A Metaphorical Example - Isaiah 13
Isaiah 13:6-10 reads:
6 Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand!
It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore all hands will be limp,
Every man’s heart will melt,
8 And they will be afraid.
Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them;
They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth;
They will be amazed at one another;
Their faces will be like flames.
9 Behold, the day of the Lord comes,
Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger,
To lay the land desolate;
And He will destroy its sinners from it.
10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not give their light;
The sun will be darkened in its going forth,
And the moon will not cause its light to shine.
Did every man's heart physically melt? NO.!
This is metaphorical and exaggerated language to describe an imaginary picture of their hearts melting so that it will cause the people to wake up and come to their senses.
The prophet Isaiah wanted to awaken and shake them up!
These writings describe a literal and physical event that actually happened as shown in the past history.
Qn: How to interpret this?
An: Look at the Context in Isaiah 13:1.
Isaiah 13:1 "The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw."
This was a prophecy predicted by Isaiah about the fall of Babylon in 689 BC!
When the prophets used the language of sun, moon and stars, it referred to the governmental powers of their times. It meant kings, queens, governors, and leaders would fall from power.
God did not literally come out of clouds, darken the sun, nor cause the moon to cease its light.
He can (because He is God). But he didn't.
According to ancient Assyrian historical writings:
Notice how King Sennacherib (King of Assyria) uses his language to describe his victory over Babylon:
“I made its destruction more complete than by a flood. That in days to come the site of that city, and (its) temples and gods, might not be remembered, I completely blotted it out with (floods) of water and made it like a meadow”
(Daniel D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, 1926-1927, Vol. 2, p. 152).
This is a Metaphorical Example.
