How Does Isaiah 13-27 Speak to Us Today?

Isaiah is a book of promise surrounded by heavy oracles of judgment.  We begin the second section of Isaiah (13-27) with a series of judgments upon what might appear to be a random set of nations (Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Syria, Ethiopia, Egypt – chapters 13-20).  One thing they all had in common was that they were all threatened by Assyria at one time or other and were actual or potential partners with Judah in anti-Assyrian alliances (or in the case of Assyria, an alliance formed to hold off Syria/Israel).  These nations most likely never heard these oracles; but in actuality they were not for their ears; they were for Judah.  But another way to look at this is that these messages were for the nations as they saw their fulfillment with the fall of Babylon – the one in 70AD.  And that is how we come to understand that these messages are for us, the new Jacob, the new Israel, as well.