Isaiah 13: Babylon!

We have now shifted gears and have entered new territory, albeit controversial. Having discussed the first two sections of prophecy in Isaiah, dealing with the southern tribes and the “House of Judah” in chapters 1-6, then the northern tribes and the “House of Israel” in chapters 7-12, we will now continue with the nations in chapters 13-23. In this section, Isaiah begins with a nation high on God’s list of judgments, Babylon. Interestingly, at the time of Isaiah’s prophecy and his writings, Babylon was nothing more than a city-state in the Assyrian Empire and certainly not a force to be reckoned with. Instead, the concern of those in Jerusalem was in the power of Assyria, an empire that would soon take the northern tribes captive. To remind you, under King Sennacherib, the Assyrian troops would encamp all around Jerusalem, but an angel of the Lord would kill 185,000 of them in one night. Don’t forget, God makes kings and kingdoms, and lest they boast, He is just as quick to take them out of office as put them in. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that God can allow an evil man to rule just as easily as He can place a godly man in that role. Sometimes, we can err in thinking that if God placed them in command, He is behind them. God is outside of the domain of time and uses each and every event to fit into His plan. His plan can be the overthrow of a nation. We know that God used both the Assyrians and Babylonians to punish His chosen people, the Israelites. Does that mean He favored the heathen nations? Not hardly, but He did use them for His benefit.

The controversy ahead of us in the discussion of this chapter lies in the meaning of Babylon in the Bible. Babylon began in Genesis 10 with Nimrod and the Tower of Babel. Nimrod constructed a building to reach to the heavens. In his pride, he wanted to be raised to the level of God, the Most High. God destroyed the tower, confused the language of the people and sent them to distant lands. Up until that time, all the people spoke the same language. As an empire, Babylon’s rise to power came many years later at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, son of King Nabopolassar. He was a young general in his father’s army and had a sharp, military mind. Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, was sacked in 612 B.C., which led the way for the growth of Babylon as a world power. In 606 B.C, Nebuchadnezzar’s forces conquered the Egyptians, led by Pharaoh-Necho, according to the Greek historian Herodotus. In his dynasty, Nebuchadnezzar laid siege on Jerusalem three times. In 605 B.C, he made King Jehoiakim his subject. In 597 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar returned to Jerusalem and took King Jehoiakim, and placed his son, Jehoiachin, on the throne.

Nebuchadnezzar also took 3,023 Jews into captivity at that time. Then in 588 B.C., he returned to destroy both Jerusalem and the Temple, and took the rest of the people into exile. Under Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Ancient Babylon was a wonder of the world. It was rectangular, 15 miles on each side, with a canal of the Euphrates River running through it. Its walls were 350 feet high in parts, and 87 feet thick, according to Herodotus. They would hold chariot races on top of the walls, and would race six wide! The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built by Nebuchadnezzar for his wife, to remind her of her homeland. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Hanging Gardens were destroyed in an earthquake just after the first century B.C.

After the death of Nebuchadnezzar, Nabonidus ruled and then was followed by his son, Belshazzar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. It was under the reign of Belshazzar that Babylon was captured. You can read all about that in Daniel 5. To paraphrase what happened, Belshazzar was entertaining 1,000 guests at a feast, instead of defending his territory. He had his servants bring him the gold and silver vessels Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Jewish Temple, and he and his guests desecrated those instruments of the Lord in their toasts.

5 In the same hour the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. 6 Then the king's countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other.
Daniel 5:5-6 (NKJV)

The handwriting on the wall, according to an interpretation by Daniel, told of the days of Belshazzar’s kingdom being numbered, him being weighed in the balance and found wanting, and that his kingdom had been given to the Medes and Persians. That night, Cyrus conquered Babylon without a battle. This is a very important aspect of our study, so keep this in mind later. Cyrus dammed the waters of the Euphrates and came untouched through the moat. Daniel showed King Cyrus a scroll of Isaiah, and in that scroll, written 150 years earlier, Cyrus was mentioned as an instrument of God. We will study this in Isaiah 44-45, but if you feel like jumping ahead, feel free! Cyrus, obviously amazed by the power of God, returned the Jews from captivity and even financed some of the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem by Nehemiah.

The last subject I would like to mention, before reading Isaiah 13, is that it can easily be applied to other areas of the Bible. Bible scholar Chuck Missler instructs students to read three pairs of chapters, to see the similarities of terms and descriptions, along with some differences. If you are inclined to do that before continuing, those chapters are Isaiah 13 and 14; Jeremiah 50 and 51; and Revelation 17 and 18. So, finally, let’s read Chapter 13:

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."
Isaiah 13:1-22 (NKJV)

Let’s begin with the controversy, which will give each of you the opportunity to see what you think, as we continue through the chapter. Babylon is mentioned many times in the Bible. According to the Bible, Babylon is the birthplace of all false religions. The discussion of Babylon begins in Genesis, and still remains prominent in the Book of Revelation. In this chapter, and in others, we will see the prophecy of the “Destruction of Babylon.” Is that the same as the “Fall of Babylon?” Bible scholars I respect very much differ on this in many ways. J. Vernon McGee believed that much of this chapter came to fruition when Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians. He believed that Babylon would be rebuilt, but at a different location. Dave Hunt, noted author of “A Woman Rides the Beast,” believes that the use of the word Babylon in Revelation is allegorical of Rome. Some believe that Babylon is actually New York City! One of my dearest friends, Rusty Foster, who has taught the Bible for 50 years, agrees with Dave Hunt, based on the following verse written by Peter:

12 By Silvanus, our faithful brother as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand. 13 She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.
1 Peter 5:12-14 (NKJV)

Where was Peter when writing this epistle? Many think he was in Rome. Others say he was in Babylon, or they say it was another city named Babylon, in a different location. Regardless, if the word is used as a metaphor of Rome, it could make the Babylon in the Book of Revelation the city of Rome. Hunt makes a strong case for that argument. Yet, many are more prone to the literal interpretation of the Bible. God means what He says and says what He means, even if we can’t see His plan. I think the use of the word Israel in end times prophecies is a great example of this. As mentioned before, with Israel being gone from the world for 1,800 years, many did not see the literal usage of that word in relation to the end times. I believe that is exactly what God is doing here. Most of us believe we are in the end times now. Though the United States has not fought wars in the Middle East until the last 25 years, it once again finds itself involved in a war in Iraq. The main city is Baghdad, but 62 miles to the south lays Babylon. Under the command of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqis began to rebuild the once majestic city. Some of Nebuchadnezzar’s palaces have been rebuilt already. By no means has the city been completed, but look what happened in Germany and Japan after World War II. Americans and American money rebuilt the areas they had bombed. This could happen to Iraq and Babylon just as easily. Read this statement from Wikipedia on Babylon:

“Interestingly enough, an article published in April 2006 states that UN officials and Iraqi leaders have big plans for restoring Babylon, making it a gem of a new Iraq as a cultural center complete with shopping malls, hotels, and maybe even a theme park. ’One day millions of people will visit Babylon.’"

I don’t know, but a future generation will know for sure. Stay tuned for details! Let’s start with verses 1-4:

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.

These are not popular prophecies for Isaiah, preaching doom and gloom to the Israelis and the nations surrounding them. It could have been a burden on his shoulder, apart from the fact that he was sent by the Lord, who made his yoke easy and his burden light. Even if they did not believe what he had to say, there would have been a hesitancy of wondering what was about to happen. The Lord warned them all many times. Raising banners on a high mountain seems to point to the many kingdoms gathering together. While battles are usually fought in the valleys, the view from the mountaintops can aid in planning the strategy, and offers a great view of the action. God has called His sanctified ones and His mighty ones for His anger. Though this may apply to the “Fall of Babylon,” I know it applies to the Great Tribulation. To be sanctified is to be set apart, and each of us as a Christian is set apart by God, for His usage, at His time! Do you rejoice in His exaltation? I sure do! That makes us His mighty ones and His sanctified ones. At the Battle of Armageddon, we will be clothed in white alongside our general, Jesus. This will be a noisy time. Think of the Battle of Jericho, as the troops surrounded the city and made noise all the way around. It says in verse four that the kingdoms of nations are gathered together. I guess that could mean the Medes and Persians, but the language usage makes me think it is a larger group of nations. This seems like the battle at the end of the tribulation to me. The Lord prepares the army for battle. Let’s continue with verses 5-8:

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.

Once again, this doesn’t seem to apply to the Medo-Persian Empire. They were not from a far country, but the one next door. God’s army comes from heaven, and He will destroy the whole land. Verse 6 gives us a reference that should demonstrate that this is yet to occur. The phrase we have seen many times already in our study, and is used many other times in the Bible, refers to a specific time period— “the day of the Lord is at hand!” This is when God returns in wrath and judgment on a sinful world. Having stood on the hill in Megiddo looking over the plains, it is chilling to picture blood as deep as a horse’s bridle told about in the Bible. Yet this seems to be the time frame discussed here. The destruction will come from the Almighty. If you have ever seen “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” it seems that these verses apply to what was depicted there. Every hand will be limp and their hearts will melt. If you can’t raise your hand, you can defend yourself or attack others. A melted heart softens like butter, though it was hard and cold. But it is too late! They will be afraid. When faced with omnipotent God, and seeing themselves on the wrong side, there is no other emotion than fear that can occur. “Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them.” Can you imagine the sorrow of living your life without belief in God? When faced with the conclusive proof that He exists and He is about to punish you, the sorrow will be immense. There is no turning back in their lives, as they have taken the mark of the beast. If you are reading this in pre-tribulation times, you can remedy that right now. God will forgive all of your sins now. Once a person has taken the mark of the beast, that remedy will be gone forever! In reference to that mark, I have wondered if that is part of what God was doing with the Jews in the Holocaust. The Jews in the camps were tattooed with numbers. It was demoralizing for those who died, but a daily memory for the survivors, who retained the mark for the rest of their lives. After that, there is no way they will allow anyone to put a number on them! This might save many from a great mistake, an irreversible one. “They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth.” Being a man, I don’t know what that pain is like, but as many have said before, if men had to give birth, the most they would ever have would be one child. Birth pains are known for two characteristics--they increase in intensity and frequency as the event approaches. “They will be amazed at one another and their faces will be like flames.” In battle, there are always certain warriors who emerge with courage. They have no fear and those who are quaking in their boots turn to the courageous for leadership. In this battle, those leaders will be just as afraid as the followers as no one can emerge to deliver them from a wrathful God. I can picture these faces melting, as in “Raiders.” Now, verses 9-12:

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.

The prophecy continues in the discussion of the Day of the Lord. This day will “lay the land desolate.” While Babylon is desolate today, it did not become desolate on the day when Cyrus marched in without a battle and took the city. In fact, Cyrus made Babylon his capital. Years later, Alexander the Great took Babylon and he also made it his capital. After the days of Alexander, when his four generals divided the territories Alexander had conquered, trade routes changed and Babylon slowly became less important. That doesn’t sound like the immediate destruction described here. God will destroy the sinners from it. Then comes an amazing description of the darkness in Babylon that certainly is a future event. Read the following verses and see the similarities:

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Matthew 24:29-30 (NKJV)

That sure sounds like the same event depicted by Isaiah. Here’s another, written by John:

12 Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. 13 And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!"
Revelation 8:12-13 (NKJV)

Can you imagine the panic brought forth by utter darkness? As we know, light exposes evil and without light, there is terror. The people in Alaska get a little nutty in the times of the year with no sun. This is literal and allegorical, as Jesus is the Light of the world. Without Him, there is no light, but this refers to literal darkness, just as much. The verses say that God is going to punish the world for its evil. It should be apparent that this is not a prophecy limited to Babylon at the hands of the Medes and Persians. The entire world is being punished. This is the Great Tribulation! Pride, arrogance and haughtiness are once again described as the reason for destruction. We will see the foundation of that sin in our next chapter! Let’s continue with verses 13-16:

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.

I remember reading that after the 9.3 Indonesian earthquake that the earth was shifted a few inches off its axis. Scientists have spent hours discussing the ramifications of a nuclear event, and the effect that would have on the entire world. God created this world in perfection. If we were spinning faster, we would hurtle into space. His plan was a perfect one and there in no possibility that a big bang or evolution created the balance of forces to enable life here. The event discussed here, and in other places in the Bible, could be direct fire from heaven. Yet, as we have already seen, God can use man for His purposes. This also could be a nuclear event caused by man. God knows the cause just as easily as He knows the effect. One of the effects is that the earth will move out of her place. Does that change the orbit of the planet? The description of the “sheep that no man takes up” is interesting as well. If we are the sheep taken up in the rapture, is this referring to the sheep, who have turned to God in this time? The following language is almost identical in Jeremiah 50 and 51: every man “will flee to his own land.” To me, when faced with sure death and destruction, no longer able to put together a plan of attack to change the outcome, we just want to be with our loved ones. That is what I see here. Every single person captured will die. There are no prisoners of war. This does not just affect the soldiers, or the men, as their wives and children will be killed as well. This reminds me of the request of God to the Jews when taking over the Promised Land. God wanted all the people out of the land, so that the Jews would not fall prey to the false idols of the people. The Jews did not listen, married some of the foreigners and followed the gods of the women. The “take no prisoners” approach is a definitive end! Let’s discuss verses 17-20:

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.

This mention of the Medes leads many Bible scholars to apply this to the end of the Babylonian Empire. Yet it is interesting to see it from another perspective. Who are the Medes today? They are the Kurds, the tribe that Saddam Hussein attempted to destroy. The international political community was sickened by the mass murder of thousands of Kurds, mostly civilians. The anti-Kurd campaign by the Iraqi government was called “Arfal,” meaning “spoils of war.” Two thousand villages were leveled and as many as 100,000 Kurds were killed in the campaign. Can you see why the Medes will not need the promise of money to defeat Babylon? As they say, revenge is a dish best served cold. While the weapons of choice here are “bows,” this could be an Old Testament description that includes our modern-day weaponry. Let’s see a similar verse in Jeremiah:

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.
Jeremiah 50:9 (NKJV)

This is rather interesting. The arrows “shall be like those of an expert warrior,” none will miss! That sure sounds to me like smart missiles of today, where we can dial in the coordinates of where we want them to hit. Once again, we have an Old Testament man and his description of future times. This vision must have stunned Isaiah! None will be spared, whether it is young children, pregnant women or little babies. The following phrase in the passage is one that seems to point to the actual Babylon, rather than Rome, New York City or a host of other worldwide, prominent sites. Babylon is described as a glorious kingdom and “the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride.” It doesn’t matter how beautiful it was, pride is not good in the eyes of the Lord. We see a phrase here that emphasizes the totality of destruction. Babylon will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. Has that happened yet? No! We have no idea where Sodom and Gomorrah were as there are no remains. We know exactly where Babylon stood, and some of the buildings are still there. Yes, there are many cities in the world that have been destroyed and rebuilt, and while Babylon has not become a metropolis, it is certainly in the state of being rebuilt. While there might not be a large population there, the city has been partially inhabited for many years. This does not seem to apply to ancient Babylon, but to future Babylon. Let’s finish the chapter:

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."

This is also language consistent with the passages in Jeremiah. Once again, let’s look at that:

"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.
Jeremiah 50:39-40 (NKJV)

This looks pretty similar to me. “Her days will not be prolonged” shows that this will be the end for Babylon. Revelation describes it as taking an hour. This will be immediate destruction. To wrap this up, let me reiterate that I don’t know exactly what is going to happen. Nor do I know how much of this applies to ancient Babylon as opposed to current or future Babylon. I do know that Christians alive when the events happen will know exactly what it is in reference to. This is my point of view, and there are respected scholars who agree strongly and disagree just as strongly. This is not a difference of doctrine, or how we follow the Lord. Just remember, as a Christian, try to look for similarities with fellow believers rather than differences. It will all seem pretty meaningless when we are worshipping together at the feet of our Lord. If you have an opinion on this subject, measure it against the Word. If the Lord wants you to know, He will reveal it to you in His Word! If He doesn’t, it wasn’t important for you to know!