Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Isaiah
Book: Isaiah
Chapter: 13
Overview:
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.