54. Longsuffering and Judgment
Hymn: RHC 460 Send the Light! 455 Go Ye into All the World 450 To the Work!
Isaiah 13:1-22
1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. 2 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. 3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. 4 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. 5 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. 6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: 8 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. 9 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. 10 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. 11 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. 12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. 13 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. 14 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. 15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword. 16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. 17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. 18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children. 19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 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. 21 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. 22 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.
Longsuffering and Judgment
OUTLINE
- Babylon the Subdued Conqueror (v1-10)
- Babylonian System the Subdued System (v11-22)
INTRODUCTION
At the close of the Second Epistle of Peter in 2 Peter 3, the Apostle Peter described both the longsuffering of God and His coming judgment. He sovereignly rules over the nations of the world and therefore its people.
God is giving men time to repent and a time will come when there is time no more and His judgment must come.
The church is given the mandate to evangelise all the nations – Matthew 28:19-20 (KJV) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Mark 16:15 (KJV) And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Luke 24:46-48 (KJV) And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. Acts 1:7-8 (KJV) And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Peter illustrated this by the warning of the global flood when the church responded, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning…. Our Lord Himself warned … Matthew 24:38-39 (KJV) For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
Let me have my fun first while you build your ark, the people said to Noah. This was the picture of the nation of Judah, before the impending judgment of God by God’s sanctifying one (v3), the Babylonians. Alas, when the judgment came, it was too late – 2 Peter 3:5-6 (KJV) For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
Peter described these as scoffers walking after their own lusts! Why was there a delay? Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3:9-10a (KJV) The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. … 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night…
Peter gives us the reality in 2 Peter 3:7, 10b (KJV) But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. … in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Are we truly serious about our Christian life or is it a show to soothe a seared conscience?
Israel is a special people, God’s people, yet there was a time in their history they did not live like God’s people – Deuteronomy 7:6-8 (KJV) For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
And Isaiah, God’s prophet was raised to speak the truth for the Lord’s sake. Recall when we started studying the book, Isaiah assessed in Isaiah 1:4-6 (KJV) Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
The axe was about to fall upon Israel with the Assyrian invasion and the axe will likewise fall upon Judah when God would send the Babylonians as His instrument of chastisement for His people. The Lord through His prophet Isaiah is beckoning His people to repent!
In this present section, the prophet expanded his perspective from Israel to include the world. The God of Israel is also Lord of the nations.
This whole section of the book expands the idea that all the kingdoms of the world will become the kingdom of God and His Christ, Immanuel (cf. Dan. 2:44). [Constable]
Daniel 2:44 (KJV) And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
Acts 17:26 (KJV) And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
We begin now a new section in our study from Isaiah 13-23, we see Isaiah pronouncing God’s judgment on ten gentile nations and His people in Judah and Israel. [Wiersbe]
The recurrence of the Hebrew word “massa”, translated “burden” or oracles, prescribes the boundaries of this section of text. There are 10 oracles or pronouncements of judgments beginning in 13:1; 14:28; 15:1; 17:1; 19:1; 21:1-2, 11, 13; 22:1 and 23:1. [Constable]
Isaiah 13:1 (KJV) The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
Isaiah 14:28 (KJV) In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden. [Judgment on Israel]
Isaiah 15:1 (KJV) The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence;
Isaiah 17:1 (KJV) The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
Isaiah 19:1 (KJV) The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
Isaiah 21:1 (KJV) The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land. Isaiah 21:2 (KJV) A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.
Isaiah 21:11 (KJV) The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?
Isaiah 21:13 (KJV) The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim.
Isaiah 22:1 (KJV) The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops? [Judgment on Judah]
Isaiah 23:1 (KJV) The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.
The judgment begins with Babylon, the nation that will one day swallow up Assyria, which disturbs the peace in Israel, stirred up by the Lord as His instrument of judgment on His people.
The lesson is this – God has ruled over all nations since time immemorial. Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest Babylonian king whom God consigned to live like an animal for seven years testified:
Daniel 4:25 (KJV) That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
Daniel 4:32 (KJV) And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
Daniel 4:33-37 (KJV) The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws. And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellers and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
The thirteenth and the fourteenth chapters, with the exception of the last five verses of Isaiah 14, contain one entire prophecy foretelling the destruction of Babylon. The main design is to predict the destruction of that city: but it is also connected with a design to furnish consolation to the Jews. They were to be carried captive there; and the purpose of the prophet was to assure them that the city to which they should yet be borne as exiles would be completely destroyed. [Barnes]
- Babylon the Subdued Conqueror (v-10)
1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
Babylon (derived from Babel, and probably built on the same spot as the tower of Babel – Genesis 11) was the capital of Babylonia, or Chaldea, and was probably built by Nimrod; but it was a long period before it obtained its subsequent size and splendour.
Genesis 10:8 (KJV) And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
Genesis 10:9-10 (KJV) He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
It was the centre of a vast fertile region, the productions of which were conveyed to Babylon, and from which they would naturally be borne down on the Euphrates to the ocean (Isaiah 43:14).
Isaiah 43:14 (KJV) Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.
The first empire of which the earliest historians furnish any trace was in the land of Shinar, the land of the Chaldeans (Genesis 10:8-10; 11:1-9). Syria, Arabia, Tyre with all her wealth, and distant Egypt, were subject and tributary to it.
At the time when this prophecy was delivered, the Jews were in the secure possession of their own capital and country. They were harassed, indeed, by surrounding nations, but they were still free. They had no controversy with Babylon; nor had they reason to apprehend danger from that distant people. Their being borne to that land, was itself, in the time of Isaiah, a distant event, and one that then was not likely to occur. It is remarkable that Isaiah does not distinctly “foretell” that event here, but throws himself to a period of time “beyond” that, when they “would be” in captivity, and predicts their deliverance. [Barnes]
Isaiah 14:1-2 (KJV) 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. 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.
The prophet, therefore, may be conceived in this vision as taking his “stand” beyond an event which had not yet occurred – the captivity of the Jews and their removal to Babylon – and predicting “another” event still more future, which would result in their deliverance – the complete overthrow of the city, and the consequent deliverance of the Jewish people. We are to conceive him standing, as it were, amidst the captive Jews, and directing his eye onward to the complete recovery of the nation by the destruction of Babylon itself (Isaiah 14:1-2).
This prophecy of the destruction of Babylon was delivered, we have seen, at least 174 years before the event occurred. At the time when it was delivered, nothing was more improbable than the ruin of that city as described by Isaiah (v19-22). It was one of the largest, most flourishing, and perhaps the most strongly fortified cities of the world. The prediction that it should be like ‘Sodom and Gomorrah;’ that it should ‘never be inhabited;’ that the wild beast of the desert should lie there; and that dragons should be in their pleasant palaces, was wholly improbable; and could have been foreseen only by God. [Barnes]
There were no natural causes that were leading to this which man could perceive, or of which a stranger and a foreigner, like Isaiah, could have any knowledge. This will appear evident by a brief description of the condition of this celebrated city. [Barnes]
2 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. 3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.
The vision opens (v2-3), with the command of God to assemble His forces to go forth, and accomplish His work regarding the city.
Lift ye up a banner – A military ensign or standard. The vision opens here; and the first thing which the prophet hears, is the solemn command of God addressed to the nations as subject to him, to rear the standard of war, and to gather around it the mighty armies which were to be employed in the destruction of the city. This command, ‘Lift ye up a banner,’ is addressed to the leaders of those armies to assemble them, and to prepare them for war.
Upon the high mountain – It was customary for military leaders to plant a standard on a tower, a fortress, a city, a high mountain, or any elevated spot, in order that it might be seen afar, and be the rallying point for the people to collect together (Isaiah 11:10). Here, the prophet does not refer to any particular “mountain,” but means simply, that a standard should be raised, around which the hosts should be assembled to march to Babylon. The Chaldee translation, “Over the city dwelling in security, lift up the banner.”
Exalt the voice – Raise up the voice, commanding the people to assemble, and to prepare for the march against Babylon. Perhaps, however, the word ‘voice’ here (qol) refers to the “clangour,” or sound, of a trumpet used for mustering armies. The word is often used to denote “any” noise, and is frequently applied to thunder, to the trumpet, etc.
Unto them – That is, to the Medes and Persians, who were to be employed in the destruction of Babylon.
Shake the hand – In the way of beckoning; as when one is at so great a distance that the voice cannot be heard, the hand is waved for a sign. This was a command to beckon to the nations to assemble for the destruction of Babylon.
That they may go into the gates of the nobles – Those who are noble or elevated in rank or office. It refers to Babylon; and the prophet designs probably to speak of Babylon as a magnificent city – a city of princes, or nobles. The Chaldee renders it, ‘That they may enter its gates, which open to them of their own accord;’ retaining the original signification of “voluntariness” in the Hebrew word, and expressing the idea that the conquest would be easy. Our common translation has expressed the correct sense. [Barnes]
Daniel 5:30-31 (KJV) In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
4 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. 5 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.
By a beautiful poetic image, the prophet represents himself as “immediately,” on the issuing of this command, listening to the tumult and noise caused by those who were assembling for war; by the gathering together of nations; by their assembling from a far country to destroy the whole land (v4-5). [Barnes]
He then proceeds to depict the consternation that would follow; the alarm of the people; and their distress, when the day of the Lord should come (v6-10).
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: 8 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.
9 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. 10 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. [Prophetic of the Tribulation Judgment]
- Babylonian System the Subdued System (v11-22)
11 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.
In the defeat of Babylon, Isaiah saw a picture of the final “day of the Lord” when the world will taste the judgment of God. God is longsuffering with sinners, but there comes a time when His judgment must fall. Isaiah’s message against Babylon was fulfilled, and the city and empire were no more.
The Great Tribulation is mentioned once in the New Testament in Matthew 24:21, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
The word “tribulation” or “thlipsis” in Greek means literally a pressing, pressing together, pressure. Metaphorically, it means oppression, affliction, affliction, tribulation, distress, straits.[1] It is derived from the noun “thláō” which means to break. The stress is so great that it reaches a breaking point. The divine Spirit included the adjective “great” to emphasize that it is an unprecedented period of affliction and suffering for all mankind that is in the coming future.
In the Old Testament, it is called (1) The day of the LORD (Isaiah 13:6-9) (2) The indignation (Isaiah 26:20, 34:2) (3) The day of God’s vengeance (Isa 34:8, 63:1-6) (4) The time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7) (5) The overspreading of abominations (Daniel 9:27) (6) The time of trouble such as never was (Daniel 12:1) (7) The seventieth week (Daniel 9:24-27) (8) The time of the end (Daniel 12:9) (9) The great day of His wrath (Revelation 6:17) (10) The hour of His judgment (Revelation 14:7) and (11) The end of this world (Matthew 13:40, 49).
We believe that God will take away the church before the beginning of the Great Tribulation, our Blessed Hope!
11 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 12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. 13 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. 14 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. 15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword. 16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. 17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. 18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children. 19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 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. 21 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. 22 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.
Then, changing the mode of address from himself to God, he sets forth, in a variety of the most distressing and appalling images, the destruction that would come upon the inhabitants of Babylon – the humbling of their pride (v11); the almost entire destruction of the people (v12); the flight of the inhabitants (v13-14); the murder of those who should flee; and the destruction of their wives and children (v15-16). He then specifies (v17) the instruments by which this should be done, and closes the chapter (v18-22) with a minute and most particular account of the complete and final overthrow of the city; of its entire and everlasting desolation. The subsequent chapter which is a continuation of this prophecy, is occupied with an account of the deliverance of the Jews from their captivity, and with a further description of the humbling of that proud city and of its monarch. [Barnes]
In the Scriptures, Babylon symbolizes the world system confederated against God (Genesis 11). Like Babylon in Isaiah’s day, the world today seems so successful and invincible, but one day, the whole system will fall (Revelation 17-18). That is why God calls His people to separate themselves from it (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). [Wiersbe]
This major section of the book emphasizes the folly of trusting in the nations rather than in Yahweh. The section preceding it shows how King Ahaz trusted in Assyria and experienced destruction (Isaiah 7-12). The section following it shows how King Hezekiah trusted in the Lord and experienced deliverance (Isaiah 36-39). In this present section, the prophet expanded his perspective from Israel to include the world. The God of Israel is also Lord of the nations. This whole section of the book expands the idea that all the kingdoms of the world will become the kingdom of God and His Christ, Immanuel (cf. Dan. 2:44). [Constable]
“This second section of the book’s first main unit [Isaiah 1-39] presents a series of judgment oracles against various nations (Isaiah 13-23). This litany of judgment sets the stage for a vision of worldwide judgment that ushers in the Lord’s kingdom on earth (chapters 24-27).” [Constable]
Chapters 13-23 present the nations over which Immanuel is Ruler, and they announce judgment on them all for their pride (10:5-34; cf. 2:6-22; 13:11, 19; 14:11; 16:6; 17:7-11; 23:9). [Constable]
Isaiah 10:5-7 (KJV) O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
Isaiah 2:6-8 (KJV) Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots: Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
Isaiah 13:11 (KJV) 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.
Isaiah 14:11 (KJV) Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
Isaiah 16:6 (KJV) We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so.
Isaiah 17:7-11 (KJV) At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images. In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation. Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips: In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
Isaiah 23:9 (KJV) The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.
CONCLUSION
They are announcements of doom on these nations, but they are also announcements of salvation for Israel if she would trust in the LORD. Isaiah delivered them to the Israelites, rather than to the nations mentioned, at various times during his prophetic ministry. Thus, they assured God’s people of the LORD’s sovereignty over the nations to encourage them to rely in the Lord. It would be foolish to trust in nations whom God has doomed. The unifying theme is the pride of these nations. Exalting self and failing to submit to God results in destruction. [Constable] Amen.
[1] The Complete Word Study Dictionary of the New Testament by Spiros Zodhiates