Isaiah 13
1THE VISION WHICH ESAIAS SON OF AMOS SAW AGAINST BABYLON.
2Lift up a standard on the mountain of the plain, exalt the voice to them, beckon with the hand, open the gates, ye rulers.
3I give command, and I bring them: giants are coming to fulfil my wrath, rejoicing at the same time and insulting.
4A voice of many nations on the mountains, even like to that of many nations; a voice of kings and nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts has given command to a war-like nation,
5to come from a land afar off, from the utmost foundation of heaven; the Lord and his warriors are coming to destroy all the world.
6Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is near, and destruction from God shall arrive.
7Therefore every hand shall become powerless, and every soul of man shall be dismayed.
8The elders shall be troubled, and pangs shall seize them, as of a woman in travail: and they shall mourn one to another, and shall be amazed, and shall change their countenance as a flame.
9For behold! the day of the Lord is coming which cannot be escaped, a day of wrath and anger, to make the world desolate, and to destroy sinners out of it.
10For the stars of heaven, and Orion, and all the host of heaven, shall not give their light; and it shall be dark at sunrise, and the moon shall not give her light.
Giants are coming, according to the Brenton’s Septuagint Translation, but that word is translated as “mighty warriors” in most other common English Bibles. In my previous post, I mentioned that things are translated differently because of different understandings. While these translations are not misleading, there are deeper meaning that open up to those who study further.
Take Proverbs 27:20 as as example. In the NKJV, we read that “Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied.” This can be understood as that in the same way as that hell and destruction always have room for more, our lusts can never be satisfied, that satisfaction isn’t found in external things. It’s an attitude. Some are satisfied with very little, while others have tremendous assets and are still unfulfilled. A man’s life doesn’t consist in the abundance of things that he possesses (Luke 12:15). We only have to look into the Bible to get an understanding of this truth.
- Jesus’ disciples were not satisfied with just Him (John 14:8).
- Adam and Eve were not satisfied with perfection (Genesis 3:1-6).
Indeed dissatisfaction is one of Satan’s main inroads into our lives. So we have to learn (teach ourselves) to be content in whatsoever state we are in (Philippians 4:11).
However, as I said before, there is a deeper meaning that opens up when we study more. We find that the original word in Hebrew that is translated to “Hell” is “Sheol”. The word for “Destruction” is “Abandon”. In Revelation 9, after the fifth angel blew his trumpet, the depth of the underworld is opened and smoke and huge locusts come up from it; their king is called Abaddon in Hebrew, and in Greek he is called Apollyon. This is no coincidence. Also Job 26:5-6, in Job’s speech, “Sheol is naked before Him, And Destruction has no covering”, in other words, there is no shelter to cover Abaddon.
It is in plain sight folks, all we have to do is spend time with the Lord and the Holy Spirit will guide us.
Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’