ISAIAH 13

It has been remarked that there is no structure to chapters 13-23, but in general the countries mentioned criss-cross over Israel in various directions and they begin with Babylon (the harlot of the land) and conclude with Tyre, the harlot of the sea.

One main point of Nations Oracles is to state that Yahweh is not a national God, but a God over all the world. In the Nations Oracles, specific historical judgments are linked with apocalyptic events.

Jeremiah 50-51 may have provided some of the raw material for this oracle. Ezekiel 7 also shares common language. There may have been a common source for much of prophecies against the nations. Zechariah 14 borrows from some in Isaiah.

Babylon was only an Assyrian province at time of Isaiah's writing (although the city was its most important one) and only became an oppressor of Israel about 100 years afterwards. The fulfillment of these prophecies occurred in 539 BC when Babylon was conquered by the Medes and Persians. By the late 4^th century BC, Babylon was totally abandoned.

Babylon is a type of the City of Man (see Isaiah 13:5,9,11). And the king of Babylon (Isaiah 14) is a type of Satan (see Luke 10:18; 2 Corinthians 11:14).

v. 1 Root meaning of massa is to carry (burden) or to lift up (i.e. the voice).

v. 3 Consecrated does not mean that they were holy or righteous, only that they were serving God's cause even if they didn't know it.

v. 4b Literally, the Lord of armies is mustering an army.

v. 5 “Whole earth” may just mean “land” here and in verse 9. But the word in verse 11 definitely means the whole world. “This is the city of man, not of one nation.” (New Bible Commentary) Babylon stands for any world empire opposed to God. It has this meaning from the Tower of Babel in Genesis to the Book of Revelation.

v. 10 The word for constellation refers to Orion, associated with a Babylonian hero-god.

vv. 10, 13 Darkness and earthquakes often accompany a theophany.

v. 11 Human pride turns us against each other and ultimately leads to our destruction.

v. 12 Ophir is probably in Yemen.

v. 16 This is related to the wish in Psalm137. Vindication of God is necessary, usually accomplished by war in which the innocent will unfortunately also suffer.

v. 17 identifies time of events as just before fall of Babylon in 539 BC. Somewhat similar to the Book of Revelation concerning the fall of Babylon. [Other wars against Babylon occurred in 521 and 482.]

v. 17b indicates that the Medes cannot be bought off with bribes.

vv. 17-18 Medes and Persians actually took the city of Babylon without a fight by diverting the Euphrates River from under the city and sneaking in with the help of two deserters. This may be good evidence that it was an actual prophecy rather than one after the fact.

v. 19 Description of Babylon's glory uses the same terms as description of the Messiah in 4:2. Which will be the most glorious?

vv. 20-21 Fulfillment attested by many archeologists, etc. “Travelers report that the city is absolutely uninhabited, even by Bedouins. There are various superstitions current among the Arabs that prevent them from pitching their tents there, while the character of the soil prevents the growth of vegetation suitable for the pasturage of flocks.” Seleucids after Alexander's death around 400 AD decided that restoring the rubble of the city was too expensive so they built a new city forty miles away which took away any remaining commerce. (from Evidence That Demands a Verdict, pp. 317.) It was utterly deserted by 600 AD.

vv. 21-22. Other similar descriptions of deserted towns are given in Isaiah. They were supposed to be ideal place for various evil beings and unclean animals (not all are clearly identifiable in this text).