Prophecy: Isaiah

Implications from Isaiah 13:1-22

Isaiah 13:1-22 is a prophesy written by Isaiah. It is written to the people of Judah, and is a warning for the destruction of Babylon. The prophecy is telling that God will judge the Babylonians by destroying them. His means for doing this is the Medes, who were also an unrighteous people. Isaiah says that the Medes will destroy Babylon and nothing or no one will be able to stop them. This was a grave warning that the Lord will punish sin. If God would severely reckon with those for their sins that knew Him not and made no profession for His name. How severe would he be with those that were called by His name and yet lived in rebellion against Him.¹ Though this prophecy was to cause a great fear among all people, it was also to bring a great comfort. Another purpose for the writing of this prophecy was to comfort the Israelite people. They were the Lord's chosen people and He was going to deliver them if they feared Him.

This prophecy was fulfilled. Isaiah only mentions the Medes in this passage, but the Persians had a key role in Babylons downfall. In 539 B.C. the Medes and Persian army overtook the Babylonian empire and they were destroyed. Isaiah probably only mentioned the Medes because of their terrifying reputation.

The first implication from this passage is that God is just. Because He is a holy and perfect God he must judge the unrighteous. Isaiah 13:19 reminds the people of God's justice. It says Babylon will be “like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.” The people of this time are fully aware of the destruction God brought upon Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sin. “For Isaiah, Sodom and Gomorrah were the paradigm for what he perceived to be happening in the world.” ² Sodom and Gomorrah was filled with sin and those who had turned from God, just like the rest of the world. It is the human pride that has stirred up the anger of God. Just like Sodom and Gomorrah, Babylon is sitting in the pride of their sin, and that will bring the wrath of God to them. Isaiah know that God hates sin and he will be consistent in His judgement. Isaiah 13:11 ensures that God will “put an end to the pomp of the arrogant,
and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.”

The second implication drawn from this passage is that God is faithful to His people. The Babylonians are oppressing the Israelites. They have wronged the people of God. By judging them God is showing His faithfulness to His people. In the very next chapter Isaiah writes “The LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel.”

The final implication from this passage is that God is sovereign over all. Verse 13 insists that God is the Lord of hosts and even the heavens and earth will react when His wrath is poured out upon sin. He is sovereign over His chosen people, but He also has complete power over the nations that have set themselves against Him. First, His sovereign power is seen in the destruction of Babylon. They have sinned against a holy and perfect God and they must be judged. Second, God's sovereignty is seen in the movement of the Medes. Verse 4 says that “The LORD of hosts is mustering a host for battle,” This host is the Medes. Though the Medes were a sinful nation that hated God, the Lord uses them as His vessel to bring about His great judgement on Babylon. Verse 18 says that they will not even have pity on the children that are in Babylon.

Isaiah 13 is a clear display of the holiness of God. Because of this holiness, He is both gracious and just. Exodus 34: 6-7 says “God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.” He will show great mercy to His chosen people, but He will judge those who set their faces against Him.

1Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (United States of America: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2007), 1103.

2John n. Oswalt, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1986), 309.