•Isaiah 47
•Judgment against Babylon
1 Come down and sit in the dust,
O virgin daughter of Babylon;
sit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no more be called
tender and delicate.
2 Take the millstones and grind flour,
put off your veil,
strip off your robe, uncover your legs,
pass through the rivers.
3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
and your disgrace shall be seen.
I will take vengeance,
and I will spare no one.
4 Our Redeemer—the LORD of hosts is his name—
is the Holy One of Israel.
(Isaiah 47:1-4, ESV)
5 Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
for you shall no more be called
the mistress of kingdoms.
6 I was angry with my people;
I profaned my heritage;
I gave them into your hand;
you showed them no mercy;
on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.
7 You said, “I shall be mistress forever,”
so that you did not lay these things to heart
or remember their end.
8 Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures,
who sit securely,
who say in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me;
I shall not sit as a widow
or know the loss of children”:
9 These two things shall come to you
in a moment, in one day;
the loss of children and widowhood
shall come upon you in full measure,
in spite of your many sorceries
and the great power of your enchantments.
10 You felt secure in your wickedness;
you said, “No one sees me”;
your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,
and you said in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me.”
11 But evil shall come upon you,
which you will not know how to charm away;
disaster shall fall upon you,
for which you will not be able to atone;
and ruin shall come upon you suddenly,
of which you know nothing.
(Isaiah 47:5-11, ESV)
12 Stand fast in your enchantments
and your many sorceries,
with which you have labored from your youth;
perhaps you may be able to succeed;
perhaps you may inspire terror.
13 You are wearied with your many counsels;
let them stand forth and save you,
those who divide the heavens,
who gaze at the stars,
who at the new moons make known
what shall come upon you.
14 Behold, they are like stubble;
the fire consumes them;
they cannot deliver themselves
from the power of the flame.
No coal for warming oneself is this,
no fire to sit before!
15 Such to you are those with whom you have labored,
who have done business with you from your youth;
they wander about, each in his own direction;
there is no one to save you.
(Isaiah 47:12-15, ESV)
Main Point
• These show what will occur with Babylon
• Babylon has concluded it is secure in its power, wisdom, and strength
• Instead, Babylon will become destitute
• They will find only destruction in themselves
•
Application Points
• Judgment against Babylon
– When we consider the reality of the Babylonian judgment, we cannot escape the reality that this is a warning for any nation
– “I am, and there is no one beside me.”
– The simple reality is we are similar to Babylon
– Our wealth and power are, perhaps, the greatest the world has ever seen from a national power perspective
– In this, it can be easy for even us to believe, “I am, and there is no one beside me.”
– The Babylonians are not criticized for their wealth or power but for the belief, “I am, and there is no one beside me.”
Application Points
• Judgment against Babylon (2)
– It is the arrogance, the pride, the belief that we can do whatever we want because of who we are
– It is the belief that…we can design reality to be whatever we want as well
– They claim a delusional reality
– In the U.S. we have seen a rise with such pagan beliefs
– We are just as capable of being misled as were the pagans of old
– When it comes to the nation we should always be concerned about the state of affairs
– The more we as a nation hold beliefs which are contrary to God and His wisdom displayed in nature, the more we turn a blind eye toward our own wickedness, and the more we allow delusion to persevere without a willingness to speak against it, the more we believe we are above God Himself
Application Points
• Judgment against Babylon (3)
– This is a reminder to keep the nation in prayer
– The only thing that can save is Jesus
– Thankfully we can proclaim what we believe
– Yet there may come a time when we lose even this
– We can expect the Lord to hand us over to such a false reality and the judgment this entails…just as He did for the Babylonians
– The U.S. is only great by God’s grace
– It is not we that make it great…it is God who makes us great
– He can easily send us crawling in the dirt
Application Points
• Judgment against Babylon (4)
– What will we do? Say nothing? Do nothing?
– The Church’s responsibility is to be the salt and light of the world
– If we were to be apathetic, then we would find ourselves being far from Christ and His teaching
– Let us be bold to proclaim the truth as we understand it in light of the Gospel of Christ, the Scriptures, and the whole history of the Church
– Let us be the example of justice, righteousness, and love
– Let us live in humility before our God
– The greatest hope for any person, people, or nation is for the Church to be faithful and obedient to Christ
Application Points
• Judgment against Babylon (5)
– The nation may be heading for disaster
– There is always hope in the Lord, that should they turn in repentance and faith they would find salvation
– We can continue to have hope in our God that He can transform even our society to be humble in the truth
– The nation should believe, “I am, and there is no other like me” the truth is there is one greater
– There is a temptation to trust in our nation to save, but we should always remember it is not the nation which can save, it cannot save itself, and it cannot save its personal members
Application Points
• Judgment against Babylon (6)
– As such, we who are Christians have no reason to fear regardless of what happens…but our salvation is found in the power, might, wisdom, and knowledge of our God
– It reminds us our hope is being a citizen of the king of God whose King reigns forever
– Even if judgment comes, we are secured forever because our salvation is found in our Savior Jesus Christ
– Judgments come on haughty nations, but there is salvation for those who are humble before God
•Application Points
•The Gospel of Christ
–Origins
–Where we began
–Fall
–What went wrong
–Redemption
–How it is fixed
–Glorification
–Where it at leads
