springing water. This work flows through the mediation of Christ, and is conveyed to our souls by
means of God's ordinances. Blessed be God, we have wells of salvation opened on every side, and
may draw from them the waters of life and consolation. In the second part of this gospel song, Is.
12:4-6, believers encourage one another to praise God, and seek to draw others to join them in it.
No difference of opinions about the times and seasons, and other such matters, ought to divide the
hearts of Christians. Let it be our care that we may be placed amongst those to whom he will say,
Come, ye blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the
world.
Chapter 13
The armies of God's wrath. (Is. 13:1-5) The conquest of Babylon. (Is. 13:6-18) Its final
desolation. (Is. 13:19-22)
Is. 13:1-5 The threatenings of God's word press heavily upon the wicked, and are a sore burden,
too heavy for them to bear. The persons brought together to lay Babylon waste, are called God's
sanctified or appointed ones; designed for this service, and made able to do it. They are called God's
mighty ones, because they had their might from God, and were now to use it for him. They come
from afar. God can make those a scourge and ruin to his enemies, who are farthest off, and therefore
least dreaded.
Is. 13:6-18 We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. Those
who in the day of their peace were proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when trouble
comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of
heaven shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are often employed
by the prophets, to describe the convulsions of governments. God will visit them for their iniquity,
particularly the sin of pride, which brings men low. There shall be a general scene of horror. Those
who join themselves to Babylon, must expect to share her plagues, Rev. 18:4. All that men have,
they would give for their lives, but no man's riches shall be the ransom of his life. Pause here and
wonder that men should be thus cruel and inhuman, and see how corrupt the nature of man is
become. And that little infants thus suffer, which shows that there is an original guilt, by which life
is forfeited as soon as it is begun. The day of the Lord will, indeed, be terrible with wrath and fierce
anger, far beyond all here stated. Nor will there be any place for the sinner to flee to, or attempt an
escape. But few act as though they believed these things.
Is. 13:19-22 Babylon was a noble city; yet it should be wholly destroyed. None shall dwell
there. It shall be a haunt for wild beasts. All this is fulfilled. The fate of this proud city is a proof
of the truth of the Bible, and an emblem of the approaching ruin of the New Testament Babylon;
a warning to sinners to flee from the wrath to come, and it encourages believers to expect victory
over every enemy of their souls, and of the church of God. The whole world changes and is liable
to decay. Wherefore let us give diligence to obtain a kingdom which cannot be moved; and in this