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| 1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. |
Burden of Babylon – The doom of Babylon. HG714:3
Mystic Babylon, Christendom. D26
Verses 1 to 13 are a description of the time of trouble. R5735:4
The extravagant language used in respect to the fall of Babylon was made extravagant because the divine testimony had reference to mystic Babylon more particularly than to literal Babylon. R2372:5; HG64:1; HG520:5
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| 2 Lift up a banner upon a bare mountain, raise the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles. |
Lift ye up a banner – The standard of the gospel of truth, divested of the traditional errors that have long beclouded it. D40
Upon the high mountain – Among those who constitute the true embryo Kingdom of God. D40
Exalt the voice – Earnestly and widely proclaim this truth. D41
Unto them – The bewildered sheep of the Lord's flock who are still in Babylon. D41
Shake the hand – Motion with the hand--let them see the power of the truth exemplified, as well as hear its proclamation. D41
That they – The true sheep. D41
Go into the gates – Realize the blessings of the truly consecrated. D41
Of the nobles – The heirs of the heavenly Kingdom. D41
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| 3 I have commanded my hallowed ones, I have also called my mighty men for mine anger, them that rejoice in my highness. |
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| 4 The noise of a multitude on the mountains, as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations assembled together: Jehovah of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. |
Of a multitude – Of a tumult. D21
In the mountains – Kingdoms. B146
A great people – Contending for real and fancied rights and liberties. B146
A tumultuous noise – "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout." (1 Thess. 4:16) B145, B147
Mustereth – He gathers the nations and assembles the kingdoms to pour upon them his indignation, even all his fierce anger. (Zeph. 3:8) D528
Host of the battle – Hosts of the time of trouble. A324; B146; D528
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| 5 They come from a far country, from the end of the heavens--Jehovah, and the weapons of his indignation--to destroy the whole land. |
To destroy – Nevertheless his judgment will be for the world's deliverance; for he wounds to heal. R1869:3
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| 6 Howl, for the day of Jehovah is at hand; it cometh as destruction from the Almighty. |
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| 7 Therefore shall all hands be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt, |
Every man's heart – Every mortal's heart. D21
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| 8 and they shall be terrified: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them, they shall writhe as a woman that travaileth; they shall be amazed one at another, their faces shall be as flames. |
Be amazed one at another – Wonder every man at his neighbor. D21
Shall be as flames – Red like flames shall their faces glow. D21
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| 9 Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the earth desolate; and he will destroy the sinners thereof out of it. |
Day of the LORD – The Day of Jehovah, which will accomplish the destruction of Babylon. R1352:6
The day of judgment divides into two parts. First, a "time of trouble"; and, secondly, a morning, driving away the mists of superstition. This text is fulfilled in the first of these portions. R268:4, R34:6*
Cruel – Direful. D21
Wrath – "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." (Rom. 1:18) R350:4*
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| 10 For the stars of the heavens 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. |
Stars of heaven – The apostles. D591
The sun – The Gospel light, the truth, and thus, Christ. D590
And the moon – The light of the Mosaic Law. D590
Not cause her light – Symbolic of a spiritual night. R268:4, R35:1*
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| 11 And I will punish the world for evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will make the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will bring low the haughtiness of the violent. |
For their evil – In aggrandizing the few, heedless of the cries of the poor and needy. D149
Of the terrible – Of the tyrants. D22
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| 12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold, even man than the gold of Ophir. |
A man more precious – The lives of multitudes will not then be sacrificed. D149
A man's life. D45
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| 13 Therefore I will make the heavens to shake, and the earth shall be removed out of her place, at the wrath of Jehovah of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. |
Shake the heavens – The powers of spiritual control. A318
And the earth – The present organization of society. C229; A323; D46
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| 14 And it shall be as with a chased roe, and as with a flock that no man gathereth together; every one shall turn to his own people, and every one flee into his own land. |
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| 15 All that are found shall be thrust through; and every one that is in league with them shall fall by the sword. |
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| 16 And their infants shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes, their houses shall be rifled, and their women ravished. |
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| 17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who do not regard silver, and as for gold, they have no delight in it. |
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| 18 And their bows 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. |
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| 19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. |
And Babylon – Verses 16 to 22 evidently referring to literal Babylon. R2372:5
Symbolic of mystic Babylon. R5092:2
The glory of kingdoms – Likewise, mystical Babylon, the great ecclesaistical kingdom, is exalted to power and dominion and backed, to a considerable degree, by the kings of the earth, the civil powers. D25
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| 20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in, even to generation and generation; nor shall Arabian pitch tent there, nor shepherds make fold there. |
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| 21 But beasts of the desert shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of owls; and ostriches shall dwell there, and wild goats shall dance there. |
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| 22 And jackals shall cry to one another in their palaces, and wild dogs in the pleasant castles. And her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged. |
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