Isaiah 14:4

Isaiah 14:4 says, That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!  Isaiah said that there was to be a proverb taken against the king of Babylon asking how had the oppressor been stopped and the once golden city as it had called itself ceased to be.  The kingdom of Babylon was almost universal at the time, and it also stood in opposition to God.  Even though there are several nations today who feel indestructible and stand against God, one day they will be cast down.  We are not to rejoice in their destruction though but are to reach out to them with the gospel of God’s love.  God does not rejoice in the destruction of unsaved people, no matter how evil they may be, and neither should we as Christians. 

Verse five adds, The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.  This is already an accomplished fact spiritually, ever since Jesus Christ died for the sins of all mankind and rose again in victory over sin.  All we have to do is accept His gift of salvation. 

Verse six continues, He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.  Isaiah said that the one who had been so cruel to the people was now persecuted and there was no one to stop this from happening.  This had not been done to correct any action by those who were oppressed, but simply for the pleasure of the king of Babylon.  Some rulers today still take pleasure in elevating themselves by punishing all those who oppose them, but their day of judgment is coming.  It may not happen in this lifetime, but it is assured by God to happen.

Verse seven states, The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.  During this time, after the fall of the tyrant king of Babylon the whole world would be at peace.  This has not happened often in history, but when the great tyrant of the earth, Satan, falls, those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ will have peace forever.  Of course, even in the turmoil of life today, if we are Christians, we should always be at peace spiritually. 

Verse eight adds, Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.  Isaiah said even the trees would rejoice.  During a time without war, the trees would not be continually damaged or destroyed.  War affects everything that it touches and not just people.  When we get to our heavenly home, everything will be as God first created it, at which time He pronounced it good. 

Verse nine continues, Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.  I believe this is a reference to the second coming of Jesus Christ, at which time those who were faithful to Him will rise from the dead to meet Him in His kingdom.  Though it could refer to those who are spiritually dead coming to Him in this lifetime, I believe it refers to the coming spiritual kingdom of God, when all will truly be at peace. 

Verse ten concludes, All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?  I believe this applies to those who had defied God and considered themselves great in the world.  When they fell or died, the people around them would ask if they were no more powerful than the average person.  There are some rulers today who believe themselves to be more powerful than God, but one day when God’s judgment comes, they will find themselves just like all other sinners who never accepted the gift of salvation.  Even Satan himself will be asked this question by those that he led astray and who had put their faith in his lies.    

Isaiah 14:1

Isaiah 14:1 says, For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.  Isaiah said that one day God would restore the people of Israel to a nation that was His nation and that strangers would be joined with them.  I believe this means that the people of Israel, who were God’s people because of their covenant relationship with Him would again enter into that covenant relationship with Him.  They were not His people because they were better than anyone else by their own merit, but because of that covenant relationship with Him, which is why they often were defeated when they failed to live up to that covenant relationship.  Had they been morally superior to others by their own merit, they never would have been defeated.  This promise was ultimately fulfilled through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and His salvation gift was to all people and not just the Jews. 

Verse two adds, And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.  Isaiah said when the people of Israel were returned to their land by being obedient to their covenant relationship with Him that they would rule over those who had oppressed them.  This was ultimately and forever fulfilled when Jesus Christ died for the sins of all men, and I don’t believe it has to do with an earthly kingdom but a heavenly one.  This prophesy may have been temporarily fulfilled when the people of Israel returned from Babylon, but it was not permanently fulfilled until Jesus Christ came to bring the new covenant between man and God, since no one else was able to live up to the old one. 

Verse three continues, And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,  I believe the day that the Lord will do this refers to God’s judgment Day, when we will have rest from our sorrows and fear and the hard bondage that sin had brought to us. 

Isaiah 13:12

Isaiah 13:12 says, I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.  Isaiah said that God had declared that He would make mankind more precious than gold.  Matthew Henry says this refers to there being so few people left that there wouldn’t be anyone to mine the gold.  When God’s final judgment comes, there will be no one left to be concerned about material things of the earth.  Those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ will be called home to heaven and those who haven’t will be sent away to everlasting punishment, which is why we as Christians should value sharing the gospel with people above the riches of this word.

Verse thirteen adds, Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.  Though this may refer to earthquakes in that day that would shake up the people of Babylon, I believe that since it says the earth will move out of its place that it refers more to the second coming of Christ, when those who have refused to accept God’s gift of salvation will feel His wrath.  It will still be the choice of each individual which they experience, everlasting peace with God by accepting the gracious gift of salvation or everlasting or punishment because they refused to accept God’s gracious gift of salvation.  God will always show His wrath against sin, and if someone refuses to accept His gift of pardon from that sin, they will have to pay the penalty. 

Verse fourteen continues, And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.  The great army that had come against the people of Israel may have been like a roaring lion, but they will become as a deer that is chased or a sheep that no one fears or wants.  They will all then return to their own land.  As followers of Christ, this does not say that like the people of Israel would make them afraid, but that God would, and He will always be the source of our power.  Our enemies may not fear us but that they had better fear the wrath of God, no matter how powerful they may think they are. 

Verse fifteen states, Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.  Isaiah said that those who had come to wage war against Israel who did not flee but were still there to be found would die by the sword.  Some enemies of God may remain more defiant to Him, but when judgment comes, they could be said to have died on their own sword. 

Verse sixteen adds, Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.  These were common practices that were carried out by the victors of war in that day, and it is still the way some countries treat women and children today if they are victorious in battle over them, but it is not something that we as Christians should ever do.  Women and children should not be killed without mercy just because they were a part of a nation that opposes Christianity. 

Verse seventeen continues, Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.  Isaiah said that the Medes would be stirred up against the Babylonians.  God can work through those who don’t believe in Him to defeat others who don’t believe in Him, but His plan is always to call everyone to repentance and forgiveness by accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord.

Verse eighteen says, Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children.  Isaiah said that the Medes would not even have pity on pregnant women and children but would kill them as they had killed the young men of Babylon.  There are many wars going on today where there is no concern about killing women and children.  As a matter of fact, it seems many times this may be done to dishearten those of a country that another country is fighting against. 

Verse nineteen adds, And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.  Isaiah said that Babylon for all its glory would be reduced to the same state as Sodom and Gomorrah had been, and they had been totally destroyed.  Though not all kingdoms that glory in their own power and defy God today may be destroyed in our lifetime, when God’s judgment day does come, their glory will be reduced to nothing but everlasting punishment. 

Verse twenty continues, It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.  Isaiah said that Babylon would never again be a country.  Those nations that oppose God and His people today will never be inhabited again when the end of time comes, no matter how powerful they may be. 

Verse twenty-one states, But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. 

Verse twenty-two adds, And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.  The land that had been the kingdom of Babylon would become a land of wild creatures.  No matter how powerful or beautiful a country may think it is, when God’s judgment comes, it will not stand.

Isaiah 13:6

Isaiah 13:6 says, Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.  The people of Babylon were told to howl, because the day of the Lord was at hand, and it would bring great destruction from God.  This was a temporary destruction of an evil nation, but when the final day of the Lord comes when He returns to claim His people, all those who have never accepted Him as Savior and Lord will be sent away to howl in everlasting pain and suffering. 

Verse seven adds, Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:  Isaiah said that these once mighty and proud people of Babylon would then faint, and their hearts would melt in fear.  They would no longer be full of self-pride, and all those who have worked so proudfully against God and His people will one day faint in fear, realizing how powerless they really are.

Verse eight continues, And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.  Isaiah continued to speak about how afraid the people of Babylon would be in the coming day of the Lord that would be carried out by Persia, and people who are standing proudly against God today will cower in fear in the coming day of the Lord, when Jesus Christ returns to judge all who have stood against Him.  

Verse nine states, Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.  This may have applied to the people of Babylon, but it also applies even more so the coming day of the Lord when Jesus Christ returns.  Those who have felt so powerful while denying God will face His wrath because they refused to turn from their sin by accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  Everyone has the choice of either accepting God’s gift of salvation and having everlasting life with Him or of rejecting it and being sent away to everlasting punishment one day. 

Verse ten adds, For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.  Isaiah said at the day of the Lord that all light would be removed from the world.  Matthew Henry says that this means everything would be hidden by dark clouds in that day, but I believe this can only apply to the second coming of Christ, Who is the everlasting Light.  I say this because Isaiah tells us that the sun, stars and moon would not send out light, not that they would just not be seen. 

Verse eleven continues, And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.  I believe this refers to the second coming because it doesn’t say Babylon, which may have been punished at that time, but that the wicked of the world would be punished and have their arrogance to cease. 

Isaiah 13:1

Isaiah 13:1 says, The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.  Isaiah then began to speak of his vision for Babylon.  He had been speaking of visions about Israel, and now he began to speak about other nations.  Babylon was not even a great power at that time.  Isaiah said it was the burden of Babylon that he saw, because since they would not put their faith in God, His word would be a burden to them.  God’s word not only applies to those who are His people, but to all people everywhere.  To those who do accept God’s word, it is a blessing, and to those who don’t it is a burden.

Verse two adds, Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.  Isaiah was saying that the people of Babylon would exalt themselves I believe, and they would feel that they were indestructible. Babylon was filled with nice houses for their nobility, and they felt this was a sign of their power over everyone else.  There are people in the world today who believe that their wealth makes them superior to other people and above the need for God, but as Babylon was being warned then, it never will.

Verse three continues, I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.  Isaiah said God called them sanctified ones, or people who were going to be set aside for a particular task, and that would be setting His people free from captivity.  Cyrus was to fulfill this prophesy, and in Isaiah 45:1 he is referred to as God’s anointed one, though he wasn’t an Israelite.  Of course, we know that Jesus Christ is the only true anointed One through whom we can be saved, but Cyrus was to be anointed or set apart from the world to be used to temporarily deliver the people of Israel from bondage. They, Cyrus and the Persians, might never even acknowledge that God had been using them to bring about His purpose.  God can still use the unsaved today to bring about His will here in the world. 

Verse four states, The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.  Isaiah said these troops who were coming to defeat the people of Babylon were a great multitude.  God will always have those who are capable of defeating evil forces in the world and may work through them, even if they aren’t Christians.  Still, even if He does work through them, their victory will only be temporary if they do not put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  Earthly kingdoms come and go, some more powerful and less evil than others, but all but the kingdom of God will one day pass away.

Verse five adds, They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.  Those who were going to defeat Babylon were said to come from a far country and were to be victorious because God was with them to bring about His purpose.  Assyrian lay between Babylon and Persia, so the people of Babylon likely took very little notice of Persia.  God can use people from anywhere to bring about His purpose in the world, but it is only through Jesus Christ that He can bring about His ultimate victory. 

Isaiah 12:1

Isaiah 12:1 says, And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.  In that day here refers when a person comes to Christ for salvation first and then to the day that He returns to claim His church I believe.  We who were lost once we are born again into the family of God should begin to give Him our praises, because He had been angry at the sin in our lives, but it is now forgiven.  Once we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, the anger of God is turned away from us because Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for our sins.  Our complete rejoicing will be when He comes again to take us home to heaven. 

Verse two adds, Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.  Isaiah said that God was his salvation, and he would trust in Him and not be afraid.  He also said that God was his strength and his song, or reason to rejoice. Through Jesus Christ alone can we have salvation and because of our accepting His gift of salvation, we should not be afraid of anyone or anything in life, not even death itself.  We are already forever victorious, and this is the reason we should sing praises to God. 

Verse three continues, Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.  Jesus Christ is the living water, and we should draw out of this living water, which is the well of salvation, to quench our spiritual thirst. 

Verse four states, And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.  Matthew Henry says this refers to the deliverance of the people of Israel from Sennacherib at that time but more importantly the deliverance of those who put their faith in Jesus Christ from their enemies for all time.  We as Christians are to rejoice not only individually but also as groups who gather to worship God. This rejoicing should not be based on any material blessing from God but on His sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins. 

Verse five adds, Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.  We should rejoice in God because He has done excellent things which is known to all the earth, even if many people want to deny His existence.  God makes Himself known even through creation, even if many people try to explain this great work of God away.  I say this because the Bible says that no one will be able to claim that God did not make Himself known to them. 

Verse six continues, Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.  As the people of Israel were told to do then at their deliverance from Sennacherib by the power of God, we as followers of Christ today need to shout out to the world about the salvation of Christ.  It is only through the power and grace of God that we can be spiritually delivered from sin and death, and because of that deliverance, we need to let the world know about the greatness of God.

Isaiah 11:10

Isaiah 11:10 says, And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.  In that day referred to Hezekiah’s reign and defeat of Sennacherib and inviting other nations to come under his protection.  In that day ultimately refers to the coming of Christ, Who was the root, or descendant of Jesse, and He would not only come to save the Jews but the Gentiles as well.  

Verse eleven adds, And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.  Also, during the reign of Hezekiah, many of the people of the other twelve tribes who were actually referred to as Israel during the divided kingdom would return to Judah and again become a part of God’s people in action and not just in name. Then, this would really be fulfilled when Jesus Christ came to call not only all of Israel to Him, but all people everywhere. 

Verse twelve continues, And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.  Hezekiah would assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather the dispersed of Judah from all over the earth.   Though this might have occurred during the reign of Hezekiah that really was just a temporary thing.  This was forever fulfilled when Jesus Christ came to die for the sins of all mankind and call all people to Him to an everlasting kingdom. 

Verse thirteen concludes, The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.  During the reign of Hezekiah, the envy between the two groups of God’s people would go away.  As followers of Christ, we must be united in our worship of Him and not allow envy and strife to come between us.  Christians cannot effectively witness to the world if we are at war with each other.

Verse fourteen states, But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.  This would have referred to God’s work during the reign of Hezekiah, when He would empower the people of Israel to defeat the Philistines, Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites.  Today, it applies to the followers of Christ who have been given the power to spiritually defeat all their enemies. 

Verse fifteen adds, And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.  Isaiah said that God was going to destroy the people of Egypt, or was reminding them of what God had done the first time He delivered the people of Israel from bondage.  We as Christians, if we begin to feel defeated by the world, need to remember that we are already delivered from the power of sin and death by our faith in Jesus Christ. 

Verse sixteen continues, And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.  Isaiah said there would be a highway for the dispersed people to come back to Israel like there was in the day that they came out of Egypt.  Jesus Christ is our only way to God today, and accepting His salvation does not require any hard work on our part.  We simply have to accept Him as our personal Savior and Lord by faith.