It matters not how we read the words of old and the meanings certain words have to us. Instead, it matters how they meant those words when they wrote them for the prophets were prophets to their people who were alive in their days. The Jewish prophets of old, like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Jeremiah, etc were trying to correct their people (the Jewish nation) and warn them of the consequences to them if they didn't turn from their ways. They would also similarly write about and warn certain nations around them that were oppressing them.
Case in point, Isa 13 is all about the pending destruction of Babylon in 539 BC. The start of the chapter clearly identifies who this was about.
The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
And no, this is not Babylon, NY.
[SUP]4 [/SUP]The noise of a multitude in the mountains, Like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together! The Lord of hosts musters The army for battle. [SUP]5 [/SUP]They come from a far country, From the end of heaven— The Lord and His weapons of indignation, To destroy the whole land.
For those of you who are struggling to understand, study this passage because Jesus, Peter and John all copy it as do other OT prophets. God almost always uses a foreign enemy to execute judgment. Here he uses the Medes. In the NT, He uses the Romans to punish Israel for rejecting and killing His Son among other high crimes. Here we have a loud noise of nations from the "end of heaven" but were they really from heaven?
[SUP]17 [/SUP]“Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them...
They were the Medes and Persians. Did the Lord destroy the whole earth (land)? Of course not, He destroyed Babylon as we are told from the outset. Now look at this:
[SUP]9 [/SUP]Behold, the day of the Lord comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it.
For the lesser informed, the "day of the Lord" is not the end of the planet or world-wide judgment. It simply means God's divine judgment is coming and in this case, it was to the Babylonians. It is NOT a future world-wide great tribulation!!! Now look at this colorful figurative language that Isaiah uses to drive home the point of how powerful the judgment will be.
[SUP]10 [/SUP]For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine...[SUP]13 [/SUP]Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the Lord of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger.
Everyone reading this should recognize this language which applied to Babylon so that when you see it again in the NT, you ought to realize that there it is applying to Israel. You have to understand what I call, "audience relevancy." You also need to study how the prophets of old spoke. Their audience knew exactly what was meant. The Jews of old knew but sadly some today have no clue. They simply lash out and criticize if anyone tries to teach them if the teaching doesn't fit their life long beliefs.