The Burden of
Babylon
By D. G. Alley
Back in the days when
Babylon
was merely one of the cities of the Assyrian Empire, before
it grew strong and became the capital of its own empire,
Isaiah received a prophecy regarding a future battle.
This prophecy is recorded in Isaiah chapter 13.
The first eight verses describe an
invasion of the land of Babylon. Isaiah
interrupts his description in the middle to announce that
this invasion will mean that the Day of the Lord is near.
With verse 9, Isaiah repeats the warning that the Day
of the Lord is coming, then the rest of the chapter
describes the wrath that the Lord will visit upon the Earth,
and the ultimate fate of the land of Babylon. The sequence
is fairly clear. There will be an
invasion that will mean that the end is near, then the Day
of the Lord will arrive bringing the wrath of God.
Let’s look at those first few verses.
Isa 13:1-9
1
An oracle concerning
Babylon
that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:
2
Raise a banner on a bare hilltop, shout to them;
beckon to them to enter the gates of the nobles.
3
I have commanded my holy ones; I have summoned my
warriors to carry out my wrath-- those who rejoice in my
triumph.
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.
5
They come from faraway lands, from the ends of the
heavens-- the LORD and the weapons of his wrath-- to destroy
the whole country.
6
Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; it will come
like destruction from the Almighty.
7
Because of this, all hands will go limp, every man's
heart will melt.
8
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.
9
See, 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.
(NIV)
As you can see, Isaiah speaks of an
army of nations amassed together, from faraway lands that
invade and destroy the land of Babylon.
Does that not sound familiar?
In 2003, the
United States, the
United Kingdom, Spain, Australia,
Poland, Portugal, and
Denmark
invaded, destroyed, and captured
Iraq, the land once known as
Babylonia. The remains of the
city of Babylon
are only about fifty miles south of the city of Baghdad.
Verse 3 mentions his holy ones.
Something is holy if it has been designated for use
for God’s purposes. The same goes for
people. In Isaiah’s day and age, the
priests might have been considered holy, along with the
equipment they used to offer sacrifices.
The Temple itself was
considered to be holy. Today, Christians
are made holy by their faith in the completed work of Jesus
Christ. Take another look at the list of
nations that invaded
Iraq.
They are, by and large, Christian nations.
And their warriors, their armies, reflect that.
And in this case, since God himself summoned and
commanded them, they became holy.
Verse 4 indicates that multiple nations
will be involved in this invasion. The
United Nations issued numerous resolutions against
Iraq
before the
US
and its allies went forth to do war upon the country.
And although only seven nations participated in the
initial invasion and conquest, over thirty nations were
involved in the subsequent occupation.
None of the nations that invaded Iraq are located anywhere close to
the country. Both the United States and Australia come close to being on the
opposite side of the world. Thus, as
verse 5 indicates, the invading forces definitely came from
faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens.
And the country of
Iraq
was essentially destroyed. I think we in
America have spent much more
to rebuild the infrastructure of Iraq than we spent to subdue the
country in the first place.
Verse 6 says that this invasion will
seem like destruction from the Almighty.
Smart bombs and cruise missiles fell from the sky onto
Iraq
just like fire and brimstone rained down upon
Sodom
and Gomorrah.
Verse 6 also instructs us to take this
invasion to mean that the Day of the Lord is at hand.
It is not possible for us to know
exactly how a prophecy will play out before it actually
happens. We can’t see the future like God
can. The priests of Jesus’ day knew that
the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, but they probably never suspected that his
parents would be visitors from
Nazareth, only in town for the
weekend, so to speak. Also, in 1940, who
would have guessed that the nation of Israel was about
to spring back to life?
Similarly, before 2003, who could have
predicted how Isaiah 13 would be fulfilled?
But now, looking back on events, we can see.
The war of Isaiah 13:1-8 has happened.
Eight years ago. Thus, we have
been warned that the Day of the Lord is at hand.