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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Isaiah 13:1 - 13:13
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General Introduction to the Prophecies of Wrath
v. 1. The burden of Babylon, the sentence of judgment revealed by special inspiration of the Lord, which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, did see:
v. 2. Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, raising the standard of battle upon a deforested peak, where it may be visible from all sides, exalt the voice unto them, calling in urgent invitation, shake the hand, in a beckoning gesture, that they may go into the gates of the nobles, summoned to celebrate a victorious battle, a war against the enemies which would result in a glorious triumph.
v. 3. I have commanded My sanctified ones, Jehovah Himself summoning the warriors consecrated to His work, I have also called My mighty ones for Mine anger, the heroes who should carry out the purposes of His wrath, even them that rejoice in My highness, boasting of the victory won in His might.
v. 4. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people, a turmoil as when masses of people, great armies, congregate; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together, an exceptionally large and powerful host. The Lord of hosts, the Commander-in-chief of all heavenly forces, mustereth the host of the battle, ready to carry out His plan of punishment upon the heathen.
v. 5. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, from beyond the horizon, where the earth appears to be hounded by the sky, even the Lord, and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole land, literally, "to overturn the whole earth," for the entire world, then known, would feel the ravages of the war of destruction determined upon by Jehovah. The prophet now turns directly to the heathen nations, with Babylon in the lead:
v. 6. Howl ye, in consternation and terror; for the day of the Lord is at hand, when He intends to carry out His judgment; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty, all the enemies being included in this threat and all opposition being declared useless from the start.
v. 7. Therefore shall all hands be faint, hanging down limp and without strength, and every man's heart shall melt, like water, said of an utter lack of courage, of complete hopelessness;
v. 8. and they shall be afraid, terrified in bewilderment; pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them, their terror showing in convulsive movements; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth, Joe_2:6; they shall be amazed one at another, staring with all evidences of extreme terror, their faces shall be as flames, alternately reddening and blanching as their fear drives the blood back and forth in the body.
v. 9. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, the day of His vengeance, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, consuming with its heat, to lay the land desolate; and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it, for the Lord here has the whole earth in mind.
v. 10. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light, the figure of utter darkness pointing to the severity of the punishment; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, ceasing to shine as soon as it rises, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. All this, as in Joe_3:4 and Amo_5:8, indicates that all hope would be vain.
v. 11. And I will punish the world for their evil and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, so that the voice of boasting is no longer heard, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible, putting down the tyrants and stopping their violence.
v. 12. I will make a man more precious than fine gold, humankind becoming rarer on earth than the choicest gold, even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir, noted for the purity and the rich amounts of the gold it produced. In this manner would the Lord visit the world with His anger, to punish and annihilate it in the extremity of His wrath.
v. 13. Therefore I will shake the heavens, namely for the purpose of punishing the earth and making men scarce on it, and the earth shall remove out of her place, being crowded aside, as it were, by the immensity of God's indignation, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts and In the day of His fierce anger. All creatures that are not objects of His punishment are bound to become its instruments, for He is determined to make this chastisement a type and a beginning of the final Judgment upon a godless world.