Isaiah chapter 13 - 1st Chronicles

Isaiah chapter thirteen is a prophecy against Babylon. Isaiah says so in the first part of the first verse. That said, we need to realize that this chapter has a prophecy against the physical city/land of Babylon and a prophecy against spiritual Babylon as well.

The first part of the chapter is the prophecy against spiritual Babylon, and by verse fifteen Isaiah is speaking about physical Babylon, the Babylon that we know as Iraq today. Take note of the language used in the first thirteen verses of the chapter.

“The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.” (Isaiah 13:4-6)

“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. 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, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.” (Isaiah 13:9-13)

This speaks of the time of Jacob’s trouble, the tribulation period. The images in the above verses can be nothing else. But, the verses which follow can only pertain to the earthly, physical city/land of Babylon.

“Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword. Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.” (Isa. 13:15-22)

When God destroys spiritual Babylon at the end of the tribulation period, wives will not be ravished, and the Medes will not be doing the job for Him. The Medes are known today as Iran. Wild beasts will not lie down in spiritual Babylon after it is destroyed, and owls will not dwell there either. So, we see that the prophecy must necessarily be about two distinct Babylons.

Now what does any of this that we have read from the thirteenth chapter of Isaiah have to do with the thirteenth book of the Bible, 1st Chronicles? It may help us if we realize that originally, the two books, 1st and 2nd Chronicles were all the same scroll/book. The two were divided later, and are divided in the Jewish Bible as well. The second follows the first, not just in order of placement in the Bible, but also in story line.

Knowing this, we should also take note that chapter thirteen and chapter fourteen of Isaiah are also closely related. While chapter thirteen is about the Day of The LORD, chapter fourteen is about God’s judgment of Satan/Lucifer and his demonic host. The second follows the first, not just in order of placement in our Bible, but also in the chronology of what is going to happen in a time period which is yet future as of this writing.

In addition to this relationship between these two chapters of Isaiah and the parallel relationship between the books of 1st and 2nd Chronicles, there is another strand of connective tissue running between Isaiah’s chapter thirteen and 1st Chronicles, and as we will see later, a similar strand connects Isaiah’s chapter fourteen and 2nd Chronicles.

That which is like spiritual Babylon, is treated by God as He treats spiritual Babylon. He is no respecter of persons. That may sound confusing at first, but it is like this. Israel, came to political and military greatness during the reign of David, and the time period of that reign is the time period covered in 1st Chronicles.

But, Israel was not spiritually strong during the time period of 1st Chronicles. David’s personal life was a mess, and as the leaders of a nation go, so goes the nation. The spiritual life of Israel was as much a roller-coaster ride as was the personal life of David.

Low points like David’s affair with Bathsheba, and the murder (effectively) of Uriah, were followed by the revolt of David’s son. Then in 1st Chronicles chapter twenty-one, David numbers Israel and brings the wrath of God down upon himself and his nation.

There are high points, but they are just like the high points on our roller-coaster analogy; they are short lived. Murder, adultery and self-aggrandizement by claiming as your own that which is God’s; this is all part of spiritual Babylon type behavior.

We might think of Israel under King David as the highest point in Israel’s history, but from the high point, there is only one direction to go. The high point is really the beginning of the end, and that is what the tribulation period is; the beginning of the end. The Day of The LORD spoken of in Isaiah chapter thirteen is the beginning of the end for spiritual Babylon, and the period of time covered in 1st Chronicles was the beginning of the end for Israel.

The beginning of the end for spiritual Babylon is described in the thirteenth chapter of Isaiah. The beginning of the end for Israel is described in the thirteenth book of the Bible. They are connected as the beginning of the end in each case.