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Overview 

The vision that Isaiah wrote down now shifts to the divine judgment of the nations. Isaiah 13 begins with Babylon. It is an intense chapter, to be honest. The judgment of God will bring Babylon to its knees. 

Isaiah 13:1

The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

Babylon. If you have read the Bible, you have heard of Babylon. Babylon is mentioned 287 times in the Scriptures, more than any other city except Jerusalem. At the time of Isaiah, they were powerful, but not as powerful as Assyria. But we know that Babylon will conquer Judah, the southern kingdom, in 586 B.C.. That day is coming, but the minds of Judah were on Assyria, the great looming superpower. 

Isaiah 13:9-13

Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless. I will make people more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger. 

Isaiah does talk a lot about the Day of the Lord. This time of future judgment. A time where God will judge the world. 

Babylon, though, has a prominent role in biblical and redemptive history. As stated above, Babylon was mentioned a lot in the Bible. Tenney states, 

“Babylon was a literal city on the Euphrates river. Genesis 11:1-10 tells us that it was at Babylon where, soon after the flood, mankind formally organized in the rebellion against God. In this sense, Babylon “was the seat of the civilization that expressed organized hostility to God.” (Tenney, Interpreting Revelation).

Two peoples. The people of God and the people of Babylon. This theme continues through the New Testament. Another scholar wrote, 

“In the New Testament, the world’s system of the last days is characterized both religiously and commercially as Babylon (Revelation 17-18). Therefore, Babylon is a “suitable representation…of the idolatrous, pagan world-system in opposition to God.” (Martin)

The kingdom of God, now inaugurated by the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, is prophesied to swallow up all the kingdoms of the world. Babylon is pompous and arrogant. Notice the language of Isaiah 13. It is vivid. It shakes your soul. The poetic intensity makes you feel the heat of God’s wrath. It feels haunting, dystopian. It is like God picked up the world, shook it violently, leaving the world low, on its knees. 

Isaiah 13:17-19

Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold. Their bows will slaughter the young men; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not pity children. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.

It is prophecies like this that drive the skeptics of Christianity crazy. They will say, “This could not have been written until later. I mean, how could Isaiah know that the Medes would conquer Babylon? They were barely a blip on the global landscape in the days of Isaiah.” 

Well, in one sense. They aren’t wrong. The Median empire was in its infancy in the 8th century B.C.. But God knows all things. His eternal decrees were established in eternity past. The Bible is God’s revelation to us. He is trustworthy, so His word is trustworthy. If God says He will do to the kingdoms of the world like what He did to Sodom and Gomorroh, you should believe it. God always accomplishes His will. 

Friends, ultimately there are two paths, two peoples, two destinies. Either you are with Babylon or Jerusalem. Choose today whom you will serve.