Isaiah 13:14-18

¹⁴ And this will happen: like a hunted gazelle or sheep and without one who gathers them, they will each turn to his people, and they will each flee to his land. ¹⁵ Everyone who is found will be pierced through, and everyone who is carried away will fall by the sword. ¹⁶ And their children will be dashed into pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered, and their wives will be raped. ¹⁷ Watch me stirring the Medes up against them, who do not value silver and do not delight in gold. ¹⁸ And bows will shatter young men. And they will not show mercy on fruit of the womb; their eyes will not look with pity on children.

no mercy, no pity

Isaiah continues to describe the future downfall of the Babylonian empire. He describes their soldiers as fleeing in panic back to their own country and their own kin. But that does not help them, because many will be caught and killed on the way, and those who arrive back home will be invaded and suffer the same atrocities that they had inflicted. Their children would be slaughtered before their eyes, and their wives raped. The God of armies sends armies that do not share his attributes of mercy and compassion. They will not be bribed by money to end their violence. They live for it.

Why is such a horrible depiction of violence in the holy scripture? First, it is the true depiction of the fate that Babylon suffered under the Medo Persian armies, as a punishment from God for its own violent overthrow of other nations, including Judah. Secondly, it hints of the terrible recompense that the planet will suffer on the day of Yahveh, when he brings punishment to cleanse the earth of its rebellion.

LORD, we shutter to think of the terrible retribution in store for those who have sinned against you by being cruel and violent toward others. We throw ourselves at your mercy, because you are a God of mercy and you have taken pity on us. By your grace you have atoned for our sins through Christ’s death on the cross. We cling to that cross, and seek deliverance from your terrible judgment. Our hearts also cry out for those still trapped in lives of sin and rebellion. Help us to reach them before they suffer such terrible punishment and destruction. Help us to reach them with the message of the victory you won for them at the cross.