Isaiah 47:5

"Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more be called the mistress of kingdoms. I was wroth with my people, I profaned mine inheritance, and gave them into thy hand: thou didst show them no mercy; upon the aged hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. And thou saidest, I shall be mistress forever; so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end thereof."

God here revealed why His anger was kindled against Babylon. For the necessary punishment of Israel, God, for a season had committed them to Babylon to achieve that punishment; but Babylon went far beyond anything that was just. "They exceeded the bounds of justice and humanity by oppressing and destroying God's people; and although they were punishing God's rebellious people, yet as it regarded themselves, they were only indulging their greed, lust, ambition, and violence."[10] The Prophet Zechariah gave this comment on what happened: "I was but a little angry, and they helped forward the affliction" (Isaiah 1:15).

There is a similar pattern throughout God's dealings with mankind. When a nation's wickedness has exceeded all boundaries, God uses another wicked nation to punish them; but that punishment is usually excessive with a result that the erstwhile executor of God's punishment becomes itself the object of punishment by still another! The revelation should not be overlooked here that God controls and directs all history, according to his will. See Daniel 4:25.

"The sorrows of Babylon are her proper fate; there can be no mercy, for she has shown none (James 2:13)."[11] Yet the terrible description here arouses an emotion of pity on our part. Yes, it is the triumph of justice, but it is equally the exhibition of an unspeakable tragedy, that of sinful departure from the will of God.