“19) And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20) It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.” (Isaiah 13:19,20)
Babylon was once beautiful and glorious – full of merchants and goods and riches. There is coming a day when it will be overthrown, never to be dwelt in by people again. No travelers will come through. No shepherds will make it a place to keep their sheep.
Instead of being a place for people and commerce and trade, a bustling place of wealth and prosperity, it will be a place for wild animals. Verses twenty-one and twenty-two explain, “21) But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. 22) And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.” The place will be overrun with wild animals and doleful creatures. The houses will not be dwelt in by people. Even the pleasant palaces will become a habitation for wild creatures.
The ancient Babylon described here was taken by Cyrus and destroyed. Darius came along later and depopulated it. However, this passage also refers to the prophecy of the final destruction of Babylon which one can read about in Revelation chapter eighteen. This final destruction will occur in “the day of the LORD” when God comes to shake the earth and the heavens (See Isaiah 13:13). The day of the LORD will be the time when God pours out His wrath upon the wicked of the earth and judges all its evil as God explained in verse eleven “I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.”
If you do not know Jesus as Savior, receive Him now. You do not want to be left behind when tribulation comes upon the earth. If you survive through the tribulation, you do not want to experience the judgment and wrath of God that is coming upon the face of the earth. Trust in Jesus, who shed His blood on the cross of Calvary, paying your penalty so that you can escape from the wrath to come. Escape into the hiding place found in the fountain that flows for the cleansing of sin. Do not wait until the time of escape is past and there is no more place to hide from the judgment for sin.