SCRIPTURE: ISAIAH 13
MEMORY VERSE:
“I 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. I will make man scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir, Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the Lord Almighty, in the day of his burning anger.” (Isaiah 13:11-13)
A PROPHESY AGAINST BABYLON (vs. 1-22)
WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THE DAY OF THE LORD IS COMING?
- All hands will go limp, every man’s heart will melt. (v. 7)
- Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them, they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other, their faces aflame. (v. 8)
- It will be a cruel day with wrath and fierce anger when the land becomes desolate and sinners were destroyed. (v. 9)
- The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. (v. 10)
- The world will be punished for its evil and the wicked for their sins. The arrogance of the haughty will be put to an end and the pride of the ruthless will be humbled. (v. 11)
- Man will be scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir. (v. 12)
- The heavens will tremble and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the Lord Almighty in the day of his burning anger. (v. 13)
- They will be like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd. Each will return to his own people and each will flee to his native land. (v. 14)
- Those capture will be thrust through and those who are caught will fall by the sword., (v. 15)
- Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their house will be looted and their wives ravished. (v. 16)
- The Medes will strike down the young men with bows. They will have no mercy on infants nor compassion on children. (v. 18)
- Babylon will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah. (v. 19)
- She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flocks there. (v. 20)
- Desert creatures will lie there, jackals will fill her houses, owls will dwell there and the wild goats will leap about. (v. 21)
- Hyenas will howl in her strongholds, jackals in her luxurious palaces. Her time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged. (v, 22)
THOUGHTS:
Starting Chapter 13, Isaiah wrote about the judgment of other nations. This chapter is a message from God concerning Babylon. Babylon was used by Revelation 17 and 18 as a symbol of God’s enemies. Isaiah communicated a message of challenge and hope to God’s people telling them not to rely on other nations but to rely on God alone. And he let them know that God will punish their greatest enemy. Isaiah prophesied that there will be complete destruction on Babylon and their land would never be inhabited. Babylon is the present day Iraq. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein on 2003, their economic growth had gone down. Today, the nation has fiscal pressures, political rivalries and limited institutional capacity to establish long term stability. In today’s war between Hamas and Israel, they did not condemn the terror attack of Hamas but voiced support for the Palestinian’s cause.