Isaiah 13:22
22 And the wild beasts of the islands ['iy] shall cry [`anah] in their desolate
houses ['almanah], and dragons [tanniyn] in their pleasant [`oneg]
palaces [heykal]: and her time [`eth] is near [qarowb] to come [bow'], and her days [yowm] shall
not be prolonged [mashak]. KJV-Interlinear
22 And hyenas will howl in their
fortified towers And jackals in their luxurious palaces. Her fateful time also
will soon come And her days will not be prolonged. NASB
In a continuation of the
previous verse, the phrase, wild beasts, ‘iy,’ refers to creatures that
typically howl, such as jackals or hyenas or wolves.
The word for dragons,
generally refers to both marine or land creatures that swim or crawl along,
such as lizards or alligators or crocodiles, or creatures of that sort.
This continues the
scene of a destroyed Babylon, that once was a thriving and prosperous
metropolis, and now at the time of this occurrence, which is still future and a
part of all of the end of days or end of the world events, will become an empty
and destroyed and desolate area.
The important aspect of
this verse and of this chapter, is summed up in the last line of this verse, ‘and
her days will not be prolonged.’
This indicates the
certainty of something that is going to happen in the future.
This also indicates the
certainty of generations of people, from the time that Isaiah first wrote this,
who have lived in all of the centuries and millennia that have transpired since
Isaiah’s time, and will continue to pass, up until the end of human history,
that all of those generations all those billions and billions and perhaps
trillions of people, will ignore these words because they seem rather dramatic,
they seem as though they are empty words by an unbelieving public, and that is
the very reason why these future events will occur.
Unfortunately, most
people do not take the Bible seriously. And those who are interested in the
Bible only have a superficial interest, a pretense interest, or people who are
more impressed about themselves, rather than wanting to genuinely learn what
the Bible has to say, and why the Bible reveals this information for our
benefit.
Most people think, that
if this has already happened in the past, then so what! Or, if this is
something that’s going to happen in the distant future, then what does it have
to do with us now?
And the point is, that
God gave us information so that we can grow in our individual spiritual lives,
and build our relationship with him, even though these things might have
nothing to do with us, or even involve us.
But there will be
people that will be affected by these things, and this information, though
small, maybe all that they have to help get them through their trying times.
When Isaiah wrote these
words, Babylon as an empire did not exist. It would still be another one
hundred and seventy years before the fall of Babylon, and so a completely
different future generation at that time, would look to Isaiah’s words for comfort
and hope.
When the end of the
world comes, and it will come regardless of whether you believe that or not,
then there will be people who at that time, will be looking to God and Christ,
and these words of Isaiah may very well be the only words they have to cling
to, knowing that those then terrible times will come to an end.
Babylon was a city that
existed in ancient times. Babylon was a nation, and an empire whose borders
extended to most of the then known populated world. Babylon is a term that is
representative of worldly activity, of worldly expansion, of worldly
prosperity, of worldly conquest. And all of this without any concern or
interest in God or human history, or the angelic conflict.
Babylon represents
human interests, guided by human opinions, in pursuit of human objectives,
based on human plans.
In the end result is
not only total destruction, but total self-destruction.
All of human history is
a compilation of segments or chapters, that when put together piece by piece,
make up the entire picture of humanity.
It’s the same with our
individual lives. We go through different segments or small micro chapters of
our own lives, from our infancy until the time God removes us from this world.
With each new segment
of our life we have a beginning, we learn something within that segment, and
then it closes making way for the next segment of our life, and the next experience
or learning opportunity where we can learn about God and truth, or we can
continue the same old habits and not really learn anything.
But sooner or later, a
higher power will say, ‘Enough.’ In that case we are removed from this world.
Since the time of Adam
and Eve, well over a hundred and twenty generations, and perhaps more, have
come and gone. Every single individual has had an opportunity to know of God
and to know God, but in most cases indifference and human priorities have
prevented people from not only learning of their self-value, but has prevented
people from achieving their self-value.
In the next few
chapters, Isaiah will warn of the destruction that is certain to come, and he
will also provide assurance of the safety that is available through Christ. But
over the next twenty-seven hundred years and more, since Isaiah’s time up until
our current time, and still well into the future perhaps for another hundred
years, people have and will disregard his words as though they have no value,
in pursuit of their own value, which will only end in failed individual lives,
and in failed human history.
Even though the path
and pattern of human history will not change, your path in your life can change
merely by a change in attitude from within yourself, and your decision to
pursue your spiritual life as God intends for you. And that is simplest plan to
follow and achieve, merely by committing yourself to a daily study the word of
God.
Pursuing the worlds
method means guaranteed failure. Pursuing
Gods plan, means guaranteed success.
