Astronomy

The Failure of the Stars

The prophet Isaiah predicted that the heavenly bodies would fail to give light when the day of the Lord came against Babylon (Is. 13:10). This suggested the catastrophic destruction that God would bring on this evil empire. Darkness would descend on a nation that exalted itself above all others (14:12–15).

Isaiah's prophecy may also have been mocking the Babylonians' reliance on astrology and astronomy to make plans and interpret history. Calendars surviving from the Assyrians and Babylonians show that they linked important events such as battles, floods, famines, and the death of kings to the movement of the stars and planets. (These artifacts have helped modern-day researchers carefully estimate the dates of these events and construct a fairly accurate timetable of ancient history.)

Thus, if the stars were to fail, the Babylonian worldview would fail as well, leaving the nation in utter confusion.