Isaiah 13:1-5 - God is in absolute control

Isaiah 12 ended the first portion of the book with a declaration of joyful celebration in the Kingdom of the Messiah. As we come into chapter 13 right to chapter 23, we will see the prophet bringing a series of eleven prophecies to judge the Gentile nations. In God’s dealing with the nations, we can safely conclude that He alone is sovereign. While His particular concern was with Israel and Judah, His dealing was with evil in general, regardless of nations. Because He is sovereign all nations come under His control. Isaiah 13 starts the ball rolling with Babylon.  

The first verse of Isaiah 13 tells us what the prophet saw was a message concerning Babylon. The word “saw” could indicate a vision that he was given or a conviction that he had about that nation. It was a message of impending judgment on Babylon. Isaiah was instructed to make the message crystal clear to the people of Babylon. So he was told to:

“Lift up a standard on the bare hill,
Raise your voice to them,
Wave the hand that they may enter the doors of the nobles.”

 

As we have already mentioned, the sovereignty of God meant that the nations of the world were at His disposal. He could use any nation as His instrument of judgment. Verses 3-5 describe how God would muster the forces to overthrow Babylon. Later verses would tell us where these forces would come from. But we know that it was God who would garner them to deal with Babylon. As an aside, Babylon in the Bible since the day of the Tower of Babel speaks of the human proclivity to defy God.

 

Clearly these verses show God’s sovereignty. Every nation and ruler, regardless, is at His disposal. He uses whomever He so chooses to shape the events of nations to accomplish His ultimate purpose. Proverbs 21:1 declares that “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.” God is even sovereign over the rulers of pagan nations. He uses them whether they know it or not, or whether they like it or not. Wonderfully Our God is sovereign over creation, over history, and over redemption. He is in absolute control! And nothing can happen to us outside of His will. Hallelujah!