I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Isaiah 13-16.

Isaiah prophesied about the fall of Babylon before Babylon had truly risen to power. Now I want to note that Babylon had been a world power previously, but this prophecy concerned the Babylonian Empire which had just started to rise when Hezekiah was king of Judah.  But I believe this prophecy contains more than just a prophecy against Babylon.  It is a warning to every powerful person or nation which rises throughout history.  God will punish the wicked for their sin.  It matters not how powerful they are, and even powerful nations will fall to God’s judgement if its leaders seek to usurp God’s place. 

I never quite understood why the prophecy about the fall of Babylon precedes the prophecy about the fall of Assyria and then other countries.  The prophecies against Philistia and Moab teach us not to rejoice at the downfall of others, no matter how much they opposed us.  Rather, we should feel sorrow for the sufferings of others, even those who imposed suffering.  We should feel suffer, and seek to mitigate that suffering, even when that suffering results from their own actions.