The Day of the Lord in Isaiah 13

(The recording for this Wednesday was unable to be uploaded)

Isaiah 13 talks about the day of the Lord. This is the second passage in the Bible that talks about the day of the Lord (the first passage that talks about the day of the Lord is Isaiah 2-4). This is a prophecy, and so this morning we’ll think about how prophecy works, but we’ll also think about how prophecy points us to Jesus. 

One of the main questions to think about with this passage is whether it refers to the final day of judgment, or whether it refers to the immediate destruction by Babylon. And so as we read this passage, I want you to pay attention to what this passage is saying and think about how to answer this question - does this refer to immediate judgment or final judgment?

[read] 1-5

• Babylon - the ones who are mighty and proudly exalted - are under the control of God in order to destroy the whole land / earth. 

[read] 6-8

• In the flow of the text, when it says the day of the Lord is near, it seems to be referring back to 13:4-5, to the mustering of this host for battle that will destroy the whole land / earth. 

[read] 9-16

• This section says the day of the Lord comes. It seems to clearly be talking about how the day of the Lord will be a judgment on all of “the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity” (13:11). There is cosmic tumult (13:10, 13) and the wrath of God is poured out (13:13) against all those who exalt themselves against him (13:11).

  • So the question is, ‘does this section refer to the same event as the rest of the chapter?’ And if it is the same event, is God using this cosmic language to refer to the destruction and captivity of Israel, or is the destruction and captivity of Israel a foreshadowing for what will happen on the final day of judgment?
    That’s not an easy question to answer. But let’s keep reading. 

[read] 17-22

• This is very specific. Whatever the day of the Lord refers to in vv 6-16, we’re clearly now back to talking about the immediate judgment that God is about to bring through Babylon, because this is talking about how God is going to destroy Babylon. 

  • Even though they are His instrument for judgment, they will still be judged.

So, this is Isaiah 13 and it talks about the day of the Lord. I’ll make a few comments about how I think we should understand this passage, and then I’ll talk about how this points us to Jesus. 

I think this passage is referring to both the immediate judgment on Israel and to the final judgment on all the world. 

• The immediate judgment seems clear because you get clear descriptions of Babylon and of the Medes, and the judgment in vv 6-9 seems to be connected to vv 1-5 - God says He is commanding and summoning the Babylonian army, and then we get the emphasis in v 6 that this destruction is from the Lord - i.e. this isn’t the Babylonians who are destroying you, this is the judgment of God for your sin. 

• But then we move into vv 9-16 and that does seem to be describing worldwide judgment - it specifically says in v 11 that God will punish the world for its evil. This isn’t just what’s happening to Israel, this isn’t just what’s happening to Babylon, this is God bringing punishment on everyone. 

  • And then the reason I think it goes back to the Medes in v 17 is so that Israel will have the assurance that God really is going to punish evildoers - no one will get away with evil, and that’s verifiable, because in a few years time God was going to bring judgment on Babylon for their sins. 

• So I think you have both elements in this passage - you have immediate judgment from God and you also get the expectation of final judgment. And generally speaking, that’s how prophecy usually works. Prophecy is usually not just about what is happening thousands of years in the future - it’s also relevant to the people who hear the message right then. Prophecy usually applies to the immediate context and to the future. 

Just thinking through this passage, you can begin to see why the day of the Lord or other things that refer to the end times can get complicated and there’s a lot of disagreement, because the passages in the Bible aren’t always straightforward about it. 

And there’s a lot more to think about when it comes to the day of the Lord and other prophecies. So hopefully that wets your appetite and you can continue to dig into the Bible and think about these things.

But what I want to make sure we do is think about how this prophecy points us to Jesus. 

Turn to Isaiah 61:1-2 [Read]

• • God tells us what the anointed one will do. The anointed one is the Messiah (Messiah means anointed one). The Messiah will proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God. 

Luke 4:16-21 [Read]

• • Notice where Jesus stopped reading this passage. He says that this passage was fulfilled right then because the Messiah has come to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. But he stopped and didn’t read about the Messiah proclaiming the day of God’s vengeance. Why is that? Because that wasn’t happening yet. 

  • So when the OT tells us about the day of the Lord, we should think about Jesus, because He is the Lord who will tread out the winepress of God’s wrath and bring judgment on all the nations (Rev 19:15). 

  • But not only does Jesus bring the judgment of God on sinners, He came before the day of wrath to proclaim the Lord’s favor. He came before the day of judgment in order to proclaim that there is a way to be delivered from God’s wrath. And that happens as Jesus drinks the cup of God’s wrath in our place on the cross. 

  • And so as we read about the day of the Lord and the day of God’s wrath - as Christians we remember that Jesus spares us from this fate because He took that wrath for us. And we proclaim that message, that Jesus will spare everyone who believes in Him - you can have the favor of God instead of the wrath of God by trusting Jesus as your Savior and Lord. 

Prophecy always points us to Jesus, because Jesus is the focal point of history and the end goal of history is that He would be exalted.