13:1 This is a message about Babylon that God revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz:
Chapters 13-23 recorded prophecies about the nations who surrounded Israel. Chapters 13:1-14:23 recorded prophecies about Babylon. Sometimes, Isaiah will deal with the Babylon of his day (and the Babylon invasion which will happen 100 years later). At other times, he will deal with the Babylon of the Great Tribulation. The Babylon of the Great Tribulation will become the capital of the Antichrist.
The Hebrew word for “message” is מַשָּׂ֖א (masa), meaning a message that is too heavy for one to carry. This is a bad-news message. Isaiah will not be tickling the ears of his readers. Isaiah looked into the future and saw the rise of Babylon. At the time of Isaiah, Babylon was a minor power who was paying tribute to the Assyrian Empire. Assyria and Babylon were both founded by Nimrod. Assyria and Babylon had always been anti-Jehovah cities. It will arise again during the Great Tribulation as the capital city of the Antichrist.
13:2 On a bare hill raise a signal flag, shout to them, wave your hand, so they might enter the gates of the princes!
During the Great Tribulation, Jehovah will gather an army of many nations to assemble against Babylon.
13:3 I have given orders to my chosen soldiers; I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger, my boasting, arrogant ones.
God chooses His own sanctified soldiers to bring down the capital of the Antichrist. The sanctified soldiers will be the Gentile sheep who will not be in favor of the Antichrist's political system. They will destroy the armies of the Gentile goats.
13:4 There is a loud noise on the mountains— it sounds like a large army! There is great commotion among the kingdoms— nations are being assembled! The Lord who commands armies is mustering forces for battle.
Jehovah gathers His Gentile-sheep soldiers from nations all over the world.
13:5 They come from a distant land, from the horizon. It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment, coming to destroy the whole earth.
Jehovah’s Gentile-sheep solders will come from many distant lands. God will use His army as a rod of iron against Babylon. Notice that God is coming to “destroy the whole earth.” This places these events in the Great Tribulation.
13:6 Wail, for the Lord’s day of judgment is near; it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge
The Lord’s day of judgment is יֹ֣ום יְהוָ֑ה (Yom Jehovah), meaning the Day of Jehovah (or Day of the Lord). Isaiah looked into the future and recorded some of the events of the Great Tribulation. God will judge the Gentile nations who come against Israel with destructive power.
13:7 For this reason all hands hang limp, every human heart loses its courage.
The liberals, skeptics, atheists, agnostics, cults, isms, and Christ-rejecters will not be so arrogant during the Great Tribulation. When they begin to receive the seal judgments, then they will lose their courage and hide in caves.
13:8 They panic—cramps and pain seize hold of them like those of a woman who is straining to give birth. They look at one another in astonishment; their faces are flushed red.
Things will not turn out the way that the liberals expect. They will be so astonished that there really is a God, that they will panic. They will receive cramps and pains like that of birth pangs. They will look at each other in horrid astonishment.
13:9 Look, the Lord’s day of judgment is coming; it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger, destroying the earth and annihilating its sinners.
The Day of the Lord is coming. It will be a cruel and savage day for Christ-rejecters. The seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments will destroy two thirds of the earth’s surface. Two thirds of the earth’s population will be purged out of the earth. None of the Christ-rejecters will survive. All Christ-rejecters will lose their life and be sent to hell. One of the purposes of the Great Tribulation is to remove the Christ-rejecters from the earth. When the Millennial Kingdom begins, there will be no Christ-rejecters. Some Christ-rejecters will be born into the Millennial Kingdom through Gentile parents, but they will be executed at the age of 100 years old.
13:10 Indeed the stars in the sky and their constellations no longer give out their light; the sun is darkened as soon as it rises, and the moon does not shine.
The seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments of the Great Tribulation will upset the natural balance of the sun, moon, and stars. There will be five supernatural blackouts before and during the Great Tribulation. The first blackout will occur before the Great Tribulation (Joel 2:31). The second blackout will occur during the first quarter of the Great Tribulation (Revelation 6:12). The third blackout will occur during the second quarter of the Great Tribulation (Revelation 9:2). The fourth blackout will occur during the second half of the Great Tribulation (Revelation 16:10-11). The fifth blackout will occur immediately after the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:29).
13:11 I will punish the world for its evil, and wicked people for their sin. I will put an end to the pride of the insolent, I will bring down the arrogance of tyrants.
Three purposes of the Great Tribulation are to (1) punish the world for its evil, (2) put and end to wickedness, and (3) end the rule of tyrants. Jehovah will put an end to arrogant liberals who elevate their human speculations above the written Word of God.
13:12 I will make human beings more scarce than pure gold, and people more scarce than gold from Ophir.
During the Great Tribulation, human beings will become very rare. Over two thirds of the people on the earth will die. Since the earth’s population is about six billion, then over four billion people will die. Since so many people will die in battle, then people will be scarcer than the rare and valuable gold of Ophir. The town of Ophir was probably located on the southwestern coast of Arabia.
13:13 So I will shake the heavens, and the earth will shake loose from its foundation, because of the fury of the Lord who commands armies, in the day he vents his raging anger.
During the Great Tribulation, the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments will shake up the heavens and the earth.
13:14 Like a frightened gazelle or a sheep with no shepherd, each will turn toward home, each will run to his homeland.
Isaiah looked into the future and saw the future invasion upon Babylon. When the Antichrist attacks Babylon, then foreign Gentiles in the city will run like frightened gazelle. They will scatter and be defenseless, like a sheep without a shepherd. The Jews will escape the city, but the foreign Gentiles will not (Isaiah 48:20).
13:15 Everyone who is caught will be stabbed; everyone who is seized will die by the sword.
Those who are caught by the armies of the Antichrist will be killed with sharp instruments. Before or during the Great Tribulation, it is very possible that the governments will ban guns. Sharp instruments may become the weapons of necessity.
13:16 Their children will be smashed to pieces before their very eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives raped.
The army of the Babylonians will smash the heads of the Israelite children against the walls. The slaughtering of children eliminates the manpower of nations for future rebellions. The army of Babylon will plunder the houses of Israel. They will rape the women of Israel. Isaiah was not a seeker-friendly teacher.
13:17 Look, I am stirring up the Medes to attack them; they are not concerned about silver, nor are they interested in gold.
Isaiah looked into the future and saw God raising up the Medes to defeat Babylon. The Medes were an ancient Iranian people who lived in an area known as Media (Northwestern Iran). Jeremiah also prophesied this same event in Jeremiah 50:41. Modern Iran covers ancient Media, Persia, Southern Russia, and Pakistan.
13:18 Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons; they have no compassion on a person’s offspring, they will not look with pity on children.
The Iranians will show no compassion towards Jewish children.
13:19 Babylon, the most admired of kingdoms, the Chaldeans’ source of honor and pride, will be destroyed by God just as Sodom and Gomorrah were.
Isaiah looked into the future and saw the destruction of Babylon. Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed supernaturally by fire. Cyrus did not destroy ancient Babylon by fire. Babylon was taken over quietly and almost bloodlessly by the Medes and Persians with light destruction to the city. This prophecy looks forward to the Babylon of the Great Tribulation. The Babylon of the Great Tribulation will become the capital of the Antichrist. It will be destroyed supernaturally from heaven by fire and brimstone, just as Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed supernaturally by fire and brimstone from heaven. This future destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah will become a tremendous witness to the world.
13:20 No one will live there again; no one will ever reside there again. No bedouin will camp there, no shepherds will rest their flocks there.
The decline of Babylon occurred in many stages. By 20 B.C., Strabo described it as a “vast desolation.” The desert wanderers (Arabs) superstitiously shunned the site because it became a bad-luck fortune. However, there have been some Arabs who have been pitching their tents there for centuries. Therefore, this prophecy deals with the Babylon of the Millennial Kingdom. During the Millennial Kingdom, Babylon will be a deserted city.
13:21 Wild animals will rest there, the However houses will be full of hyenas. Ostriches will live there, wild goats will skip among the ruins.
The Hebrew word for “wild animals” is צִיִּ֔ים (tsirim), meaning desert beings. The Hebrew word for “hyenas” is אֹחִ֑ים (icim), meaning suffering creatures. The Hebrew word for “ostriches” is בְּנ֣וֹת (binut), meaning female creatures. The Hebrew word for “wild goats” is שְׂעִירִ֖ים (saim), meaning hairy goat demons. During the Millennial Kingdom, demons will be imprisoned in Babylon.
13:22 Wild dogs will yip in her ruined fortresses, jackals will yelp in the once-splendid palaces. Her time is almost up, her days will not be prolonged.
The Hebrew word for “wild dogs” is אִיִּים֙ (iyim), meaning wild beasts who howl. The Hebrew word for “jackals” is תַנִּ֖ים (tanim), meaning dragons or sea monsters. When Babylon’s time is up, she will become a 1,000-year prison for demons. At the end of the Millennial Kingdom, these demons will be transported into the Lake of Fire.