Isaiah 21:1-10, A Message about Babylon

Jamieson-Fausset-Browns tell us this passage is a repetition of the assurance given in the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters to the Jews about to be captives in Babylon, that their enemy should be destroyed and they be delivered.

I’m telling you the good news I’ve heard. It comes from the Lord who rules over all. He is the God of Israel.

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Isaiah said “here is a message the Lord gave me about Babylonia. It is known as the Desert by the Two Rivers”. An attack is coming through the desert. It’s sweeping along like a windstorm. People are turning against Babylon. Robbers are taking its goods. Elamites, attack the city! Medes, surround it! “The Lord will put an end to all of the suffering Babylon has caused”.

Remember, Israel and Judah were separate kingdoms at this time…Israel, in the north and Judah in the south. Isaiah was a prophet in the Southern Kingdom. Just a few years after this chapter was written teh Kingdom of Israel fell (722 BC). As a result the Northern Kingdom no longer was a separate political entity and became an internal province of the Assyrian empire.

Twelve years later...in another political upheaval, Babylon fell...

In verse 9 of this passage Isaiah says "Babylon is fallen, is fallen." Babylon had revolted from under the Assyrian domination and for twelve years the efforts of Assyria to re-subdue the city were successfully resisted. Sargon was victorious and Babylon fell into Sargon's hands. This was an event, which the cuneiform texts record as occurring in Sargon's twelfth year, is thereby dated as 710 B.C.

Then, in 689, the city was destroyed…and lay in ruins for nearly 80 years. The city was rebuilt in time to prepare for the captivity of the southern Kingdom. In 606 BC Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem and carried off the intelligentsia…Daniel among them.

Here is a timeline of current events…

725 BC            Isaiah Prophesies against the Nations                          Isaiah 13 - 35
725 BC            Hoshea the Last King of Israel                                    2 Kings 17
722 BC            Israel Led into Captivity                                           2 Kings 17:6
711 BC            Isaiah Prophesies Captivity and Restoration               Isaiah 40 - 66        
710 BC            Babylon falls to Sargon                                             Isaiah 21:9
701 BC            Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem                                2 Kings 18,
701 BC            Hezekiah's Prayer                                                        Isaiah 37
697 BC            The Vision of Nahum                                                  Nahum 1 - 3
689 BC            Sennecherib destroys Babylon                                 2 Kings 21
687 BC            Manasseh's Wicked Reign                                           2 Chronicles 33
638 BC            The Word of the LORD to Zephaniah                        Zephaniah 1 - 3
627 BC            The Call of Jeremiah                                                 Jeremiah 1
622 BC            Jeremiah Proclaims God's Covenant                           Jeremiah 11, 12
609 BC            Jeremiah Proclaims Covenant Is Broken                     Jeremiah 13 - 20
604-562 BC     Nebuchadnezzar rules in Babylon                               Daniel 2
593 BC            Ezekiel's Calling and Instruction                             Ezekiel 2
588 BC            Siege of Jerusalem Begins                                           2 Kings 25
588 BC            Jeremiah Prophesies Judgment on Judah                    Jeremiah 34 - 45
586 BC            The Fall of Jerusalem                                                2 Kings 25,
586 BC            Jeremiah Prophesies against Babylon                          Jeremiah 50, 51
539 BC            Cyrus the Great of Persia conquers Babylon        Ezra 1:1

If this chapter tells us anything, it tells us that whatever happens on the world stage, the Lord rules over all. In its long history Babylon did a lot of damage but…it was finally removed. When we look at the entire timeline we can begin seeing things for what God intends them to be. If God ruled over Babylon…then, Babylon’s misdeeds were permitted by God. Babylon was just a tool…in 586 BC…to teach Judah.

I’ll bet Nebuchadnezzar thought it was all about him…

The importance of this perspective…the Lord rules over all…is it prevents us from taking the short view when trouble besets us. A bad political administration will not ruin us but it may teach us some lessons. A bad supreme court decision will not ruin us but it may teach us a lesson. A bad marriage will not destroy us but it can teach us some lessons. These things aren’t self-sustaining perils in our path. They are tools in God’s hand.

Live boldly out there today…