Book of Isaiah Chapter 13 Summary

Do the Wave

  • Speaking in the voice of God (again), Isaiah prophesies against Babylon.
  • God says that people should create a signal on a hill and then wave their hands to let someone into the gates of the nobles. Apparently, this is a signal for God's warriors to come and execute his anger against the Babylonian rulers.
  • God says that he is mustering up a huge army, comprised of people from many nations (meaning the Median-Persian army that will come to defeat Babylon), which will lay waste to all the lands of the known world.
  • The Day of the Lord—when this judgment is passed on the Babylonians—will come with great destruction. Everyone is going to look confused and anguished. They will look like they're in as much pain as a woman in labor.

Making Room for the Goat Demons

  • The wrath of God will blot out the sun, moon, and stars from the sky, punishing all the wicked and the evil. The surviving humans will be as rare as gold from Ophir.
  • The heaven and earth will be knocked out of place, and people will go running away like gazelles fleeing from hunters.
  • But the Babylonians are all going to die. They'll be run through with swords, their babies will be dashed to pieces, the houses will be destroyed, and their wives will be raped (yeah, this is all pretty awful stuff).
  • God says that he's stirring up the Medes against them, since they (the Medes) have no regard for silver or gold, and just want to kill… and kill.
  • The Medes won't just kill young men, but children, as well. Babylon will suffer the same fate of total destruction that Sodom and Gommorah experienced.
  • It will be abandoned and no one will live in it anymore. Arab Bedouins won't even camp there, and shepherds won't lead their flocks there. Instead, wild animals and evil spirits are going to move in: ostriches, hyenas, jackals, and "goat-demons" (to name a few)—spooky.