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 Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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 <CENTER>
 <BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>I S A I A H.</B></FONT>
 <BR>
 <BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XIII.</FONT>
 <HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
 </CENTER>

 <FONT SIZE=-1>
 <P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

 Hitherto the prophecies of this book related only to Judah and Israel, 
 and Jerusalem especially; but now the prophet begins to look abroad, 
 and to read the doom of divers of the neighbouring states and kingdoms:
 for he that is King of saints is also King of nations, and rules in the 
 affairs of the children of men as well as in those of his own children. 
 But the nations to whom these prophecies do relate were all such as the 
 people of God were in some way or other conversant and concerned with, 
 such as had been kind or unkind to Israel, and accordingly God would 
 deal with them, either in favour or in wrath; for the Lord's portion is 
 his people, and to them he has an eye in all the dispensations of his 
 providence concerning those about them, 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:8,9">Deut. xxxii. 8, 9</A>.

 The threatenings we find here against Babylon, Moab, Damascus, Egypt,
 Tyre, &c., were intended for comfort to those in Israel that feared 
 God, but were terrified and oppressed by those potent neighbours, and 
 for alarm to those among them that were wicked. If God would thus 
 severely reckon with those for their sins that knew him not, and made 
 no profession of his name, how severe would he be with those that were 
 called by his name and yet lived in rebellion against him! And perhaps 
 the directing of particular prophecies to the neighbouring nations 
 might invite some of those nations to the reading of the Jews' Bible, 
 and so they might be brought to their religion. This chapter, and that 
 which follows, contain what God had to say to Babylon and Babylon's 
 king, who were at present little known to Israel, but would in process 
 of time become a greater enemy to them than any other had been, for 
 which God would at last reckon with them. In this chapter we have,

 I. A general rendezvous of the forces that were to be employed against 
 Babylon, 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.

 II. The dreadfully bloody work that those forces should make in
 Babylon, 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:6-18">ver. 6-18</A>.

 III. The utter ruin and desolation of Babylon, which this should end in, 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:19-22">ver. 19-22</A>.</P>
 </FONT>

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 <A NAME="Isa13_2"> </A>
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 <A NAME="Isa13_4"> </A>
 <A NAME="Isa13_5"> </A>

 <A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
 <TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
 <TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Doom of Babylon.</I></FONT></TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 739.</TD></TR>
 <TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
 </TABLE>

 <P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
 <FONT SIZE=+1>1  The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
 &nbsp; 2  Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice
 unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the
 nobles.
 &nbsp; 3  I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my
 mighty ones for mine anger, <I>even</I> them that rejoice in my
 highness.
 &nbsp; 4  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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
 &nbsp; 5  They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, <I>even</I>
 the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the
 whole land.
 </FONT></P>

 <P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

 The general title of this book was, <I>The vision of Isaiah the son of
 Amoz,</I> 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:1"><I>ch.</I> i. 1</A>.

 Here we have that which Isaiah saw, which was represented to his mind
 as clearly and fully as if he had seen it with his bodily eyes; but the 
 particular inscription of this sermon is <I>the burden of Babylon.</I> 
 
 1. It is a burden, a lesson they were to learn (so some understand it),
 but they would be loth to learn it, and it would be a burden to their 
 memories, or a load which should lie heavily upon them and under which 
 they should sink. Those that will not make the word of God their rest

 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:12,Jer+6:16"><I>ch.</I> xxviii. 12; Jer. vi. 16</A>)

 shall find it made a burden to them. 

 2. It is the burden of Babylon or Babel, which at this time was a
 dependent upon the Assyrian monarchy (the metropolis of which was 
 Nineveh), but soon after revolted from it and became a monarchy of 
 itself, and a very potent one, in Nebuchadnezzar. This prophet 
 afterwards foretold the captivity of the Jews in Babylon,

 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+39:6"><I>ch.</I> xxxix. 6</A>.

 Here he foretels the reprisals God would make upon Babylon for the
 wrongs done to his people. In these verses a summons is given to those 
 powerful and warlike nations whom God would make us of as the 
 instruments of his wrath for the destruction of Babylon: he afterwards 
 names them 
 
 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>)

 the <I>Medes,</I> who, in conjunction with the Persians, under the
 command of Darius and Cyrus, were the ruin of the Babylonian 
 monarchy.</P>

 <P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

 I. The place doomed to destruction is Babylon; it is here called <I>the
 gates of the nobles</I> 
 
 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),

 because of the abundance of noblemen's houses that were in it, stately
 ones and richly furnished, which would invite the enemy to come, in 
 hopes of a rich booty. The gates of nobles were strong and well 
 guarded, and yet they would be no fence against those who came with 
 commission to execute God's judgments. Before his power and wrath 
 palaces are no more than cottages. Nor is it only the gates of the 
 nobles, but <I>the whole land,</I> that is doomed to destruction

 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>);

 for, though the nobles were the leaders in persecuting and oppressing
 God's people, yet the whole land concurred with them in it.</P>

 <P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

 II. The persons brought together to lay Babylon waste are here called, 
 
 1. God's <I>sanctified ones</I>

 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),

 designed for this service and set apart to it by the purpose and
 providence of God, disengaged from other projects, that they might 
 wholly apply themselves to this, such as were qualified for that to 
 which they were called, for what work God employs men in he does in 
 some measure fit them for. It intimates likewise that in God's 
 intention, though not in theirs, it was a holy war; they designed only 
 the enlargement of their own empire, but God designed the release of 
 his people and a type of the destruction of the New-Testament Babylon. 
 Cyrus, the person principally concerned, was justly called <I>a 
 sanctified one,</I> for he was God's anointed

 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+45:1"><I>ch.</I> xlv. 1</A>)

 and a figure of him that was to come. It is a pity but all soldiers,
 especially those that fight the Lord's battles, should be in the 
 strictest sense sanctified ones; and it is a wonder that those dare be 
 profane ones who carry their lives in their hands.

 2. They are called God's <I>mighty ones,</I> because they had their 
 might from God and were now to use it for him. It is said of Cyrus that 
 in this expedition <I>God held his right hand,</I>

 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+45:1"><I>ch.</I> xlv. 1</A>.

 God's sanctified ones are his mighty ones. Those whom God calls he
 qualifies; and those whom he makes holy he makes strong in spirit. 

 3. They are said to rejoice in his highness, that is, to serve his
 glory and the purposes of it with great alacrity. Though Cyrus did not 
 know God, nor actually design his honour in what he did, yet God used 
 him as his servant

 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+45:4"><I>ch.</I> xlv. 4</A>,

 <I>I have surnamed thee</I> as my servant, though <I>thou hast not
 known me</I>), and he rejoiced in those successes by which God exalted 
 his own name. 

 4. They are very numerous, <I>a multitude, a great people, kingdoms of 
 nations</I>

 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>), 

 not rude and barbarous, but modelled and regular troops, such as are
 furnished out by well-ordered kingdoms. The great God has hosts at his 
 command.

 5. They are far-fetched: <I>They come from a far country, from the end
 of</I> heaven. The vast country of Assyria lay between Babylon and 
 Persia. God can make those a scourge and ruin to his enemies that lie 
 most remote from them and therefore are least dreaded.</P>

 <P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

 III. The summons given them is effectual, their obedience ready, and 
 they make a very formidable appearance: <I>A banner is lifted up upon 
 the high mountain,</I> 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.

 God's standard is set up, a flag of defiance hung out against Babylon.
 It is erected on high, where all may see it; whoever will may come and 
 enlist themselves under it, and they shall be taken immediately into 
 God's pay. Those that beat up for volunteers must <I>exalt the 
 voice</I> in making proclamation, to encourage soldiers to come in; 
 they must <I>shake the hand,</I> to beckon those at a distance and to 
 animate those that have enlisted themselves. And they shall not do this 
 in vain; God has commanded and called those whom he designs to make use 
 of

 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>)

 and power goes along with his calls and commands, which cannot be
 resisted. He that makes men able to serve him can, when he pleases, 
 make them willing too. It is the <I>Lord of hosts that musters the host 
 of the battle,</I> 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.

 He raises them, brings them together, puts them in order, reviews them,
 has an exact account of them in his muster-roll, sees that they be all 
 in their respective posts, and gives them their necessary orders. Note, 
 All the hosts of war are under the command of the Lord of hosts; and 
 that which makes them truly formidable is that, when they come against 
 Babylon, the Lord comes, and brings them with him as <I>the weapons of 
 his indignation,</I> 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.

 Note, Great princes and armies are but tools in God's hand, weapons
 that he is pleased to make use of in doing his work, and it is his 
 wrath that arms them and gives them success.</P>
 
 <A NAME="Isa13_6"> </A>
 <A NAME="Isa13_7"> </A>
 <A NAME="Isa13_8"> </A>
 <A NAME="Isa13_9"> </A>
 <A NAME="Isa13_10"> </A>
 <A NAME="Isa13_11"> </A>
 <A NAME="Isa13_12"> </A>
 <A NAME="Isa13_13"> </A>
 <A NAME="Isa13_14"> </A>
 <A NAME="Isa13_15"> </A>
 <A NAME="Isa13_16"> </A>
 <A NAME="Isa13_17"> </A>
 <A NAME="Isa13_18"> </A>

 <A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
 <TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
 <TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Doom of Babylon.</I></FONT></TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 739.</TD></TR>
 <TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
 </TABLE>

 <P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
 <FONT SIZE=+1>6  Howl ye; for the day of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I> at hand; it shall come
 as a destruction from the Almighty.
 &nbsp; 7  Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart
 shall melt:
 &nbsp; 8  And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold
 of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they
 shall be amazed one at another; their faces <I>shall be as</I> flames.
 &nbsp; 9  Behold, the day of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> cometh, cruel both with wrath and
 fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the
 sinners thereof out of it.
 &nbsp; 10  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.
 &nbsp; 11  And I will punish the world for <I>their</I> 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.
 &nbsp; 12  I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man
 than the golden wedge of Ophir.
 &nbsp; 13  Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall
 remove out of her place, in the wrath of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts, and
 in the day of his fierce anger.
 &nbsp; 14  And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no
 man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and
 flee every one into his own land.
 &nbsp; 15  Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every
 one that is joined <I>unto them</I> shall fall by the sword.
 &nbsp; 16  Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their
 eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.
 &nbsp; 17  Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall
 not regard silver; and <I>as for</I> gold, they shall not delight in
 it.
 &nbsp; 18  <I>Their</I> 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.
 </FONT></P>

 <P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

 We have here a very elegant and lively description of the terrible 
 confusion and desolation which should be made in Babylon by the descent 
 which the Medes and Persians should make upon it. Those that were now 
 secure and easy were bidden to <I>howl</I> and make sad lamentation; 
 for,</P>

 <P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

 I. God was about to appear in wrath against them, and it is a fearful 
 thing to fall into his hands: <I>The day of the Lord is at hand</I> 

 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),

 a little day of judgment, when God will act as a just avenger of his
 own and his people's injured cause. And there are those who will have
 reason to tremble when that day is at hand. <I>The day of the Lord 
 cometh,</I> 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.

 Men have their day now, and they think to carry the day; but God laughs
 at them, for he sees that <I>his day is coming,</I>

 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+37:13">Ps. xxxvii. 13</A>.

 Fury is not with God, and yet his day of reckoning with the Babylonians
 is said to be <I>cruel with wrath and fierce anger.</I> God will deal 
 in severity with them for the severities they exercised upon God's 
 people; with the froward, with the cruel, he will show himself froward, 
 will show himself cruel, and give the blood-thirsty blood to drink.</P>

 <P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

 II. Their hearts shall fail them, and they shall have neither courage 
 nor comfort left; they shall not be able either to resist the judgment 
 coming or to bear up under it, either to oppose the enemy or to support 
 themselves, 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:7,8"><I>v.</I> 7, 8</A>.

 Those that in the day of their peace were <I>proud,</I> and
 <I>haughty,</I> and <I>terrible</I>

 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),

 shall, when trouble comes, be quite dispirited and at their wits' end:
 <I>All hands shall be faint,</I> and unable to hold a weapon, <I>and 
 every man's heart shall melt,</I> so that they shall be ready to die 
 for fear. The pangs of their fear shall be like those of a woman in 
 hard labour, and <I>they shall be amazed one at another.</I> In 
 frightening themselves, they shall frighten one another; they shall 
 wonder to see those tremble that used to be bold and daring; or they 
 shall be amazed looking one at another, as men at a loss, 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+42:1">Gen. xlii. 1</A>.
 
 <I>Their faces shall be as flames,</I> pale as flames, through fear (so
 some), or red as flames sometimes are, blushing at their own cowardice; 
 or their faces shall be as faces scorched with the flame, or as theirs 
 that labour in the fire, their <I>visage blacker than a coal,</I> or 
 like <I>a bottle in the smoke,</I> 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:83">Ps. cxix. 83</A>.</P>

 <P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

 III. All comfort and hope shall fail them 
 
 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):

 <I>The stars of heaven shall not give their light,</I> but shall be
 clouded and overcast; <I>the sun shall be darkened in his going 
 forth,</I> rising bright, but lost again, a certain sign of foul 
 weather. They shall be as men in distress at sea, when neither sun nor 
 stars appear, 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+27:20">Acts xxvii. 20</A>.

 It shall be as dreadful a time with them as it would be with the earth
 if all the heavenly luminaries were turned into darkness, a resemblance 
 of the day of judgment, when the sun shall be turned into darkness. The 
 heavens frowning thus is an indication of the displeasure of the God of 
 heaven. When things look dark on earth, yet it is well enough if all be 
 clear upwards; but, if we have no comfort thence, wherewith shall we be 
 comforted?</P>

 <P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

 IV. God will visit them <I>for their iniquity;</I> and all this is 
 intended for the punishment of sin, and particularly the sin of pride, 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
 
 This puts wormwood and gall into the affliction and misery,

 1. That sin must now have its punishment. Though Babylon be a little
 world, yet, being a wicked world, it shall not go unpunished. Sin 
 brings desolation on the world of the ungodly; and when the kingdoms of 
 the earth are quarrelling with one another it is the fruit of God's 
 controversy with them all.

 2. That pride must now have its fall: <I>The haughtiness of the 
 terrible</I> must now be <I>laid low,</I> particularly of 
 Nebuchadnezzar and his son Belshazzar, who had, in their pride, 
 trampled upon, and made themselves very terrible to, the people of God. 
 <I>A man's pride will bring him low.</I></P>

 <P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

 V. There shall be so great a slaughter as will produce a scarcity of 
 men 
 
 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):

 <I>I will make a man more precious than fine gold.</I> You could not
 have a man to be employed in any of the affairs of state, not a man to 
 be enlisted in the army, not a man to match a daughter to, for the 
 building up of a family, if you would give any money for one. The 
 troops of the neighbouring nations would not be hired into the service 
 of the king of Babylon, because they saw every thing go against him.
 Populous countries are soon depopulated by war. And God can soon make a 
 kingdom that has been courted and admired to be dreaded and shunned by 
 all, as a house that is falling, or a ship that is sinking.</P>

 <P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

 VI. There shall be a universal confusion and consternation, such a 
 confusion of their affairs that it shall be like the <I>shaking of the 
 heavens</I> with dreadful thunders and the <I>removing of the earth</I> 
 by no less dreadful earthquakes. All shall go to rack and ruin <I>in 
 the day of the wrath of the Lord of hosts,</I> 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.

 And such a consternation shall seize their spirits that Babylon, which
 used to be like a roaring lion and a raging bear to all about her, 
 shall become <I>as a chased roe and as a sheep that no man takes 
 up,</I> 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.

 The army they shall bring into the field, consisting of troops of
 divers nations (as great armies usually do), shall be so dispirited by 
 their own apprehensions and so dispersed by their enemies' sword that 
 they shall <I>turn every man to his own people;</I> each man shall 
 shift for his own safety; the <I>men of might shall not find their 
 hands</I>

 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+76:5">Ps. lxxvi. 5</A>),
 
 but take to their heels.</P>

 <P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

 VII. There shall be a general scene of blood and horror, as is usual 
 where the sword devours. No wonder that every one makes the best of his 
 way, since the conqueror gives no quarter, but puts all to the sword, 
 and not those only that are found in arms, as is usual with us even in 
 the most cruel slaughters 
 
 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):

 <I>Every one that is found alive shall be run through,</I> as soon as
 ever it appears that he is a Babylonian. Nay, because the sword devours 
 one as well as another, <I>every one that is joined to them shall fall 
 by the sword;</I> those of other nations that come in to their 
 assistance shall be cut off with them. It is dangerous being in bad 
 company, and helping those whom God is about to destroy. Those 
 particularly that join themselves to Babylon must expect to share in 
 her plagues, 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+18:4">Rev. xviii. 4</A>.

 And, since the most sacred laws of nature, and of humanity itself, are
 silenced by the fury of war (though they cannot be cancelled), the 
 conquerors shall, in the most barbarous brutish manner, <I>dash the 
 children to pieces, and ravish the wives. Jusque datum 
 sceleri--Wickedness shall have free course,</I> 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.

 They had thus dealt with God's people

 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:11">Lam. v. 11</A>),
 
 and now they shall be paid in their own coin, 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+13:10">Rev. xiii. 10</A>.

 It was particularly foretold

 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+137:9">Ps. cxxxvii. 9</A>)

 that the <I>little ones of Babylon should be dashed against the
 stones.</I> How cruel soever and unjust those were that did it, God was 
 righteous who suffered it to be done, and to be done <I>before their 
 eyes,</I> to their greater terror and vexation. It was just also that 
 the houses which they had filled with the spoil of Israel should be 
 spoiled and plundered. What is got by rapine is often lost in the same 
 manner.</P>

 <P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

 VIII. The enemy that God will send against them shall be inexorable, 
 probably being by some provocation or other more than ordinarily 
 exasperated against them; or, in whatever way it may be brought about, 
 God himself will <I>stir up the Medes</I> to use this severity with the 
 Babylonians. He will not only serve his own purposes by their 
 dispositions and designs, but will put it into their hearts to make 
 this attempt upon Babylon, and suffer them to prosecute it with all 
 this fury. God is not the author of sin, but he would not permit it if 
 he did not know how to bring glory to himself out of it. These Medes, 
 in conjunction with the Persians, shall make thorough work of it; for, 
 
 1. They shall take no bribes, 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.

 All that men have they would give for their lives, but the Medes
 <I>shall not regard silver;</I> it is blood they thirst for, not gold; 
 no man's riches shall with them be the ransom of his life.

 2. They shall show no pity 
 
 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),

 not to <I>the young men</I> that are in the prime of their time--they
 shall shoot them through with their bows, and then <I>dash them to 
 pieces;</I> not to the age of innocency--<I>they shall have no pity on 
 the fruit of the womb, nor spare little children,</I> whose cries and 
 frights one would think should make even marble eyes to weep, and 
 hearts of adamant to relent. Pause a little here and wonder,

 (1.) That men should be thus cruel and inhuman, and so utterly divested
 of all compassion; and in it see how corrupt and degenerate the nature 
 of man has become.

 (2.) That the God of infinite mercy should suffer it, nay, and should
 make it to be the execution of his justice, which shows that, though he 
 is gracious, yet he is the God to whom vengeance belongs.

 (3.) That little infants, who have never been guilty of any actual sin,
 should be thus abused, which shows that there is an original guilt by 
 which life is forfeited as soon as it is had.</P>

 <A NAME="Isa13_19"> </A>
 <A NAME="Isa13_20"> </A>
 <A NAME="Isa13_21"> </A>
 <A NAME="Isa13_22"> </A>

 <A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
 <TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
 <TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Doom of Babylon.</I></FONT></TD>
 <TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 739.</TD></TR>
 <TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
 </TABLE>

 <P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
 <FONT SIZE=+1>19  And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the
 Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and
 Gomorrah.
 &nbsp; 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 the shepherds make their fold there.
 &nbsp; 21  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.
 &nbsp; 22  And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their
 desolate houses, and dragons in <I>their</I> pleasant palaces: and her
 time <I>is</I> near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
 </FONT></P>

 <P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

 The great havoc and destruction which it was foretold should be made by 
 the Medes and Persians in Babylon here end in the final destruction of 
 it. 

 1. It is allowed that Babylon was a noble city. It was <I>the glory of 
 kingdoms and the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency;</I> it was that 
 <I>head of gold</I>

 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:37,38">Dan. ii. 37, 38</A>);

 it was called <I>the lady of kingdoms</I>

 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:5"><I>ch.</I> xlvii. 5</A>),

 <I>the praise of the whole earth</I> 
 
 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+51:41">Jer. li. 41</A>),

 <I>like a pleasant roe</I> (so the word signifies); but it shall be as
 a <I>chased roe,</I> 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.

 The Chaldeans gloried in the beauty and wealth of this their
 metropolis.

 2. It is foretold that it should be wholly destroyed, like Sodom and 
 Gomorrah; not so miraculously, nor so suddenly, but as effectually, 
 though gradually; and the destruction should come upon them as that 
 upon Sodom, when they were secure, eating and drinking, 
 
 <A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+17:28,29">Luke xvii. 28, 29</A>.
 
 Babylon was taken when Belshazzar was in his revels; and, though Cyrus
 and Darius did not demolish it, yet by degrees it wasted away and in 
 process of time it went all to ruin. It is foretold here

 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>)

 <I>that it shall never be inhabited;</I> in Adrian's time nothing
 remained but the wall. And whereas it is prophesied concerning Nineveh, 
 that great city, that when it should be deserted and left desolate yet 
 flocks should lie down in the midst of it, it is here said concerning 
 Babylon that <I>the Arabians,</I> who were <I>shepherds, should not 
 make their folds there;</I> the country about should be so barren that 
 there would be no grazing there; no, not for sheep. Nay, it shall be 
 the receptacle of <I>wild beasts,</I> that affect solitude; the houses 
 of Babylon, where the sons and daughters of pleasure used to 
 rendezvous, <I>shall be full of doleful creatures, owls and satyrs,</I> 
 that are themselves frightened thither, as to a place proper for them, 
 and by whom all others are frightened thence. Historians say that this 
 was fulfilled in the letter. Benjamin Bar-Jona, in his Itinerary, 
 speaking of Babel, has these words: "This is that Babel which was of 
 old thirty miles in breadth; it is now laid waste. There are yet to be 
 seen the ruins of a palace of Nebuchadnezzar, but the sons of men dare 
 not enter in, for fear of serpents and scorpions, which possess the 
 place." Let none be proud of their pompous palaces, for they know not 
 but they may become worse than cottages; nor let any think that 
 <I>their houses shall endure for ever</I>

 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+49:11">Ps. xlix. 11</A>),

 when perhaps nothing may remain but the ruins and reproaches of them.

 3. It is intimated that this destruction should come shortly

 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):

 <I>Her time is near to come.</I> This prophecy of the destruction of 
 Babylon was intended for the support and comfort of the people of God 
 when they were captives there and grievously oppressed; and the 
 accomplishment of the prophecy was nearly 200 years after the time when 
 it was delivered; yet it followed soon after the time for which it was 
 calculated. When the people of Israel were groaning under the heavy 
 yoke of Babylonish tyranny, sitting down in tears by the rivers of 
 Babylon and upbraided with the songs of Zion, when their insolent 
 oppressors were most haughty and arrogant

 (<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),

 then let them know, for their comfort, that Babylon's time, her day to
 fall, is near to come, and the days of her prosperity shall not be 
 prolonged, as they have been. When God begins with her he will make an 
 end. Thus it is said of the destruction of the New-Testament Babylon,
 whereof the former was a type, <I>In one hour has her judgment
 come.</I></P>

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