1 Corinthians 5:13 assures us that “God will judge those outside.”
God will judge, He always has and He always will. Isaiah 13-23 speaks about God’s judgment on the world powers of Isaiah’s time for their national sin. Proverbs 14:34 says “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” Isaiah 13-23 contains visions concerning the final fall of several world powers. These proclamations are each introduced by one of three words, “oracle”, prophecy, or “burden”, depending on the translation. Whichever of these words is used, they are used to declare God’s proclamations of judgment against that particular nation or city.
Jim McGuiggan, in his book on Isaiah, lists 5 lessons to be learned from these eleven chapters.
1. If God will not tolerate iniquity in His own people (Isaiah 1-12), He certainly will not tolerate it from others. Judgment is a recurring theme throughout the Bible. 1 Peter 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God. Psalm 82:8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.
2. Since God is able to pronounce and execute judgment on all these pagan nations, it is clear that He is not some local deity with restricted territorial powers. He is the Lord of the whole earth. Acts 17:24 tells us that “God made the world and everything in it” and He is “the Lord of heaven and earth.”
3. Since many of the nations were being punished because they had hindered or hurt Israel, there judgment was, at least in part, an expression of God’s love for Israel. Psalm 135 and 136 speak to this. Psalm 135:14 reminds us that the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants. Many times judgment is not simply the result of God’s anger against a wicked nation, but it is also an expression of His love for the righteous.
4. Although Isaiah saw things concerning other nations, these oracles were going to affect Judah and Jerusalem as well. God was not going to judge Babylon as just Babylon; He was also going to talk about how the judgment of Babylon affected Judah and Jerusalem. Isaiah13 is all about the judgment God will bring on Babylon but the result of this judgment is expressed in Isaiah 14:1: The Lord will have compassion on Jacob; once again he will choose Israel and will settle them in their own land. Likewise today, when God judges a nation it still has an effect on God’s people.
5. The fact that God judged the nations means that He cared for them also. Many times the judgments of God are seen in His anger. But if He did not love, He would not judge. If He was not concerned with these nations, He would not have judged them as He did.