Isaiah 13:17-22: a reflection

17Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not value silver, and as for gold, they will not delight in it. 18Their bows will dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb. Their eyes will not spare children. 19Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20It will never be inhabited, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. The Arabian will not pitch a tent there, neither will shepherds make their flocks lie down there. 21But wild animals of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of jackals. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will frolic there. 22Hyenas will cry in their fortresses, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.

Isaiah pronounces the fall of Babylon, then the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride. And the picture of its end is stark: this proud, glorious city will be overthrown, never inhabited again, its palaces given over to wild animals, jackals, and desert creatures, its splendor reduced to desolation. What seemed permanent, the height of human glory and power, would become a haunt of ruins.

Notice the reversal: the glory of kingdoms becomes a desolate ruin. Babylon at its height must have seemed unshakable, its magnificence permanent, its power beyond challenge. And yet Isaiah foresees it emptied, abandoned, its pleasant palaces echoing with the cries of wild animals. Human glory at its height, that looked as if it would last forever, proved passing after all.

That is a sobering reminder of the transience of human glory and pride. The empires, achievements, and splendors that seem permanent, that boast as though they will never fall, are passing; what looks unshakable can become a ruin. It is a warning against putting our trust or our pride in things that will not last, and against being overawed by human power that presents itself as eternal. Do not build your life on the glories that pass, or be intimidated by proud powers that seem permanent, when even great empires fall. Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, became a haunt of jackals. Set your hope instead on the kingdom that does not pass, and on the God whose glory alone endures.

Lord, Isaiah foresaw proud Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, become a desolate ruin, a haunt of wild animals, its splendor that seemed permanent proved passing. Remind me how transient human glory is. Keep me from building my life on the achievements and splendors that pass, or from putting my pride in things that will not last. And keep me from being overawed by human powers that present themselves as permanent, when even great empires fall. Set my hope on the kingdom that does not pass and on your glory alone, which endures forever. Let me not trust or fear what is passing, but build on what lasts.