(1) Is. 13 – God’s judgment onBabylon: [v-1] “The Oracle concerning Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw… [v-3] I myself have commanded my consecrated ones, and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger; my proudly exulting ones …[vss. 4b, 8]The Lord of hosts is mustering a host for the battle. They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens; the Lord and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! Therefore, all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt. Their faces will be aflame[vss. 9, 13]. Behold, the day of the Lord comes with wrath and fierce anger to make the land a desolation, and to destroy its sinners. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will make people more rare than fine gold. I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of Hosts in the day of his fierce anger [vss. 15-19]. Whoever is found will be thrust through, and whoever is caught will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished. Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.”
Beloved, we should have no difficulty in recognizing that Isaiah’s prophecy spoke of the judgment that God would bring upon Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian empire. That prophecy was fulfilled in 538 B.C., as Jehovah, through His use of the Medes, brought destruction upon that kingdom. Let’s take note of some of the remarkable things that the Lord said would take place at that great judgment, including some awesome celestial phenomena, of which God spoke through His prophet Isaiah:
[A] God spoke of the Medes as “His mighty ones,” “His consecrated ones,” and “His proudly exulting ones.” And, that it was He [Jehovah] who was “mustering the army” [vss. 3, 4b].
[B] God said that the Medes would “come from a distant land; from the end of the heavens” [v-5].
[C] Isaiah called that judgment a “destruction from the Almighty” and would take place on “the Day of The Lord”[v-6].
[D] God said that “every human heart will melt” and “their faces will be aflame” [vss. 7, 8]
[E] He also prophesied that “the stars, including all the constellations would not give their light” [v-10]
[F] “The sun would be dark at its rising.” ]v-10]
[G] ”The moon would not give its light.” [v-10
[H] “The world would be punished for its evil” [v-11]
[I] “The heavens would tremble” [v-13]
[J] “The earth would be shaken from its place” [v-13]
As we consider the various elements of that judgment on Babylon, brethren, there’s a lot that I can learn about how God effects His will. And, another veryimportant thing that I can learn about is the highly charged, highly symbolic, colorful speech or language that He employed to express His judgments. Under A, B, and C, we get another lesson in how God used men, often times “evil” men to execute His judgments etc.. The Medes, of course, were not Jehovah’s people. However, in that account, He called them His“consecrated ones,”His“mighty men,” and His“highly exulting ones.” In other words, God had “set apart” the Medes for His purpose. No, it was not uncommon for the Lord to speak of “evil’ men as His servants in a context such as this! In Jer. 25:9, as God was pronouncing judgment on His own people Judah, whom He was about to send into 70 years of Babylonian captivity, He spoke of this same king that He was about to judge [king of Babylon – Nebuchadnezzar] as “His servant.” Certainly God’s reasons for applying such terms to the Medes was as He declared in v-3: “They would execute His anger.” Yes, He used the Medes as He used Pharaoh to “show his power.”
As we then consider the celestial phenomena that has been described in D-J, it won’t be necessary to again cite all of these things, but let’s just consider two or three of them. First, we will look at [D]. Do you think that we are to understand that men’s hearts literally melted within their chests in this conflict? Are we to understand that men’s faces were literally “on fire?” In [E-J], did God really intend for us to learn that the sun, moon, and the stars “literally” would not shineduring the period of that great battle? Also, were we to understand that during that period, that “the earth” would literally be shaken from its place in orbit around the sun? Surely, any serious student of the Father’s Word, realizes that those wonderful, super-charged phenomena did not “literally” take place. My dear friends, please think about this for a moment: If that marvelous display of celestial catastrophes literally took place back then, then the very fabric of our planet would be no more! However, that does not mean that those things did not have meaning or that we should just simply overlook them. Oh no! Those things arevery importantto us. Certainly there was indeed a purpose for them! Surely, we all understand that they weresymbols, and because they were symbols, they had to have been symbolic of somethingor someone. But of what – or whom? Well, I believe that the Scriptures themselves have given us insight into exactly what those things symbolized.
The very first time that the sun, moon, and stars were used as symbols in the Scriptures, is found in Gen. 37:9-11. Do you recall the two dreams that Joseph had as a lad? The first was a dream of the sheaves of wheat [vss. 5-8], where the sheaves of his brothers bowed down to his sheaf. Upon telling his eleven brothers of the dream, they indicated that they understood its meaning, viz., that Joseph would actually rule over them one day. We are all familiar with the narrative and how that came to pass when Joseph later, through Divine providence, became ruler in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh in authority. But it’s in the second dream of Joseph where we gain insight into the symbols of Isaiah’s prophecy regarding Babylon. In his second dream [vss. 9-11], Joseph dreamed that the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed down to him. He related the dream to his father, Jacob, and also to his brothers. If you will look at v-10, Jacob knew exactly what the dream meant, for he immediately asked Joseph: “Shall I and your mother, and your brothers actually bow down before you to the ground?” Verse 11 said that Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him, but that Jacob kept the saying in his mind, or heart. Yes, Jacob knew exactly what the dream meant. However, it’s also very clear from Jacob’s words that he understood that the sun, moon, and stars of the dream to be “symbols!” And beloved, isn’t it interesting that we’re not left to guess or speculate as to what the sun, moon and stars symbolized? It’s quite obvious from the language, that the sun symbolized the #1 authority figure – Jacob – the head of the family. The moon, being the lesser of the two great lights because it reflected the light of the sun, symbolized the lesser or #2 authority figure –Rachael – Joseph’s mother. And finally, we see that the eleven stars symbolized Joseph’s brothers; those even lesser in rank and subjects under the higher authorities! So, brethren, I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but this helps me immensely when I see that same imagery used in other prophetic judgments of God against a nation, a king, government, or dynasty; yea even His own people, Israel! However, in the text under discussion, it was Babylon. So, if I apply the model of what I learned from Jacob’s interpretation of Joseph’s dream to a kingdom or empire such as that of Nebuchadnezzar’s, I understand then that the sun, moon, stars, and constellations etc. symbolized authorities: kings, governments, rulers, leaders, and their subjects.
