Isaías 13

Isaías 13

Spurgeon reminds us that "Behold is a word of wonder; it is intended to excite admiration. Wherever you see it hung out in Scripture, it is like an ancient sign-board, signifying that there are rich wares within, or like the hands which solid readers have observed in the margin of the older Puritanic books, drawing attention to something particularly worthy of observation." I would add, behold is like a divine highlighter, a divine underlining of an especially striking or important text. It says in effect "Listen up, all ye who would be wise in the ways of Jehovah!" Day of the LORD - See description in Isaiah 13:6. The day of the LORD is coming - The Greek translates coming with the verb erchomai in the present tense, which pictures this day as continually on its way (See Imminency, Imminent). As Motyer says "at any moment the Day is already there, awaiting the Lord’s command to dawn." Isaiah would not be a very popular evangelist in our modern era, a time when most shun and deprecate the preaching of the righteous wrath of God. It is interesting that the book of Romans follows the pattern of giving the "bad news" (Romans 1-3) before revealing the "good news." Is it wise to deviate from this Pauline pattern? Cruel, with fury and burning anger - Notice how the Day itself is personified. Again Isaiah piles up synonymous descriptions of the Day of the LORD, as if the dread and horror of that day could not be adequately portrayed in words. Desolation...exterminate - These are both severe words, the former describing the wasting effect on the land and the latter the extreme destruction of the people of the land. It is as if words cannot adequately describe the dreadful coming Day of the LORD. Desolation (08047) (shammah from shamem = desolation caused by great disaster, usually result of divine judgment) This word stresses the horror caused by desolation of judgment. The Lxx translates shammah with eremos which means desolate, deserted, unsettled. A desert or wilderness that is barren, empty, wasted. The Hebrew shammah conveys a similar picture to the Greek description (eremos) of a land of waste, which causes those to see it to be horrified and appalled by the extent of God's judgment. Exterminate (08045)(shamad) always expresses complete “destruction” or “annihilation.” This is what God had commanded Israel to do when they entered the Promised Land declaring "then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places (SOMETHING ISRAEL NEVER REALLY OBEYED AND IT GOT THEM IN MUCH TROUBLE - IS THERE A SIN OR "IDOL" YOU ARE HESITATING IN DEMOLISHING? BEWARE IT WILL SURELY ENSNARE YOU! cf Dt 12:30)." (Nu 33:52) The destruction depicted by shamad usually involves a rather sudden catastrophe such as warfare or a mass killing. Used to describe the destruction of the idolatrous high places of Baal (Hos 10:8) and his images (2 Ki 10:28). Here are other uses of shamad by the prophets - Isa. 10:7; Isa. 13:9; Isa. 14:23; Isa. 23:11; Isa. 26:14; Isa. 48:19; Jer. 48:8; Jer. 48:42; Lam. 3:66; Ezek. 14:9; Ezek. 25:7; Ezek. 32:12; Ezek. 34:16; Dan. 11:44; Hos. 10:8; Amos 2:9; Amos 9:8; Mic. 5:14; Hag. 2:22 (‘I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations [IN THE DAY OF THE LORD]; and I will overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the horses and their riders will go down, everyone by the sword of another.’); It is worth noting that the last OT prophetic use of shamad is one of the greatest for the nation of Israel, the prophet Zechariah recording "And in that day (WHAT DAY - Read Zechariah 12:1-14+) I (JEHOVAH/YAHWEH HIMSELF) will set about to destroy (shamad) all (HOW MANY?) the nations that come against Jerusalem." (Zechariah 12:9+) Anti-Semitism will be obliterated! The Lxx translates shamad with apollumi which pertains to destruction but not annihilation. It basically has to do with that which is ruined and is no longer usable for its intended purpose. That is the term Jesus used to speak of those who are thrown into hell (Mt 10:28). All people are created by God for His glory, but when they refuse to come to Him for salvation they lose their opportunity for redemption, for becoming what God intends for them to be. They are then fit only for condemnation and destruction. He will exterminate its sinners from it - One express purpose of the Day of the LORD - extermination of sinners! Not a popular topic, even in the modern church! This description of the Day of the LORD supports the premise that this Day has been fulfilled in history but is yet future. The only day that could possibly fulfill this literally is the Second Coming of Jesus when sinners are in essence "exterminated". In this case the prophet moves forward to the Babylon which is the final evil world city to be destroyed with all its inhabitants (see Revelation 17,18). So this has a partial fulfillment when Messiah return's in Rev 19:11 and a final fulfillment when "the heavens will pass away with a roar, the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up". (2Pe 3:10) (Rev 20:11 "from Whose presence earth & heaven fled away and no place was found for them" ). This OT prophecy helps define the timing of the Day of the LORD as going up to the end of the Messianic Age, the Millennial Reign of Christ on earth. Oswalt on "sinners" (see related word chattat/chattath) - The word conveys the idea of an archer who misses the target. So it is with sin, whether conscious or unconscious. It is to miss the goal God has envisioned for us. The inevitable result is devastation and destruction. Even Edward Young who is not always literal (or futuristic) in his interpretation of Isaiah's prophecies agrees that. "Isaiah speaks of the destruction of sinners from the earth; he uses language that seems to transcend a mere reference to Babylon. Over Babylon the judgment pours out, for it will also pour out over all the earth. The language, therefore, is also to be understood of the final judgment. Day of wrath and anguish! In that day who can stand?" Isaiah 13:10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light. The sun will be dark when it rises and the moon will not shed its light.: Isa 5:30 24:21,23 Eze 32:7,8 Joel 2:10, Joel 2:31 Joel 3:15 Am 8:9,10 Zep 1:15,16 Mt 24:29 Mk 13:24 Lk 21:25 Rev 6:12-14 8:12 PHYSICAL DARKNESS A PICTURE OF SPIRITUAL DARKNESS Stars...constellations...sun...moon - The alterations in the heavenlies emphasize the dreadful, fearful character of the Day of the LORD and support the premise that the Day Isaiah is describing is yet future. It is interesting that these signs should accompany divine judgment for darkness also fell upon the land for 3 hours during the time God's wrath fell on His own Son (Mt 27:45, Mk 15:33, Lk 23:44). Darkness is a repeated description of the Day of the Lord - . Amos 5:18; Joel 2:2, 31; 3:15; Ezek. 32:7; Mic. 3:6. Cf. also Matt. 24:29; Luke 21:25; Rev. 8:12. Don't read this too fast! Just imagine the fear and panic that the world will experience when it is plunged into terrible darkness when the heavenly bodies cease to shine! And what a fitting metaphor, for the world without Jesus, the Light of the world (Jn 8:12, 12:46, 1Jn 1:5, Ps 139:11, 12, 2Co 4:6-note), lies in the grip of spiritual darkness (Acts 28:16, Mt 4:16, Mt 8:12, 22:13 Lk 1:79 Jn 1:5, 12:35, Col 1:13-note, 1Th 5:4, 5-note, 1Pe 2:9-note, 1Jn 2:8, 9, 10, 11, Jude 1:13). And furthermore, this temporal worldly darkness sinners will experience is only a "preview" or "foretaste" of an even more horrible darkness that awaits all who refuse the kindness of the Lord (Ro 2:4-note) and His gracious offer of redemption in Christ (Jn 3:19, 20). Joel describes similar cosmic chaos in the Day of the LORD... Joel 2:10-note Before them the earth quakes, The heavens tremble, The sun and the moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness. Joel 2:31-note “The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. Joel 3:15-note The sun and moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness. Young - The first work of creation was the introduction of light. But now that light will vanish, and darkness will stand forth as a characteristic of the day of Yahweh. The stars had been created to give light, but they are now to withhold it. With them their constellations, such as Orion and other brilliant constellations, also refuse to shed their light. Even more, the sun in particular, which is the great light to rule the day, when it breaks forth from the darkness of night at morning time, will itself be darkened. Both halves of the day are therefore dark. The judgment is universal. No sun; and even the pale light of the moon is lost. Over all is darkness, deep, profound, still. Oswalt adds that... There is something entirely fitting about this, for evil always flourishes in the night-time hours (John 3:19, 20). Thus, if evil prefers darkness, darkness it shall have. Moreover, God is light (1 John 1:5; Ps. 139:11, 12), and the heavenly bodies are but reflections of him. (In Gen. 1:14, 15, they are called “light-bearers.”) Thus, when God has withdrawn his blessing from the world, it is appropriate that the “lights” go out (cf. Matt. 27:45, 46). There is probably another implication of these statements about the heavenly bodies. As noted in the comments on ch. 2, the ultimate expression of human pride is idolatry, the sin of making deity in the human image. The central figures in the pantheons of the idolatrous cults were the heavenly bodies: sun, moon, and stars. These bodies were endowed with human traits but were vested with superhuman power which could be manipulated by human beings through magic. Thus, their worship was an attempt to project humanity upon the stars in order to make humanity master of its own destiny (Isa 24:21; 34:4, 5; Jer. 7:18; 8:2; 44:17, 18, 19; Ezek. 8:16, 17, 18). It is in that context that Isaiah announces the extinguishing of the heavenly lights in God’s great day. There is no universal power in the stars that human beings can capture for themselves. The stars are the obedient reflectors of a Light which lies beyond them (Isa 40:26). Jesus describes this aspect of the Day of the Lord declaring... But immediately after the tribulation of those days (Mt 24:21) THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. (Mt 24:29, 30, cp Rev 6:12-note, Rev 8:12-note) The Bible Knowledge Commentary says The statements in 13:10 about the heavenly bodies (stars...sun ...moon) no longer functioning may figuratively describe the total turnaround of the political structure of the Near East. (Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., et al: The Bible Knowledge Commentary. 1985. Victor) Comment: Italics mine. My comment on the commentary. Why take this figuratively when the plain [literal] sense makes good sense in light of Mt 24:29 (see the importance of Compare Scripture with Scripture) which perfectly parallels Isaiah's describes in Isa13:11? The Bible Knowledge Commentary is normally a very conservative and literal resource but comments such as this underscore the importance for every Christian to be equipped to carry out their own inductive Bible study, so that they might be able to discover truth for themselves and be able to discern questionable comments in even highly respected commentaries (cp Acts 17:11-note). Henry