Book of Isaiah

Isaiah 13

Isaiah 13:1-22, A Prophecy Against Babylon .  This is a total Day of the Lord prophecy about WWIII and the 2nd coming of Yeshua, Jesus.  Reference is made about his holy army coming from the ends of the heavens, vs. 5.  “Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty…every man’s heart will melt…terror will seize them…they will writhe like a woman in labor.  They will look aghast at each other, their faces aflame.”  Wow!  The coming Messiah, and us, glowing brighter than the sun, reflecting in their faces, before they melt, as Zechariah 14:12 prophecies.  “See, the day of the Lord is coming—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—to make the land desolate and destroy sinners within it.  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.”  Why, because the returning Jesus will so far outshine the sun that it will appear darkened.  What happens to the stars when the sun rises?  You can’t see them because of the “glory”, greater intensity of the light of the sun.  Same with the returning Christ and resurrected saints with him, glowing like the stars as Daniel 12:1-3 says.  Why will the occupying armies gathered against Jerusalem melt at Jesus’ return, as Zechariah 14 predicts?  We’ll all be glowing with the intensity and deadliness of lasers, like being next to a star.  The remnants of the Israelis will be shielded from this spectacular event, somehow.  How?  Don’t’ ask me.  We’re not told everything.

 

Isaiah 13:1-16, “An oracle concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:

Raise a banner on a bare hilltop, shout to them; beckon to them to enter the gates of the nobles.  I have commanded my holy ones; I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath—those who rejoice in my triumph.  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.  They come from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens—the Lord and the weapons of his wrath—to destroy the whole country.  Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.  Because of this, all hands will go limp, every man’s heart will melt.  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.

        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.  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 [direct cf. to Matthew 24:27-31; see also Revelation 16:19; Revelation 18:1-24 which cf. to this whole chapter of Isaiah 13.].  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 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 to shake from its place at the wrath of the Lord Almighty, in the day of his burning anger.  [The earth even shaken in its orbit!]  Like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land.  Whoever is captured will be thrust through; all who are caught will fall by the sword.  Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives ravished.”

 

Verses 17-22 goes back to the prophecy about the fall of literal Babylon , in the land of Shinar , and not the prophetic Babylon of Revelation 18.  The Medes and Persians under Cyrus did conquer Babylon and this prophecy is now a part of the history books.

 

Verses 17-22, “See, I will stir up against them the Medes, who do not care for silver and have no delight in gold.  Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants nor will they look with compassion on children.  Babylon the jewel of kingdoms, the glory of the Babylonians pride, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah .  She will never be inhabited or lived in  through all generations; no Arab [KJV: Arabian] will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flocks there.  But desert creatures will lie there, jackals will fill her houses; there owls will dwell, and there the wild goats will leap about.  Hyenas will howl in her strongholds, jackals in her luxurious palaces.  Her time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged.”  Isaiah would not live to see this prophecy fulfilled.  Babylon would go on to conquer and deport Judah and Jerusalem , taking them to Babylon for 70 years.  The prophet Daniel would live through this captivity, and see prophecy of Isaiah 13:17-22 fulfilled by Cyrus at the end of his life.  This occurred in 539BC.  Halley says about these verses in this chapter, after detailing the physical fall of the literal Babylon , “ Babylon , oppressor of the Jews, was counterpart and pattern of a New Testament Power which would enslave the Church (Revelation 17 to 19).”  This Babylon is another name for the Beast empire described in Revelation 13 and 17 and the false religious system that would be a part of it.  For more information about this end-time Babylonian superpower see http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophecies/2ndcoming_4.htm .

Isaiah 14

 

Isaiah 14:1-7, has to be taken in context with Isaiah 12 and 13.  Israel is replanted.  Babylon in this chapter and Isaiah 13 is not the actual land of Babylon, or Shinar, but a prophetic Babylon, if cross-referenced to Revelation 18 which in context with Revelation 17 is a description of the beast empire.  Halley mentions this as well.  Beginning of Millennial Kingdom of God is pictured here.

 

Isaiah 14:1-7, “The 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.  Nations 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…” Lest you think this has been fulfilled by the Israelis or Jews becoming a nation in the historic land of Israel in 1948, read those verses again.  Do the Jews possess the nations as menservants and maidservants in the Lord’s land?  I think not. The Israelis at present are  surrounded by angry Arab nations that want to drive them into the sea and kill them off the face of the land they live on.  “…On the day the Lord gives you relief from suffering and turmoil and cruel bondage, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon : ‘How the oppressor has come to an end!  How his fury has ended!  The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers, which in anger struck down peoples with unceasing blows, and in fury subdued nations with ruthless aggression.  And the lands are at rest and peace; they break into singing…’ This is Millennial Kingdom of God for sure.

 

Isaiah 14:8-11 describes the physical enemy leaders of Babylon , this beast empire of Revelation 17-18.

 

Verses 8-11, “Even the pine trees and the cedars of Lebanon exult over you and say, ‘Now that you have been laid low, no woodsman comes to cut us down.’  The grave [Sheol] below is all astir to meet you at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you—all those who were leaders in the world; it makes them rise from their thrones—all those who were kings over the nations.  They will all respond, they will say to you, ‘You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us.’  All your pomp has been brought down to the grave, along with the noise of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you.”

 

Short History of Satan

 

From verse 12-15 the description goes into a classic dirge and description about Satan, which starts out in verse 12 as, “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star [Lucifer = “morning star” in Hebrew], son of the dawn!  You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!  [cf. Luke 10:18, “I saw Satan fall as lightning”, Jesus said.]  You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God [stars, Bible name for angels when used in symbolic language like this]; I will sit enthroned on the mount of the assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain…I will make myself like the Most High’…”

 

Verses 12-15, “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star [Hebrew: Lucifer, morning star], son of the dawn!  You have been cast down to the earth [cf. Luke 10:18], you who once laid low the nations!  You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars [angels] of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain [KJV sides of the north].  I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’  But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.’”  [cf. Revelation 12:3-4, 7-9]

 

Vs. 16-23 goes back to describe the destruction of this “Babylonian empire” of the future and its physical leader that Satan has just worked through [that’s why this description of Satan is here in context with this end-time fall of prophetic Babylon ].  “‘I will sweep her with the broom of destruction’ declares the Lord Almighty” vs. 23.

Verses 16-23, “Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: ‘Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble, the man who made the world a desert, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?’  All the kings of the nations lie in state, each in his own tomb.  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, you will not join them in burial, for you have destroyed your land and killed your people.  The offspring of the wicked will never be mentioned again.  Prepare a place to slaughter his sons for the sins of their forefathers; they are not to rise to inherit the land and cover the earth with their cities.  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.  ‘I will turn her into a place of owls and into swampland; I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,’ declares the Lord Almighty.’”

 

Verses 24-27, A Prophecy  Against Assyria .  Sounds like 2nd Coming.  When Sennacherib’s 185,000 soldiers were slain in one night outside the walls of Jerusalem , the rest withdrew in shame, they weren’t slaughtered on “my mountains” as the Lord prophecies here.  So this appears to be future.  The ancient Assyrian empire was never destroyed on the mountains Israel . 

 

Verses 24-27, “The Lord Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have proposed, so it will stand.  I 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.’  This is the plan determined for the whole world; this is the hand stretched out over all nations.  [that last sentence more puts this in context with Zechariah 14:2]  For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?  His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?”

 

Verses 28-32, Prophecy against the Philistines [could this be the modern-day Palestinians?  Gaza was Philistia, and this prophecy is in proximity with all the rest, 2nd coming prophecies.  Doesn’t look good for them at the 2nd coming.]  Verse 32 could establish the time setting just after 2nd coming.  Or then again it could be right after the Assyrians lost 185,000 of their soldiers in one night by the angel of the Lord: “The Lord has established Zion , and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.”

 

Verses 28-32, “This oracle came in the year King Ahaz died: 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.  The poorest will find pasture, and the needy will lie down in safety.  But your root I will destroy by famine; it will slay your survivors.  Wail, 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.  What answer shall be given to the envoys of that nation?  ‘The Lord has established Zion , and her afflicted people will find refuge.’”

Isaiah 15

 

Isaiah 15, Prophecy against Moab .  Isaiah 16:14 may be placing this prophecy within the 3 years of the tribulation (3.5 years spelled out in the Gospels and Revelation and Daniel (a time, times and half a time).  All of chapter 15 describe areas of Moab that are conquered and suffer drought.  This prophecy proceeds into Isaiah 16, where the Moabites are advised to send lambs as a tribute to the ruler of the land…in mount Zion .  If this is fwd looking this could refer to keeping the peace between the leaders of modern day Jordan and the ruler residing in Jerusalem, which would be none other than the leader of the beast power, as he is prophecied in Daniel to make the seat of his short-lived government in Jerusalem (bad choice).  Verses 3-4 is a command to those living in Petra to not betray “the refugees.”   Vs. 3-4, “Give us counsel, render a decision.  Make your shadow like the night—at noon.  Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees.  Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer.”  This could refer to those hiding in Petra , telling them to hide any Jordanian refugees that come to them.  The rest of vs. 4 says, “The oppressor will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land.  The rest of Isaiah 16 except for vs. 5 is about their destruction.  A time setting of 3 years is set for this to come to pass, vs. 13.

 

Isaiah 15:1-9, “An oracle concerning Moab : Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night!  Kir in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night!  Dibon goes up to its temple, to its high places to weep; Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba.  Every head is shaved and every beard cut off.  In the streets they wear sackcloth; on the roofs and in the public squares they all wail, prostrate with weeping.  Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.  Therefore armed men of Moab cry out, and their hearts are faint.  My heart cries out over Moab ; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah.  They go up the way to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction.  The waters of Imrim are dried up and the grass is withered; the vegetation is gone and nothing green is left.  So the wealth they have acquired and stored up they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.  Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab ; their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim, their lamentation as far as Beer Elim.  Dimon’s [Dibon’s] waters are full of blood, but I will bring still more upon Dimon [Dibon]—a lion upon the fugitives of Moab and upon those who remain in the land. 

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