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By Samuel E. Ward
Isaiah 13-17
Introduction
The God of Israel is also the God of all nations. What follows in Isaiah chapters 13-23 is a series of messages to nations surrounding Israel. These nations and their destinies are in the hands of the LORD. In the end, only the righteous kingdom of the Messiah will abide.
One by one, the Lord has a word with each of these nations, exposing their sin and announcing their coming judgment. Babylon and Assyria, great and powerful as they are, will not be able to overcome God's wrath. God will keep His promise to His people made to Abraham, "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Gen 12:3 NIV)
II. God's Messages to the Nations, Isaiah 13-23
Isaiah 13:1-22 (NIV) 1An oracle concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:
A. Prelude to the Final Day of the Lord upon the Earth, Isa 13:1-13
1. The muster of the army, Isa 13:4
Isaiah 13:4 (NIV) 4 Listen, a noise on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations massing together! The LORD Almighty is mustering an army for war.
2. The terror of the Lord's enemies, Isa, 13:6-7
Isaiah 13:6-7 (NIV) 6Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. 7Because of this, all hands will go limp, every man's heart will melt.
3. The mission of the Almighty, Isa 13:8-13 (13:9) See also 13:11.
Isaiah 13:9 (NIV) 9See, the day of the LORD is coming—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it.
Isaiah 13:11 (NIV) 11I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless.
B. Predictions Concerning Babylon, 13:14-14:23
1. Babylon's coming day of judgment, Isa 13:14-22
a. Babylon's captives will flee from the conflict, Isa 13:14.
Isaiah 13:14 (NIV) 14Like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land.
b. Babylon's conquerors will inflict horrible violence upon those remaining and those taking flight, Isa 13:15-18. (13:18)
Isaiah 13:18 (NIV) 18Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants nor will they look with compassion on children.
c. Babylon's capital will become a desert home for jackals, owls, wild goats, and hyenas, Isa 13:19-22. (Isa 13:22)
Isaiah 13:22 (NIV) 22Hyenas will howl in her strongholds, jackals in her luxurious palaces. Her time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged.
2. Israel's future and final restoration, Isa 14:1-2
a. God will re-settle Israel in its land, Isa 14:1.
Isaiah 14:1 (NIV) 1The LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again he will choose Israel and will settle them in their own land. Aliens will join them and unite with the house of Jacob.
b. Nations that once made Israel a servant will become Israel's servants, Isa 14:2.
Isaiah 14:2 (NIV) 2Nations will take them and bring them to their own place. And the house of Israel will possess the nations as menservants and maidservants in the LORD's land. They will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors.
3. Babylon's derision by the nations, Isa 14:3-11
a. The demise of the king and his kingdom will be celebrated, Isa 14:3-4.
Isaiah 14:3-4 (NIV) 3On the day the LORD gives you relief from suffering and turmoil and cruel bondage, 4you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has come to an end! How his fury has ended!
b. The nations will sing joyously over Babylon's destruction, Isa 14:5-8. (14:7)
Isaiah 14:7 (NIV) 7All the lands are at rest and at peace; they break into singing.
c. The grave will receive him into the company of former kings who will welcome him to his ill-fate, Isa 14:9-11. (14:10)
Isaiah 14:10 (NIV) 10They will all respond, they will say to you, "You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us."
4. Babylon' pride, the cause of Its fall, Isa 14:12-23
a. Babylon's blasphemous ambition, Isa 14:14
Isaiah 14:14 (NIV) 14I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."
b. Babylon's ultimate humiliation, Isa 14:15-21 (14:19a)
Isaiah 14:19 (NIV) 19 But you are cast out of your tomb like a rejected branch; you are covered with the slain, with those pierced by the sword, those who descend to the stones of the pit. Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
c. Babylon's complete destruction, Isa 14:22-23 (14:22)
Isaiah 14:22 (NIV) 22 "I will rise up against them," declares the LORD Almighty. "I will cut off from Babylon her name and survivors, her offspring and descendants," declares the LORD.
C. Predictions Concerning Assyria, 14:24-27 (14:24-25)
Isaiah 14:24-25 (NIV) 24The LORD Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand. 25I will crush the Assyrian in my land; on my mountains I will trample him down. His yoke will be taken from my people, and his burden removed from their shoulders."
D. Predictions Concerning the Philistines, Isa 14:28-32.
1. The reprieve against Assyrian oppression is only temporary, Isa 14:29.
Isaiah 14:29 (NIV) 29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken; from the root of that snake will spring up a viper, its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.
2. The reign of terror will return, Isa 14:31.
Isaiah 14:31 (NIV) 31Wail, O gate! Howl, O city! Melt away, all you Philistines! A cloud of smoke comes from the north, and there is not a straggler in its ranks.
3. A refuge will be provided for God's people, Isa 14:32.
Isaiah 14:32 (NIV) 32What answer shall be given to the envoys of that nation? "The LORD has established Zion, and in her his afflicted people will find refuge."
E. Predictions Concerning Moab, Isa 15:1-16:13.
1. Its judgment would be swift, Isa 15:1.
Isaiah 15:1 (NIV) 1An oracle concerning Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night!
2. Its fall would be regrettable, Isa 16:4, 9.
Isaiah 16:9 (NIV) 9 So I weep, as Jazer weeps, for the vines of Sibmah. O Heshbon, O Elealeh, I drench you with tears! The shouts of joy over your ripened fruit and over your harvests have been stilled.
Isaiah 16:4 (NIV) 4Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer." The oppressor will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land.
Moab was at various times a "thorn" in Israel's side. Perhaps Isaiah is sympathetic (16:9) toward Moab because the nation was formed (though incestuously) from Abraham's nephew, Lot. Also, Ruth, the Moabitess, was an ancestor to King David.
The Moabites, however, were not helpful when Israel left Egypt and later in their history attempted to have Balaam curse Israel. They became a proud and arrogant people but still they were invited to seek refuge in Israel to escape the coming invasion by Assyria. Their disregard for the God of their ancestor Lot sealed their fate.
3. It would all take place within three years, Isa 16:14.
Isaiah 16:14 (NIV) 14But now the LORD says: "Within three years, as a servant bound by contract would count them, Moab's splendor and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble."
F. Predictions Concerning Damascus, Isa 17.
1. The ruin of Damascus (Syria), Isa 17:1.
Isaiah 17:1 (NIV) 1An oracle concerning Damascus: "See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins.
2. The resemblance to Israel, Isa 17:3.
Isaiah 17:3 (NIV) 3The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites," declares the LORD Almighty.
3. The ruin of the enemies (Assyria, in particular) of God's people, Isa 17:14
Isaiah 17:14 (NIV) 14In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who plunder us.
Relevance
1. The fact that God judges all nations indicates that He holds them all accountable for their actions, especially towards His people—Israel and the Church.
Genesis 12:2-3 (NIV) 2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
2 Thessalonians 1:4-10 (NIV) 4Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. 5All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
2. God's plan to one day judge the whole world cannot be thwarted.
Isaiah 14:26-27 (NIV) 26This is the plan determined for the whole world; this is the hand stretched out over all nations. 27For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?
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