Isaiah 13: 1 – 22
It Isn’t A Parade I Hear
1 The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. 2 “ Lift up a banner on the high mountain, raise your voice to them; Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles. 3 I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have also called My mighty ones for My anger— Those who rejoice in My exaltation.” 4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts musters the army for battle. 5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven— The LORD and His weapons of indignation, to destroy the whole land. 6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. 7 Therefore all hands will be limp, every man’s heart will melt, 8 And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames. 9 Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. 11 “ I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. 12 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, a man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts and in the day of His fierce anger. 14 It shall be as the hunted gazelle, and as a sheep that no man takes up; Every man will turn to his own people, and everyone will flee to his own land. 15 Everyone who is found will be thrust through, and everyone who is captured will fall by the sword. 16 Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished. 17 “ Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not regard silver; And as for gold, they will not delight in it. 18 Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces, and they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb; Their eye will not spare children. 19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It will never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from generation to generation; Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there. 21 But wild beasts of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will caper there. 22 The hyenas will howl in their citadels, and jackals in their pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.”
Someone walked up to me and said, ‘I have a burden for you’. My first thoughts were that this person worked for UPS or the Postal Service. Perhaps, somehow this person had thought that they could bless me with a 50 inch TV and had trouble lifting it by themselves. That wasn’t exactly what the person meant. So, exactly what is a burden? Is a burden good or bad? Is it physical or emotional? Good questions to ask ourselves. According to the dictionary a ‘burden’ is:
something that is carried : LOAD b DUTY, REPONSIBILITY
something oppressive or worrisome
the bearing of a load —usually used in the phrase beast of burden b : capacity for carrying cargo
So we see that a ‘burden’ can be physical such as the carrying of a heavy object. It can also be emotional in that something about yourself or others is oppressive or worrisome. Now as we begin our study of this chapter and others we will come across this word on many occasions. In verse 1 of chapter 13 we see that the prophet Isaiah has a burden relative to the nation of Babylon.
1 The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
As we have learned Isaiah was bothered by the nation of Babylon. Please note the important word, ‘saw’. Our Precious Holy God gave His representative a look into the future. It was like Isaiah was watching a ‘horror movie’ In this vision he saw the cruel conditions that would be inflicted on his people. For a moment consider yourself a Jew living before the 1930’s and our Holy Father allowed you to see the film footage of the Holocaust. Would you consider those pictures a great burden? You sure would. This was the film that was shown to Isaiah. It wasn’t one of Germany but the horror caused by the Babylonian army. Isaiah wanted our Lord to deal with this enemy. And now He does
2 “ Lift up a banner on the high mountain, raise your voice to them; Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles. 3 I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have also called My mighty ones for My anger— Those who rejoice in My exaltation.” 4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts musters the army for battle. 5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven— The LORD and His weapons of indignation, to destroy the whole land.
In World War II I had wondered where did Germany get all the soldiers? If you do a little research you will see that they recruited soldiers from the surrounding countries to join their ranks. In chapter 50 of the book of Jeremiah we read about the attack on Babylon from many countries. They all got together to go against Babylon;
“1 The word that the LORD spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. 2 “ Declare among the nations, proclaim, and set up a standard; Proclaim—do not conceal it— Say, ‘Babylon is taken, Bel is shamed. Merodach is broken in pieces; Her idols are humiliated, her images are broken in pieces.’ 3 For out of the north a nation comes up against her, which shall make her land desolate, and no one shall dwell therein. They shall move, they shall depart, both man and beast. 4 “ In those days and in that time,” says the LORD, “ The children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; With continual weeping they shall come, and seek the LORD their God. 5 They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces toward it, saying, ‘Come and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten.’ 6 “ My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray; They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill; They have forgotten their resting place. 7 All who found them have devoured them; And their adversaries said, ‘We have not offended, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, The LORD, the hope of their fathers.’ 8 “ Move from the midst of Babylon, go out of the land of the Chaldeans; And be like the rams before the flocks. 9 For behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country, and they shall array themselves against her; From there she shall be captured. Their arrows shall be like those of an expert warrior; None shall return in vain. 10 And Chaldea shall become plunder; All who plunder her shall be satisfied,” says the LORD. 11 “ Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, you destroyers of My heritage, because you have grown fat like a heifer threshing grain, and you bellow like bulls, 12 Your mother shall be deeply ashamed; She who bore you shall be ashamed. Behold, the least of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land and a desert. 13 Because of the wrath of the LORD she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be horrified and hiss at all her plagues. 14 “ Put yourselves in array against Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow; Shoot at her, spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the LORD. 15 Shout against her all around; She has given her hand, her foundations have fallen, her walls are thrown down; For it is the vengeance of the LORD. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, so do to her. 16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle at harvest time. For fear of the oppressing sword everyone shall turn to his own people, and everyone shall flee to his own land. 17 “ Israel is like scattered sheep; The lions have driven him away. First the king of Assyria devoured him; Now at last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.” 18 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “ Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. 19 But I will bring back Israel to his home, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan; His soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead. 20 In those days and in that time,” says the LORD, “ The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none; And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found; For I will pardon those whom I preserve. 21 “ Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Waste and utterly destroy them,” says the LORD, “ And do according to all that I have commanded you. 22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. 23 How the hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations! 24 I have laid a snare for you; You have indeed been trapped, O Babylon, and you were not aware; You have been found and also caught, because you have contended against the LORD. 25 The LORD has opened His armory, and has brought out the weapons of His indignation; For this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. 26 Come against her from the farthest border; Open her storehouses; Cast her up as heaps of ruins, and destroy her utterly; Let nothing of her be left. 27 Slay all her bulls, let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their punishment. 28 The voice of those who flee and escape from the land of Babylon declares in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of His temple. 29 “ Call together the archers against Babylon. All you who bend the bow, encamp against it all around; Let none of them escape. Repay her according to her work; According to all she has done, do to her; For she has been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel. 30 Therefore her young men shall fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day,” says the LORD. 31 “ Behold, I am against you, O most haughty one!” says the Lord GOD of hosts; “ For your day has come, the time that I will punish you.32 The most proud shall stumble and fall, and no one will raise him up; I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it will devour all around him.” 33 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “ The children of Israel were oppressed, along with the children of Judah; All who took them captive have held them fast; They have refused to let them go. 34 Their Redeemer is strong; The LORD of hosts is His name. He will thoroughly plead their case, that He may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. 35 “ A sword is against the Chaldeans,” says the LORD, “ Against the inhabitants of Babylon, and against her princes and her wise men. 36 A sword is against the soothsayers, and they will be fools. A sword is against her mighty men, and they will be dismayed. 37 A sword is against their horses, against their chariots, and against all the mixed peoples who are in her midst; And they will become like women. A sword is against her treasures, and they will be robbed. 38 A drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is the land of carved images, and they are insane with their idols. 39 “Therefore the wild desert beasts shall dwell there with the jackals, and the ostriches shall dwell in it. It shall be inhabited no more forever, nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. 40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors,” says the LORD, “ So no one shall reside there, nor son of man dwell in it. 41 “ Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation and many kings shall be raised up from the ends of the earth. 42 They shall hold the bow and the lance; They are cruel and shall not show mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea; They shall ride on horses, set in array, like a man for the battle, against you, O daughter of Babylon. 43 “ The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, and his hands grow feeble; Anguish has taken hold of him, pangs as of a woman in childbirth. 44 “ Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the floodplain of the Jordan against the dwelling place of the strong; But I will make them suddenly run away from her. And who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her? For who is like Me? Who will arraign Me? And who is that shepherd who will withstand Me?” 45 Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD that He has taken against Babylon, and His purposes that He has proposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out; Surely He will make their dwelling place desolate with them. 46 At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles, and the cry is heard among the nations.”
The countries of the world are called together to fight against Babylon. A banner is to be set up on a bare mountain for all the soldiers to see. 2 “ Lift up a banner on the high mountain, raise your voice to them; Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles. 3 I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have also called My mighty ones for My anger— Those who rejoice in My exaltation.”
Here at the commander’s tent the decision is made for the battle plans which involve a complete destruction of everything and everyone in the land.
This Commander Is Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High. 4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts musters the army for battle. 5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven— The LORD and His weapons of indignation, to destroy the whole land.
6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
The punishment that is imposed against Babylon is coming from our Holy El Shaddai – God Almighty. We read about this Day of the Lord also in the book of Amos chapter 5, 16 Therefore the LORD God of hosts, the Lord, says this: “There shall be wailing in all streets, and they shall say in all the highways, ‘ Alas! Alas!’ They shall call the farmer to mourning, and skillful lamenters to wailing. 17 In all vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through you,” Says the LORD. 18 Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! For what good is the day of the LORD to you? It will be darkness, and not light. 19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him! 20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it? “
Please note the emphasis of wailing and howling. We can read some things and take them for granted. When you stop and meditate on exactly what is said and what is going on, then you begin to understand the significance of the Scripture passages. For example, what is wailing or howling like and why is it done? I know as kids you howl like a dog to be funny. However, in real life this action is usually the result of great stress and shock. Have you ever been to a funeral? When you observe someone who has lost a close love, uncontrolled tears flow whenever the person thinks about the deceased. Sometimes, the person loses control and reacts physically and vocally with a grotesque wailing or possibly howling. This kind of behavior bothers us and most want to get away from a person who is exhibiting this type of emotional outburst. This is what is happening in these passages
7 Therefore all hands will be limp, every man’s heart will melt, 8 And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames.
The panic will affect every person living in Babylon - 7 Therefore all hands will be limp, every man’s heart will melt,” Do these words sound familiar? - 8 And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames.” The apostle Paul took up this passage in chapter 5 of his 1 letter to the Thessalonians, when he gave additional instruction regarding the Day of The Lord. “1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.”
A woman with child will deliver a baby in a set time. When the labor begins you know that the time of birth if very near. Similarly, the intensity of signs will help us understand that the Day of the Lord is ready to break forth.
There is no need to try to interpret what the Lord Is saying. His purposes are very clear,
9 Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. 11 “ I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
His first actions are the total desolation of the land and the destruction of the land. Look at verse 9 - 9 Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it.
We read next some weird happenings - 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.” Could this be a result of nuclear attack or possibly volcanic eruptions? If these things occurred then you would not be able to see the heavens.
The reason again is for the number one type of sin – pride 11 “ I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
Now we will see in the next few verses, the perils the people will face, which is quite shocking. In fact, you will see a similarity to the very same issues that we are presently undergoing. The thing to think about, is that, is our country another Babylon in God’s opinion. Are we facing the same exact judgments that He has against Babylon? Let’s see some of these destructive storms that are ready to come upon us and our land.
12 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, a man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts and in the day of His fierce anger. 14 It shall be as the hunted gazelle, and as a sheep that no man takes up; Every man will turn to his own people, and everyone will flee to his own land. 15 Everyone who is found will be thrust through, and everyone who is captured will fall by the sword. 16 Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished.
1. Monetary values will crash - 12 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, a man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.
The United States is presently monetizing its money. What do I mean by this? We just keep printing more money and throw it into the system.
Well, we are now the world’s leading debtor. We owe close to 14 trillion dollars and this does not include over 50 million that our government has in debts that are off the books, that is for example, how our rotten politicians have taken Social Security funds and spent the money and placed in IOU slips. If only our rulers looked at the Holy Masters life instruction book, the bible, they would have known how to make righteous decisions. In the book of Deuteronomy chapter 15 we read, 1 “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts. 2 And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the LORD’s release. 3 Of a foreigner you may require it; but you shall give up your claim to what is owed by your brother, 4 except when there may be no poor among you; for the LORD will greatly bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance— 5 only if you carefully obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe with care all these commandments which I command you today. 6 For the LORD your God will bless you just as He promised you; you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you. “ We went from being the world’s leading lender now to the world’s debtor. Do you think this result was due to our nation’s sins?
2. The planetary patterns will not be the same - 13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts and in the day of His fierce anger.
In the book of Job chapter 26 our Creator spoke about His miraculous balance of the earths rotation.” 7 He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.” If you just think about this for awhile you are overwhelmed by the Lord’s unique ability. On you own do a little research on asteroids and meteors and see the potential damage that they can do to the earth. In reality, each day that we live without being destroyed is a miracle.
3. Violence will be rampant - 14 It shall be as the hunted gazelle, and as a sheep that no man takes up; Every man will turn to his own people, and everyone will flee to his own land. 15 Everyone who is found will be thrust through, and everyone who is captured will fall by the sword. 16 Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished.
Sometimes in a speech I will say that we consider a good day in the city of Brotherly Love, when the murder rates are in the single digits. Road rage, going Postal, domestic violence, and physical abuse to spouses, children, and the elderly are epidemic in our country.
Do we think that God does not care? Is He just ignoring all this travesty? Will He ever step in and right the wrongs done to the innocent? Yes, He will. And how He will do it will often times surprise people. In this case our Lord is going to use the Medes to judge Babylon. Who He will use to judge us remains to be unveiled.
17 “ Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not regard silver; And as for gold, they will not delight in it. 18 Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces, and they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb; Their eye will not spare children.
The Medes are the people who live on the border areas of Turkey and Iraq today. They are called Kurds. These people , if you know your current history well, were killed by Suddam Hussan in the millions. Remember all the insults President George Bush went through because the evil media kept reporting that the US couldn’t find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Hello, what do you think Saddam used to kill the Kurds. He used poison gas to kill millions of men, women and children. Anyone who would be willing to investigate would know that these weapons of mass destruction were shipped to Syria before the US attack on Iraq.
The Medes or who we know today as the Kurds are not interested in worldly pursuits. You will note the reference to ‘silver and gold’. This means that they cannot be bought off.
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It will never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from generation to generation; Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there. 21 But wild beasts of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will caper there. 22 The hyenas will howl in their citadels, and jackals in their pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.”
We now read of the future outcome for Babylon. It was once one of the most beautiful cities in the world however modern conditions are like our version of a ghost town. 19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It will never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from generation to generation; Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there. 21 But wild beasts of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will caper there. 22 The hyenas will howl in their citadels, and jackals in their pleasant palaces.
Saddam rebuilt the city of Babylon. However, it never measured up to any of the past descriptions. No one lives there. It is like an old tourist park that is closed. The city is all dressed up and has no where to go. You can be assured, if the Lord has said something will happen, in His right timing, it will happen as we read in the last verse - . Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.”
May You Reign in Honor and Majesty due to Your Holy Name, oh God Most High.
.
