13. Isaiah Chapter Thirteen
Part Ib Prophecies Against Gentile Nations
Chapters 13-23 Isaiah Chapter 13
Chapters thirteen to twenty-three consist of oracles concerning surrounding Gentile nations. These come appropriately after the great subject of Messianic prophecies in chapters seven to twelve. It had been foretold therein that the authority of the Messiah will be exercised over all the kingdoms of the world, and consolatory messages had been given concerning the ultimate blessing and glory of Israel. Accordingly the doom of these Gentile powers one after another is predicted.
First comes Babylon. For the Chaldean rule would succeed the already doomed Assyrian. It must, however, be borne in mind that many of the utterances go beyond the more immediate judgment upon that power.
Isaiah 13:2-5 are descriptive of the Medes, who are mentioned in Isaiah 13:17, and of the Persians; Isaiah 13:4 speaks of kingdoms (plural). These combined powers are called "My consecrated ones," i.e., those chosen by God for the fulfillment of His counsels against Babylon (Isaiah 13:3). That they "rejoice in His highness," or excellency, does not necessarily imply a consciousness on their part that they are acting for God’s glory. Yet the Persians regarded the destruction of idols as part of their vocation, and Cyrus the Persian did rejoice in the recognition of God and the fulfillment of His mind (cp. Isaiah 44:28; Isaiah 45:1, and see Ezra 1:1-4). The Medo-Persian powers were to be "the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole land" (i.e., Chaldea). From Isaiah 13:6-13 the prophecy passes from the doom of Babylon to the future judgments of God upon the whole world at the end of this age, in the time of the coming "Day of the Lord." This is indicated by the mention of "the world" (tebel, not eretz, land) in Isaiah 13:11. In Isaiah 13:9 "the land" should be "the earth." With this passage the following should be compared: Isaiah 34:1-8; Joel 2:31; Joel 3:15; Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24; Luke 21:25.
Isaiah 13:12 foretells the reduction of the world’s population at the time of the end, as the Lord Himself has foretold in Matthew 24:22.
Isaiah 13:14, if rightly translated, returns to the destruction of Babylon, as the rest of the chapter makes clear: "And it shall come to pass [the "it" is not a pronoun, referring to the earth], as with a gazelle which is scared, and as a flock without gatherers, they shall turn every one to his own people, and flee every one to his own land." That is to say, all foreigners would escape from the city, which attracted them as being the market of the world. The Medes, under Darius, began a work of destruction. Alexander the Great purposed rebuilding it, but his early death prevented it. In 20 b.c., Strabo described the site as a "a vast desolation." And yet Isaiah 13:19-22 have never had a complete fulfillment. Its destruction has never been like that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Here again the principle of expanded prophecy in a twofold fulfillment is exemplified. The key to the question as to whether Babylon is yet to be a fresh center and to receive its complete destruction, is provided at the beginning of chapter fourteen, which begins with the word "For," i.e., as an explanation of what has preceded. Chapter fourteen introduces the day of Israel’s deliverance and Millennial blessing, and it is in the day that the Lord gives them rest from sorrow and fear and bondage, that they will rejoice in the destruction of Babylon and utter their taunt against the city’s oppressor.
There would be little or no point in Israel’s glorious note of triumph over the destruction that took place over two thousand years ago. See, too, the prophecy of Zechariah 5:11. It is not at all unlikely that part of the coming Antichristian policy of defiance of God, will be the resuscitation of the great city, and that the prophecy of this passage in Isaiah will then have its complete fulfillment (see also Revelation 18:1-24).