughter of Sennacherib, led them away in their defection from the Assyrians: this was the first step of the greatness of the Babylonish empire. The valour and prosperity of the two kings after Assar-addin,Nabopolassar, and his son Nebuchadnezzar, very much advanced the dignity of this empire. At length, Ninus being cut off by the Medes, and the Chaldees assisting them, this kingdom and empire was entirely established; for as the Medes, after the destruction of Ninus, had all Asia beyond the Tygris subject to them, except Susiana, the Babylonish kings ruled over all Asia on this side the Tygris, as far as the river Halys and Egypt. See Vitringa, and the Universal History, vol. 4:
The burden of Babylon This inscription is not so much of a new prophesy as of a new book of prophesies, contra-distinguished from the former book, which also has its inscription; but we have here a different word used, massaa, the burden, of Babylon, which Vitringa renders, the sentence upon, or delivered concerning Babylon. Bishop Newton observes, (Prophesies, vol. 1: p. 354.) that it is remarkable, that the prophesies uttered against any city or country often carry the inscription of the burden of that city or country; and by burden is commonly understood a threatening burdensome prophesy, big with ruin and destruction; which, like a dead weight, is hung upon the city or country to sink it. But the word massaa, in the original is of more general import: sometimes it signifies a prophesy at large; sometimes a prophesy of good as well as of evil, as in Zec 12:1 sometimes it is translated a prophesy, where there is no prophesy, but only a grave moral sentence; and sometimes it is used of the author, as well as the subject, of a prophesy. The word massaa, in the original is derived from the verb nasa, which signifies to take or lift up, or bring; and the proper meaning of it is, any weighty important matter, or sentence, which ought not to he neglected; but is worthy of being carried in the memory and deserves to be lifted up and uttered with emphasis. See Rev 2:24. By Babylon we are to understand not only the city of that name, but the whole empire: See Vitringa.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
SECOND SUBDIVISION
THE PROPHECIES AGAINST FOREIGN NATIONS
Isaiah 13-27
A.THE DISCOURSES AGAINST INDIVIDUAL NATIONS
Isaiah 13-23
The people of God do not stand insulated and historically severed from the rest of the human race, but form an integral part of it, and contribute to the great web of the history of humanity. Therefore the Prophet of the Lord must necessarily direct his gaze to the Gentile world, and, as historiographer, set forth their relations to the Kingdom of God, whether hostile or friendly. It is true that, in those prophecies that deal with the theocracy as a whole, or with individual theocratic relations or persons, the prophet has always to set their relations to the outward world in the light of Gods word. But he has often occasion to make some heathen nation or other the primary subject of direct prophecy. Isaiah, too, has such occasion: and his prophecies that come under this category we now find collected here.
Amos, also, put together his utterances against foreign nations (chap. 1). But this grouping is so interwoven in the plan of his work, that, like an eagle first circles around his prey, and then swoops down on it, so he first passes through the nations dwelling around the Holy Land, then settles down on the chief nation, Israel, dwelling in the middle. Isaiah has brought the independent prophecies against foreign nations into a less intimate connection with his utterances that relate directly to the theocracy, by incorporating them into his book as a special (or volume). Zephaniah has joined Isaiah in this as to material and form; except that the latter appears less marked because of the smallness of his book (Isaiah 2). But Jeremiah (chap. 4651) and Ezekiel (chap. 2532) have, just like Isaiah, devoted independent divisions of their books to the utterances against foreign nations. The order in which Isaiah gives his prophecies against the heathen nations is not arbitrary. It makes four subdivisions. First, in chaps. 13, 14, comes a prophecy against Babylon. It stands here for a double reason:1) because it begins with a general contemplation of the day of Jehovah, which evidently is meant for a foundation for all the following denunciations of judgment; 2) because Isaiah, after he had lived to see the judgment of God on Assyria under the walls of Jerusalem, knows well that the world-power culminates, not in Assyria, but in Babylon, and that not Assyria but Babylon is to execute the judgment of God on the centre of the theocracy.
But it is quite natural that Assyria should not be unrepresented in the list of the nations against which the Prophet turns his direct utterances. This is the less allowable because the following utterances have all of them for subject the relations to Assyria of the nations mentioned. For all that the Prophet has to say from Isa 14:28 to Isa 20:6, and then again in chap. 21 (from Isa 13:11 on), 22 and 23 stands in relations more or less near to the great Assyrian deluge that Isaiah saw was breaking in on Palestine and the neighboring lands. Thus the second division begins with the brief word against Assyria, Isa 14:24-27. To this are joined prophecies against Philistia, Moab, Syria, Ephraim, Cush and Egypt. The third division forms a singular little It might be named libellus emblematicus. For it contains a second prophecy against Babylon, then a similar one against Syria, against the Arabians, and against Jerusalem, the last with a supplement directed against the steward Shebna. These four prophecies in chap. 21 and 22 stand together because they all of them have emblematical superscriptions. Out of regard to this the prophecy against Babylon (Isa 21:1-10) stands here, although in respect to its contents it belongs rather to 13 and 14 Even the prophecy against the valley of vision with its supplement stands here out of regard to its superscription, although it is directed against no heathen nation, but against Jerusalem; so that we must say that chaps. 1323 contain prophecies against the heathen nations, not exclusively, but with one exception that has its special reasons.
Chap. 23 forms the fourth division. It contains a prophecy against Tyre, which, indeed, presupposes the Assyrian invasion, but expressly names the Chaldeans as executors of the judgment on Tyre. On account of this remarkable, and, in a certain respect, solitary instance of such a sight of things distant, this prophecy is put alone and at the end.
Thus the chapters 1323 are divided as follows:
I. The first prophecy against Babylon, Isa 13:1-22.
II. Prophecies relating to Assyria, and the nations threatened by Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Syria, Ephraim, Cush, Egypt, Isaiah 14:2420:26.
III. The libellus emblematicus, containing prophecies against Babylon, Edom, Arabia and Jerusalem, the last with a supplement directed against the steward Shebnah. 21, 22.
IV. Prophecy against Tyre. 23.
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I.THE FIRST PROPHECY AGAINST BABYLON
Isa 13:1 to Isa 14:23
There yawns a tremendous chasm between the preceding prophecies that originated in the time of Ahaz and the present. We at once recognize Isaiah again in 13, 14 It is his spirit, his power, his poetry, his wit. They are his fundamental views, but it is no longer the old form. His way of speaking is quieter, softer, clearer; he no longer bursts on us like a roaring mountain stream. He is grown older. But he has progressed, too, in his prophetic knowledge. Now he knows that it is not Assyria that is the theocracys most dangerous enemy. For him Assyria is a thing of the past. In proportion as it came to the front before, it now and henceforth retires. Isaiah had seen Assyrias humiliating overthrow before the gates of Jerusalem. Now he knows that another power, that Babylon shall destroy the theocracy and stand as the sole governing world-power. But he knows, too, that Babylons day will come as well as Ninevehs. For how could Jehovahs Prophet ever doubt that his Lord and his nation will triumph, and that the world-power will be overthrown? But the judgment of Babylon is for him only a part of the great judgment of the world, of that day of the Lord, that does not come on one day, but realizes itself in many successive stages. He sees in Babylon the summit of the world-power, by whose disintegration Israel mast be made free. Therefore he makes the great day of Jehovahs judgment break before our eyes (Isa 13:1-13), but describes immediately only the judgment upon Babylon. On both these accounts this prophecy stands at the head of all Isaiahs prophecies against the nations. For it seemed fitting to put in the front a general and comprehensive word about the great judgment day which immediately introduced the denunciation of judgment against the head of all the nations of the world-power. Some have maintained that it was impossible that Isaiah could have recognized Babylon as the enemy of the theocracy: and that it was still more impossible that he could have predicted the deliverance of Israel out of the captivity of Babylon. But both these chapters are Isaiahs, both in form and contents, as we have declared above and shall prove in detail below. Beside, there is the consideration that our chapter has undoubtedly been used by Jeremiah (50, 51), by Ezekiel in various passages (Eze 7:17, comp. Isa 13:77:28, comp. Isa 13:11 to Isa 19:11, comp. Isa 14:5 to Isa 38:6; Isa 38:15 to Isa 39:2, comp. Isa 14:13), and by Zephaniah (Zep 3:11, comp. Isa 13:3), as shall be shown when dealing with the passages concerned. Therefore it seems to me to be beyond doubt that Isaiah wrote our chapters. But how Isaiah could know all that is here given to the world under his name (Isa 13:1) as prophecy, that is certainly a problem. That is the problem that science should propose to itself for solution. It ought not to deny accredited facts in order not to be compelled to recognize prophecy as a problem, i.e. as possible. For to deny premises in order to avoid a conclusion that one will not draw, is just as unscientific as it is to invent premises in order to gain a conclusion that one wants to draw.
The discourse divides into a general part and a particular. The former (Isa 13:1-13) is, as has been said, at the same time the introduction to the totality of the prophecies against the heathen nations. The particular part again presents two halves: the first (Isa 13:14-22) portrays the judgment on Babylon, the second, after a short reference to the redemption and return home of Israel (Isa 14:1-2) contains a satirical song on the ruler of Babylon conceived in abstracto (Isa 14:3-23).
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a) The preface: introduction in general to the prophecies of the day of the Lord
Isa 13:1-13
1The1 burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
2Lift ye up a banner upon 2the high mountain,
Exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand,
That they may go into the gates of the nobles.
3I have commanded my sanctified ones,
I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger,
Even them that rejoice in my highness.
4The noise of a multitude in the mountains, 3like as of a great people:
A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together:
The Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
5They come from a far country,
From the end of heaven,
Even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation,
To destroy the whole land.
6Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand;
It shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7Therefore shall all hands 4be faint,
And every mans heart shall melt:
8And they shall be afraid:
Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them;
They 5shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth:
They shall 6be amazed one at another;
Their faces shall be as 7flames.
9Behold, the day of the Lord cometh,
Cruel both with wrath and fierce anger,
To lay the land desolate:
And he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10For the stars of heaven and 8the constellations thereof
Shall not give their light:
The sun shall be darkened in his going forth,
And the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11And I 9will punish the world for their evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;
And I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease,
And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12I will make a man more precious than fine gold;
Even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13Therefore I will shake the heavens,
And the earth shall 10remove out of her place,
In the wrath of the Lord of hosts,
And in the day of his fierce anger.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
On Isa 13:1. from is elatum, something borne, that which is proposed, therefore as much onus as effatum. On account of this ambiguity it is almost exclusively used of such divine utterances as impose on men the burden of judicial visitation. From Jer 23:33 sqq. we learn that the word, being abused by mockers on account of this ambiguity, was prohibited by Jehovah as designation of prophetic utterances. In Isaiah the word occurs twelve times in the sense of judicial sentence; and, excepting Isa 36:6, it so occurs only in chapters 1323, and here again, with the exception of Isa 22:1 (for the particular reasons see the comment in loc.), solely in utterances against foreign nations. This last circumstance is easily to be explained by the unfavorable meaning that underlies the word, which was pressed by the mockers, Jer 23:33 sqq. A simply and only is never directed against the theocracy. But it cannot be inferred from the absence of this in passages that relate to the theocracy that the word is foreign to Isaiah (Knobel).
On Isa 13:2. occurs only here; comp. Isa 41:18; Jer 3:2, etc. is an expression peculiar to Isaiah. Comp. Isa 5:26; Isa 11:12; Isa 18:3. after is to be referred to the nations called. designates the goal of the movement to which the nations are summoned. Both words belong to Isa 3:26; Isa 32:5; Isa 32:8. is the free, the noble (comp. at Isa 32:5; and Pro 19:6; Pro 25:7, etc.).
On Isa 13:3. are Those rejoicing at my highness (gen. obj.). Both words are entirely characteristic of Isaiah. The is found only Isa 22:2; Isa 23:7; Isa 24:8; Isa 32:13, and in the borrowed passage Zep 3:11. Hence it is incomprehensible how the passage last named can be explained to be the original. Moreover Isaiah is almost the only one of the prophets that uses . For beside Isa 9:8; Isa 13:11; Isa 16:6; Isa 25:11, and the borrowed passage Zep 3:11, it occurs only Jer 48:29, where Jeremiah, for the sake of a play on words, heaps together all substantive derivatives from .
On Isa 13:4. occurs again in Isaiah only Isa 40:18. It is found oftenest in Ezekiel, and in an adverbial sense as here = (Eze 23:15). Also is a word of Isaiahs. It occurs only seventeen times in the Old Testament; of these, eight times in Isa 5:14; Isa 13:4; Isa 17:12; (bis), Isa 17:13; Isa 24:8; Isa 25:5; Isa 66:6. The expression , beside the present, occurs only Num 31:14, and 1Ch 7:4; 1Ch 12:37. There is evidently a contrast intended between and : the Lord of the heavenly hosts now musters His army hordes on earth.
On Isa 13:5. Shall we regard at the beginning of the verse as dependent on , Isa 13:4, and as apposition with ? It is against this that the second half of Isa 13:5 must then be construed as a rhetorical exclamation, which in this connection and form seems strange. It is in favor of this that otherwise must be construed as predicate. But then it would be said of Jehovah that He comes from a far country. But may not this be said in the present connection? It has just been said that Jehovah summons the war hordes and musters them. He is therefore their leader. Need it seem strange then that He is described as approaching at their head? Therefore is the predicate of Isa 13:5 b, placed at the beginning. occurs again only Isa 46:11; other turns of expression Isa 8:9; Isa 10:3; Isa 17:13; Isa 30:27; Isa 33:17. occurs again only Jer 50:25; on comp. on Isa 10:5. comp. on Isa 10:27; Isa 32:7; Isa 54:16.
On Isa 13:6. , note the play on words; is the so-called Kaph veritatis. Isaiah often uses , Isa 16:4; Isa 22:4; Isa 51:19, etc.; he uses only this once.
On Isa 13:7. , the expression occurs in Isaiah only here, and is borrowed by Eze 7:17 from this place.
On Isa 13:8. in Isaiah again only Isa 21:3 in a similar connection. occurs again only Isa 21:3 (bis) in the sense of constrictiones, cruciatus, cramps. Isaiah uses (Isa 5:18; Isa 33:20; Isa 33:23) in the sense of cords, and in the kindred cries of a woman in travail (Isa 26:17; Isa 66:7). used not seldom of a travailing woman, and as a figure of feeling terror; Isa 23:4-5; Isa 26:17-18; Isa 45:10; Isa 54:1; Isa 66:7-8. stupere occurs again only Isa 29:9. Note the constructio pracgnans.
On Isa 13:9. only here in Isaiah: it is adjective. The two substantives are, co-ordinate with , apposition with , doubtless because adjectives cannot be formed from these substantive notions, as can be done from . Therefore, according to frequent usage, we are to construe and as abstract nouns used in a concrete sense. frequent in Isa 9:18; Isa 10:6; Isa 13:13; Isa 14:6; Isa 16:6. excepting Isa 13:13 does not occur again in Isaiah. The expression is frequent in the Pentateuch: Exo 32:12; Num 25:4; Num 32:14; Deu 13:18.By the words the Prophet designates the object of the day of judgment.The expression only here in Isaiah. Perhaps it is borrowed from Joe 1:7. Isa 5:9. alone Isa 24:12.That means the earth, see Exeget. and Crit. on Isa 13:5. Isa 10:7; Isa 14:23; Isa 26:14. Isa 1:28; Isa 33:14.
On Isa 13:10. is not causative, but explicative. That the day of the Lord is dreadful, and nothing but burning wrath will be evident in that the stars become dark.If and are distinguished, the explanation cannot be that the latter are not also , but that they are only a pre-eminent species of stars. The Vav. is therefore the Vave augmentative: the stars of heaven and even its Orions. The latter are the most luminous stars, whose brightness, because of the first magnitude, more easily than all others penetrates whatever hinderances there may be. The plural of is, any way, a generalizing one, i.e., that elevates the individual to the rank of a species. Otherwise we know of only one as a star. But as 1Sa 17:43, Goliath says to David: thou comest to me with the starves, although David had only one staff; or as Jer 28:12, after telling of the breaking of one yoke, continues; wooden yokes hast thou broken, therefore here as elsewhere the plural of the individual is conceived as equivalent to the genus. Compare Cicerones, Scipiones, les Voltaire, les Mirabeau; and perhaps Job 38:7 belongs to the same category., Hiph. from , a verb that elsewhere expresses clearness of sound, occurs only Job 31:26; Job 41:10, and in both places in connection with .On comp. Isa 5:30.Of there is only one other form in Isaiah, and that Kal. in just one passage, Isa 9:1.
On Isa 13:11. is more expressly defined as This word is very frequent in the first part of Isa 14:17; Isa 14:21; Isa 18:3; Isa 24:4; Isa 26:9; Isa 26:18; Isa 27:6; Isa 34:1. It never means a single land, but is always either the as terra fertilis contrasted with the desert (Isa 14:17) or the as a whole contrasted with the single parts. Delitzsch well remarks that it never has the article, and thus in a measure appears as a proper noun. with of the person and accusative of the thing like Jer 23:2; Jer 25:12; Hos 1:4. a frequent word in Isa 2:10; Isa 2:19; Isa 2:21; Isa 4:2, etc.; Isa 60:15; Eze 7:24 seems to have had in mind our passage. only here in Isaiah, whereas (comp. at Isa 13:3) and (Isa 25:3-5; Isa 29:5; Isa 29:20; Isa 49:25) occur not seldom.
On Isa 13:12. which makes a paronomasia with (a genuine Isaianic word) occurs only here (Kal. Isa 43:4).On and comp. on Isa 8:1. (only here in Isaiah; comp. Psa 19:11; Psa 21:4) is purified gold; is absconditum, jewel, ornament generally: not found again in Isaiah. is found again Psa 45:10; Job 28:16.
On Isa 13:13. cannot be construed for this reason. For it cannot be said that the Lord will shake heaven and earth because He punishes the earth and makes men scarce on it. Rather the reverse of this must be assumed: God shakes heaven and earth in order to punish men. Thus = therefore, hence, but in the sense of intention (to this end, Job 34:27). Here, too, there evidently floats before the mind of the Prophet a passage from Job 9:6, where it reads: . The thought that the earth shall be crowded out of its place, which is peculiar to both of these passages, is something so specific, added to which the juxtaposition of and is so striking, that it is impossible to regard this relation of the two passages as accidental. If we ask where the words are original, we must decide in favor of Job, because there the thought is founded in the context. For in Isa 13:5 it is said: which removeth the mountains, and they know not; which overturneth them in his anger. On this follows naturally: Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble. in Isaiah again Isa 24:18; Isa 14:16. Comp. moreover 2Sa 22:8 (Psa 18:8); Joel 4:16.The words to are the Prophets. is taken by some as determining the time (Knobel), by others as assigning a reason (Delitzsch), But both may be combined: the revelation of the divine wrath coincides with the day of His anger, and so much so that , the day, may be taken as concrete for the abstract notion of the manifestation, coming to the light. Comp. Isa 10:3; Isa 17:6.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The Prophet opens his prophecy against the nations with a denunciation of judgment against Babylon. This prophecy must have originated at a period when the Prophet had come to the knowledge that Babylon was the real centre of the world-power, and Assyria only a front step. But Isaiah opens his prophecy against Babylon with an introduction from which we learn that he regards the judgment against Babylon as the germ-like beginning of the day of the Lord in general. First, by means of a banner planted on a high mountain, visible far and wide, there goes forth a summons to order men of war to an expedition against a city (Isa 13:2). Then (Isa 13:3) the Lord says, more plainly, Himself taking up the word, that it is He that assembles the men of war and that He assembles them for a holy war. The command gathers in vast numbers and Jehovah musters them (Isa 13:4). They come then from the ends of the earth, as it were led by Jehovah, brought together in order to accomplish the work of destruction (Isa 13:5). Now those threatened hear proclaimed: the day of the Lord is here (Isa 13:6). Thereupon all are in fear and terror (Isa 13:7-8). And in fact the day of the Lord draws near (Isa 13:9). The stars turn dark (Isa 13:10). The Lord Himself declares that the object of His coming is to lay low everything in the world that lifts itself up proudly (Isa 13:11), so that men shall become scarce as fine gold (Isa 13:12). By this manifestation of divine wrath, however, heaven and earth must be shaken (Isa 13:13).
2. The burdendid see.
Isa 13:1. One sees a sentence of judgment when, by means of prophetic gaze, one learns to know its contents, which may be presented to the spiritual eye by visible images (comp. on Isa 1:1). That Isaiah is named here, and by his entire name, son of Amoz, is doubtless to be explained in that this superscription, which corresponds to the prophecy Isa 13:1 to Isa 14:23, was at the same time regarded as superscription of the entire cycle 13 to 23 and that this cycle, as an independent whole, was incorporated in the entire collection.
3. Lift ye up a bannermy highness.
Isa 13:2-3.
Isa 13:2 speaks in general. Without saying to whom the summons is directed or from whom it proceeds; there is only a summons to raise the standard of war for the purpose of assembling warriors. On a bare mountain, devoid of forest, shall the signal be raised, that it may be clearly seen on all sides. But with the voice, too, (Isa 37:23, Isa 40:9, Isa 58:1) and with hand-beckoning (Isa 10:32, Isa 11:15) shall the nations be called to march forth. The gates of the nobles can only mean the main gates of the hostile city, which alone (in contrast with the small side gates, figuratively called needle-eyes Mat 19:24) serve for the entree of princes in pomp, in the present case for the victors. Still the expression occasions surprise. Ought we perhaps to read : that they come willingly into my gates? I do not venture to decide.
Isa 13:3 makes us know who is the origin of the summons. It is the Lord who calls His warriors who are consecrated to Him and joyfully obey Him. The warriors are called consecrated, holy, because the war is a holy one. Comp. Joel 4:9, Jer 6:4; Jer 22:7; Jer 51:27. Precisely for this the Prophet immediately after uses the bold expression: I have called them for mine anger, i.e. that they may be executors of my purpose of wrath (comp. Isa 10:5).
4. The noise of a multitudethe whole land.
Isa 13:4-5. Those summoned heard the call. They are heard approaching in troops. The interjection [harkNaegelsb.] is frequent in the second half of Isa 40:3; Isa 40:6; Isa 52:3; Isa 66:6. Jeremiah, too, imitates the language: Jer 48:8; Jer 50:22; Jer 50:28; Jer 51:54. The expression [Hark, a tumultuous noise, Naegelsb.] noise of a multitude, occurs 1Sa 4:14, 1Ki 18:41; 1Ki 20:13; 1Ki 20:28. In Isaiah again Isa 33:3. Then in Eze 23:42, Dan 10:6. I do not believe that by the mountains is meant the Zagros mountains that separated Media from Babylon. [Zagrus mons, now represented by the middle and southern portion of the mountains of Kurdistan.Tr.]. For here the prophecy bears still quite a general character. Only by degrees does the special judgment upon Babylon appear out of the cloud of the universal judgment. The enemies, according to Isa 13:5, come from a far country, from the end of heaven. Did the Prophet mean particularly the Zagros, why did he not designate it more distinctly? The mountains are, doubtless, no certain, concrete mountains, but ideal mountains, a poetic embellishment. Added to this, it is likely Joel 2 is in the Prophets mind. There, too, as here (Isa 13:6; Isa 13:9) the day of the Lord is at hand. But there the grasshoppers are the enemies to be expected. These, too, come like chariots, that leap upon the mountains like the blush of dawn spread upon the mountains. Especially the order of the words , in the mountains like as of a great people, seems to me to recall Joe 2:2 upon the mountains a great people, a form of expression that in Joel, too, belongs to the poetic drapery. That Isaiah had in mind the words of Joel is the more probable, in as much as the expression is used by him only here, and beside Joe 2:2, is found only in Eze 17:9; Eze 17:15; Eze 26:7.
The army, then, which Jehovah musters, consists of people that have come from a far land, and from the end of heaven, i.e. from the place where the heavenly expanse is bounded by the earth. The expression from the end of heaven is characteristic of Deuteronomy. For, except the present passage, it occurs only Deu 4:32 (bis), Isa 30:4 (with the borrowed expression Neh 1:9), and Psa 19:7. That Isaiah by these expressions would designate the Medes is quite improbable. As in their cities, according to 2Ki 17:6, Israelite exiles dwelt at that time, how could he locate them in the uttermost borders of the earths surface, where otherwise he locates, say, Ophir (Isa 13:12) or Sinim (Isa 49:12)? The undefined, universal, and if I may so say, the superlative mode of expression, proves that it is to be taken in an ideal sense. The end that the Lord will accomplish by means of the weapons of His indignation is: to overturn the whole earth. The whole earth! For this judgment on Babylon belongs to the day of the Lord. It is thus an integral part of the worlds judgment. Just as Isaiah, so Ezekiel uses traits of Joels prophecy of the worlds judgment in order to let the judgment that he had to announce to Egypt, appear as a part of the worlds judgment (Isa 30:2 sqq.).
5. Howl yetheir faces as flames.
Isa 13:6-8. Here it is seen plainly how the Prophet would represent the judgment on Babylon as a part of the worlds judgment. For the traits that now follow are entirely taken from the descriptions of the worlds judgments as we meet them already in the older Prophets, and as, on the other hand, the later New Testament descriptions of the great day of judgment connect with our present one. Especially Isaiah has Joel in his mind. Howl ye, is taken from Joe 1:5; Joe 1:11; Joe 1:13. Ezek. too, uses the word Isa 30:2, and Mat 24:30, in the eschatological discourse of Christ. The words: for the day of the Lord is at hand, are taken word for word from Joe 1:15. From at hand, it is seen that the Prophet would portray here the impression that the approach of the day will make on men; for, as is known, the moments that precede any great catastrophe have terrors quite peculiarly their own. In Isa 13:9, he describes the judgment as taking place. When men notice that the destruction comes from God Almighty, they abandon all opposition as useless. The sign of this is that they let their hands fall limp, and that their hearts become like water (comp. Deu 20:8; Jos 7:5; Isa 19:1).
For the image of the travailing woman, and of the terror depicted in the countenances, the Prophet is indebted to Joe 2:6. That terror and anguish not only make one pale, but also agitate the blood, and thereby produce heat and sweat is well known. Only the latter does the Prophet make prominent. He was likely moved to this because in Joel (Isa 1:19, Isa 2:3; Isa 2:5), which is in his thought, the expression , a flame, occurs thrice.
6. Behold the daylight to shine.
Isa 13:9-10. The day is not only near; it is here. (Comp. under Text. and Gram. above). What constellation is meant by the name is not settled. The LXX., here and Job 38:31 translate . Likewise the Vulg.Amo 5:8 and Job 9:9. Others (Saadia, Abulwalid,etc.), take it to be Canopus, the Antarctic Polar star in the southern steering-oar of Argo. Niebuhr (Beschr. v. Arabien, p. 113), following the Jews of Sana, supposes it is Sirius. But the passage in Job 38:31 (or wilt thou loose the bands [Dillmann:traces] of ?) corresponds very well to the representation that Orion (Syr. gaboro, Arab. gebbar) is the giant chained to the sky. Comp. Herzog,Real-Encycl. Art. Gestirnkunde, vonLeyrer, XIX. p. 565. [According to Hitzig and Knobel, the darkening of the stars is mentioned first, because the Hebrews reckoned the day from sunset.J. A. A.].
When the rising sun is without rays, and moon and stars lose their shining, then both day and night are robbed of their lights. The language of the Prophet seems not only to be drawn from Job, but also from Joe 3:4, and Amo 5:8, as on the other hand Christs discourse, Mat 24:29, borrows from our passage.
7. And I will punishhis fierce anger.
Isa 13:11-13. The Prophet lets the Lord speak here, partly, to confirm what the Prophet had said, partly to set it forth more exactly. But unmarked, the subject of the discourse changes again (Isa 13:13 b) by the Prophet resuming and continuing the discourse of the Lord. What was said, Isa 13:9, in brief words; and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it, is in Isa 13:11, more distinctly expressed by the Lord. The Lord says, then, that He will punish the whole earth for their wickedness, and the wicked (according to his righteousness) for their guilt. The means by which men incur guilt is their injustice in the sense of violent oppression, according to the view common to the Old Testament in general, and to Isaiah in particular (comp. on Isa 1:17; Isa 1:21 sqq.). Therefore the Almighty Judge announces here that a time shall come when He will take in hand the mighty of the earth who abuse their power, and will humble them. The thought of this verse recalls Isa 2:10 sqq.
In consequence of this visitation, human kind shall become rare in the earth as the noblest gold. From this passage it appears that the Prophet, though he speaks of a judgment on the whole habitable world (, ), has still by no means the idea of its total destruction, say, by fire (2Pe 3:7; 2Pe 3:10). The locality of Ophir is still an open question. The other instances of its occurrence in Scripture are Gen 10:29 (1Ch 1:23), 1Ki 9:28; 1Ki 10:11; 1Ki 22:49; 1Ch 29:4; 2Ch 8:18; 2Ch 9:10; Job 22:24. Four places are proposed; South Arabia, East Africa, Abhira between the Indus Delta and the Gulf of Cambay, and southern lands in general, for which Ophir may be only a collective name. The best authorities, as Lassen, Ritter (Erdkunde XIV. p. 348 sqq.),Delitzsch, decide in favor of East India. But Crawford, hardly less learned regarding India than Lassen, in his Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian Islands, asserts, on the contrary, that there is not a shadow of possibility for locating Ophir in any part of India.
The African traveller Carl Mauch gives considerable weight to the scale in favor of East Africa; he thinks that he has discovered the ancient Ophir in the port Sofala or Sofara on the East coast of South Africa in latitude 20 14.
Isa 13:13. See under Text. and Gram. above.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Isa 13:2-13. The prophecy concerning the day of the Lord has its history. It appears first in the form of the announcement of a scourge of locusts (Joel); then it becomes an announcement of human war-expeditions and sieges of cities. Finally it becomes a message that proclaims the destruction of the earth and of its companions in space. But from the first onward, the last particular is not wanting: only at first it appears faintly. In Joe 2:10, one does not know whether the discourse is concerning an obscuration of the heavenly bodies occasioned only by the grasshoppers or by higher powers. But soon (Joe 3:4; Joe 3:20) this particular comes out more definitely. In the present passage of Isaiah it presses to the foreground. In the New Testament (Mat 24:29; Mar 13:24 sq.; Luk 21:25) it takes the first and central place. We observe clearly that the judgment on the world is accomplished in many acts, and is yet one whole; and as on the other hand nature, too, is itself one whole, so, according to the saying: whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it (1Co 12:26), the catastrophes on earth have their echo in the regions above earth.
2. On Isa 13:4 sqq. God cannot do otherwise than punish accumulated wickedness. But He overthrows violence and crime, and metes out to tyrants the measure they have given to others, for He gives to them a master that the heathen shall know that they too are men (Ps. 9:21; Psa 11:5).Cramer.
[On 13 Isa 13:3. It cannot be supposed that the Medes and Persians really exulted, or rejoiced in God or in His plans.But they would exult as if it were their own plan, though it would be really the glorious plan of God. Wicked, men often exult in their success: they glory in the execution of their purposes; but they are really accomplishing the plans of God, and executing His great designs.Barnes.]
[On Isa 13:9. The moral causes of the ruin threatened are significantly intimated by the Prophets calling the people of the earth or land its sinners. As the national offences here referred to, Vitringa enumerates pride (Isa 13:11; Isa 14:11; Isa 47:7-8), idolatry (Jer 50:38), tyranny in general (Isa 14:12; Isa 14:17), and oppression of Gods people in particular (Isa 47:6).J. A. Alexander.]
3. On Isa 13:19 sqq. Imperiti animi, etc. Unlearned minds when they happen on allegories, can hold no certain sense of Scripture. And unless this Papal business had kept me to the simple text of the Bible, I had become an idle trifler in allegories like Jerome and Origen. For that figurative speech has certain allurements by which minds seek to dispose of difficulties. The true allegory of this passage is concerning the victory of conscience over death. For, the law is Cyrus, the Turk, the cruel and mighty enemy that rises up against the proud conscience of justitiaries who confide in their own merits. These are the real Babylon, and this is the glory of Babylon, that it walks in the confidence of its own works. When, therefore, the law comes and occupies the heart with its terrors, it condemns all our works in which we have trusted, as polluted and very dung. Once the law has laid bare this filthiness of our hearts and works, there follows confusion, writhing, and pains of parturition; men become ashamed, and that confidence of works ceases and they do those things which we see now-a-days: he that heretofore has lived by confidence of righteousnesss in a monastery, deserts the monkish life, casts away to ashes all glory of works, and looks to the gratuitous righteousness and merit of Christ, and that is the desolation of Babylon. The ostriches and hairy creatures that remain are Eck, Cochleus and others, who do not pertain to that part of law. They screech, they do not speak with human voice, they are unable to arouse and console any afflicted conscience with their doctrine. My allegories, which I approve, are of this sort, viz., which shadow forth the nature of law and gospel. Luther.
4. On Isa 13:21 sqq. There the Holy Spirit paints for thee the house of thy heart as a deserted, desolate Babylon, as a loathsome cesspool, and devils hole, full of thorns, nettles, thistles, dragons, spukes, kobolds, maggots, owls, porcupines, etc., all of which is nothing else than the thousandfold devastation of thy nature, in as much as into every heart the kingdom of Satan, and all his properties have pressed in, and all and every sin, as a fascinating serpent-brood, have been sown and sunk into each one, although not all sins together become evident and actual in every ones outward life.Joh. Arndts Informatorium biblicum, 7.
5. On Isa 14:1-2. Although it seems to me to be just impossible that I could be delivered from death or sin, yet it will come to pass through Christ. For God here gives us an example; He will not forsake His saints though they were in the midst of Babylon.Heim and Hoffmann after Luther.
6. On Isa 14:4 sqq. Magna imperia fere nihil sunt quam magnae injuriae.
Ad generum Cereris sine caede et sanguine pauci
Descendunt reges et sicca mente tyranni.Luther.
Impune quidvis facere id est regem esse.Sallust.
Among the Dialogi mortuorum of Lucian of Samosata the thirteenth is between Diogenes and Alexander the Great. This dialogue begins with the words: , , , ; thereupon the contrast is ironically set forth between what Alexander was, as one given out to be a son of the gods, and so recognized by men, and possessor of all highest human glories, and what he is at present. It is, as is well known, doubtful whether Lucian really was acquainted with the Scriptures. See Planck, Lucian and Christianity in Stud. u. Krit., 1851, IV. p. 826 sqq. Comp. also Schrader, die Hllenfahrt der Istar., 1874.
7. On Isa 14:4 sqq. Omni genera figurarum utitur ad confirmandos et consolandos suos, ut simul sit conjuncta summa theologia cum summa rhetorica.Luther.
8. On Isa 14:12 sqq. As early as the LXX. this passage seems to have been understood of Satan. It points that way that they change the second person into the third; , etc. At least they were so understood. See Jerome, who thereby makes the fine remark: Unde ille cecidit per superbiam, vos ascendatis per humilitatem. But Luther says: Debet nobis insignis error totius papatus, qui hunc textum de casu angelorum accepit, studia literarum et artium deccndi commendare tamquam res theologo maxime necessarias ad tractationem sacrarum literarum.
9. On Isa 14:13-14. The Assyrian monarch was a thorough Eastern despot rather adored as a god than feared as a man. Layards Discoveries amongst the ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, 1853, New York, p. 632. In the heathen period the pre-eminence of the German kings depended on their descent from the gods, as among the Greeks (Gervinus, Einleit. in d. Gesch. d. 19 Iahrh., 1853, p. 14). Christian Thomasius, in his Instit. jurispr. divinae, dissert. promialis, p. 16, calls the princes the Gods on earth. In a letter from Luxemburg, after the departure of the Emperor Joseph II., it is said (in a description of the journey, of which a sheet lies before me): we have had the good fortune to see our earthly god. Belani, Russian Court Narratives, New Series, III. Vol., p. Isaiah 125: The Russian historian Korampzin says in the section where he describes the Russian self-rule: The Autocrat became an earthly god for the Russians, who set the whole world in astonishment by a submissiveness to the will of their monarch which transcends all bounds.
Footnotes:
[1]Sentence.
[2]a bald mountain.
[3]Heb. the likeness of.
[4]Or, fall down.
[5]shall writhe.
[6]Heb. wonder every man at his neighbor.
[7]Heb. faces of the flames.
[8]their Orions.
[9]will visit on the world its wickedness, and on the wicked their iniquity.
[10]shake.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
W e have a prophecy concerning the destruction of Babylon; and the Lord, for the comfort of the Church, causeth his servant to make it known, and the powers by whom he would accomplish it, even the Medes and Persians.
Isa 13:1
I pray the Reader to remark, with me, at the opening of this chapter, that from this part of the prophet’s writings, a new subject seems to open: the prophet begins, what he calls burdens. Hence we have, in several successive chapters after this burden of Babylon, the burden of Moab, and the burden of Damascus, and the burden of Egypt, and the like. But the history of those nations is no farther entered into, than as they minister to the Church, either in persecuting the Church, or becoming instruments to her prosperity, according to the sovereign will and appointment of God. Although none of them thought so: neither did their heart intend it: yet to this little handful of people, this Church, this portion of the Lord Jesus, they all ministered; and every monarchy of the earth rose, or fell, as should bring about the Lord’s purposes concerning Zion. I would beg the Reader to keep this in view while reading the history of men and nations; yea, even in modern times, as well as in the ages that are past, he will find, that for the salvation and preservation of God’s Israel, all the nations of the earth are formed; and that they are moved about and directed to this one purpose only. Here the Lord begins with Babylon, in the threatened desolations which should overtake that nation. The things predicted were not to be accomplished for more than a hundred years; and during that time, the Lord’s Israel was to go into captivity in Babylon, and seventy years were to be accomplished upon them. But in the mean time, the Lord will comfort his people with his promises. Reader! mark this! Is it not most blessed, and most gracious in the Lord, if, when at any time he is about to correct them for their transgressions, he pours in his consolations before? Do you know anything of this kind in your own exercises?
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The Burden of Babylon
Isaiah 13-14
It is well that there are some men who see what may be called the more majestic and overpowering aspects of God. Some of us are afraid almost to utter the great words which properly belong to the deity as descriptive of his nature and attributes and government. Herein what a wonderful difference there is between the Old Testament and the New, between the Hebrew and the Greek! Neither is sufficient alone: some men never look at the sky; they look only at the earth; others are not satisfied with looking at what is under their feet, they must with eager yet reverent eyes search the mystery of the heavens. We need all kinds of revelation in order that we may approximate to an idea concerning God’s nature, so wondrous, yet so simple; so lifted up above all time and space as known to us, and yet walking by our very sides, and tabernacling within us as an invited guest.
This is called “The Burden of Babylon.” Whenever we find the word burden in this association it means oracle, a speech of doom; it is never connected with blessing, hope, enlarged opportunity, or expanded liberty; it always means that judgment is swiftly coming, and may at any moment burst upon the thing that is doomed. “Which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.” We have ventured to lay it down that there is a genius of Biblical interpretation, that things are not to be taken always in their literal and most obvious and superficial sense. This doctrine cannot be proved by one single instance; we must search the whole record in order to seize this doctrine as a possession which enables us to open many a door in the great wall, built of gold and jasper, of revelation. “Which Isaiah did see.” How did he see it? The word “see” needs to be defined every day. Blind men may see. We do not see with the eyes only, else truly we should see very little; the whole body becomes an eye when it is full of light, and they who are holiest see farthest: “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” Men see morally, intellectually, sympathetically, as well as visually. How could Isaiah see this burden of Babylon when it did not fall upon the proud city for two centuries? Is there, then, no annihilation of time and space? Are we the mean prisoners we thought ourselves to be? is it so, that we are caged round by invisible iron, and sealed down by some oppressive power, or blinded by some arbitrary or cruel shadow? We might see more if we looked in the right direction; we might be masters of the centuries if we lived with God. Isaiah is never weary of saying that he saw what he affirms. He does not describe it as having been seen by some other man; having written his record he signs it, or having begun to deliver his prophecy he writes it as a man writes his will; he begins by asserting that it is his testament, his own very witness, for he was there, saw it, and he accepts the responsibility of every declaration.
“Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain” ( Isa 13:2 ). Does that mean geographically high? Not necessarily. Here again we have need to commit ourselves to the genius of Biblical interpretation. The high mountain is really a bare mountain, not bearded with a forest, not tufted with a few trees, with which the banner might be confused, but a bare, bald, rock-like height, where nothing is to be seen but the uplifted banner of God. Truly, in Christian warfare we might learn something from military enterprise. Have we put our banner in the right place? It is not enough to have a banner, we must be careful where we plant it; it may be mistaken for a tree, it may get entangled among the branches of great oaks or cedars: it is not enough to have a light, we must put it on the candlestick, and set it on the table, and not cover it with a bushel so that the darkness may be unrelieved by its presence: it is not enough to have intelligence, we must properly display it, use it for the benefit of those who are not so intelligent as we are: it is not enough to have schools, we must set the doors wide open, and compel the ignorant to enter that they may return from the sanctuary of wisdom instructed and mentally fortified: it is not enough to have a church, we must open every door and every window, and bid all the people welcome the more wicked, the more welcome; the more ignorant, if willing to learn, the more desired with the solicitude of sympathy and interest. “Shake the hand” ( Isa 13:2 ). Is that a common signification? Is it to be read as the words would be read to-day in describing social approaches and intercourses? The word is a military word, and it signifies an emphatic gesture of the hand, so that there may be no mistake as to the place indicated: the index-fingers seems long enough to reach the top of the mountain, and to point out the very locality which the banner is to occupy. In military exploits men are not afraid of emphasis: how much afraid we are of it in the Church! The children of this world are wiser than the children of light. When men are determined upon conquering a position with guns and swords, they go about it as if they meant to conquer. How is the Church going about the conversion of the world to-day? Hardly going about the work at all, mumbling where it should roar, giving vague directions where it should give specific indications. Carlyle has said we are lost in many enterprises for want of emphasis. And there may be emphasis which is not properly distributed. We may be earnest about little things instead of great things: “Thy servant was busy here and there,” and the king passed by; not, Thy servant was slothful, slumbering, but was busy “here and there,” and it is impossible for any man to be busy both here and there. That is the difficulty of misdirected effort, ill-spent vigour, and vain earnestness, that men do not keep to the line, they are not found constantly at the point: they are preaching in Genesis in the morning and in Timothy in the evening; therefore the Bible is scattered, broken up; its continuity is lost, its pressure ceases to be one of the master-forces in life. Yet do not the people love the emphatic gesture, the soldier who knows the gate he means to take? Do they not applaud him in their journals, and celebrate him in their songs? Is it to be so, that only the Church is to be wanting in fervour, in military precision, in dignity and constancy, in warfare and instruction?
“That they may go into the gates of the nobles” ( Isa 13:2 ). The strongest gates are to be broken down. The great judgments of God do not seek little postern entrances; they are royal judgments, and must enter by royal ways. There are gates in parks and in castles which are only opened when the monarch approaches. God is the Monarch, and when he comes we must open the central gates gates passed only by the nobles and the crowned ones of the land. “The nobles.” Aristocracy, then, is of some antiquity; not by any possibility of such high antiquity as the common people. But the word “lord,” as used in ordinary speech, is a word we would not willingly let die, if we could keep it to its first meanings. It comes by abbreviation from an old Saxon word, laford , and laford comes from an old Saxon verb which means to sustain, to succour. When our lords are succourers we will never violate their house, meet where they may. When the greatest are the kindest they can never be dispossessed. The time has come by the agency of Christian thought and sympathy when men must vindicate their claim to every primacy by their wisdom, their goodness, their fitness, their moral quality. To bring back words to their first meanings is like bringing back prodigals to their father’s house, that they may have rings on their fingers, shoes on their feet, and be clothed with the best robe. Herein every one can have a great title. When the emulation is to exceed one another in kindness, charity, love, sympathy, then the world will be occupied by one class by the very aristocracy of heaven.
Isaiah says ( Isa 13:5 ): “They come from a far country, from the end of heaven.” What a small solar system Isaiah had! He had great advantages in his vision of the Eternal; when he describes God we are touched by the majesty of his description; but when he talks about “a far country” and “from the end of heaven” we long for some little boy of our own common schools to teach him a little about geography. This is good, and most helpful to a right interpretation of the Bible; this brings us to its high point, to the things it means at all times and under all circumstances. This shows the fearlessness of truth; it will occupy any instrument, or use any medium we can supply; it attaches itself to the intelligence of the day, and uses that for purposes of enlightenment and progress. Who can tell where is the end of heaven? The destruction which is to fall upon Babylon is to come as a destruction from the Almighty. Here is a curious play upon words, which, as the old commentators would say, cannot be Englished. The word “Almighty” here means “the destroyer.” In the original language it is almost a pun, a play upon syllables and tones, “it shall come as a destruction from the destroyer.” How seldom is the word “Almighty” used in connection with the tender aspects of the divine nature; power would always seem to have been associated with thoughts of judgment, penalty, sovereignty of a stern and exacting kind. In this sense the word is found eight times in the Pentateuch, and twenty-three times in the Book of Job alone. All we can do with a prophecy of this kind is to find out its central principle, which belongs to all ages and to all countries. The prophecy brings God before us as the God of nations. That is a thought which we seldom realise. We fix our unit in the individual. So does God, but he also uses the unit as descriptive of a totality. Babylon is a unit; yea, Assyria, of which Babylon was part the haughty capital is a unit; so Media, Egypt, Damascus, Syria. Always understand what the unit is that God is speaking about sometimes an individual, sometimes a country, sometimes a world, sometimes the universe. A unit is more than one. It is one literally, but there may be a unit of simplicity and a unit of complexity. God handles the nations as single entities: Babylon counts one, Nineveh counts one, every nation is a one; they are millions in the detail, but God lifts up the nation in its unity, examines it, judges it, sentences it, in its unity. Are we not accustomed to the same method of dealing with great questions? Do we not invest a nation with a character? How would the nation of the Jews have been described in olden times? How would the health of England or America or any other country be now stated? As if the country were but one individual. Who hestitates to speak about the function of a whole people, assigning one function to the Roman character, and a totally distinct function to the Greek instinct and culture? We ourselves, therefore, speak as God speaks of nations in their unity. A very mysterious thought this, and full of urgent instruction and suggestiveness. A metropolis may be pronounced healthy, as we have already seen, when there are hundreds of dying men in it. So there are two standards of judgment, or two views and aspects, under which questions may be considered. Say, for example, London is the healthiest city in the empire. That might be met by the assurance that indisputable statistics prove that in London at the very time of the declaration of its healthfulness there are five thousand men whose lives are despaired of. Yet the statement regarding the sanitary condition of the metropolis may be perfectly right. So we speak of England, or some other country, being honest, inspired by a spirit of equity, or honour, or courage. When a country with such a character issues a loan, all the eagles of the earth come down upon it at once. Why? Because of the character which lies behind. The word is the bond. If a country with a great character has made a proposal, the proposal will be carried out, come what may. Whoever, therefore, helps the improvement of individual character, helps the elevation of all the best national characteristics. To work for a child is to work for the nation; to work in the Sunday-school is to amend the national reputation. Thus we operate together, and co-operate with God, and the great purpose is to turn the burden into a blessing.
God is also represented as the destroyer of nations “Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt” ( Isa 13:7 ). How terrible is this! But this is not the worst. There is a purposed cruelty which the Almighty infuses into his judgments when he has to deal with a people like the cities of Babylon; he says: “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it” ( Isa 13:9 ). The word “cruelty” is not withheld. It may startle us and shock us until we come to the explanatory word, which is also to be found in the document. We must not stop at the adjective, we must go in quest of the substantive which has brought it into relation, and which it either qualifies or is explained by. Our inquiry must be: On whom will God visit a cruel judgment? And if the answer is, as it will be found to be in the succeeding chapter, we shall find that the words are well balanced, and that the way of the Lord is equal, and that the word “cruelty,” which seems to be so undivine, is really the only word that could have been used with propriety and precision under circumstances so unparalleled and so exciting.
The destructions of the Lord will be executed on an infinite scale “for the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine”; and God “will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.” How often is this text misunderstood! How many times has it been explained as meaning the value which God sets upon a man, or the value which man will one day set upon man, because of the creation of humanity in the image and likeness of God. That thought itself is right, but it has no relation whatever to this particular text. Let us read the text, then, in the light of the history. So tremendous and complete shall be the devastation that shall fall upon Babylon that it will be hardly possible anywhere to find a man, and his rarity shall indicate his preciousness. Because the men are so few the greater will be the surprise that they are in existence at all; for when God caused his scythe to swing through the harvests of Babylon it was not expected that a single ear would be left in the devastated field. Thus the utterance is a menace, a judgment; it is not part of a lecture upon the dignity of human nature, it is an illustration of the vastness of the sweep of the judgments of God. How complete is that devastation!
“And Babylon, the glory of the kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall be there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged” ( Isa 13:19-22 ).
You remember Milton’s description of what happened at the time of the flood: “And in their palaces, where luxury late reigned, sea-monsters whelped and stabled.” “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Oh, Babylon Pride where art thou when touched from above? The withering fire passes through all pomp until it burns the hidden root. All this we may say is historical and local. On the other hand, all this is moral and suggestive. This process may take place in the Babylon of the mind. The greatest mind is only safe whilst it worships. The most magnificent intellectual temple is only secure from the judgment and whirlwind of heaven in proportion as its altar is defended from the approach of every unworthy suppliant. If we hand over God’s altar, whether mental or ecclesiastical, to wrong custodians, or devote either to forbidden purposes, then make way for God’s judgments: wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and the houses that were full of beauty and colour and charm shall be full of doleful creatures; and the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces. This may happen to any one of us. Beware of arrogancy, pride, worldliness, self-sufficiency; beware of the betrayal of trusts: nature will re-enter if we be unfaithful. We speak of our wisdom in putting cautionary covenants into all our legal documents, and especially a man assures himself that he is doubly safe when he has secured the right of re-entry under certain breaches of agreement; he says to himself with complacency, That is justifiable; I have arranged that in the event of certain things failing I shall re-enter. Nature always puts that clause into her covenants. She re-enters in a moment. If the gardener is too late by one day with his spade or seed or other attention, nature begins to re-enter; and if he tarry for a week he will find that nature has made great advances into the property. It is so with education, with the keeping up of intelligence, with the maintenance of healthy discipline; relax a month, and nature re-enters, and nature plays the spoiler. Nature is not a thrifty, careful husbandman. Nature has a function of desolation; she will grow weeds in your richest flower-beds if you neglect them for a day. God re-enters by the spirit of judgment and by the visitations of anger. Herein his providence is but in harmony with the kingdom which he has instituted within the sphere which we call husbandry, and even within the sphere which we denominate by education or discipline. It is one government. Neglect your music for a month, and you will find at the end that nature has re-entered, and you are not wanted; you have not brought with you the wedding-garment of preparation up to date. There must be no intermission; the last line must be filled in. Nature will not have things done in the bulk, in the gross: nature will not allow us simply to write the name; she will weave her webwork all round the garment if we have neglected the borders, and paid attention to only the middle parts.
And how does God justify all this treatment of Babylon? We find the answer in the fourteenth chapter; he says the Babylonians were oppressors, and Babylon was an oppressor, and Babylon was the staff of the wicked. That is the explanation, and God’s explanation is always moral. God never judges men because they have been good, nor smites them because of overmuch prayer; wherever we find the record of judgment we find a record of disobedience, rebellion, haughtiness. How terrible is the fate of the wicked! He shall be mocked in his later time; they who were already on the ground shall receive him on the dust, and say:
“All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” ( Isa 14:10-14 ).
Now we see the quantity with which God had to deal, and also the justice of his judgment and the wisdom of the very cruelty which plagued an arrogancy which nothing else could touch. You do not appease a tiger by sprinkling scented water upon his open mouth. You must deal with cases as you find them, taking a complete measure of them, and understanding all the forces in them and exercised by them; and so judged it will be found that God, whilst a consuming fire, is also a God of love. The eye that looked upon the Egyptians struck off the iron wheels of their chariots: that same eye, looked at from the position occupied by Israel, made morning and warmth and comfort and security infinite. God is to us what we are to God: to the froward he will show himself froward; to the good he will show himself good. This is the abiding and the unchangeable law. If we were wise with the superior yea, the supreme wisdom we should consider that the first thing to be done is to set ourselves in a right relation to God; then all the other relations will fall into their proper place. A quaint old critic has said that if the treble string of the viol be right, he knows that the rest will be right: the bass seldom gets wrong; he looks for the treble string. Out of that we may gather some lessons of a spiritual kind. Look for the religious line in a man’s character for his veneration, his reverence, his sense of moral dignity and moral responsibility; and if his heart be right toward God he may have his little eccentricities and vanities, but all these will sink into nothingness before the power that can pray, and before the passion that can love.
Prayer
Almighty God, thou hast promised that death shall be swallowed up in victory. Thou canst not bear death. There is no death in God. The wages of sin is death: but thanks be unto God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Thy Son hath abolished death, obliterated it, wiped it out, turned it into nothingness. The broad river is narrow now; men need not pass through it, they can step over it. How near is heaven! how close at hand the invisible! how all but within hand-reach all that we call heaven! We bless thee that in this little life we have hope of immortality. Corruption is not a constant companion. We look for the Lord Jesus, who shall change our common body and make it like unto his own glorious body; then when our citizenship in heaven is completed we shall walk with the saints in light, and do all thy will without reluctance and without weariness. These great anticipations make us strong even now, so that the valley is as a mountain, and the rough place as a road smoothed by God. Such are the miracles thou dost work in our consciousness and our experience, that we have no apprehension of time and space and sense and imprisonment and limitation, but are oftentimes with thy very self in the innermost, uppermost places, where the light never fades. We bless thee for all men who have gone down into the depths valiantly, who have sung in the deep places the song of the redeemed, and who have sent us messages in whispers that the rod and the staff of God can comfort the lone traveller in the darkest valley. This is enough. We are often affrighted, we carry our anticipated death like a burden and die many deaths even whilst we live; but for all sweet messages, all comforting assurances, all inspiring words, all exceeding great and precious promises, we thank God, for they are God’s word only. Grant us strength that we may do thy will; when we have accomplished thy purpose in our life upon the earth make the last time brief, and let us see our Lord, if it please thee, even with somewhat of suddenness. We pray always at the Cross. It is the altar on which no prayer dies, but every prayer is multiplied a thousandfold because of the pleading blood, the infinite, the eloquent Sacrifice. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XXVII
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST IN ISAIAH
The relation between the New Testament Christ and prophecy is that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. To him give all the prophets witness. All the scriptures, the law, the prophets, and the psalms, testify of him. And we are fools, and slow of heart to credit adequate testimony when we distrust any part of the inspired evidence.
Of the ancient prophets Isaiah was perhaps the most notable witness of the coming Messiah. An orderly combination of his many messianic utterances amounts to more than a mere sketch, indeed, rather to a series of almost life-sized portraits. As a striking background for these successive portraits the prophet discloses the world’s need of a Saviour, and across this horrible background of gloom the prophet sketches in startling strokes of light the image of a coming Redeemer.
In Isa 2:2-4 we have the first picture of him in Isaiah, that of the effect of his work, rather than of the Messiah himself. This is the establishment of the mountain of the Lord’s house on the top of the mountains, the coming of the nations to it and the resultant millennial glory.
In Isa 4:2-6 is another gleam from the messianic age in which the person of the Messiah comes more into view in the figure of a branch of Jehovah, beautiful and glorious. In sketching the effects of his work here the prophet adds a few strokes of millennial glory as a consummation of his ministry.
In Isa 7:14 he delineates him as a little child born of a virgin, whose coming is the light of the world. He is outlined on the canvas in lowest humanity and highest divinity, “God with us.” In this incarnation he is the seed of the woman and not of the man.
The prophet sees him as a child upon whom the government shall rest and whose name is “Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6 ). This passage shows the divinity of Christ and the universal peace he is to bring to the world. In these names we have the divine wisdom, the divine power, the divine fatherhood, and the divine peace.
In Isa 11:1-9 the prophet sees the Messiah as a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, i.e., of lowly origin, but possessing the Holy Spirit without measure who equips him for his work, and his administration wrought with skill and justice, the result of which is the introduction of universal and perfect peace. Here the child is presented as a teacher. And such a teacher! On him rests the seven spirits of God. The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. He judges not according to appearances and reproves not according to rumors. With righteousness he judges the poor and reproves with equality in behalf of the meek. His words smite a guilty world like thunderbolts and his very breath slays iniquity. Righteousness and faithfulness are his girdle. He uplifts an infallible standard of morals.
In Isa 40:3-8 appears John the Baptist, whom Isaiah saw as a voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way for the coming King.
In Isa 11:2 ; Isa 42:1 ; Isa 61:1-3 the prophet saw the Messiah as a worker in the power of the Spirit, in whom he was anointed at his baptism. This was the beginning of his ministry which was wrought through the power of the Holy Spirit. At no time in his ministry did our Lord claim that he wrought except in the power of the Holy Spirit who was given to him without measure.
In Isa 35:1-10 the Messiah is described as a miracle worker. In his presence the desert blossoms as a rose and springs burst out of dry ground. The banks of the Jordan rejoice. The lame man leaps like a hart, the dumb sing and the blind behold visions. The New Testament abounds in illustrations of fulfilment. These signs Christ presented to John the Baptist as his messianic credentials (Mat 11:1-4 ).
The passage (Isa 42:1-4 ) gives us a flashlight on the character of the Messiah. In the New Testament it is expressly applied to Christ whom the prophet sees as the meek and lowly Saviour, dealing gently with the blacksliding child of his grace. In Isa 22:22 we have him presented as bearing the key of the house of David, with full power to open and shut. This refers to his authority over all things in heaven and upon earth. By this authority he gave the keys of the kingdom to Peter one for the Jews and the other for the Gentiles who used one on the day of Pentecost and the other at the house of Cornelius, declaring in each case the terms of entrance into the kingdom of God. This authority of the Messiah is referred to again in Revelation:
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying. Fear not: I am the first and the last, and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Rev 7:17
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphis write: These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and none shall shut, and shutteth and none openeth. Rev 3:7
In Isa 32:1-8 we have a great messianic passage portraying the work of Christ as a king ruling in righteousness, in whom men find a hiding place from the wind and the tempest. He is a stream in a dry place and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
In Isa 28:14-18 the Messiah is presented to w as a foundation stone in a threefold idea:
1. A tried foundation stone. This is the work of the master mason and indicates the preparation of the atone for its particular function.
2. An elect or precious foundation stone. This indicates that the stone was selected and appointed. It was not self-appointed but divinely appointed and is therefore safe.
3. A cornerstone, or sure foundation stone. Here it is a foundation of salvation, as presented in Mat 16:18 . It is Christ the Rock, and not Peter. See Paul’s foundation in 1 Corinthians:
According to the grace of God which was given unto me; as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1Co 3:10-11 .
In Isa 49:1-6 he is presented as a polished shaft, kept close in the quiver. The idea is that he is a mighty sword. In Revelation, Christ is presented to John as having a sharp, twoedged sword proceeding out of his mouth.
In Isa 50:2 ; Isa 52:9 f.; Isa 59:16-21 ; Isa 62:11 we have the idea of the salvation of Jehovah. The idea is that salvation originated with God and that man in his impotency could neither devise the plan of salvation nor aid in securing it. These passages are expressions of the pity with which God looks down on a lost world. The redemption, or salvation, here means both temporal and spiritual salvation salvation from enemies and salvation from sin.
In Isa 9:1 f. we have him presented as a great light to the people of Zebulun and Naphtali. In Isa 49:6 we have him presented as a light to the Gentiles and salvation to the end of the earth: “Yea, he saith, It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”
In Isa 8:14-15 Isaiah presents him as a stone of stumbling: “And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble thereon, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.”
The prophet’s vision of his maltreatment and rejection are found in Isa 50:4-9 ; Isa 52:13-53:12 . In this we have the vision of him giving his “back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair.” We see a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. His visage is so marred it startled all nations. He is a vicarious sacrifice. The chastisement of the peace of others is on him. The iniquity of others is put on him. It pleases the Father to bruise him until he has poured out his soul unto death as an offering for sin.
The teaching of Isaiah on the election of the Jews is his teaching concerning the “holy remnant,” a favorite expression of the prophet. See Isa 1:9 ; Isa 10:20-22 ; Isa 11:11 ; Isa 11:16 ; Isa 37:4 ; Isa 37:31-32 ; Isa 46:3 . This coincides with Paul’s teaching in Romans 9-11.
In Isa 32:15 we find Isaiah’s teaching on the pouring out of the Holy Spirit: “Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest,” and in Isa 44:3 : “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.”
In Isa 11:10 he is said to be the ensign of the nations: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, that standeth for an ensign of the peoples unto him shall the nations seek; and his resting place shall be glorious.”
Isa 19:18-25 ; Isa 54:1-3 ; Isa 60:1-22 teach the enlargement of the church. The great invitation and promise are found in Isa 55 .
The Messiah in judgments is found in Isa 63:1-6 . Here we behold an avenger. He comes up out of Edom with dyed garments from Bozra. All his raiment is stained with the blood of his enemies whom he has trampled in his vengeance as grapes are crushed in the winevat and the restoration of the Jews is set forth in Isa 11:11-12 ; Isa 60:9-15 ; Isa 66:20 . Under the prophet’s graphic pencil or glowing brush we behold the establishment and growth of his kingdom unlike all other kingdoms, a kingdom within men, a kingdom whose principles are justice, righteousness, and equity and whose graces are faith, hope, love, and joy, an undying and ever-growing kingdom. Its prevalence is like the rising waters of Noah’s flood; “And the waters prevailed and increased mightily upon the earth. And the water prevailed mightily, mightily upon the earth; and all the high mountains, that are under the whole heavens, were covered.”
So this kingdom grows under the brush of the prophetic limner until its shores are illimitable. War ceases. Gannenta rolled in the blood of battle become fuel for fire. Conflagration is quenched. Famine outlawed. Pestilence banished. None are left to molest or make afraid. Peace flows like a river. The wolf dwells with the lamb. The leopard lies down with the kid. The calf and the young lion walk forth together and a little child is leading them. The cow and the bear feed in one pasture and their young ones are bedfellows. The sucking child safely plays over the hole of the asp, and weaned children put their hands in the adder’s den. In all the holy realms none hurt nor destroy, because the earth is as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the fathomless ocean is full of water. Rapturous vision! Sublime and ineffable consummation! Was it only a dream?
In many passages the prophet turns in the gleams from the millennial age, but one of the clearest and best on the millennium, which is in line with the preceding paragraph, Isa 11:6-9 : “And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together: and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.”
The prophet’s vision of the destruction of death is given in Isa 25:8 : “He hath swallowed up death for ever; and the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of his people will he take away from all the earth: for Jehovah hath spoken it,” and in Isa 26:19 : “Thy dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead.”
The clearest outlines of the prophet’s vision of “Paradise Regained” are to be found in Isa 25:8 , and in two passages in chapter Isa 66 : Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn over her; that ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream: and ye shall suck thereof; ye shall be borne upon the side, and shall be dandled upon the knees, as one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And ye shall see it, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like the tender grass: and the hands of Jehovah shall be known toward his servants ; and he will have indignation against his enemies. Isa 66:10-14
For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make shall remain before me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Jehovah. Isa 66:22-23
QUESTIONS
1. What is the relation between the New Testament Christ and prophecy?
2. What can you say of Isaiah as a witness of the Messiah?
3. What can you say of Isaiah’s pictures of the Messiah and their background?
4. Following in the order of Christ’s manifestation, what is the first picture of him in Isaiah?
5. What is the second messianic glimpse in Isaiah?
6. What is Isaiah’s picture of the incarnation?
7. What is Isaiah’s picture of the divine child?
8. What is Isaiah’s vision of his descent, his relation to the Holy Spirit, his administration of justice, and the results of his reign?
9. What is Isaiah’s vision of the Messiah’s herald?
10. What is the prophet’s vision of his anointing?
11. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a miracle worker?
12. What is the prophet’s vision of the character of the Messiah?
13. What is the prophet’s vision of him as the key bearer?
14. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a king and a hiding place?
15. What is the prophet’s vision of the Messiah as a foundation stone?
16. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a polished shaft?
17. In what passages do we find the idea of the salvation of Jehovah, and what the significance of the idea?
18. What is Isaiah’s vision of the Messiah as a light?
19. Where does Isaiah present him as a stone of stumbling?
20. What is the prophet’s vision of his maltreatment and rejection?
21. What is the teaching of Isaiah on the election of the Jews?
22. Where do we find Isaiah’s teaching on the pouring out of the Holy Spirit?
23. Where is he said to be the ensign of the nations?
24. What passages teach the enlargement of the church?
25. Where is the great invitation and promise?
26. Where is the Messiah in judgment?
27. What passages show the restoration of the Jews?
28. What is the prophet’s vision of the Messiah’s kingdom?
29. What is the prophet’s vision of the millennium?
30. What is the prophet’s vision of the destruction of death?
31. What is the prophet’s vision of “Paradise Regained?”
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
XIV
THE BOOK OF ISAIAH PART 6
Isaiah 13-23
This section is called “The Book of Foreign Prophecies,'” because it treats of the foreign nations in their relation to Judah and Israel.
There are ten foreign nations here mentioned, as follows: Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Ethiopia, Egypt, Dumah, Arabia, and Tyre, with second prophecies against Egypt, Ethiopia, and Babylon, and one thrown in against Israel, Judah) Jerusalem, and Shebna, each. This Shebna was probably a foreigner. He was to be degraded from his high office and Eliakim was to take his place.
The radical critics assign to this section a much later date because of the distinctly predictive prophecies contained in it. There is no question that it reflects the condition of Babylon long after the time of Isaiah, and unless one believes heartily in supernatural revelations, the conclusion that it was written much later than the time of Isaiah, is unavoidable. The author accepts it as a prophecy of Isaiah and holds tenaciously to the theory of the unity of the book.
In Isaiah 13-23 the prophet gives us a series of judicial acts on various surrounding peoples, each of whom embodied some special form of worldly pride or ungodly self-will. But Asshur-Babel was conspicuous above all the rest. After fourteen centuries of comparative quiet, she was now reviving the idea of universal empire, notwithstanding the fact that Nimrod’s ruined tower stood as a perpetual warning against any such attempt. This was the divine purpose, that God might use it for his own instrument to chastise, both the various Gentile races, and especially his own people, Israel. This was the “hand that is stretched out upon all the nations” (Isa 14:26 ), to break up the fallow ground of the world’s surface, and prepare it for the good seed of the kingdom of God. Not only are these chapters (Isaiah 13-23) thus bound together inwardly, but they are also bound together outwardly by a similarity of title. We cannot detach Isaiah 13-14 from what has gone before without injury to the whole series, because
1. It is only in these chapters that we have the full antithesis to the mighty overflowing of the Assyrian deluge in Isaiah 7-8, and Isa 10 .
2.Isa 12 is a fit introduction to Isaiah 13-14, in that the deliverance of Zion, so briefly alluded to in Isa 12 , requires a further view of the enemies’ prostration, which these chapters supply. In Isa 14:2-27 we find the song of triumph analogous to Exo 15 , rather than in Isa 12 .
3.Isa 14:27 seems to be a fit termination of the section which began with Isa 7:1 .
4. There are many verbal links that connect these chapters with the preceding chapters. For example, take Isa 10:25 and Isa 13:3 ; Isa 10:27 and Isa 13:5 ; Isa 9:18 and Isa 13:13 , et multa al.
5. The complete cutting off of Ephraim foretold in Isa 7 requires a fuller revelation of the divine purpose concerning Asshur-Babylon, as its counterpoise and this is found in Isaiah 13-14.
From Isa 14:28 we infer that this prophecy was written toward the end of Ahaz’s reign. At that time spiritual darkness had won the conquest of the whole world. The “lamp of God” was now dark in his tabernacle. Hoshea, king of Israel, was the vassal of Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, and Ahaz had long ago surrendered himself to Tiglath-pileser. So the light of prophecy, with such a background, was very luminous now. Assyria was at this time at the height of her power, but Isaiah tells with distinctness that Assyria shall be broken in pieces in the Holy Land, and it is certain that Assyria received just such a blow in the defeat of Sennacherib’s army.
The prophet also saw the doom of Babylon, the city which was at this time the real center of the empire. He even mentions the instruments of the destruction, commencing with the Medes, who were not at this time an independent nation. Nothing can be more definite than Isaiah’s statements as to the absolute ruin of the “Golden City,” which prediction at the time must have seemed to violate all probability. Yet we have abundant evidence that it was all fulfilled, both regarding the nearer event of its capture by the Medes and also the ultimate desolation of its site.
The significant word with which each of these prophecies opens is the word “burden” which has here its original and ordinary meaning. This original meaning of the word seems to be supplied from 2Ki 9:25 , where it is used to mean the divine sentence on Ahab: “Jehovah laid this burden upon him.” The appropriateness of its use here is in the fact that the prophecy to which it is prefixed is usually denunciatory in character, and always so in Isaiah. It is easy to see that it here means a grievous threatening oracle. It is claimed by some that this word is used elsewhere in a good sense, as in Zec 12:1 and Mal 1:1 , but upon close examination of these passages in their connection it will be seen that they are denunciatory and that the word has its primary meaning in these instances also.
The reason that Babylon was given first consideration among the enemies of God’s people seems to be the fact that a divine revelation came to Isaiah at this early date (725 B.C.) showing that Babylon was to be the great enemy to be feared, as the ultimate destroyer of Judah and Jerusalem, the power that would carry the Jewish people into captivity. The main points of the denunciation against her are as follows:
1. The instruments of God’s destruction of Babylon are the far-away nations, which God himself will assemble for this work of destruction (Isa 13:2-5 ).
2. The vivid description of the sweeping devastation, which is all inclusive in the objects of its vengeance (Isa 13:6-16 ).
3. The Medes are named as the instruments to begin this work, and the permanent effects of the desolation to follow (Isa 13:17-22 ).
4. The reason for all this is God’s favor to Jacob who had been oppressed by these foreigners (Isa 14:1-2 ).
5. Israel’s parable of exaltation over Babylon reciting their oppressive work and God’s intervention which humbled Babylon and exalted Israel (Isa 14:3-20 ).
6. The final announcement of Babylon’s doom and the permanency of its desolation (Isa 14:21-23 ).
The prophecy against Assyria under this first burden consists of God’s oath of assurance to his people that his purpose already foretold concerning Assyria should stand. Babylon in the first part of the prophecy is presented as the most formidable enemy of God’s people, but it had not yet become so fearful then. But Assyria was their dread at this time. So Isaiah comes nearer home to meet their present need and assures them that they need not fear the Assyrian for God’s purpose concerning him should stand.
There are several things in this burden that call for special consideration:
1. In Isa 13:2-5 the prophet speaks of the mustering of the host to battle as if it were then in the process of assembling, indicating the vividness of it all to the prophet’s mind as present, though it was only a vision of the future.
2. In Isa 13:3 Jehovah speaks of his “consecrated ones,” clearly referring to the Medes and Persians. Now in what sense were they “consecrated ones”? It means that they were the instruments of his purpose, set apart for the specific work of executing his judgment. They were consecrated, or set apart, by the Lord for this work though they themselves were ungongcious of the function they performed. There are many illustrations of such use of men by the Lord recorded in the Scriptures, two notable examples of which are Cyrua and Caesar Augustus.
3. In Isa 13:10 there is a reference to the darkening of the heavenly luminaries. This is an expression of Nature’s sympathy with the Lord. When he is angry, the lights of the heavens grow dark, as at the crucifixion of our Lord, and as it will be at the end of the world. So it is often the case in the time of great judgments. There seems also to be a special fitness in the expression here in view of the importance attached to the signs of the heavenly bodies by the Chaldeans at this time.
4. The desolation described in Isa 13:20-22 is witnessed by every traveler of today who passes the site of this once glorious and proud Babylon.
5. In Isa 14:9-11 we have the glad welcome given to these Babylonians in their entrance into the lower spirit world. The inhabitants of this region are represented as rising up to greet and welcome these unfortunate Babylonians. The idea of personal identity and continued consciousness after death is here assumed by the prophet.
6. In Isa 14:12 there is a back reference to the fall of Satan who, before his fall, was called Lucifer. Here Babylon in her fall is represented as Lucifer) the bright star of the morning from heaven. Our Saviour refers to the incident of Satan’s falling also in Luk 10:18 , and we have a like picture of him in Rev 12:7-9 , all of which must be considered in the light of the analogue of Satan’s fall when he sinned and was cast out of heaven.
7. In Isa 14:25 Jehovah says he will “break the Assyrian in his land,” which refers to the destruction of Sennacherib’s host from which Assyria never recovered. In Isa 14:26 the Lord explains that Assyria was the hand that he had stretched out for chastisements upon the nations of the world as they were related to Judah and Israel.
The series of burdens from Isa 14:28-23:18 may be viewed as an unrolling of the “purpose concerning the whole earth,” just mentioned in Isa 14:26 . Though the prophet stands on his watchtower and turns his eye around to the different points of the horizon and surveys the relation in which each nation stands to the advancing judgment, his addresses to the nations must be thought of as chiefly meant for the warning and comfort of Israel, which had too often adopted the sins of those whom she was meant to sanctify.
The burden of prophecy against Philistia is a warning to Philistia, following closely upon the death of Tiglath-pileser which brought great rejoicing to Philistia, because they thought the rod that smote them was broken. The prophet here reminds them that out of the serpent’s root there would come forth the adder. In other words, there would arise from Assyria an enemy far more deadly than the one who had been cut off, and instead of being a mere serpent he would be a fiery flying serpent. The reference is, probably, to Sargon who took Ashdod, made the king of Gaza prisoner and reduced Philistia generally to subjection. At this time the poor of Israel would feed safely, but Philistia was to be reduced by famine and the remnant slain by the Assyrians who are here referred to as “a smoke out of the north.” Then God’s people will answer Philistia’s messengers that Jehovah had founded Zion and in her the afflicted would take refuge.
Some critics say that the bulk of the prophecy against Moab (Isa 15:1-16:12 ) is quoted by Isaiah from an earlier writer, and that he merely modified the wording and added a few touches here and there. To this we answer that speculations of this kind are in the highest degree uncertain and lead to no results of any importance whatever. What matters it whether Isaiah quoted or not? There is no proof that he did and it makes no difference if be did. The author will contend that Isaiah was the original author of these two chapters until the critics produce at least some proof that he quoted from an earlier author.
A brief outline of these two chapters is as follows:
1. A vivid picture of Moab’s overthrow (Isa 15 ).
2. Moab exhorted to flee to the house of David for shelter, but refuses to make the right use of his affliction (Isa 16:1-12 ).
3. A confirmation of the prophecy and its speedy fulfilment (Isa 16:13-14 ).
For the picture of Moab’s overthrow the reader may read Isa 15 . It is a vivid account of this overthrow and cannot be well improved upon.
In Isa 16:1-5 we have an exhortation to Moab to take refuge with the house of David. Perhaps there is here an implication that Moab is not safe in his relation to Israel but that there would be safety for him if he would take shelter under the wings of Judah. Anyhow, there is a promise to Moab that he might find shelter and security, if only he would comply with the conditions herein set forth. But the pride of Moab was the cause of his downfall, which was utterly complete and accompanied by great wailing (Isa 16:6-8 ).
The prophet was moved to pity and tears for Moab upon witnessing such desolation and sadness as should come to this people. No gladness, no joy, no singing, and no joyful noise was to be found in his borders (Isa 16:9-12 ). Such a prophetic sight of Jerusalem made Jeremiah the weeping prophet and moved the blessed Son of God to tears. “Your house is left unto you desolate” is the weeping wail of our Lord as he saw the sad fate of the Holy City.
The time set here by the prophet for the humiliation of Moab is exactly three years, strictly measured, as a hireling would measure the time for which he would receive his pay, the fulfilment of which cannot be determined with certainty because we do not have the exact date of the prophecy, nor do we know which one of the different invasions that would fulfil the conditions is really meant. Considering the date given in Isa 14:28 we may reasonably conclude that the date of this prophecy was in the first or second year of Hezekiah’s reign, and may have had its fulfilment by Shalmaneser, who besieged Samaria in the fourth year of the reign of Hezekiah, sending a detachment to these eastern parts of the country.
It is said that Damascus has been destroyed and rebuilt oftener than any other Eastern city. This may account for the fact that Damascus, treated so severely by Tiglath-pileser, was again in a position to attract the attention of Shalmaneser when he advanced against Samaria. In the time of Jeremiah the city had been rebuilt, but we do not hear of any more kings of Damascus.
The burden of prophecy against Damascus includes two prophecies concerning Israel and Judah and one concerning Ethiopia, and the main points of this prophecy are the ruin of Damascus (Isa 17:1-3 ) ; only a remnant left to Jacob who would look to Jehovah, because he had forgotten the God of his salvation (Isa 17:4-11 ) ; the multitude of the heathen invaders suddenly destroyed (Isa 17:12-14 ) ; Ethiopia’s interest in these movements, and her homage to Jehovah according to which she sends a present to him (Isa 18:1-7 ).
There are several things in this burden that need special attention:
1. The language referring to the overthrow of Damascus is not to be pressed too far. Damascus was besieged and temporarily destroyed, but it revived. See Jer 49:23-27 ; Eze 27:18 ; and the New Testament references. Damascus is still a city of importance.
2. In Isa 17:12-14 we have an account of the sudden destruction of the Assyrian army which was literally fulfilled in the destruction of Sennacherib’s host (2Ki 19:35-37 ).
3. There is some controversy as to what nation is referred to in Isa 18:2 ; Isa 18:7 , but it is surprising that there should be such controversy, since the evidence is overwhelming that the nation here mentioned was Ethiopia. This is a region south of Egypt and far up the Nile. The inhabitants, though black, were not ignorant and weak, but a nation of vigor and influence in the days of Isaiah. Cf. the Abyssinians.
4. The act of homage to Jehovah by Ethiopia as mentioned in Isa 18:7 is not given and therefore not easily determined and can be ascertained only with some probability. There is evidence that Ethiopia was intensely interested in the downfall of Sennacherib which is prophesied in this connection, therefore, it is probable that the present was sent to Jehovah in connection with Ethiopia’s alliance with Israel which existed at this time. It is true that the conditions in Egypt at the time Isaiah gave his prophecy against it were not favorable. The government and idolatry were most securely established and the things predicted seemed most improbable, from the human point of view.
Then what the reason for a prophecy against Egypt at such a time as this? The men of Ephraim and some in Judah were at this time bent on throwing themselves upon Egypt for protection against Assyria. This was both wrong in itself and impolitic. So Isaiah was hedging against such alliance by showing the coming humiliation of the power to which they were looking for aid.
There was an element of hope in this prophecy for the Israelites. The tender sympathy expressed for penitent Egypt in Isa 19:20-23 must have assured the Israelites that if they would return to their God, he would be entreated of them and heal them.
The prophecy against Egypt in Isa 19:1-4 is a prophecy relating to the political condition of Egypt, in which Jehovah will cause civil strife and confusion, destroying the power of their idols and the wisdom of their wise, and will place over them one who is a “cruel Lord” and a “fierce king.”
The fulfilment of this prophecy is found in the internal strife in Egypt during the days of Tirhakah and Psammetichus iii the early part of the seventh century B.C. and the conquering of Egypt by Esar-haddon, who was decidedly a “cruel prince” and treated Egypt with severity, splitting it up into a number of governments, yet this prophecy has been referred to Sargon, to Cambyses, and to Darius Ochus, and some think it is applicable to the successive rulers of Egypt, generally, viz: Chaldean, Persian, Greek, Roman, Saracen, and Turkish. But this is not probable.
The picture in Isa 19:5-10 is a picture of the distressful condition of Egypt while passing through the trying ordeal just prophesied. Then follows (Isa 19:11-15 ) a picture of the confusion of the wise men of Egypt as their wisdom is turned into folly.
There are five happy effects of this judgment on Egypt, in stages which reach a happy climax:
1. The Egyptians are stricken with fear because of Jehovah and because of the land of Judah, similar to the fear that came upon them when they were visited with the ten plagues (Isa 19:16-17 ).
2. Egypt shall learn the language of Canaan and swear unto Jehovah. The language here referred to is the Hebrew which was spoken largely in the country after the introduction of so many Jews there. The “five cities” represents, perhaps, the low and weakened condition of Egypt after the judgment is visited upon it (Isa 19:18 ).
3. The worship of Jehovah is established in Egypt (Isa 19:19-22 ). This was literally fulfilled in the building of the temple at Leontopolis by Onias IV, with special license from Ptolemy Philometor, to whom he is said to have quoted this passage from Isaiah. Here was offered sacrifice to Jehovah and the oblation, according to this prophecy. Through the Jewish law and influence the idolatry of Egypt was overthrown and they were prepared for the coming Saviour, whom they received through the evangelization of the missionaries in the early centuries of the Christian era.
4. The consequent union of Egypt and Assyria in worship (Isa 19:23 ).
5. The unity and equality of the nations in blessing. This and the preceding stage of this happy effect finds a primary fulfilment in the wide-spread influence of the Jews over Syria and the adjacent countries under the Syro-Macedonian kings, as well as over Egypt under the Ptolemies. But a larger fulfilment is to be found in the events at Pentecost, which sent devout men back from Jerusalem into Egypt and Libya on one side, and into Parthis, Media, Elam, and Mesopotamia, on the other, to tell how God, having raised up his Son Jesus (the Prince and Saviour), had sent him to bless the Jews first, and in them all nations.
The prophecy of Isa 20 is a prophecy against Egypt and Ethiopia, who were the hope of Israel in alliance, to be delivered from Assyria, which the prophet labored to prevent. It consists, (1) of the historical circumstance. This is related in Isa 20:1 which gives the date at the year in which Tartan came to Ashdod, etc. (2) Isaiah’s symbolical action and its meaning (Isa 20:2-4 ). This was a common occurrence with the prophets. Here the action symbolized the humiliating captivity of Egypt and Ethiopia which was fulfilled either by Sennacherib or by Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal. (3) The reason for this visitation upon Egypt and Ethiopia, viz: Israel looked to these powers instead of Jehovah and they could not be blessed while they were in alliance with backslidden Israel. So the Lord was taking care of Israel in his dealings with Egypt and Ethiopia.
“The burden of the wilderness of the sea” (Isa 21:1-10 ), is a prophecy against Babylon and contains a vivid description of the marshalling of forces against Babylon for her destruction, the overwhelming sympathy of the prophets, the expelling of sensual security, instructions to the Lord’s watchman, the fulfilment, and the final declaration. The forces marshalled for her destruction are the Medes and Elamites under Cyrus and the prophet leaves us not in doubt that the reference here is to Babylon. There can be no mistake that this prophecy has its fulfilment in the capture of Babylon by Cyrus. All this is because of her relation to Israel and therefore the encouragement of God’s people and the glory of the one eternal Jehovah.
“The burden of Dumah” is generally conceded to be a prophecy against Edom, because the word “Seir” occurs in it as the place from which the one is represented as calling to the prophet. The word “Dumah” means silence and is used allegorically, “of the Silent Land” of the dead (Psa 94:17 ), and refers here, perhaps, to the silent or low state of Edom at this time. In this burden someone is represented as calling to the prophet out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night?” To which the watchman replied, “There is a brighter day ahead, but it is to be followed by a period of darkness for you; if you will repent, you may do so.”
The prophecy against Arabia is a prophecy of the desolation to come upon Arabia and her borders, deranging their commerce and causing flight and privation, which would be accomplished in one year. The date of the prophecy is not very well determined but the fulfilment is found in Sargon’s expedition into Arabia during which the caravans had to leave their regular routes and “take to the woods.”
“The burden of the valley of vision” (Isa 22:1-25 ) is a prophecy against Jerusalem in which we have set forth a vivid picture of the revellings of the city (Isa 22:1-4 ) ; then a description of an outside foreign army threatening the city, causing surprise, and a hasty preparation for the siege (Isa 22:5-11 ); instead of humbling themselves, putting on sackcloth and weeping, and appealing to God’s mercy, they try to drown care in drink and sensual enjoyment (Isa 22:12-14 ) ; then follows the degrading of Shebna from his high office and the placing of Eliakim in his position (Isa 22:15-25 ). The events herein described were fulfilled either in Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem or in that of Nebuchadnezzar. There are some difficulties in fitting this prophecy to either siege and in matters where we have such limited knowledge it does not become us to be dogmatic. Some parts fit one better, and other parts fit the other better, but all things considered, the author is inclined to believe that this prophecy refers to the Assyrian invasion.
There are three distinct paragraphs given to the burden of Tyre (Isa 22:13 ): (1) The greatness of Tyre as a city of commerce and the wail of distress for the fate of the city; (2) Jehovah’s purpose to cause this destruction and stain the pride of all her glory; (3) Babylon, an example of what will come to Tyre and the promise of Tyre’s returned prosperity after seventy years. After this period Tyre will revive and be of service to Jehovah’s people. The first part of the prophecy fits into the history which shows the many reverses of this city and may refer to the Babylonian siege specifically. The last part of the prophecy may have its fulfilment in the orders of Cyrus to the Tyrians to rebuild the Temple, and the Tyrian ships were of incalculable aid in disseminating Judaism before Christ and Christianity since Christ.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the section (Isaiah 13-23) called and what the appropriateness of the title?
2. What the foreign nations mentioned in this book of prophecies and what additional prophecies thrown in?
3. What the position of the radical critics relative to this section?
4. What the connection between the parts of this section?
5. What the special connection between Isaiah 13-14 and the preceding section?
6. What the date of the prophecy in Isaiah 13-14, what the conditions both in Israel and Judah, and also in the other nations, at this time, and what the sure light of prophecy in this dark hour?
7. What the significant word with which each of these prophecies opens, what its meaning, and what its appropriateness in this connection?
8. Why was Babylon given by the prophet first consideration among the enemies of God’s peoples and what the main points in this denunciation against her?
9. What the prophecy against Assyria under this first burden and why put in here?
10. What the special things to be noted in this burden?
11. How may the series of burdens from Isa 14:28 and Isa 23:18 be viewed and what the object of the warnings?
12. What the burden of prophecy against Philistia and how is the destructive work upon the country here described?
13. What say the critics of this prophecy against Moab (Isa 15:1-16:12 ) and what the reply?
14. Give a brief outline of these two chapters.
15. Give the picture of Moab’s overthrow?
16. What the exhortation and promise to Moab in. Isa 16:1-5 ?
17. What the cause of the downfall that was to follow?
18. How did this sight of the future destruction of Moab affect the prophet and what examples of other such sympathy in the Bible?
19. What the time fixed for the humiliation of Moab and when its fulfilment?
20. What is a remarkable characteristic of Damascus, and for what does it account?
21. What does this burden against Damascus include and what the main points in it?
22. What are the things in this burden that need special attention?
23. What the conditions in Egypt at the time Isaiah gave his prophecy against it?
24. What is the reason for a prophecy against Egypt at such a time as this?
25. What element of hope in this prophecy for the Israelites?
26. What the prophecy against Egypt in Isa 19:1-4 and when was it fulfilled?
27. What the picture in Isa 19:5-10 ?
28. What is set forth in Isa 19:11-15 ?
29. What the important and happy effects of this judgment on Egypt?
30. What the prophecy of Isa 20 and what its contents?
31. What “The burden of the wilderness of the sea” (Isa 21:1-10 ), and what its striking points?
32. What is “The burden of Dumah” and what its interpretation?
33. What the prophecy against Arabia and when the fulfilment?
34. What “The burden of the valley of vision” (Isa 22:1-25 ), and what the salient points in the prophecy?
35. What the outline of the burden of Tyre and what the salient points of the interpretation?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Isa 13:1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
Ver. 1. The burden. ] That is, the burdenous prophecy. It should not have seemed a burden, Jer 23:36 but it is a grievous burden to graceless persons to be told of their sins, and foretold of their punishments. See Trapp on “ Nah 1:1 “ See Trapp on “ Mal 1:1 “
Of Babylon.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isaiah Chapter 13
Here begins a quite distinct section of our prophet, which is not occupied so much as before with Israel, though, of course, we find Israel therein. Still Israel cannot be said to be the immediate object of the new series, but rather the nations and their judgement, running down from circumstances that were then comparatively imminent to the very “completion of the age.” It is as general in its character throughout, as the first section is occupied with Israel. Yet naturally we therein heard of the nations in relation to Israel, either as subjected willingly to Zion, as they will be in “that day,” or as instruments of providential chastening to the guilty people in this day, even though they may have enticed them from their true allegiance by their idols or any of their other iniquities. But in the second series, from chapters 13 to 27, we shall see how the scope is enlarged in presenting the “Burdens” of the nations (as the various prophecies are here first called), until we open out into the whole world coming under judgement in order to blessing quite as wide, though Israel’s part is shown us in corresponding largeness at the close. And here too, as in the first, we have at the close songs in unison with the grand result.
As to the expression, “completion (end) of the age,” which occurs so often in the Gospel of Matthew, its application is to that condition of things during which Israel are found under the law and without their Messiah. The new age, on the contrary, will be characterized by their being under the new covenant. Their Messiah will then reign over them in glory. The Old Testament gives us, not only these ages, but the times before them, as the New Testament unveils the eternity that is to follow them. Practically the New, like the Old, speaks of these two ages as connected with Israel: the age that was going on when Christ came and was rejected, and that which is to come when He returns in glory. “In this age” there is a mixture of good and evil, to be closed by an awful conflict in which the Beast and the false prophet will fall. The age to come will see Satan bound and the Lord Jesus governing the earth in displayed power and glory. “End of the world” is an unequivocal mistranslation, which has led astray not only the mass of men but their leaders, particularly in their false expectation of earthly progress and victory for the church, and along with this their unbelief of Israel’s restoration to favour and glory under the promised reign of the Messiah, and the universal blessing of the earth and the nation.
Thus the difference of the ages is of incalculable importance. If you do not distinguish the present age from that to come, all must be confused, not for truth only, but for practice also. For now it is a question of grace and faith, evil being allowed outwardly to triumph, as we see in the cross. In the age to come the evil will be externally judged and kept down, and the good will be exalted over all the earth, and fill the whole world with the knowledge of Jehovah and His glory. The completion of the age, therefore, is evidently future; and so scripture speaks. Thus for us it is “this present evil age,” from which Christ’s death has delivered us (Gal 1:4 ); the new age will be good, not evil, as surely as it is a future time. Again, if we think not of the church, but of Israel, it is to be supposed that the age began with their being under the law in the absence of the Messiah. The new age will be when Israel have their Messiah not only come, but come again and reigning; for the presence of the Messiah in humiliation did not interrupt the age; and still less did their rejection of Him bring in the new age.
Only let us not forget, there is now another mighty work of God in process, based on the heavenly glory of Christ and the personal presence of the Holy Ghost, and marked here below by the church of God. During this period mercy is flowing out to the Gentiles; so that we may call it the Gentile parenthesis of mercy. Before, and quite distinct from this, were the Gentile times when God in His providence gave certain nations to take the government of the world, beginning with Nebuchadnezzar, the golden head of the great image. This we may call the Gentile parenthesis of judgement. They are both of them within the limits of “this age,” and are going on still. The new age will be brought in by the Lord’s coming in the clouds of heaven.
This at once introduces a very important change, namely, that repentant Israel will be delivered, and the nations come up for the judgement of the quick when the Son of man shall have entered on His kingdom. (Compare Matt. 25: 31-48; Rev. 11.-20) The first part of Isaiah we saw to be the judgement of Israel, and then their final blessing. It is always a principle in the dealings of God, that when He judges, He begins at His own house. Hence Peter says, “The time is come that judgement must begin with the house of God”; and then he enquires if “the righteous scarcely [or with difficulty] are saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” But God has undertaken to save the righteous, although it be with difficulty and in face of an amazing mass of contradiction and trial, as well as of their own utter weakness. All these things make it hard indeed; but what is insuperable to us is an opening for the glory of God and He has got over the greatest difficulty, for this lay in our sins. Is sin – even all sin – any longer a difficulty for Christ? Has He not, for the believer, blotted out sins, and made peace by the blood of His cross? But if there remains no difficulty to God, there are many for us; and the word, “the righteous scarcely are saved,” is in relation to our dangers by the way. Now if this be so, what will be the end of the ungodly? The apostle Peter applies it to the Christian, and looks at the world as coming under judgement when the Lord shall appear. In the Old Testament it is not the church but Israel we find to be concerned; but God, in such a dealing, invariably begins with that which has the nearest responsibility to Him. Accordingly all the first twelve chapters of Isaiah have been occupied with Israel as the foreground of the picture, whatever incidental notice there may be of others.
But from this portion onward through a dozen chapters more we have the Gentiles prominent, though Jerusalem too is judged in their midst, ending with the dissolution of the earth and with the higher ones punished on high. He had shown us the judgement of His own house; now He deals with the nations and all else in relationship with His people, one after another: both close, like all others, with triumph.
First of all Babylon comes up: “The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see” (v. 1). Babylon was the great Gentile power first allowed to take possession of Jerusalem. But God shows that, while He may use the strangers to chastise His people, He will turn round ere long and deal with their oppressive cruelty, because their mind was to destroy, while God employed them only to chasten. And inasmuch as there was pride of power without conscience toward God, yea also the main source of idolatry, so Babylon cannot escape, being the first among the Gentiles summoned to judgement. Thus the section we now enter upon is not the divine scrutiny of His house in Israel, but the judgement of the world and of the nations, and hence right early of Babylon. Observe, however, that, if the Spirit of God takes notice of what was ere long to befall the Jews (expressly noticing the ruin of their land and people that was imminent, when they should be taken captive to Babylon), for all that He never confines Himself to any blows, however grave, that were then struck. Human limits do not apply to scripture, which goes on from His first acts to the ultimate end.
This indeed is just a characteristic difference between what is of God and what is of man. If man speaks, there are necessary bounds to the application of his words. In what God says there is invariably a germinant sense deepening farther on, evidence of what God has in view to show what He is and to glorify Christ. This appears to be the true meaning of the scriptural canon in 2Pe 1:20 : “No prophecy is of any private (i.e. its own) interpretation.” Apply it but to some isolated event, and you overlook the purpose of God; while prophecy may doubtless include such an event, it as a whole looks onward to the counsels of God in reference to the glory of His Son. Hence the holy prophets needed inspiration in the strictest sense; for whose eye could look onward unerringly and speak of the future according to God? Such therefore is the aim of the Spirit’s testimony. Indeed this is true of all scripture, for Christ is the object of God in giving scripture first and last. He is not merely thinking of man, or of his salvation, blessed as it is, nor of Israel His people, nor of the church, Christ’s body, but of His Son. This in effect, as in purpose, is the vindication, security, and display of His own glory; while it gives scope to the fullest love and the holiest judgement, it will illustrate His rich grace in the heavens and His righteous and merciful government on the earth. Compare Eph 1 ; Phi 2 ; Heb 2 ; Rev. 20.-22.
God thinks of Christ, Who is more precious to Himself than all besides. It is in virtue of Christ that there can be a holy purpose of good brought to issue in such a world as this has been. For it is not possible that the creature itself could have any intrinsic value in the sight of God. That which merely flows out of the sovereign will and almighty hand of God can cease to be. He that made can destroy; but when you come to Christ, you have that which, we may reverently say, nothing can annul; yea all the efforts of man or Satan to oppose and dishonour Him have been only turned, in the mighty and gracious wisdom of God, into a display of all-surpassing glory.
Hence we arrive at the great truth for our every-day walk, no less than for eternity and God Himself. We have to do with One now, Whose love nothing can exhaust, Whose ways too are all perfect; we have to do with Him day by day, to wait on Him, to expect from Him, to trust Him, and to be sure of His admirable care for us. Christ is worthy that our hearts should confide in Him, and He cannot be confided in without the blessing that ever flows out. Thus God proves Himself greater than all that can be against us. Apart from Christ there is nothing even that He Himself made but what, connected with man on earth, soon had a cloud over it. Nay, it is wider still: look where you may, above or below; look at any creature height or beauty apart from Christ, and what is the security?
What is Satan now, and his angels? Where are those that left their first estate, and broke through all bounds of nature? Is not the earth, once so fair, a wilderness? Is not man a moral wreck, and mortality working in him? Israel were brought out into the wilderness to keep a feast to Jehovah; but they made and worshipped a golden calf to His deep shame and their own. And what was Egypt’s wisdom? What is the world’s of old or now? In the church of God, called to the unity of the Spirit and the reflection of Christ’s heavenly glory here below, what breaches, divisions, schisms, sects, heterodoxies, confusions, and every evil work! What guilty ignorance of the Father, what bold denial of the Son, what flagrant sin against the Holy Ghost! How many antichrists, the sign and forerunner of the last antichrist! For all this goes on at an aggravated and accelerating ratio, as the apostasy draws near and the manifestation of the man of sin; the lawless one, to succeed the mystery of lawlessness, whom the Lord Jesus shall destroy with the breath of His mouth and shall annul by the appearing of His coming (2Th 2 ).
By the lamp of prophecy we look as it were on the closing history of Christendom, the eve and execution of the judgement that slumbers not. But, thank God, we await first of all our Saviour from heaven – a blessed hope, which may be forgotten by worldliness and unbelief but will never fade, because it is not founded on anything short of the grace and word of the Lord Jesus. He is coming; and as surely as He does, we have the turning-point of all blessing reached for our bodies and all things, even as now by faith for our souls. What a discovery it has been to some of us, that prophecy has the selfsame centre as the rest of scripture, and that its centre in Christ is so much the more conspicuous as it cannot content itself with past accomplishment, but ever looks onward to the grand fulfilment in the future! No matter what it may be, all acquires importance because God is thinking of His beloved Son. And His Son is to inflict the last strokes of judgement: God will deal with man, first by providential means, then in the person of Christ at His return in glory. “Lift up a banner upon a bare mountain, raise the voice to them, wave the hand that they may enter the gates of the nobles. I have commanded my separated ones, yea, I have called my mighty ones for mine anger, even those that exult in my majesty. The noise of a multitude on the mountains, as of a great people! a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations assembled together! Jehovah of hosts mustering the host of the battle! They come from a far country, from the end of the heavens – Jehovah and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole earth” (vv. 2-5).
From the chapter now before us we may gather these two things plainly enough – a preparatory application to the times of the prophet or near them, but the only adequate fulfilment reserved for the great day which is still future. This divine perspective simply and unequivocally meets the difficulty some find in the view of the city, not only taken and ravaged by the Medes, but such as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, the abode of doleful creatures, which was not for centuries after Cyrus conquered. And so it is that Isa 14 regards its downfall even to the day when Jehovah will yet choose Israel and set them in their own land: a consummation far beyond the return of the remnant of Judah, and only “in that day” fulfilled when Israel shall take them captive whose captives they were, and rule over their oppressors, which in no real sense has been accomplished. Those who explain it away are no friends of God or man. Those who presume to deny its future fulfilment set up to prophesy against scripture; and we need not hesitate to say that they are not prophets but do lie.
For instance, in verses 6-10 one can see there are greater signs than have ever been verified. “Howl ye; for the day of Jehovah [is] at hand; as destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Therefore shall all hands be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt, and they shall be dismayed: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall writhe as a woman in travail; they shall be amazed one at another; their faces [shall be] faces of flames. Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun is darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine.” These things cannot fairly be said to have literally taken place; yet the Spirit of God does not hesitate to connect them with Babylon’s fall. To talk of hyperbole or exaggeration is to show unbelieving ignorance of scripture and of the power of God. One understands an infidel talking such language as this; but the moment men begin to allow that the Spirit of God willingly sets Himself to exaggerate, the authority of the whole written word is shaken. If He magnifies a temporal judgement beyond the facts, how can we be assured that He does not exaggerate grace and eternal redemption? And where is the ground in this case for solid peace with God? Is it, or is it not, a fixed principle, that the Holy Ghost always speaks the truth? Still, along with this, we must take care that we understand its application.
“And I will punish the world for evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make weak man more rare than fine gold, a man than the pure gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall be shaken out of her place, at the wrath of Jehovah of hosts, and in the day of his hot anger” (vv. 11-13). To restrain this scene to the past judgement of Babylon is to limit the word of God, and make the Spirit seem to be unreliable. But this is merely our own evil misconception and irreverent error. How momentous, then, it is that we should be in malice children, in understanding men! We may well shrink with horror from a pathway that leads to an end so dishonouring to the word of God. On the other hand, that the Holy Ghost did really speak inclusively of a past accomplishment we hold to be just as certain as that He was looking onward to far more than that.
In verses 14-17 the terms imply that it is a temporal judgment that is spoken of, a description of the lawless way in which man wreaks his wrath upon his fellow. “And it shall come to pass, that as a chased roe, and as sheep that no one gathereth, they shall turn every one to his own people, and shall flee every one to his own land. Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is taken shall fall by the sword. Their infants also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their women ravished. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not regard silver, and [as for; gold, they will not delight in it.” Verses 18, 19 present a total destruction. “And [their] bows shall dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb, their eye shall not spare children. And Babylon the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, shall be as God’s overthrowing Sodom and Gomorrah.”
Babylon has indeed been judged in its beauty and pride. An almost unprecedented disaster and destruction fell on that golden city; and this, we know, was under God effected by the junction of the Medes and Persians with Cyrus for their leader. Only the closing verses point to the utter ruin that followed centuries after, and is to last for ever. “It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in to generation and generation; neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there, nor shall shepherds make [their flocks] to lie down there. But beasts of the desert there shall lie down; and their houses shall be full of owls (or howls); and ostriches shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And wolves shall cry in their palaces, and jackals in the pleasant castles. And her time [is] near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged” (vv. 21-22).
But plainly Jehovah here uses the strongest language to show that it goes on to His day. In reading the New Testament as well as the Old, it is of the utmost moment to understand “the day of the Lord” in its real character and import. It is not the same thing as the Lord’s “coming” to receive us. When He comes, the dead saints are raised and the living ones are changed, which is not “the day of the Lord,” nor ever so called in scripture . There is one chapter (2Pe 3 ) where there might seem to be some difficulty, but there it flows really from this very confusion, for when you distinguish the two phrases and thoughts here as elsewhere, all is plain. What the scoffers of the last day say is, “Where is the promise of His coming?” etc. What the Spirit of God replies is, that the day of the Lord shall come, and come like a thief in the night to judge wickedness upon the earth. They make light of the Christians who are looking for this bright hope, their Master’s coming; but the Holy Ghost threatens them with the terrible day of the Lord. The Lord is never represented as coming like a thief by night, except when judgement is distinctly spoken of, as to Sardis (Rev 3:3 ). In 1Th 5:24 the Spirit brings in the comparison of the thief when He speaks of the day of the Lord coming upon the world, not in relation to the saints who wait for Christ and are not in darkness that the day should overtake them as a thief. (Compare vv. 3-8)
The plain truth is that the expression “coming of the Lord” may apply to His presence before He is manifested to every eye; while “the day of Jehovah” pertains to that part and aspect of His action which inflicts just vengeance upon the world, and after that presents Him judging in righteousness. Here it is the day of Jehovah; and, therefore, of darkness and destruction to sinners. There is not a word about the righteous dead being raised, still less of the living changed; all that which is proper to the New Testament you find therein, and therein only. In the Old Testament you have the dealing of Jehovah with Israel, judging their wrong but finally blessing them, and patient long-suffering with the Gentiles, where He took notice of them at all, till the day of visitation come in punishment of all ungodliness.
This accounts for the language of Isa 13 . The Spirit of God has in His view Jehovah’s judgement of the whole world; and, therefore, it is called “the day of Jehovah.” It will be the termination of all the space allowed to man’s will and self-exaltation. It will be the manifestation of God’s moral ways when all that is high shall be abased, and Jehovah and the lowly whom He loves shall be exalted for ever. But while the Spirit of God goes onward to that day, there was enough to mark Babylon devoted to destruction by a predicted and extraordinary intervention of God near at hand. The truth of the prophecy was thus witnessed by a special accomplishment in those days. Babylon was doomed to become as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. Its desolation at last was as clearly announced in vers. 19-22, as its sudden and unexpected fall in vers. 2-8. If physically it was not so manifestly a divine judgement as that which of old fell on the cities of the plain, it was morally a stupendous event which changed the whole course of the world’s history. The conquest of Persia was in no way a type of the final judgement of the world, neither was the fall of Greece of any striking significance in this respect. The final judgement of Rome, of the fourth world-power, will be even more impressive of course; but this is yet future. It has been, as it were, shaken to pieces, and passed into a long transition state of separated kingdoms. The day is coming when Rome will rise again into splendour and commanding political power, when it will become the centre of a revived and godless empire. But it will then rise to meet its final doom from the mouth of the Lord (Rev 17:11-14 ; Rev 19:11-21 ). The past ruin of Babylon is a type of the future destruction of Rome. When Babylon fell, the children of Israel were delivered, there was nothing of the sort when Persia yielded to Greece, or Greece to Rome; there will be a yet mightier result at the end of the age before and when the Son of man comes in power and glory.
Thus the fall of the first great power of the Gentiles is a type of the doom of the last, when Israel will have been finally set free, a converted people, being delivered spiritually as much as nationally, and thenceforward made to express the glory of Jehovah upon the earth.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 13:1-16
1The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
2Lift up a standard on the bare hill,
Raise your voice to them,
Wave the hand that they may enter the doors of the nobles.
3I have commanded My consecrated ones,
I have even called My mighty warriors,
My proudly exulting ones,
To execute My anger.
4A 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.
5They are coming from a far country,
From the farthest horizons,
The LORD and His instruments of indignation,
To destroy the whole land.
6Wail, for the day of the LORD is near!
It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
7Therefore all hands will fall limp,
And every man’s heart will melt.
8They 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.
9Behold, 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.
10For 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.
11Thus 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.
12I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold
And mankind than the gold of Ophir.
13Therefore 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.
14And 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.
15Anyone who is found will be thrust through,
And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
16Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces
Before their eyes;
Their houses will be plundered
And their wives ravished.
Isa 13:1
NASB, NRSV,
REBoracle
NKJVburden
TEVa message
NJBproclamation
LXXa vision
PESHITTAthe prophecy
This term (BDB 672, KB 639) can mean burden or load. It (BDB 672 III) is used eleven times in this section (Isaiah 13-23) of Isaiah to describe oracles of future doom on the nations surrounding Israel. The term may simply denote
1. a voice lifted to proclaim a message
2. a message carried by someone to a recipient
3. a heaviness associated with a judgment oracle.
Babylon This was an empire of the Fertile Crescent that affected the people of God. This first major world power of the Fertile Crescent to affect Israel was Assyria, then Neo-Babylon, then Medo-Persia. Babylon is used in the Bible as a symbol of oppression and cruelty (cf. 1Pe 5:13; Rev 14:8; Rev 16:19; Rev 17:5). The downfall of Babylon is revealed in Isa 13:1 to Isa 14:23 (old Babylon) and Isa 21:1-10 (new Babylon). See note in Contextual Insights, C, second paragraph.
which Isaiah son of Amoz saw The immediate contemporary enemy of Israel and Judah in Isaiah’s day was Assyria. But as a prophet of God he was shown (saw, BDB 302, KB 301, Qal PERFECT, cf. Isa 1:1; Isa 2:1; Isa 13:1; Amo 1:1; Mic 1:1; Hab 1:1) the future demise of old Babylon, Assyria, Neo-Babylon, and the rise of Cyrus the Great (cf. Isa 13:17; Isa 44:28 to Isa 45:1). Those who deny predictive prophecy exhibit a bias that affects all their interpretations! See Contextual Insights, C, second paragraph.
Predictive prophecy is the main evidence of a unique supernaturally-inspired Bible. See sermons The Trustworthiness of the Old Testament and The Trustworthiness of the New Testament online at www.freebiblecommentary.org in the Video Sermons section under Lakeside Baptist church.
Isa 13:2 This describes the gathering of a mighty army (cf. Isa 13:9). From Isa 13:17 we learn that it is the army of (1) Assyria or (2) Medo-Persia under Cyrus II gathered by God to defeat either old or new Babylon (cf. Isa 44:28; Isa 45:1).
Lift up a standard on a bare hill This describes how ancient armies communicated.
1. banners, flags in easily visible places, cf. Isa 5:26; Isa 31:9; Jer 51:12
2. shouts (whistle, cf. Isa 5:26)
3. hand movements, cf. Isa 10:32; Isa 19:16
There is a series of IMPERATIVES denoting YHWH’s will.
1. lift up, BDB 669, KB 724, Qal IMPERATIVE
2. raise, BDB 926, KB 1202, Hiphil IMPERATIVE
3. wave, BDB 631, KB 682, Hiphil IMPERATIVE, cf. Isa 10:32; Isa 11:15; Isa 19:16
4. enter, BDB 97, KB 112, Qal IMPERFECT, but used in a JUSSIVE sense (NEB changes vowels and has draw your swords, you nobles)
Isa 13:3 I have commanded my consecrated ones God is in control of history! These Median warriors are not consecrated in a moral or religious sense. For the most part they are unknowing servants of God set apart (consecrated ones, BDB 872, KB 1073, Pual PARTICIPLE) to do His bidding. This same concept can be seen in Cyrus being called My anointed in Isa 44:28; my anointed in Isa 45:1.
The Jewish Study Bible footnotes from JPSOA sees My consecrated ones (i.e., My purified one) as a reference to a sacrificial meal where the guests are told to prepare themselves (p. 809).
Another option is to see this poem as expressing Holy War terminology and if so, then these could refer to angels (cf. Jos 5:13-15).
Isa 13:4 This describes the sounds of battle and victory!
Isa 13:5 YHWH is bringing large mercenary armies from the Fertile Crescent to punish His people in Canaan (cf. Isa 5:26; Isa 7:18).
NASBfarthest horizons
NKJV,
PESHITTAthe end of heaven
NRSVthe end of the heavens
TEVthe ends of the earth
NJBfrom the far horizons
LXXfrom the utmost foundation of heaven
The NRSV is the most literal. It denotes the place where the sun rises, therefore, to the east, the very direction of the homelands of the Mesopotamian powers.
Isa 13:6 Wail This term (BDB 410, KB 413, Hiphil IMPERATIVE) refers to howling, wailing. Orientals are much more expressive of emotions in grieving than westerners. This term is used often in Isaiah (cf. Isa 13:6; Isa 14:31; Isa 15:2-3; Isa 16:7 [twice]; Isa 23:1; Isa 23:6; Isa 23:14; Isa 52:5; Isa 65:14) and also in Jeremiah (cf. Jer 4:8; Jer 25:34; Jer 47:2; Jer 48:20; Jer 48:31; Jer 48:39; Jer 49:3; Jer 51:8).
for the day of the LORD is near The creator God is a moral, ethical God. He approaches His creation and creatures in light of His character. Sometimes He approaches from affirmation and blessing, but other times (as here) He approaches from judgment (cf. Deuteronomy 27-29). All moral creatures must give an account both temporally and eschatologically (cf. Mat 25:31-46; Rev 20:11-15) to the One who gave them life!
the Almighty This is the Hebrew title Shaddai. This was the patriarchal name for YHWH (cf. Exo 6:3). See Special Topic: NAMES FOR DEITY at Isa 1:1. There is a sound play (BDB 994) between destruction (, BDB 994) and the Almighty (, BDB 994). Note the connection with Joe 1:15.
Isa 13:7-8 The approach of YHWH will cause certain fearful responses.
1. wail, Isa 13:6
2. all hands will fall limp, Isa 13:7, cf. Eze 7:17; Eze 21:7
3. every man’s heart will melt, Isa 13:7, cf. Isa 19:1; Nah 2:10
4. they will be terrified, Isa 13:8
5. pain and anguish will take hold of them, Isa 13:8
6. writhe like a woman in labor, Isa 13:8, cf. Isa 21:3; Isa 26:17; Isa 66:7
7. look at one another in astonishment, Isa 13:8
8. their faces aflame, Isa 13:8
Isa 13:9 This verse describes the day of the Lord as it relates to sinners (cf. Isa 13:10).
A wasted and unpopulated land is exactly opposite to God’s will for His creation (cf. Genesis 1-2).
Isa 13:10 The approach of YHWH to His physical creation causes reactions in nature. These reactions are often referred to as apocalyptic, but in reality they are metaphorical in the OT prophets and only turn to apocalyptic in the inter-biblical period and NT.
1. stars and constellations cease to shine (the ancients thought these were life-controlling deities), Isa 13:10
2. sun and moon grow dark, Isa 13:10
3. the heavens tremble, Isa 13:13
4. the earth will be shaken from its place, Isa 13:13
The heavens, the abode of God, become dark and fearful (cf. Eze 32:7; Joe 2:10; Joe 2:31; Joe 3:15; Mat 24:29; Rev 6:12-13). But there is a new light coming (cf. Isa 2:5; Isa 9:2; Isa 60:1-3; Isa 60:19-20).
Isa 13:11 the world This (BDB 385) is a poetic synonym for (i.e., land, earth, see Special Topic: Land, Country, Earth , cf. Isa 14:21; Isa 24:4; Isa 34:1). It is obviously a hyperbole (or maybe not, cf. Isa 24:4; Isa 34:1), but it does express the theological concept of YHWH the creator and controller of this planet!
Notice how humans are characterized.
1. evil
2. wicked for their iniquity
3. arrogance of the proud
4. haughtiness of the ruthless
These same attributes describe the covenant people in Isa 2:9; Isa 2:11; Isa 2:17; Isa 5:15! The deadly tentacles (i.e., self, sin) of the Fall are everywhere (also note Gen 6:5; Gen 6:11; Gen 8:21)!
Isa 13:12 Ophir This refers geographically to southern Arabia. The allusion here is that living human beings will be very scarce on the day of judgment.
Isa 13:14-16 This is a vivid description of the horrors of invasion.
1. hunted like gazelles
2. sheep with no shepherd
3. flee to family and homeland
4. inhabitants thrust through
5. inhabitants fall by the sword
6. little ones dashed to pieces in sight of their parents, cf. Isa 13:18; 2Ki 8:12; 2Ki 15:16; Hos 13:16; Nah 3:10
7. houses plundered
8. wives ravished (NASB), cf. Deu 28:30
Judgment by invasion was a terrible experience. These warlike nations gave this treatment and received this treatment (cf. Psa 137:8-9)! The worst of these violent armies was Assyria.
Isa 13:16 This footnote of the MT suggests that the VERB ravish (BDB 993, KB 1415, Niphal IMPERFECT, cf. Deu 28:30; Jer 3:2; Zec 14:2) be read (Qere) as be lain with (BDB 1011, KB 1486, Niphal IMPERFECT, cf. LXX; Lev 15:20; Deu 22:27; Mic 7:5).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
burden = a prophetic oracle or warning. This begins the fourth great division of the book. Reference to Pentateuch (Num 24:3), App-92.
Babylon. This takes precedence, and stands for Chaldsea generally. It reached its height about 100 years later, under Nahopolassar and his son Nebuchadnezzar. A generation later it was captured by Cyrus and Darius the Mede (see App-57). Babylon was of little importance at this time.
Isaiah. His name given in Isa 1:1; Isa 2:1; Isa 7:3; Isa 13:1; Isa 20:2, Isa 20:3; Isa 37:2, Isa 37:5, Isa 37:6, Isa 37:21; Isa 39:3, Isa 39:5, Isa 39:8.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 13
Now as we move into chapter 13 and he speaks of the burden of Babylon which Isaiah saw, you remember that we mentioned when we started the prophecy of Isaiah that in many of the prophecies, there was what we called the near fulfillment and the far fulfillment. The prophecies were sort of like a two-edged sword in that they had an immediate connotation, but oftentimes there was also a future connotation. So in the seventh chapter when he said, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, shall call his name Immanuel” ( Isa 7:14 ), and that had an immediate kind of a connotation, not of the virgin bearing a son, but a child born at that time before he is old enough to really know much the kings would be destroyed from Samaria and from Syria. But the far was a prophecy of Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary as was interpreted by Matthew in his gospel. So the near and the far of the prophetic fulfillment.
With Babylon in the book of Revelation chapter 17 and 18, we have details of the destruction of the ecclesiastical Babylon in chapter 17 and the commercial Babylon in chapter 18. Now this particular cry against Babylon is the same as Rev 17:1-18; Rev 18:1-24. It is talking about the ecclesiastical commercial Babylon of the last days. So this prophecy is carrying us out to these end times.
Lift up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: for the LORD of hosts is mustering the host of the battle ( Isa 13:2-4 ).
The kingdoms of nations. This, of course, Jesus said, “Kingdoms against kingdoms, nations shall rise against nations, kingdoms against kingdoms” ( Mat 24:7 ). This would be one of the signs of His second coming, the worldwide state of wars. And so the gathering of God of these nations, the kingdoms of nations. This great gathering which is spoken of in Psa 2:1-12 , “Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?” ( Psa 2:1 ) For they have gathered together, the kings of the earth have gathered together against Jehovah and against His anointed or His Messiah saying, “We will not let them to rule over us,” but God who dwells in the midst of heaven shall laugh, seeing that He has them in derision. And yet He will establish His kingdom upon the holy hill of Zion. So the whole Psa 2:1-12 comes in to this picture here as we see now the kingdoms of nations gathered together in this last portion of the Great Tribulation period. And we’re dealing now with that final period of Great Tribulation prior to the return of Jesus Christ. As the nations have gathered together really in a sense to try to hinder the establishing of the Lord’s kingdom.
They come from far countries, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty ( Isa 13:5-6 ).
The day of God’s vengeance and wrath, the day of God’s judgment that is to be poured out in the Great Tribulation.
Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: and they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travails: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened ( Isa 13:7-10 )
We are told this in Mat 24:1-51 . Definitely we’re in the Great Tribulation period.
the sun will be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine ( Isa 13:10 ).
Now upon whom is this coming? God’s people, the church? Those servants that have been faithful unto Him? God forbid! We’ve not been appointed unto wrath, Paul tells us in both Romans and in Thessalonians, in case you didn’t get it the first time. But God says,
And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity ( Isa 13:11 );
It is a punishment against the evil world and against the iniquity of the world. But “God has not appointed us unto wrath” ( 1Th 5:9 ). Our iniquity has been forgiven through Jesus Christ. He bore God’s wrath for my sin. And therefore, I will not have to face God’s wrath when it is poured out upon the world. It is to be poured out upon a Christ-rejecting world. But I haven’t rejected Christ. And that is why when Jesus talks about these very things, in Luk 21:1-38 , He says in talking of these things, “Pray ye always, that you’ll be accounted worthy to escape all of these things, and to be standing before the Son of man” ( Luk 21:36 ). So when these things begin to take place, don’t look for me down here; I’ll be up around the throne of God saying, “Worthy is the Lamb to receive glory and honor and might and dominion and power.”
and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold ( Isa 13:11-12 );
There will be a tremendous slaughter.
even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore [God said] I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place ( Isa 13:12-13 ),
Now this is interesting because more than one place God has made reference to the earth being shaken out of its place. In fact, God speaks about the “earth staggering to and fro like a drunken man” ( Isa 24:20 ). We’ll get that as we move on in Isaiah. Isaiah tells us that. And will be moved out of her place. It would seem that the earth has gone through changes in its past.
It would appear that at one time the earth’s orbit was a 360-day orbit, rather than the 365 and a quarter. It would seem that at one time the earth was not tilted at twenty-three and a third degrees on its axis. Because we know that at one time, there were tropical jungles around the North Pole. There were forests in the South Pole area. So the earth has gone through some tremendous upheavals. They believe that there has actually been a polar shift. In the book, Worlds in Collision, Immanuel Velikovsky suggests that the earth actually has changed its rotation from the present; that before, the earth actually rotated from west to east instead of east to west. And he gives you his reasons. You want to read the book, Worlds in Collisions; he gives quite a bit of argument in that vein.
Now the interesting thing is that we do know that in the Kingdom Age, God is going to restore the earth like it was during the time of Adam and Eve, back to the Garden of Eden where the deserts will disappear. The Bible speaks of that age where there will be streams in the deserts, rivers in dry places and all. And “the deserts will blossom and bud as a rose” ( Isa 35:1 ), and the desert areas being removed. The whole earth once again being like a giant garden.
Now, it is possible that in this earth being moved out of her place is a reference to another flip or a change of the polar axis, and rather than being tilted at twenty-three and a third degrees, which gives us our seasons, that the earth will be on pretty much a straight axis as far as its relationship to the sun, which would have quite a dramatic effect upon the earth. One, the ice caps of the polar regions would be melted. And the polar regions would again become very lush places as far as warmer climate. With this greater mass of water, there would be more evaporation now, as the sun would draw more water into the atmosphere and it could be that once again the earth would be covered with the water canopy. As the temperatures would be equalized with the equator and the poles, you would no longer have these tremendous cold-hot areas where the winds would be formed and created coming down from the poles from the cold areas, coming into these warmer areas where the heat rises and the cold air comes flowing in to fill it. And you could get rid of the violent storms. Again, you’d have only very gentle breezes and a very lush kind of an atmosphere around the whole earth. And I may not even have to go to Hawaii. You could go to Death Valley and the thing is going to be like a glorious garden with rivers and waterfalls and beautiful ferns and everything else, you know.
The whole earth, the scripture said, will be filled with His glory. And so God is going to restore it, and it could very well be that in this very shaking of the earth and removing it out of its place, it could be a reference to that.
Now the physicists who talk about the shifting of the polar axis refer to the earth’s wobble. That the earth before the flip of the polar axis or the shift of the polar axis goes into a wobble state and then it shifts. When you read where Isaiah said, “The earth will stagger to and fro like a drunken man,” it would be describing the wobble and then it said, “And shall be moved out of her place.” So it is very possible that the scriptures are actually prophesying a polar axis shift that could bring a whole new climate around the whole world and setting it up for the Kingdom Age where God restores it back like it once was, where there were no burning deserts, where there, you know, where the whole earth was able to produce and all.
And really, if you fly from… You hear of the population explosion and all of this and the earth is getting too crowded, but all you have to do is get in a jet and fly all over the United States and you’ll see all of that vast territory that is not inhabited. It’s not fit for habitation because of the deserts and everything else. But if God would restore all of that, make all that area habitable, there’s plenty of room for every child of God.
So interesting reference here. Just what it all indicates, we are free to guess, but we really don’t know. But again he refers to
the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger ( Isa 13:13 ).
So this is in the period of the judgment where God shakes the thing and turns it. But this all is a preface to His return, the day of God’s wrath. You remember that Revelation chapter 6 tells us that the people of the earth will be crying unto the rocks and the mountains saying, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of the Lamb: for His day of wrath has come; and who shall be able to stand?” ( Rev 6:16-17 )
Now does it really make sense to you that God would place His church in the middle of all of this when He specifically told us that He has not appointed us unto wrath? What kind of a mentality would try to insist and encourage everyone to gear up for it that you’re going to have to be here? Calling us escapisms or escapists or whatever. I just can’t understand.
And so he speaks about
And it shall be as the chased roe ( Isa 13:14 ),
And this is referring to the Jews.
They will be a sheep that no man takes up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land. Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword ( Isa 13:14-15 ).
The fierce anger.
Their children also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished ( Isa 13:16 ).
Now I told you Isaiah’s prophecy jumped from far to near, near to far. This would seem to be a near reference to the Babylonian invasion as we get to verse Isa 13:14 , because in Psa 137:8 , Psa 137:9 ,the psalmist opens that Psa 137:1-9 by declaring, “When we were in Babylon, we hanged our harps on the willow tree and we cried. They said unto us, ‘Sing us one of your songs of Zion.’ But how can we sing of Zion when we are in captivity?” ( Psa 137:1-4 ), and so forth. And then he takes out against Babylon and he said, “Happy will be they who dash your children in the street, even as you dashed our children.” Psa 137:8 , Psa 137:9 comes into play here and it was a reference to the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem.
But then Babylon itself will be destroyed. Verse Isa 13:17 :
Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children. And Babylon, the glory of the kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah ( Isa 13:17-19 ).
Now here is an interesting thing. Isaiah is predicting that the Medes will be destroying the Babylonian kingdom, and at this point, the Assyrian empire was really the predominant empire. Babylonian empire had not yet taken Assyria. And, of course, the Medes were just a small insignificant tribe when he actually prophesied that they will be the destroyers of the great Babylonian kingdom.
Only God could have known that, and thus, God proves that He is God and the author of the book by writing of these things, showing that He is outside of our time domain. Knowing the end from the beginning.
And speaking of the destruction of Babylonian:
It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs [or demons] shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged ( Isa 13:20-22 ).
So the destruction of Babylon by the Medes. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Isa 13:1-8
Isa 13:1
DIVISION II (Isaiah 13-23)
This division contains Isaiah’s prophecies against the nations, some twelve in all, the first one being contained in Isaiah 13 and all of Isaiah 14 (except the last five verses).
THE PROPHECY AGAINST BABYLON
Here is contained one of the most glorious predictive prophecies in all the Word of God; and, of course, critical enemies of God’s word shout their denials as convincingly as they can; but to no avail. There is no evidence of any kind whatever, either external or internal, that casts the slightest doubt on the authenticity and integrity of this great prophecy. For that matter, critics offer no proof of their arrogant denials. Kelley stated that, “This is one of the sections in the articles against the nations that must be dated later than the prophet Isaiah.” Peake supposed that, “The prophecy must have been written near the close of the Exile.” Why do such scholars “suppose” or “allege” such things? O, they say, “The historical situation presupposed in this chapter is much later than Isaiah.” So what? When Micah predicted the birth of Christ in Bethlehem seven centuries before the event, were not the historical conditions when Christ was born different to those when Micah prophesied?
The only thing we have here, then, is the knee-jerk reaction of critics to one of their satanic rules that “There is no such thing as predictive prophecy !” Therefore we reject such arrogant denials for what they are, merely the glib, unsupported falsehoods of unbelievers, unworthy of belief on the part of any Christian.
We are very grateful for the emergence of many young scholars today, among whom are Homer Hailey and John Willis, whose writings we are quoting in this commentary, who have rejected the fulminations of Bible enemies against such passages as this 13th chapter. Willis, for example, approvingly quoted Albert Barnes’ immortal words regarding this prophecy against Babylon. We give the same quotation here:
“This is one of the clearest predictions of a future event that can anywhere be found, and the exact, minute fulfillment of it furnishes the highest possible evidence that “Isaiah spake as he was moved by the Holy Ghost.” How will the infidel account for this prophecy and its fulfillment? It will not do to say that it was an accident. It is too minute and too particular. It is not due to human sagacity. No human sagacity could have foretold it. It is not fancied fulfillment. It is real in the most minute particulars. And if so, then Isaiah was commissioned by Jehovah as he claimed to be. And, if this prophecy was inspired by God, by the same train of reasoning it can be proved that the whole Bible is a revelation from heaven.
The truth which confounds the critics here is seen in the fact that Isaiah here looks far beyond the event of Israel’s captivity which lay far in the future when Isaiah wrote this to the fall of Babylon to the Medes and the deliverance for God’s people which would follow, indicating at the same time the awful punishment laid up for Babylon. The critical theory, of course, denies that the captivity itself was prophesied in advance, the absurdity of which critical allegation is seen in the fact that from the date of Isaiah’s first-born son, the captivity as well as the return of a remnant were symbolically prophesied in the name Shear-Jashub. Was that also done “after the exile”? Of course not!
Also, let it be noted that the Medes were never the dominant portion of the Medo-Persian power that destroyed Babylon; and as Cheyne pointed out, it is absolutely ridiculous to suppose that anyone writing “after the exile” would have ignored the part of Persia in Babylon’s punishment; but God, revealing the punishment at least 175 years before it was executed introduced the name of the Medes as having a part in it. Did they have a part? Certainly. The Scriptures reveal that when Babylon fell, “It was Darius the Mede who took the kingdom at age 62” (Dan 5:30-31). However, nobody writing “after the exile” would have paid any attention whatever to the Medes. The allegation of Peake to the effect that the post-exilic writer made a mistake by attributing the fall of Babylon to the Medes is preposterous!
Summarizing this chapter, we have: God commands the assembly of the armies destined to be his instrument in the destruction of Babylon (Isa 13:1-3); a prophetic vision of the armies advancing to destroy Babylon (Isa 13:4-5); Isaiah gradually shifted from his own words to those of God as the awful consequences of God’s wrath were described (Isa 13:6-10); a description of the dreadful destruction destined to befall Babylon (Isa 13:11-16); the everlasting desolation to which the city was doomed (Isa 13:17-22).
Isa 13:1-3
“The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. Set ye up an ensign upon the bare mountain, lift up the voice unto them, wave the hand that they may go into the gates of the nobles. I have commanded my consecrated ones, yea, I have called my mighty men for mine anger, even my proudly exulting ones.”
“The burden of Babylon …” The word here rendered “burden” is also translated oracle, or prophecy; but, the Hebrew word carries the ordinary meaning of ‘burden.’ “Generally in the Old Testament, and always in Isaiah, it refers to a Divine denunciation.” Surely the prophecy concerning Babylon carried a “burden” of woe to that city.
The mustering of the great mass of armies was to be accomplished by a triple signal (all of them metaphorical) of an ensign lifted high on a bare mountain, a loud call, and the waving of a hand.
The Babylonians called the gates of their city the “gates of the gods”; but Isaiah here put that in its proper perspective.
The picture that emerges here is that of God Himself in absolute control and command of all the powers on earth, which powers are summonsed here to execute the wrath of God upon Babylon.
Isa 13:4-5
“The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as of a great people! the noise of the tumult of the nations of the kingdoms gathered together! Jehovah of hosts is mustering the host for the battle. They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even Jehovah and the weapons of his indignation to destroy the whole land.”
“The host for the battle …” “This means, `a multitude of men, armed and prepared for war.’ Note the type of signals employed to bring together this vast host: a flag on a bare hill, a vocal call, and the wave of a hand. It was no trouble at all for Almighty God to muster whatever was needed against Babylon.
Isa 13:6-8
“Wail ye; for the day of Jehovah is at hand; as destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Therefore shall all hands be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt: and they shall all be dismayed; pangs and sorrow shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman in travail: they shall look in amazement one at another; and their faces shall be faces of flame.”
“The Almighty …” The Hebrew has the word [~Shaddai] for “The Almighty” in this passage. “This word is used frequently in the Pentateuch; it is not often found in the prophets; and, when it occurs, the severe and awful aspect of God’s divine nature is the more prominent.”
“The day of Jehovah …” (Isa 13:6; Isa 13:9) in the Old Testament often refers to the eternal judgment scheduled to come at the end of the Christian dispensation; although, in the prophets, there were predicted many “days of Jehovah,” all of them typical of the Day of Judgment and resulting in the destruction of a succession of wicked cities and civilizations. The specific mention of Babylon in this passage is very significant, because it indicates that Babylon would be in some special way an archetype of human rebellion against God. Therefore we have overtones in this chapter of the “Mystery Babylon the Great” in the prophecy of Revelation.
The primary reference here, of course, “is to the events of 539 B.C.”; but this fall of Babylon is prophetically typical of the fall of the latter-day Babylon (Rev 14:8). As we proceed in this chapter, we shall see that far more than the mere fall of ancient Babylon was here prophesied, especially, the total, permanent desolation of the once proud city took place, not immediately, but hundreds of years later. By the first century B.C., it had become a desert. Therefore, if the critics must find a post-exilic author for the first part of this prophecy, they must also find a post-60 B.C. for the author of Isa 13:20, below.! It is really surprising that they have not invented such an author. Nothing is too absurd for Bible enemies.
Isa 13:1-5 REQUIEM FOR BABYLON: This is the beginning of the third part of Isaiahs prophecy to the Remnant and consists of the judgments upon the pagan nations. In this section Isaiah interprets to his readers, those faithful who will heed him, the activity of the Divine government as God deals with the heathen empires and their sin. He especially is led to write of pagan destinies in relation to Gods faithful kingdom-people. These prophecies were not for the benefit of the Babylonians but for the people of God. From them they would learn that the hostile power of the world in its most powerful manifestation would finally be brought to ignominious defeat and ruin. No power that sets itself against God, be it as haughty and pretentious as was Babylonia, can prevail. Israel would learn that God does not permit to go unpunished the wickedness of those who have set themselves against the Lord and against His anointed, and who oppose His people.
To see the opponents of Gods purposes punished would bring consolation and encouragement to the Jews, for it would teach them how precious their salvation was in Gods sight. God is in control of all things. A topsy-turvy world is not really topsy-turvy. Even the darkest moments are in Gods providential control and rule.
Isaiah probably wrote this section around 730 B.C. Babylon did not come to world domination until about 606 B.C., some 124 years later, and Babylon was not conquered until 536 B.C., nearly 200 years after Isaiah predicted it. How could Isaiah know it? Plainly, it was by super-natural revelation directly from God. Isaiah states that it was an oracle he saw (i.e. in a vision).
The three means of summoning the invaders of Babylon, raising an ensign-lifting up the voice-motioning with the hand, indicate the highest degree of urgency! Israel is bidden to cheer the conquerors of Babylon on.
The supreme note is the authority and government of God. He is directing the campaign against Babylon. The mighty hosts here assembled are not named but they are described as my consecrated ones, my mighty ones and my proudly exulting ones, showing they were chosen of God and led by God. The Medes and Persians were a mountain people and Isaiah hears the noise of a mighty host of people armed for war and gathering together for conflict. They came from a far country-the uttermost parts of heaven. Both Media and Persia were, as far as the Hebrews were concerned, at the end of heaven or where heaven and earth meet at the horizon. God is so absolutely the author of this that it is represented as the actual day of Jehovah. Jehovah is at the head of the attacking army.
Isa 13:6-8 REACTION OF BABYLON: Babylon will not brag and boast on this day of Jehovah as did Nebuchadnezzar upon his housetop (Dan 4:27). Babylon will scream with terror and howl and mourn, (Cf. Jer. chs. 50-51).
The people of Babylon are pictured as paralyzed with astonishment and fright. This harmonizes with both Jer 50:43; Jer 51:30; and Dan 5:6. After having caused Cyrus withdrawal from the walls of Babylon, Belshazzar was surprised by the Persians stealing into the city on a dry river bed whose waters had been physically diverted around the city by the Persian army. Convulsing agitation and desperate perplexity came upon the Babylonians. Theirs is the deepest anguish for the day of Jehovah has broken upon them.
This is the ultimate destiny of all earthly kingdoms. This will be the reaction of all men and women who have put their trust in this world and its doomed systems.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
We now commence the second circle of the first division of our book, in which are contained Isaiah’s prophecies concerning the nations and the world. The first describes the doom of Babylon. Whereas the word “Babylon” occurs here, there is no doubt Assyria is in view. The prophecy concerning Babylon comes later (21:1-10). This is clearly shown by Dr. Thirtle in his Old Testament Problems.
In graphic language the prophet foretells the nearness of judgment. He describes the mustering of the hosts, and then their marching. He next declares the purpose of the judgment. It is to punish evil. Finally he describes the process of judgment. Media is to be against Assyria, and the result will be abiding ruin.
The issue of this judgment is intended to be the restoration of Israel through the compassion of Jehovah. He will yet choose them and set them in their own land. The peoples who have oppressed them will submit themselves to them and serve them, and they will rule over their oppressors.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
EXPOSITORY NOTES ON
THE PROPHET ISAIAH
By
Harry A. Ironside, Litt.D.
Copyright @ 1952
edited for 3BSB by Baptist Bible Believer in the spirit of the Colportage ministry of a century ago
ISAIAH CHAPTERS THIRTEEN AND FOURTEEN
THE BURDEN OF BABYLON
WE NOW COME to a distinct section of Isaiah’s prophecy, dealing particularly with the nations with whom Israel had to do in the past centuries and some of whom it will have to meet in the coming Day of the Lord. In chapters thirteen through twenty-three we have “burdens,” that is, prophetic messages, relating particularly to Babylon (13,14), Moab (15,16), Damascus, the capital of Syria (17), some unnamed maritime power west of Ethiopia (18), Egypt (19), Egypt and Ethiopia (20), Edom and Arabia, (21) and of Tyre (23). Two messages also refer definitely to Palestine itself in connection with the attacks of their enemies, namely, part of chapter twenty-one and chapter twenty-two.
The nations mentioned in these chapters were those from whom Israel suffered in the past and some of them will appear on the scene in the last days, still manifesting their old enmity toward the chosen race.
In chapters thirteen and fourteen Isaiah looks on into the future, predicting the destruction that he foresaw would come upon Babylon as a result of the Medo-Persian invasion of Chaldea. It may seem strange that Babylon should occupy the place it does in these prophetic visions inasmuch as it was but an insignificant power in Isaiah’s day, completely overshadowed by Assyria, but the spirit of prophecy enabled Isaiah to look on to the time when these two would be combined in one great dominion of which the city of Babylon would be the capital.
This was the power destined to carry out the judgments of GOD against Judah because of its rebellion and idolatry. As we read these chapters it is easy to see that back of the literal rulers of Babylon there was a sinister spirit-personality denominated as Lucifer, the son of the morning. That this evil angel is identical with Satan himself seems to be perfectly clear.
We note, then, the first part of the prophecy, which will have a double fulfillment: first, Babylon’s destruction by the armies of Cyrus and Cyaxares (who is probably the same as the Darius of Daniel 5), and then the final destruction of the Assyrian in the last days.
In eloquent and dramatic language Isaiah pictures the downfall of the future oppressor of the
people of GOD.
“The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: and they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible” (verses 1-11).
The picture presented goes far beyond that of the literal destruction of Babylon on the Euphrates in the days of the Medo-Persian conquest. It vividly presents the conditions that will prevail not only among the nations of central and western Asia, but of all Gentile powers in the day of the Lord’s indignation.
In other words, the doom that fell upon Babylon of old was an illustration of the terrible fate that awaits the godless Gentile powers who will be taken in red-handed rebellion against the Lord and His Anointed in the last days. It will be noted that many of the expressions used in these verses are practically identical with those of other prophecies concerning the Day of the Lord and with the events to follow the breaking of the sixth seal in the book of Revelation.
“I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land. Everyone that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword. Their children also shall be dashed to pieces’ before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished” (verses 12-16).
As we compare this passage with Hag 2:6, 7; Heb 12:25-29; Zec 14:4, 5, and other passages relating to the Day of the Lord, we learn that not only will the kingdoms of the world be broken to pieces but there will be tremendous natural convulsions that will shake the earth and cause disorder even among the heavenly bodies, so that the people of the world will be in abject terror because of the judgments of the Lord.
So large a portion of the human race will be destroyed in the conflicts and natural catastrophes of those days that a man will be more precious than gold, and fear and terror will take hold upon all of the inhabitants of the earth who do not know and wait for the Lord in that day of His power.
“Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tents there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged” (verses 17-22).
Here the prophet reverts to the literal destruction of Babylon which began with its siege and overthrow by the Medes and Persians, but was not consummated fully until some centuries later when at last that one-time proud city was leveled to the dust, its palaces destroyed, its hanging gardens ruined, and its destruction made so complete that in all the centuries since it has never been able to rise again.
It is true that from time to time small villages have been built near the site of the ancient city, but the ruins of Babylon recently uncovered by archeologists show how completely the prophet’s words have been fulfilled.
Even to this day the Arabian refuses to pitch his tent there, thinking that demons prowl by night among the ruins of the city, where owls and lizards (dragons) and other creatures of the night abound. GOD has decreed that Babylon shall never rise again. The Babylon of the Revelation is a symbolic picture of the great religious-commercial organization of the last days which will become fully developed after the true Church has been caught up to be with the Lord.
Its doom, like that of the ancient city, will soon be consummated and it too will fall, never to lift itself up again against GOD and His people.
In chapter fourteen, we see that GOD links Israel’s future restoration with Babylon’s doom. Though centuries were to elapse between the two events yet, inasmuch as through the decree of Cyrus a remnant was permitted to return to Jerusalem, thus fulfilling a part of the divine predictions concerning the recovery of Judah, so their final restoration is linked with the complete overthrow of Gentile power.
“For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their
oppressors” (verses 1,2).
Note the expression, “They shall take them captives, whose captives they were.” This seems to give the true explanation of that much-controverted passage in Eph 4:8, “He led captivity captive.” These words are quoted from Psa 68:18.
The same Hebraism is found in Jdg 5:12 where the meaning is perfectly clear: Barak was to lead captive those who had held Israel captive. So CHRIST, by His triumphant resurrection, has overthrown the powers of hell and led captive Satan and his hosts who held humanity captive for so long. Satan was utterly defeated at that time (Heb 2:14) and those who had once been his victims are now delivered from his power. In Col 2:15 we are told that CHRIST, in rising from the dead, spoiled, or made a prey of, principalities and powers, that is, the hosts of evil; therefore Satan is now a defeated foe. His judgment has not yet been carried out but is as certain as that GOD’s Word is true. It is for the believer to resist the devil, steadfast in the faith, knowing that he can have no power against those who cleave to the Word of God.
In the section that follows, Israel is seen exulting over the destruction of her great enemy.
“And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt take up two proverbs against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us” (verses 3-8).
The “king of Babylon” seems to be used here as a synonym for all Gentile powers that throughout the centuries have taken part in the persecution of GOD’s ancient people. When the last great enemy shall be destroyed they will be able to rejoice in the manifestation of the Lord’s power, and just as Israel sang on the shores of the Red Sea as they viewed the destruction of Pharaoh and his host, so in that coming day will they be able to raise the Song of Moses and the Lamb as they see all their enemies brought to naught.
We come to something now that enables us to understand how sin began in the heavens, and also to comprehend something of the unseen powers that throughout the centuries have dominated the minds of evil-disposed men, seeking to thwart the purpose of GOD. The fall of Lucifer portrays the fall of Satan.
The passage links very closely with Ezekiel 28, which should be carefully considered in the effort to understand this fully.
“Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy
viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit” (verses 9-15).
These words cannot apply to any mere mortal man. Lucifer (the light-bearer) is a created angel of the very highest order, identical with the covering cherub of Ezekiel 28. He was, apparently, the greatest of all the angel host and was perfect before GOD until he fell through pride.
It was his ambition to take the throne of Deity for himself and become the supreme ruler of the universe.
Note his five “I wills.” It was the assertion of the creature’s will in opposition to the will of the Creator that brought about his downfall, and so an archangel became the devil! Cast down from the place of power and favor which he had enjoyed, he became the untiring enemy of GOD and man, and down through the millennia since has exerted every conceivable device to ruin mankind and rob GOD of the glory due to His name.
It is of him our Lord speaks in Joh 8:44. The Lord there shows that Satan is an apostate, having fallen from a position once enjoyed, and we know from other Scriptures how he ever goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
The Cross was the precursor of Satan’s doom, but he is determined to wreak his vengeance upon mankind so far as he can before his own final judgment takes place, because his heart is filled with hatred against GOD and against those whom GOD loves. We know from other passages that Lucifer was not alone in his rebellion (2Pe 2:4), and our Lord speaks of “the devil and his angels” (Mat 25:41), and this is confirmed in Rev 12:7, where we read of the coming war in heaven between Michael and his angels, and the dragon and his.
These evil angels are the world-rulers of this darkness (Eph 6:12). They seek to dominate the hearts and minds of the rulers of the nations, stirring them up to act in opposition to the will of GOD. Therefore we need not be surprised to find in the next verses of our chapter that the king of Babylon seems to be, as it were, confounded with Lucifer. The actual meaning, of course, is that he was controlled or dominated by him.
His downfall is described:
“They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast
destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord. I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts” (verses 16-23).
This passage is highly poetical, but describes in no uncertain terms the utter destruction of the last great enemy of Israel in the Day of the Lord. See also Eze 31:16-18. All the glory of the warrior and the pride of world conquest end in utter destruction.
None who has dared to rise up in pride and arrogance to defy the living GOD has ever been able to escape the inevitable result of his folly.
In the Assyrian of the last days, we see as it were the incarnation of all the persecuting powers who have distressed Israel since their dispersion among the Gentiles.
“The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is matched out upon all the nations. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?” (verses 24-27).
When the nations are gathered together for the Armageddon conflict, the Lord Himself will destroy the Assyrian with every other enemy of CHRIST and His truth. Israel will be completely delivered and GOD glorified in the kingdom to be set up in righteousness.
In the last five verses of the chapter we have a separate prophecy, given in the last year of King Ahaz, relating to Palestine and its people.
“In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden. Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, And his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times. What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it” (verses 28-32).
For the time being GOD had turned back the armies of Syria and of Assyria, but greater conflicts were in the future. These we know came to pass in the days of Hezekiah, and finally, at the close of the short reign of Zedekiah. First, the land was overrun by the Assyrians who, however, were turned back without accomplishing their purpose, but because of Judah’s lack of repentance and self-judgment, eventually the armies of Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, slew thousands of
the people, and carried many more into captivity. Nor was this to be the last distress that would come upon that doomed land. Throughout the long years since their dispersion, Palestine has been a veritable battleground and Israel’s sufferings have beggered all description, but the day of their deliverance is yet to come through the very One whom the nation rejected when He came in lowly grace as the promised Saviour and Messiah.
~ end of chapter 13, 14 ~
http://www.baptistbiblebelievers.com/
***
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Isa 13:12
I. The text is a promise in the guise of a threat. It is a threat to one nation, but a promise to mankind. The text is speaking of the devastation of war men shall be so scarce that gold itself shall lose its preciousness. The overthrow of a nation is predicted here; the destruction of the mighty Babylonian empire. In that contempt of man, which at the first her pride and lust of possession revealed, was hidden Babylon’s doom. The nation so lavish of human life was to die utterly out; the empire which sets no value on men for lack of men shall perish.
II. Our text is prophetic of the doom and discipline of the exclusive spirit. “Godlike isolation” is an inhuman thing; nay, isolation is not Godlike, for God is love. It is the Divine in man to which the prophecy of our text is spoken. To man, as to God, there is naught on earth so precious and so dear as man.
III. How wonderful is the fulfilment of our text in the Gospel! The doctrine of a common redemption has awakened in the Christian consciousness the sense of a vast human kin, unfavoured, unblessed, left to themselves, like sheep not having a shepherd. It is the worth of lost humanity which is revealed to us in the redemption by Christ, and which the Gospel will not let us forget. Christ welcomed the forgotten people, the wretched, the neglected, the sin-stricken, to Himself, and forced them into the society of His people. He calls them His own; He says that to forget them is to forget Himself. He has opened the eyes of His followers by touching their hearts.
A. Mackennal, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvi, p. 248.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
2. The judgment of the Nations and the Future Day of Jehovah (13-27)
CHAPTER 13
The Burden of Babylon
1. Jehovahs call to the judgment of Babylon (Isa 13:1-5) 2. The day of Jehovah: When Babylon falls (Isa 13:6-16) 3. Babylon overthrown (Isa 13:17-22)The great judgments announced in this part of Isaiah were only partially fulfilled in the past. The great Babylon which came into existence as the mistress of the world after this prophecy had been given, fell by the Medes (verse 17 and Dan 5:1-31. The judgment of this Babylon is meant here first. But the Babylon of the past is the type of a Babylon of the future, another mistress of the ecclesiastical and commercial world. It is yet to appear in its final form Rev 17:1-18; Rev 18:1-24). Its fall comes in the day of the Lord. This great day is described in Isa 13:6-16 in this chapter.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
burden
A “burden,” Heb. massa= a heavy, weighty thing, is a message, or oracle concerning Babylon, Assyria, Jerusalem, etc. It is “heavy” because the wrath of God is in it, and grievous for the prophet to declare.
Babylon
The city, Babylon is not in view here, as the immediate context shows. It is important to note the significance of the name when used symbolically. “Babylon” is the Greek form: invariably in the O.T. Hebrew the word is simply Babel, the meaning of which is confusion, and in this sense the word is used symbolically.
(1) In the prophets, when the actual city is not meant, the reference is to the “confusion” into which the whole social order of the world has fallen under Gentile world-domination. (See “Times of the Gentiles,” Luk 21:24; Rev 16:14; Isa 13:4 gives the divine view of the welter of warring Gentile powers. The divine order is given in Isaiah 11. Israel in her own land, the centre of the divine government of the world and channel of the divine blessing; and the Gentiles blessed in association with Israel. Anything else is, politically, mere “babel.”
(2) In Rev 14:8-11; Rev 16:19 the Gentile world-system is in view in connection with Armageddon; Rev 16:14; Rev 19:21 while in Revelation 17. the reference is to apostate Christianity, destroyed by the nations Rev 17:16 headed up under the Beast; Dan 7:8; Rev 19:20 and false prophet. In Isaiah the political Babylon is in view, literally as to the then existing city, and symbolically as to the times of the Gentiles. In the Revelation both the symbolical- political and symbolical-religious Babylon are in view, for there both are alike under the tyranny of the Beast. Religious Babylon is destroyed by political Babylon Rev 17:16 political Babylon by the appearing of the Lord Rev 19:19-21. That Babylon the city is not to be rebuilt is clear from; Isa 13:19-22; Jer 51:24-26; Jer 51:62-64. By political Babylon is meant the Gentile world-system. (See “World,”; Joh 7:7; Rev 13:8) It may be added that, in Scripture symbolism, Egypt stands for the world as such; Babylon for the world of corrupt power and corrupted religion; Nineveh for the pride, the haughty glory of the world.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
am 3292, bc 712
burden: Isa 14:28, Isa 15:1, Isa 17:1, Isa 19:1, Isa 21:1, Isa 21:11, Isa 21:13, Isa 22:1, Isa 22:25, Isa 23:1, Jer 23:33-38, Eze 12:10, Nah 1:1, Hab 1:1, Zec 9:1, Zec 12:1, Mal 1:1
of Babylon: Isa 14:4-23, Isa 21:1-10, Isa 43:14, Isa 44:1, Isa 44:2, Isa 47:1-15, Jer 25:12-26, Jer 50:1 – Jer 51:23, Dan 5:28 – Dan 6:28, Rev 17:1 – Rev 18:24
which Isaiah: Isa 1:1
Reciprocal: Gen 11:9 – Babel 2Ki 9:25 – the Lord 2Ki 20:12 – Babylon Psa 79:6 – upon Psa 87:4 – Babylon Psa 137:8 – who art Isa 2:1 – saw Isa 39:1 – king Jer 5:10 – ye up Jer 9:26 – Egypt Jer 25:26 – drink Jer 27:7 – until Lam 1:21 – thou wilt Eze 28:26 – when I Dan 5:26 – God Hab 2:7 – they Zep 3:15 – he hath Zec 5:7 – talent
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
JUDGMENT ON GENTILE NATIONS
This is a long lesson to read, but the study put upon it need not be proportioned to its length. There is a sameness in the chapters, and their contents are not unlike what we reviewed in the preceding lesson. Note the names of the nations and their contiguity to Gods chosen people. They have come in contact with their history again and again, which is why they are singled out for special mention. It will be well here to review what was said about these Gentile nations in the Introduction to the Prophetic Scriptures. Seven nations are named, a perfect number, indicating Gentilism as a whole, construed as the enemy of Israel. In their order we have Babylon (chaps. 13-17); Moab (chaps. 15-16); Syria (chap. 17); Ethiopia (chap. 18); Egypt (chaps. 19-20); Medo-Persia (chaps. 21-22); Tyre (chap. 23).
Then follows a picture of judgment in which all the nations seem to be included; but following the judgments on the Gentile nations, Judah is seen redeemed from her iniquity, delivered from her tribulations, and restored to her land (chaps. 25-27). This whole section of the book, wherefore, is on an enlarged scale, that which has been set before us several times.
For the purpose of the present study, therefore, and as a matter of convenience, these discourses might be grouped as one climaxing, as in the other instances, in the ultimate triumph of the chosen people.
This idea, however, involves one of two things: Either these nations typify Gentile dominion in the earth at the end of this age, or else they themselves will be revived as nations with reference to the judgments of that day.
The evidence for their revival, however, is not apparent except in one case, that of Babylon (chaps. 13-14). The chapters referring to the overthrow of Babylon by the Medes and Persians, seem not to have been fulfilled in that event, except in part; from which the conclusion is gathered that a later and completer fulfillment is in store. There are corresponding passages in other prophets indicating this, and the book of Revelation (chap. 18) seems almost to require it.
There are at least nine features of prophecy in these chapters not fulfilled in the earlier overthrow of Babylon referred to: The whole land was not then destroyed (Isa 13:5); the Day of the Lord did not then come (Isa 13:6); the physical phenomena were not then seen (Isa 13:10); the city itself was not then destroyed as Sodom, for the Persian victory was without blood, and the scepter passed gently into their hands. Moreover, the land still yields a princely income to its Turkish rulers, and a city and a village exist on the site of Babylon (Isa 13:19-22); the Lord did not then visit Jacob with rest, nor has He done so as yet (Isa 14:1-3); the king of Babylon therein minutely described, has not yet arisen, and seems to point to a greater and more august being than the world has ever seen (4:22); the Assyrian was not then trodden down in the land of Judah, nor was the yoke then removed form her (Isa 14:25); finally, the divine purpose on the whole earth was not then fulfilled (Isa 14:26).
QUESTIONS
1. Have you examined the location of these seven Gentile nations on a map?
2. How is the law of recurrence illustrated in this lesson?
3. What two ideas about these nations are suggested in this lesson?
4. Have you read Revelation 18?
5. What existing evidence is there that Babylon has not yet been destroyed as Sodom?
6. What great person seems to be referred to in chapter 14:4-22?
Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary
Isa 13:1. The burden of Babylon Of the city and empire of Babylon. The original word, , here rendered burden, is, by Dr. Waterland, after Vitringa, translated, The sentence upon, or, delivered concerning Babylon. It is derived from a verb, which signifies to take, or lift up, or bring; and the proper meaning of it is, any weighty, important matter or sentence, which ought not to be neglected, but is worthy of being carried in the memory, and deserves to be lifted up, and uttered with emphasis. See Rev 2:24, and Vitringa. Bishop Newton and others have observed, that the prophecies uttered against any city or country, often carry the inscription of the burden of that city or country: and that by burden is commonly understood a threatening, burdensome prophecy, big with ruin and destruction: which, like a dead weight, is hung upon the city or country to sink it. But it appears that the word is of more general import, and sometimes signifies a prophecy at large, sometimes a prophecy of good as well as of evil, as in Zec 12:1; and sometimes, where the original word is used, it is translated prophecy, where there is no prophecy, but only a grave moral sentence.
This prophecy against Babylon, which consists of two parts, the former contained in this chapter, the latter in the next, was probably delivered, as Vitringa has shown, in the reign of Ahaz, about two hundred years before the completion of it, and a hundred and thirty before the Jews were even carried captive to Babylon; which captivity the prophet does not expressly foretel here, but supposes, in the spirit of prophecy, as what was actually to take place. And the Medes, who are expressly mentioned, Isa 13:17, as the principal agents in the overthrow of the Babylonian monarchy, by which the Jews were to be released from that captivity, were at this time an inconsiderable people; having been in a state of anarchy ever since the fall of the great Assyrian empire, of which they had made a part under Sardanapalus; and did not become a kingdom till about the seventeenth of Hezekiah. Bishop Lowth. The great design of God in inspiring his prophet with the knowledge of these future events, and exciting him to deliver these prophecies concerning them, seems to have been, 1st, To set forth the reasons of his justice, in punishing the enemies of his church, in order to console the minds and confirm the faith of the pious. 2d, With respect to this prophecy especially, concerning the destruction of Babylon, the design was to comfort the minds of true believers against that sad and sorrowful event, the Babylonish captivity. And, 3d, Under the figure of that destruction, to announce the destruction of the spiritual Babylon, the whole kingdom of sin and Satan. See Vitringa, and Rev 14:8; Rev 17:5.
The former part of this prophecy, says Bishop Lowth, is one of the most beautiful examples that can be given, of elegance of composition, variety of imagery, and sublimity of sentiment and diction, in the prophetic style: and the latter part consists of an ode of supreme and singular excellence. The prophecy opens with the command of God to gather together the forces which he had destined to his service, Isa 13:2-3. Upon which the prophet hears the tumultuous noise of the different nations crowding together to his standard; he sees them advancing, prepared to execute divine wrath, Isa 13:4-5. He proceeds to describe the dreadful consequences of this visitation; the consternation which will seize those that are the objects of it; and transferring unawares the speech from himself to God, Isa 13:11, sets forth, under a variety of the most striking images, the dreadful destruction of the inhabitants of Babylon, which will follow, Isa 13:11-16; and the everlasting desolation to which that great city is doomed, Isa 13:17-22. The deliverance of Judah from captivity, the immediate consequence of this great revolution, is then set forth without being much enlarged upon, or greatly amplified, chap. 14:1, 2. This introduces, with the greatest ease, and the utmost propriety, the triumphant song on that subject, Isa 13:4-22. The beauties of which, the various images, scenes, persons introduced, and the elegant transitions from one to another, I shall endeavour to point out in their order.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
In the thirteen chapters which follow, the prophet, like a watchman, raises his voice, and denounces woes against all the surrounding nations, and finally against his own country.
Isa 13:1. The burden of Babylon. The LXX merely read ode or song. Isaiah puts his name to it, being fully assured of its truth. The burden of these terrific predictions was laid upon him, he must utter them in the sublimest strains of eloquence.
Isa 13:2. Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain. Babylon is here called a mountain, though built on a plain, because of her power. Jer 51:25. Behold I am against thee, oh destroying mountain. The fourth verse adds, the noise of a multitude on the mountains, which evidently means the nations which Cyrus visited, and from whence he gathered his allies, towards the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates, where they first lifted up their banners against Babylon. A fuller account of the fall of this city we reserve for the forty fifth chapter.
Isa 13:10. The sun shall be darkened. A frequent figure of speech, signifying the total obscuration of a nation, whose sun should never rise again. Thus the Hebrew sun was to be darkened, Mat 24:29; as Joel and others had foretold. St. John augured the fall of pagan Rome in similar terms. Rev 6:12-13.
Isa 13:12. The golden wedge of Ophir. That is, as in the original, afri, africa, a country without cold. The Romans called it Africa. The o in Ophir is privative, as in the Saxon orphan, without father; orgild, unfind.
Isa 13:14. And it [the remnant, as in the LXX] shall be as a chased roe.
Isa 13:17. I will stir up the Medes. At that time the Medes were an inconsiderable nation, no way likely to overthrow Babylon.
Isa 13:20. It shall never be inhabited. The ruins of Babylon are discovered as overgrown with various trees, a wide instructive heap, where no Arab can pitch his tent, or feed his flock. The bricks dried in the sun, of which the city was built, would soften and return to clay. Truly the Hebrew prophets were divinely inspired. Had Babylon revived as Rome did, what would have become of the truth of prophecy? Babylon was cursed for a world of blood, and with a malediction which must for ever remain. What a subject for elegy, for rhetoric, for the powers of verse: what a monitress for nations!
REFLECTIONS.
Babylon the first and greatest of kingdoms, Babylon the queen of cities, here received its sentence; which sentence the prophets continued to repeat for about one hundred and sixty years before the execution, because they saw a portentous cloud constantly suspended over a proud and bloody people. The national crimes which caused her to sink in the high balances of heaven, are recited at large by Jeremiah and Daniel. Isaiah saw the armies assembling in Media, and the nations joining Cyrus in his circuitous route. They assembled from the end of heaven, Media being the remotest oriental kingdom which the Hebrews knew.
The invading army, called Gods sanctified ones, because of their divine commission, was to meet with no particular opposition. Hence, according to Xenophons Cyropdie, Cyrus never had one serious affair in his vast career of conquest.
The nations presently joined him: and in the battle on the plain before Babylon, the immense multitude fled to the city almost on the first onset, except a column of veteran Egyptians. The sun and moon were darkened, which figuratively implies that it was a dark and dismal day for the proud and bloody city, and that the king and his satraps should be confounded in their counsels. All hands were weak, and all hearts faint. How dreadful is the situation of the wicked, when overtaken with the visitations of heaven. They are appalled by terror of conscience, and paralized by the recollection of their crimes. When they cry, heaven mocks, because the age of mercy is past, and the grace of repentance is denied.
The fall of Babylon was to be with immense slaughter. Every one found, and not sheltered in his house, was to be thrust through. So it was for several days after the armies entered the city. Xenophons words imply, I think, that every one found in the palaces was put to the sword. The houses, in many cases, were forced for plunder, the little ones dashed to pieces, and the women treated with horrible indignities. Here the human heart unveiled itself on a broad scale; here rage, avarice, and every bad passion took vengeance, not on vanquished victims only, but on helpless infancy, and unprotected innocence. These are scenes which bear the nearest resemblance to hell of any which the history of man affords.And thou, oh God, didst sit all calm in the heavens, and look on in righteous repose. Why didst thou see multitudes bleed, myriads of whom were innocent and helpless, and call thy victors thy sanctified ones? Was it because, instead of repenting, this haughty city sat as a queen, and was hardened in every crime? Was it because those very Babylonians had committed all those atrocities in Jerusalem. Lam 5:11, and because they had made Nineveh and so many other cities of the earth without an inhabitant? Oh yes and thy justice which had long been beclouded as to the returns of vengeance, now shone forth with spotless lustre, and all the surrounding nations applauded its equity.
The cite of proud Babylon should be accursed and made desolate. Venomous reptiles should inhabit its ruins; and the satyrs, shaggy and voracious beasts, should make their dens there. After the Medes left it, its glory faded; and when Alexander the great sought to make it a seat of his empire, which would have contradicted these prophecies, God took him away in the thirtieth year of his age. And Seleucus, fixing his residence at Seleucia, about four leagues distant, gradually drew off the inhabitants. Hence Babylon was swept with a besom of destruction; and like Sodom, a monument of Gods vengeance in its ruins, that all the cities of the earth might be instructed by its fall.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 13:1 to Isa 14:23. The Utter Ruin of Babylon and Triumphal Ode over her Monarchs Death.Historical conditions are here presupposed entirely different from those of Isaiahs time. The subject of Isaiah 13 is the overthrow of Babylon by the Medes a century and a half after his age. Since the downfall is said to lie in the near future, the prophecy must have been written very near the close of the Exile. The description of Babylon is also not true to the situation of Isaiahs day. The great oppressing empire, whose downfall he predicted, was Assyria. Babylon was subject to it, though it revolted from time to time, and it was united in friendly relations with Judah by hate for the common oppressor. In our prophecy Babylon is no longer a subject state, but the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans pride, proud and arrogant, haughty and terrible. The ode in Isa 14:4 b Isa 14:21 probably belongs to the same date. It is a song of triumph over the fall of an unnamed oppressor. The writer pictures with undisguised exultation the taunts that will be aimed at the fallen tyrant in Sheol. Although the king is not named, the close connexion with the preceding prophecy makes it likely that the king of Babylon is meant. Isa 14:1-4 a is apparently an editorial link between Isaiah 13 and the ode that follows. If so, the reference to the restoration is to the return from the Dispersion rather than simply from Babylon. Prophecies of the return were not necessarily composed before the return under Cyrus, for neither that nor the subsequent return led by Ezra embraced more than a comparatively small remnant of the Jewish population out of Palestine. Long afterwards the hope of restoration was still cherished.
Isaiah 13. A standard is to be set on the bare mountain, that it may be seen far and wide. The warriors are summoned to enter the gates of the Babylonians, here called the nobles, other nations being the common people in comparison with these world rulers. The warriors are summoned to execute Yahwehs anger. They proudly exult in prospect of victory. They are called consecrated because war was regarded as a holy enterprise, and those who took part in it as specially dedicated to the Divine service, which imposed upon them several restrictions, or, as they are technically called, taboos. Yahweh was Himself supposed to go with His armies to battle. Campaigns were inaugurated with sacrifice (pp. 99, 114). The prophet hears the Medes mustering in their mountains to pour down on the plains of Babylonia. Though they howl, for Yahwehs day is at hand, men shall be powerless and dismayed in pain and perplexity. The day comes, cruel and angry, to desolate the land and extirpate sinners. The sun, moon, and stars will be darkened; the wicked will be punished and the haughty be brought low; a man will be rarer than gold; the heavens will tremble, the earth leap from her place. Then the traders or visitors who have come from all quarters to Babylon will rush home in headlong flight. The atrocities which were the usual accomplishments of the capture of a city, especially by savage warriors like the Medes, will be perpetrated at Babylons fall. For they will not be bought off, they will be pitiless even to the most helpless, and Babylon, now at last mentioned by name, the capital of many subject kingdoms, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah, desolate for ever, unvisited even by the nomad or the shepherd, the home of wild beasts and uncanny monsters. And this judgment is near at hand.
Isa 13:1. burden: read mg. It is derived from the verb to lift up, meaning to lift up the voice.
Isa 13:6. Cf. Joe 1:15.
Isa 13:8. faces of flame: variously explained as the flame of pain, shame, or excitement.
Isa 13:10. The failure of the heavenly bodies to shine is a very common element in prophetic pictures of judgment. Read, perhaps, For the heavens and the constellations thereof. Constellations means such constellations as Orion.
Isa 13:12. Ophir: the situation has been much disputed. It has been located on the W. coast of India, and on the S.E. coast of Africa, opposite Madagascar. The most probable view is that it was on the S.E. coast of Arabia, but the name may also have included the district opposite this on the E. coast of Africa. See the Dictionaries.
Isa 13:15 f. The atrocities were not actually perpetrated, for Babylon surrendered peacefully to Cyrus.
Isa 13:17. The Medes (pp. 58, 60) were a mountaineering nation to the N.E. of Babylon. Cyrus united them with the Persians under his sway, and together they captured Babylon in 538. See pp. 61, 77.
Isa 13:19. The Chaldeans (pp. 58f.) were a people living on the coast S.E. of Babylonia. Merodach Baladan (p. 71) who held Babylon for a time against Assyria, was a Chaldean. But they were not in any sense Babylonians till Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar, who was a Chaldean, founded the new Babylonian empire about 626 (p. 60). The name was subsequently used as synonymous with Babylonians. In Daniel we have the curious use of Chaldeans in the sense of magicians or wise men (pp. 524f.).
Isa 13:21 f. Parallels occur in Zep 2:14 f.; Jer 50:39; Jer 51:37; Isa 34:11-15. The creatures mentioned belonged not merely to what we should call natural history, but supernatural, which were not sharply distinguished by the ancient mind. The names are in some cases of uncertain meaning. The satyrs are demons, probably in the shape of goats. It is a common Arab superstition that ruins are haunted by uncanny creatures. The author further predicts that this desolation is to come quickly. As a matter of fact the city remained unharmed under Cyrus. Its outer walls were destroyed when it revolted from Darius I, and it gradually decayed. It was still inhabited in the time of Alexander the Great, who purposed to make it his capital, and who died there.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
13:1 The {a} burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
(a) That is, the great calamity which was prophesied to come on Babel, a grievous burden which they were not able to bear. In these twelve chapters following he speaks of the plagues with which God would smite the strange nations (whom they knew) to declare that God chastised the Israelites as his children and these others as his enemies: and also that if God does not spare these who are ignorant, they must not think strange if he punishes them who have knowledge of his Law, and do not keep it.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The first oracle against Babylon 13:1-14:27
The reader would expect that Isaiah would inveigh against Assyria, since it was the most threatening enemy in his day, and since he referred to it many times in earlier chapters. However, he did not mention Assyria in this section but Babylon, an empire that came into its own about a century after Isaiah’s time. Babylon was a symbol of self-exalting pride, and its glory, dating back to the tower of Babel (cf. Isa 13:5; Isa 13:10-11). Thus what he said about Babylon was applicable to Assyria and other similar self-exalting powers in the eastern part of Israel’s world. Similarly, what marked the Medes (Isa 13:17-18) was their fierce destruction of their enemies, which was already in view but would become more obvious in the years that followed. When the prophet lived and wrote, Babylon was a real entity within Assyria, but Isaiah used it to represent all the nations in that area that shared its traits (cf. Gen 9:20-25; Revelation 17-18). Behind Assyria Isaiah saw the spirit of Babel, which he condemned here. Yet this is also a prophecy against real Babylon. "Babylon" is the Greek name for "Babel."
The literary structure of this oracle, omitting the introduction (Isa 13:1), is chiastic.
"A The day of the Lord: the beckoning hand, a universal purpose declared (Isa 13:2-16)
B The overthrow of Babylon: the end of the kingdom, the fact of divine overthrow (Isa 13:17-22)
C The security and future of the Lord’s people: a contrasting universal purpose (Isa 14:1-2)
B’ The overthrow of Babylon: the end of the king, the explanation of divine overthrow (Isa 14:3-23)
A’ The end of Assyrian power: the outstretched hand, a universal purpose exemplified and validated (Isa 14:24-27)" [Note: Motyer, p. 135.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
B. God’s sovereignty over the nations chs. 13-35
This major section of the book emphasizes the folly of trusting in the nations rather than in Yahweh. The section preceding it shows how King Ahaz trusted in Assyria and experienced destruction (chs. 7-12). The section following it shows how King Hezekiah trusted in the Lord and experienced deliverance (chs. 36-39). In this present section, the prophet expanded his perspective from Israel to include the world. The God of Israel is also Lord of the nations. This whole section of the book expands the idea that all the kingdoms of the world will become the kingdom of God and His Christ, Immanuel (cf. Dan 2:44).
1. Divine judgments on the nations chs. 13-23
"This second section of the book’s first main unit [chs. 1-39] presents a series of judgment oracles against various nations (chapters 13-23). This litany of judgment sets the stage for a vision of worldwide judgment that ushers in the Lord’s kingdom on earth (chapters 24-27)." [Note: Chisholm, Handbook on . . ., p. 46.]
The recurrence of the Hebrew word massa’, translated "oracle" or "burden," prescribes the boundaries of this section of text. There are 10 oracles beginning in Isa 13:1; Isa 14:28; Isa 15:1; Isa 17:1; Isa 19:1; Isa 21:1; Isa 21:11; Isa 21:13; Isa 22:1 and Isa 23:1. Chapters 13-23 present the nations over which Immanuel is ruler, and they announce judgment on them all for their pride (Isa 10:5-34; cf. Isa 2:6-22; Isa 13:11; Isa 13:19; Isa 14:11; Isa 16:6; Isa 17:7-11; Isa 23:9). They are announcements of doom on these nations, but they are also announcements of salvation for Israel if she would trust in Yahweh. Isaiah delivered them to the Israelites, rather than to the nations mentioned, at various times during his prophetic ministry. Thus they assured God’s people of Yahweh’s sovereignty over the nations with a view to encouraging them to rely in the Lord (cf. Jeremiah 46-51; Ezekiel 25-32; Amos 1-2). It would be foolish to trust in nations whom God has doomed. The unifying theme is the pride of these nations. Exalting self and failing to submit to God results in destruction.
". . . He [God] will hold every nation accountable for its actions." [Note: A. Martin, Isaiah . . ., p. 47.]
Alec Motyer provided a helpful diagram of the structure of this section (chs. 13-23) and the one that follows it (chs. 24-27). [Note: Adapted from Motyer, p. 133.]
|
Babylon |
The desert by the sea (Babylon) (Isa 21:1-10) |
The city of emptiness |
|
Philistia |
Silence (Edom) |
Zion’s king |
|
Moab |
Evening (Arabia) |
The great banquet |
|
Damascus/Ephraim |
The Valley of Vision (Jerusalem) |
The city of God |
|
Egypt |
Tyre |
The final gathering |
Note that each of the first two columns of oracles (chs. 13-23) begins with Babylon, and the fourth section of each of these columns deals with Israel, which the peoples of the world surround in the literary structure of the passage. In the first column: Babylon is to Israel’s north, Philistia to the west, Moab to the east, and Egypt to the south. In the second column: Babylon is to the north, Edom to the south, Arabia to the east, and Tyre to the west. Thus the selection of these nations in the literary structure of the passage suggests that Israel occupies the central place in God’s plans, and the surrounding nations are vulnerable. [Note: See the map of Palestine at the end of these notes.]
"The oracles probably had a twofold purpose. For those leaders who insisted on getting embroiled in international politics, these oracles were a reminder that Judah need not fear foreign nations or seek international alliances for security reasons. For the righteous remnant within the nation, these oracles were a reminder that Israel’s God was indeed the sovereign ruler of the earth, worthy of his people’s trust." [Note: The NET Bible note on 13:1.]
The first series of five oracles chs. 13-20
The first series (column) shows that God has placed Israel at the center of His dealings with the Gentile nations. The second series of oracles projects the principles revealed in the first series into the future, moving from concrete historical names to more enigmatic allusions. The third series points far ahead into the eschatological future but shows that the same principles will apply then. God’s dealings with the nations in Isaiah’s day were a sign of His similar dealings with them in the future.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
A general title for chapters 13-23, and particularly the oracle against Babylon (Isa 13:2 to Isa 14:27), opens chapter 13. An oracle (or burden) is a message from God. Babylon was at this time an ancient city, it would later be an empire, and it had been in the past the historical source of arrogant self-sufficiency (Gen 11:1-9). When Isaiah wrote, it was a town within the Assyrian Empire that was asserting itself and was a real threat to Assyrian supremacy. Merodach-baladan was its king at this time (ca. 702 B.C.; cf. ch. 39). Isaiah "saw" the oracle in the sense that God enabled him to understand the things He proceeded to reveal (cf. Isa 1:1).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
BOOK 5
PROPHECIES NOT RELATING TO ISAIAH’S TIME
In the first thirty-nine chapters of the Book of Isaiah-the half which refers to the prophets own career and the politics contemporary with that – we find four or five prophecies containing no reference to Isaiah himself nor to any Jewish king under whom he laboured, and painting both Israel and the foreign world in quite a different state from that in which they lay during his lifetime. These prophecies are chapter 13, an Oracle announcing the Fall of Babylon, with its appendix, Isa 14:1-23, the Promise of Israels Deliverance and an Ode upon the Fall of the Babylonian Tyrant; chapters 24-27, a series of Visions of the breaking up of the universe, of restoration from exile, and even of resurrection from the dead; chapter 34, the Vengeance of the Lord upon Edom; and chapter 35, a Song of Return from Exile.
In these prophecies Assyria is no longer the dominant world-force, nor Jerusalem the inviolate fortress of God and His people. If Assyria or Egypt is mentioned, it is but as one of the three classical enemies of Israel; and Babylon is represented as the head and front of the hostile world. The Jews are no longer in political freedom and possession of their own land; they are either in exile or just returned from it to a depopulated country. With these altered circumstances come another temper and new doctrine. The horizon is different, and the hopes that flush in dawn upon it are not quite the same as those which we have contemplated with Isaiah in his immediate future. It is no longer the repulse of the heathen invader; the inviolateness of the sacred city; the recovery of the people from the shock of attack, and of the land from the trampling of armies. But it is the people in exile, the overthrow of the tyrant in his own home, the opening of prison doors, the laying down of a highway through the wilderness, the triumph of return, and the resumption of worship. There is, besides, a promise of the resurrection, which we have not found in the prophecies we have considered.
With such differences, it is not wonderful that many have denied the authorship of these few prophecies to Isaiah. This is a question that can be looked at calmly. It touches no dogma of the Christian faith. Especially it does not involve the other question, so often-and, we venture to say, so unjustly-started on this point, Could not the Spirit of God have inspired Isaiah to foresee all that the prophecies in question foretell, even though he lived more than a century before the people were in circumstances to understand them? Certainly, God is almighty. The question is not, Could He have done this? but one somewhat different: Did He do it? and to this an answer can be had only from the prophecies themselves. If these mark the Babylonian hostility or captivity as already upon Israel, this is a testimony of Scripture itself, which we cannot overlook, and beside which even unquestionable traces of similarity to Isaiahs style or the fact that these oracles are bound up with Isaiahs own undoubted prophecies have little weight. “Facts” of style will be regarded with suspicion by any one who knows how they are employed by both sides in such a question as this; while the certainty that the Book of Isaiah was put into its present form subsequently to his life will permit of, -and the evident purpose of Scripture to secure moral impressiveness rather than historical consecutiveness will account for, -later oracles being bound up with unquestioned utterances of Isaiah.
Only one of the prophecies in question confirms the tradition that it is by Isaiah, viz., chapter 13, which bears the title “Oracle of Babylon which Isaiah, son of Amoz, did see”; but titles are themselves so much the report of tradition, being of a later date than the rest of the text, that it is best to argue the question apart from them.
On the other hand, Isaiahs authorship of these prophecies, or at least the possibility of his having written them, is usually defended by appealing to his promise of return from exile in chapter 11 and his threat of a Babylonish captivity in chapter 39. This is an argument that has not been fairly met by those who deny the Isaianic authorship of chapters 13-14, 23, 24-28, and 35. It is a strong argument, for while, as we have seen, there are good grounds for believing Isaiah to have been likely to make such a prediction of a Babylonish captivity as is attributed to him in Isa 39:6, almost all the critics agree in leaving chapter 11 to him. But if chapter 11 is Isaiahs, then he undoubtedly spoke of an exile much more extensive than had taken place by his own day. Nevertheless, even this ability in 11 to foretell an exile so vast does not account for passages in 13-14:23, 24-27, which represent the Exile either as present or as actually over. No one who reads these chapters without prejudice can fail to feel the force of such passages in leading him to decide for an exilic or post-exilic authorship.
Another argument against attributing these prophecies to Isaiah is that their visions of the last things, representing as they do a judgment on the whole world, and even the destruction of the whole material universe, are incompatible with Isaiahs loftiest and final hope of an inviolate Zion at last relieved and secure, of a land freed from invasion and wondrously fertile, with all the converted world, Assyria and Egypt, gathered round it as a centre. This question, however, is seriously complicated by the fact that in his youth Isaiah did undoubtedly prophesy a shaking of the whole world and the destruction of its inhabitants, and by the probability that his old age survived into a period whose abounding sin would again make natural such wholesale predictions of judgment as we find in chapter 24.
Still, let the question of the eschatology be as obscure as we have shown, there remains this clear issue. In some chapters of the Book of Isaiah, which, from our knowledge of the circumstances of his times, we know must have been published while he was alive, we learn that the Jewish people has never left its land, nor lost its independence under Jehovahs anointed, and that the inviolateness of Zion and the retreat of the Assyrian invaders of Judah, without effecting the captivity of the Jews, are absolutely essential to the endurance of Gods kingdom on earth. In other chapters we find that the Jews have left their land, have been long in exile (or from other passages have just returned), and that the religious essential is no more the independence of the Jewish State under a theocratic king, but only the resumption of the Temple worship. Is it possible for one man to have written both these sets of chapters? Is it possible for one age to. have produced them? That is the whole question.