Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
Isaiah Ch.13 / 66 Ch.s
ISA:13
* The armies of God's wrath. (1-5) The conquest of Babylon.
(6-18) Its final desolation. (19-22)
#1-5 The threatenings of God's word press heavily upon the
wicked, and are a sore burden, too heavy for them to bear. The
persons brought together to lay Babylon waste, are called God's
sanctified or appointed ones; designed for this service, and
made able to do it. They are called God's mighty ones, because
they had their might from God, and were now to use it for him.
They come from afar. God can make those a scourge and ruin to
his enemies, who are farthest off, and therefore least dreaded.
#6-18 We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the
Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were
proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when
trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All
comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give
their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are
often employed by the prophets, to describe the convulsions of
governments. God will visit them for their iniquity,
particularly the sin of pride, which brings men low. There shall
be a general scene of horror. Those who join themselves to
Babylon, must expect to share her plagues, #Re 18:4|. All that
men have, they would give for their lives, but no man's riches
shall be the ransom of his life. Pause here and wonder that men
should be thus cruel and inhuman, and see how corrupt the nature
of man is become. And that little infants thus suffer, which
shows that there is an original guilt, by which life is
forfeited as soon as it is begun. The day of the Lord will,
indeed, be terrible with wrath and fierce anger, far beyond all
here stated. Nor will there be any place for the sinner to flee
to, or attempt an escape. But few act as though they believed
these things.
#19-22 Babylon was a noble city; yet it should be wholly
destroyed. None shall dwell there. It shall be a haunt for wild
beasts. All this is fulfilled. The fate of this proud city is a
proof of the truth of the Bible, and an emblem of the
approaching ruin of the New Testament Babylon; a warning to
sinners to flee from the wrath to come, and it encourages
believers to expect victory over every enemy of their souls, and
of the church of God. The whole world changes and is liable to
decay. Wherefore let us give diligence to obtain a kingdom which
cannot be moved; and in this hope let us hold fast that grace
whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly
fear.