Isaiah 13:1-22: Who rules the world - Babylon?

We seem to be starting a new section here - we get a little intro: "A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw."

Babylon wasn't really on the radar at this time - Assyria was the big threat. But babylon would sweep away Assyria. Later, the Medes are mentioned. The time will come when they sweep away the Babylonians. Empires rise and empires fall.

What Isaiah is inviting us to consider here is that God is behind this chaotic surging of  forces of political power. Like a conductor drawing forth crashing cadences from the orchestra with sweeps of his baton, God is conducting these superpowers as they boil up out of their territories and inundate everything in their path, only to be devoured themselves by the next.

Language of despair and terror makes us realise how it will feel to be on the ground, in the path of these oncoming storms. But behind it, we can see the arm of God. Yahweh is really in charge.