What happensPermalink
Isaiah pronounces an oracle against Babylon. God raises a signal and summons armies from distant lands to execute His anger. On the day of the Lord, human pride will be humbled, sinners punished, and even the heavens shaken. God will stir up the Medes, who cannot be bought off and will show no mercy. Babylon, once the glory of kingdoms, will ultimately become desolate, inhabited by wild creatures rather than people.
Why it mattersPermalink
Babylon’s coming fall shows that the day of the Lord will humble imperial pride and punish evil on a worldwide scale. This oracle begins Isaiah’s judgments against the nations in chapters 13–23 and establishes that God rules armies, empires, history, and creation. Babylon’s apparent glory cannot escape Him, assuring His people that even their greatest oppressor remains under His command.
Key versePermalink
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.