Why is such violent imagery used in this passage? (Isaiah 13:6–8)
6 Wail, for the day of the Lord is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.[a]
7 Because of this, all hands will go limp,
every heart will melt with fear.
8 Terror will seize them,
pain and anguish will grip them;
they will writhe like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at each other,
their faces aflame.
Isaiah 13:6 - 8
ESV - 6 Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! 7 Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt.
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Asked May 20 2019
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Jack Gutknecht
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Tim Maas
The violent imagery was meant to unmistakably convey the nature of the righteous judgment that God would execute against Babylon for its treatment of Judah. However, it also applies (in the dual sense -- present and future -- in which much of Biblical prophecy is written) to God's judgment at the close of the age against unforgiven sin, and its unredeemed perpetrators who have not been reconciled to God through faith in Christ (which is the only means that God has provided for such forgiveness). Since no one knows when those end-time events will take place, fear of such consequences should still serve -- thousands of years later -- as a continual inducement to repent and seek salvation.
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