Verses 29-32 “Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel. Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD. Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.”
God is calling the warriors of the Medes against Babylon. He is telling them to surround her and let none of her people escape. This seems in contradiction to the verses before this that told God's people to flee to Zion. It is not in contradiction, though. It seems that this warning of what is to come is for God's people to know that it is coming, so they can flee beforehand. Only those who do not know their God will be caught unaware and be unable to escape. Again comes the command to pay her back for all that she has done to others and to God. She is guilty of the sin of pride. Pride against the Lord God. As a consequence, her young men will fall dead in the streets, and her military will be destroyed in that day and unable to help her. God again calls her proud and tells her that the day of her visitation from Him has come. All the rich, proud, famous, those who think their riches can save them will be killed. God will burn all of the cities and destroy all the land round about.
Verses 33- 34 “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.”
God then announces that both Israel and Judah have been oppressed and held captive, and those who have done this to them have refused to let them go. Indeed, to this day, Judah is a persecuted people, and some of Israel have no idea they are Israel. Oddly enough there seem to be pockets of people in various parts of the world who have Jewish traditions and beliefs, but are not Jews. It is hypothesized that these people may be remnants of Israel. Fortunately at the end, they will finally have someone to plead their cause and fight for them. The Redeemer, Yeshua, is strong. His name is the Lord of Hosts. He will not just plead their cause, for He actually makes no plea. He will simply take back what is His to give and He will punish those who have been against His people, in particular Babylon.
Verses 35-40 “A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men. A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed. A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed. A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.”
Now God calls for a sword upon Babylon and her inhabitants. In other words, He is calling for the death of everyone, the princes, the wise men, the liars, the mighty men, the horses and chariots (the modern counterpart would be the destruction of all our military tanks, ships, jets, etc.), and all the rest of the people in her midst. Notice the adjective “mingled”. This implies that the people are not of one nationality. Can that be said of anyone other than America? We have people from every country on earth here. They will behave as a woman would when faced with terror. The implication is that they will cower in fear. He calls for them to plunder and rob her of her treasures. The water will be dried up as by a drought. This may be an actual drought, as there will be drought during the tribulation and Day of the Lord, but it is also possible it is from all the burning that is going on around the country. God calls for this because they are guilty of gross idolatry. It will no longer be inhabited by people, forever. It will be a place for the wild beasts and owls. This is a repetition of what we have seen pronounced against Babylon before, both in Revelation and Isaiah. Her destruction is compared to Sodom and Gomorrah, whose demise was so complete that until recently people did not even believe these cities existed, as there was nothing left to show they had existed. All that remains in the area where they were to have existed is evidence of fire and sulfur.
Verses 41-46 “Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon. The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail. Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them. At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.”
Again we see that this is not referring to Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon, as it was only Persia that conquered them. This is a people “from the north”, a great nation, and many kings with it from the coasts. Back then the coasts of the earth would be the countries around the Mediterranean. Although applied to today it would take in more countries than that. It would take in a lot of America's enemies. The “people from the north” is obviously not Canada, as said before. Originally this would have referred to the Medes. It still does in essence, but I think that there is more here than just the attack from the Medes. This is a great nation. The word "great" here means "oppressive." A nation from the north. In the course of this study, we have run across this description before. It continues to say that their voice roars like the sea, and they ride horses in array. The report of them is so fearsome that the leader of Babylon quakes and is in as much anguish as a women giving birth. I believe that this may refer to the “aliens” or fallen angel/demon/nephilim that I believe will play a part in the end times. It may even refer to the riders of the sixth trumpet judgment. God asks who can possibly stand before Him under the circumstances? Nobody, is the answer. Babylon will be taken and brought down, and this will be such a great thing that the earth will reel from the doing of it. The nations will cry (again we saw this in Revelation) at her sudden, swift, and complete annihilation.
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