This is not an easy chapter to parse out, but in the big picture, Babylon will fall by the hands of the Persians. Kind of this whole Iran/Iraq thing a long time ago. And when she falls, it will be an astonishment and a horror.
In that day and time, Babylon falling was the impossible. They were too big. Too powerful. Too…everything. But the mighty will always fall in time. Duman/Edom will also fall. So will Arabia and there will be refugees. It says to meet these refugees with food.
Isaiah made this prophecy and when would it happen? “Within one year, as a hired worker counts years, all the glory of Kedar would be gone” (v. 16). A hired worker is always looking at the clock to find the end of the day. It would be precise when it would happen.
There’s a lot in this chapter I don’t really get honestly. But the big picture is there. The mighty would fall. A stunning prophecy and one that Isaiah was probably laughed at for saying. Sort of like someone saying in 2019 that the great cities of the world would be devoid of people. Astounding.
No nation is safe. All nations will eventually fall. Those who do evil will face judgment. And sometimes it is a bunch of nations near the same time. Oh how we never learn.
