The Judgment Day of the Lord

Isaiah 13:1-22 

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."

This prophecy against old world Babylon is symbolic of the new, and points to a day of judgment for the temporal world then and the final battle at His coming to pour out His wrath on sin and judge the world in righteousness.  Isaiah was called to warn the sinners and assemble His people who are set aside as His to wage war against Babylon.  He even used the enemies of Babylon for this purpose, for God uses all to bring His sovereign plans and purposes to pass.  Verse 6 is against that ungodly Babylon but is also pointing to the final Day of the Lord when everlasting destruction will be meted out (Revelation 6:17, 18:21) to end her ungodliness forever.  When this battle happens men’s hearts will fail in fear and painful sorrow at their impending doom as their faces show some sort of surprise over what was happening.  This was true for the corrupt city empire then and will be again in the final judgment against all who reject the Lord and His Anointed.  The Lord came then to destroy sinners in His wrath as the stars fall from the heavens and the sun diminished along with the moon (Matthew 24:29-30, Mark 13:24-25).  This clearly pointed past the destruction of the old Persian empire to the world at large for the Lord’s judgment against sinners, for the world and its evil as mentioned in verse 11.  Yes, the proud and haughty will be humbled and laid low by God’s mighty hand.  In the day of that anger of God He will shake the heavens and earth out of its place of sinful rebellion against His sovereignty from which nobody can escape (Haggai 2:6-7, Hebrews 12:25-28) except the redeemed through the Son of God in His word alone.  All the kingdoms of the earth will be thrown down and be seen no more, just as Babylon was annihilated.  There was desolation then, but the Hope now is a new heaven and earth where righteousness will dwell (Revelation 21:1k 2 Peter 3:12-13, Romans 8:21).  There is hope in the Judgment Day of the Lord only for the redeemed, but what a certain hope!