Isaiah 13:17-22

c. PROLONGATION OF JUDGMENT

TEXT: Isaiah 13:17-22

17

Behold I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not regard silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight in it,

18

And their bows shall dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.

19

And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldean's pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

20

It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation; neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall shepherds make their flocks to lie down there.

21

But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and ostriches shall dwell there, and wild goats shall dance there.

22

And wolves shall cry in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces; and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.

QUERIES

a.

Who are the Medes?

b.

Why would the Arabian not pitch his tent there?

PARAPHRASE

For I will stir up the Medes against Babylon, and no amount of silver or gold will buy them off. The attacking armies will have no mercy on the young people of Babylon or the babies or the children. And so Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms the flower of Chaldean culture, will be as utterly destroyed as Sodom and Gomorrah were when God sent fire from heaven; Babylon will never rise again. Generation after generation will come and go, but the land will never again be lived in. The nomads will not even camp there. The shepherds won-'t let their sheep stay overnight. The wild animals of the desert will make it their home. The houses will be haunted by howling creatures. Ostriches will live there, and the demons will come there to dance. Hyenas and jackals will den within the palaces. Babylon's days are numbered; her time of doom will soon be here.

COMMENTS

Isaiah 13:17-22 ABOMINATION UPON BABYLON: The Medes are first mentioned as Iaphthites in Genesis 10:2. They are Aryans and first called themselves Arioi in Greek language. At first they were a people divided into small village communities each governed by its own chiefs. About 720 B.C. they were united into a king-dom under Deiokes (or Dayaukku). Their capital was Ecbatana. They first formed a coalition with Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians against Assyria (Nineveh). But now they are forming an alliance with the Persians led by Cyrus the Great against Babylon! The Medes populated the area generally known today as Iran and Iraq. The Median empire gradually merged into that of Persia (see our comments in Daniel, chs. 5, 7 and 8, College Press).

Babylon was conquered in 538 B.C., having been one of the greatest, if not the greatest, cities of all times. At one time there were more than fifty temples in Babylon. Many of these had walls overlaid with gold with altars overlaid with gold, and golden statuettes. It was also home of the famous hanging gardens, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Nebuchadnezzar married a woman whose homeland was mountainous. She occasionally got homesick for her homeland so the king of Babylon built her some mountains (the hanging gardens) right in the city. The city occupied 200 square miles of land, protected by a double brick wall with moat in between the walls. Its walls were 90 feet thick and 300 feet high, with towers rising much higher all along the walls. The Euphrates River flowed through the center of the city guaranteeing its water supply. There was enough land within its walls to supply the city with food. It had no fear of siege.
The area of ancient Babylon has never been inhabited since its fall. Actually, it was destroyed in increments. Cyrus the Great left the walls and the city of Babylon itself still standing. Later, in 518 B.C. the walls were destroyed. Then Xerxes ruined the temple of Belus. As Seleucia rose, so Babylon declined, and in Strabo's time (63 B.C.24 A.D.) Babylon was a desert of which he says, a great desert is the great city. Though the Arabs will pitch their tents at nearly any spot, they are superstitious about Babylon, and though you hire one as a guide, he will not stay there at night. Modern-day travelers and tourists to this area attest to the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy! The ruined city is uninhabited by humans; jackals and many kinds of wild beasts live in the ruins. There are no sheepfolds about the ruins of ancient Babylon!

QUIZ

1.

Where did the Medes live?

2.

Who was the leader of the Medes and Persians against Babylon?

3.

Describe ancient Babylon?

4.

Has the prediction of Babylon's demise come to pass?