13:1.
“The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.”
The “burden”
refers to the revelation God was about to give Isaiah concerning the fate
of Babylon.
Though there
isn’t any obvious reason for describing Isaiah as “the son of Amoz,” it is
interesting to note that Amoz means to be strong, courageous, so it’s
not surprising to find that Isaiah, his son, seems to have been similarly
endued.
Babylon,
meaning confusion (by mixing), is a type of the false religion of
apostate Christendom (Roman Catholic and Protestant), and particularly of
the great false church that will consist of the union of both in the coming
Great Tribulation. Only the spiritually blind will fail to see that
everything is already tending toward that evil marriage, with ever
increasing speed.
The
destruction that overtook ancient Babylon however, is but a typological
foreshadowing of that which will befall the diabolic system that has been
centered in Rome for almost twenty centuries, and that continues to lord it
over the millions of its duped adherents.
13:2.
“Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them,
shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.”
The banner was
to be set up on a high place where all would see it, while by voice, and
hand motions the Medes and Persians were to be summoned together for the
destruction of Babylon.
Scholars
differ as to whether the call to “go into the gates of the nobles” was to
enlist the aid of the aristocracy, or to ravage the houses of the wealthy
Babylonians. The latter is the more likely, for the Roman Catholic church,
which Babylon represents, is one of the wealthiest entities on earth;
consider for example the millions she paid out in reparation following the
recent scandal that erupted in connection with the activity of her
homosexual priests.
The larger
picture points to the activity of the Tribulation age Beast ruler who will
be God’s instrument for the destruction of the great false Roman Catholic
church, see Revelation 17-18, particularly 17:5, “And upon her forehead was
a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND
ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” Revelation 17:9 further confirms that the evil
entity is the Roman Catholic church, “The seven heads are seven mountains,
on which the woman sitteth.” From time immemorial Rome has been known as
the city of the seven hills.
13:3.
“I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for
mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.”
In the present
context “... sanctified” means “set apart for a special purpose,” The
Amplified Bible identifying them as the Medes and Persians, they being
the instrument God was going to use for the destruction of Babylon.
13:4.
“The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a
tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the Lord of
hosts mustereth the host of the battle.”
Taylor renders
this verse, “Hear the tumult in the mountains! Listen as the armies march!
It is the tumult and shout of many nations: the Lord of hosts has brought
them here.”
The
description is of the Medo-Persian armies that the Lord was going to
assemble for the destruction of Babylon, that destruction pointing to the
still future, but now imminent destruction of what Babylon represents, i.e.,
the great false religious system that has been centered in Rome for the past
two millennia.
13:5.
They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the
weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.”
“... the end
of heaven” means “from the ends of the earth.” That terrible final war
will involve the whole world.
13:6.
“Howl ye: for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction
from the Almighty.”
“Howl” is also
rendered wail, yell, scream in terror.
“The day of
the Lord” is generally understood to be that long period of time that will
begin after the Rapture, and conclude with the creation of the new heavens
and earth; but in the present context the focus seems to be upon the
devastating judgments of the Great Tribulation.
13:7.
“Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:”
The terror
induced by the destruction of Babylon is but a faint adumbration of that
which will seize the hearts of those about to be cast into the eternal
torment of the lake of fire following the judgment of the great white
throne.
As the lifting
up of hands is often synonymous with man’s rebellion against God, so on that
terrible day will the hands of earth’s rebels hang down helplessly when the
arm of the Lord is extended in destructive might; and the hearts formerly
filled with arrogant pride will be melted, i.e., become faint and fearful.
Their terror is vividly described in Revelation 6:15-17, “And the kings of
the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and
the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the
dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks,
Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and
from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who
shall be able to stand?”
13:8.
“And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they
shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed (stare
aghast) one at another; their faces shall be as flames.”
Their faces
being as flames means that the flames of the burning city would be reflected
on their pale terror-stricken countenances.
13:9.
“Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger,
to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of
it.”
It is
generally agreed that “the day of the Lord” in the present context does not
refer to the destruction of Babylon, the great false church, by the beast,
in the Great Tribulation, as described in Revelation 17-18, but rather to
the destruction of literal Babylon, by the Medes and Persians in 539 BC, and
which foreshadows that of the false church by the beast in the now impending
Great Tribulation.
The word
“cruel” here means “pitiless.” Jehovah would show no mercy either towards
ancient Babylon, or to the present evil religious system ruling from Rome,
and of which literal Babylon is the OT type.
13:10.
“For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their
light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not
cause her light to shine.”
These
phenomena will occur at the opening of the sixth seal in the Great
Tribulation, see Revelation
6:12-17, their literal and spiritual significance being discussed in my
commentary on Revelation which is also available on this web site.
13:11.
“And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their
iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay
low the haughtiness of the terrible.”
As used here
“evil” relates to what man is inherently; “wicked” describes his evil
thoughts and schemes; “iniquity” is a general term for the actual evil
produced by his corrupt nature. “Arrogancy” embraces the idea of offensive
display of imagined superiority or self-importance, overbearing pride. To
be haughty is to be disdainfully proud, snobbish, arrogant.
In the present
context “terrible” describes those who are imperiously arrogant, insolent,
tyrannical, ruthless.
13:12.
“I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden
wedge of Ophir.”
Ophir was a
country of uncertain location, from which gold, precious stones, and trees
were brought to Solomon, see 1 Kings 10:11; and the fact being declared here
is that as gold is a rare metal, so by war would God decimate the male
population till an able-bodied man would be equally rare.
13:13.
“Therefore will I shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her
place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce
anger.”
While this may
certainly apply metaphorically to what God was then about to do to literal
Babylon, the ultimate application is to what will occur in the Great
Tribulation, when He will destroy the evil religious system which Babylon
represents, and which has been centered for the past two millennia in Rome,
see Revelation chapters 17-18.
It is to be
remembered however, that the parabolic application isn’t limited to God’s
destruction of ancient Babylon: it includes His impending annihilation of
Roman Catholicism, and apostate Protestantism.
13:14.
“And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up:
they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own
land.”
This continues
the description of Medo-Persia’s sack of ancient Babylon, but points also to
what will be in the fast approaching Great Tribulation, when God, using the
Beast as his instrument, will utterly destroy Roman Catholicism and apostate
Protestantism. The Beast’s persecution of all religion, and the demand that
he alone be worshiped, will prompt the wholesale exodus from every branch of
apostate Christianity pictured in this verse. Only true believers will be
willing to die rather than worship him.
13:15.
“Every one that is found shall be thrust through: and every one that is
joined unto them shall fall by the sword.”
This continues
the prophetic picture of the Tribulation age Beast ruler’s attempted annihilation of
Christianity, false as well as genuine, and his demand that he alone be
worshiped
13:16.
“Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their
houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.”
As with much
of prophecy, there have been partial fulfillments, the destruction of
Jerusalem by Titus in AD70 being one such example; but the ultimate
application of this prophecy relates to the activity of the Beast in the
Great Tribulation.
13:17.
“Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard
silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.”
In the present
instance the implied Medes’ disregard of silver and gold is not to be taken
literally: it means that no offer of wealth would persuade them to call off
their intended destruction of Babylon; nor will anything induce the Beast to
abandon his attempted destruction of Christianity, false and genuine,
in the Great Tribulation.
13:18.
“Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no
pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.”
The Medes
would be implacable as will be also the armies of the Beast.
13:19.
“And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency,
shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.”
The reference
here is not to a literal latter day Babylon, for that city is never to be
rebuilt, but to the evil system which it represents: the union of Roman
Catholicism and apostate Protestantism. It is that unified evil religious
system that will be destroyed by the Beast in the Great Tribulation.
As Babylon was
the most glorious and beautiful of all ancient kingdoms, so is Roman
Catholicism among the world’s religious systems, the wealth and splendor of
the Papal palace being without equal. But as God overthrew ancient Babylon,
so will He also destroy religious Rome, His instrument being the Tribulation
age beast emperor. And as the very sites of Sodom and Gomorrah are today
uncertain, so will it yet be with Rome: her destruction will be absolute.
13:20.
“It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation
to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the
shepherds make their fold there.”
In accordance
with God’s edict ancient Babylon has never been rebuilt, and to this day the
site remains an object of the superstitious dread of the Arabs of the
region. Likewise the harlot church consisting of the union of Roman
Catholicism and apostate Protestantism in the impending Great Tribulation,
will be destroyed by the Beast, and never rebuilt.
13:21.
“But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be
full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall
dance there.”
To this day
the site of ancient Babylon is as described here, wild animals making their
dens amid the ruins of the once great city, “doleful creatures” being those
whose cries are plaintive; and satyrs being imaginary creatures which were
part human and part horse or goat.
The natives of
the region still avoid the place, their superstitious minds peopling it with
these same imaginary inhabitants. Another resident is the owl, a creature
of the night, inhabiting ruins and lonely places, and emitting a distinctive
mournful cry.
13:22.
“And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and
dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her
days shall not be prolonged.”
“dragons” in
the present context is a general term which includes jackals, wolves, wild
dogs, and hyenas. The once pleasant houses and beautiful palaces would
become desolate ruins. This is the present fitting description of the once
magnificent Babylon, and in it God would have us see a symbolic picture of
the condition of the present world as it will be following the terrible
judgments of the coming Great Tribulation.
The words “her
time is near” have as much relevance to today’s world as they had to the
once great Babylon; and we are reading only half the message if we fail to
recognize that the fate of ancient Babylon is but a preview of what is to
befall our present great modern civilization in the now impending Great
Tribulation.
But the
warning has also a personal relevance to men’s souls, over 700 of which pass
from time into eternity every minute, most of them entering for ever,
without hope of deliverance, into a state infinitely more dreadful than that
portrayed by ruined Babylon, their descent being first of the body into the
grave, and of the soul into hell, and then following the resurrection of
damnation, the consignment of body, soul, and spirit into the eternal
torment of the unquenchable flame of the lake of fire.
If you haven’t
yet been born again, see John 3:3,7,15,16,17,18, and
36, confess now that you are
a sinner without a shred of righteousness, and believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ as your Savior. Tomorrow may be too late. By tomorrow you may have
crossed the invisible line that separates God’s mercy from His wrath,
leaving you to become an eternal inhabitant of that awful region represented
by ruined Babylon.
