Morning Light – February 10th, 2017 – Isaiah 25: Mystery Babylon Exposed

Morning Light – Isaiah 25
Today: [Isaiah 25] Mystery Babylon Exposed: In this chapter Isaiah looks down through contemporary history and sees the ultimate captivity of the people in Babylon brought to an end. True to Isaiah’s prophesy the city of Babylon will fall and will never be rebuilt although Sadaam Hussein worked secretly to do just that in opposition to God’s word itself. Likewise, we understand that Mystery Babylon is a spirit that works in the earth just as the spirit of antichrist that John declared was working already in the earth 2000 years ago. For us Babylon touches our lives when we encounter opposition to the gospel and mockery of our faith. We know in the midst of any persecution however that God is working with us to deliver us from Babylon and to cleanse us from every influence of that spirit.
[Isa 25:1-12 KJV] 1 O LORD, thou [art] my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful [things; thy] counsels of old [are] faithfulness [and] truth. 2 For thou hast made of a city an heap; [of] a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built. 3 Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee. 4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones [is] as a storm [against] the wall. 5 Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; [even] the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low. 6 And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. 7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. 8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken [it]. 9 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this [is] our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this [is] the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. 10 For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill. 11 And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth [his hands] to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands. 12 And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, [and] bring to the ground, [even] to the dust.
Chapter 25 is a mirror opposite of the previous chapter, and an extension of its message. In chapter 24 the judgment of the godless is depicted as an emptying of the land because of transgression. In this chapter Babylon – the oppressors of the nations are described as a city that becomes a heap and a ruin by the hand of God. Isaiah predicts by the Spirit of the Lord that the city will never be rebuilt. The ruins of ancient Babylon are known to modern day archeology at a site 59 miles southwest of Bagdad. Sadaam Hussien had been actively rebuilding these ancient ruins for many years up to the time he was deposed by US forces. In so doing this brutal dictator pitted himself against the God of the universe and suffered the penalty for his rebellion. He understood exactly what he was doing – in spite of the fact that he owed a great debt to the Jewish people. His father was unknown to him and his mother both tried to abort him and commit suicide but the unborn baby and desperate mother were saved by a compassionate family of Iraqi Jews. Sadaam Hussein’s downfall is a fulfillment of the words of Jesus in John 10:35 that the scripture cannot be broken.
In reading of ancient Babylon that Isaiah speaks about and thinking of the fate of men such as Hussein we also have to realize that Babylon is a spirit that works in the earth. In 1 John we read as well that the antichrist is not just an apocalyptic figure that will appear one day but a spirit that has been working in the earth since the earliest days of the church and even before through characters such as Haman and many others.
[1Jo 4:3 KJV] 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
Those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as savior are not merely friends with whom He has yet to make an acquaintance. Eph. 2:16 and James 4:14 tell us that all the world and every man, woman and child outside of Christ is born in enmity against God that can only be ameliorated by the shed blood of Calvary and accept Jesus Christ as both Lord and savior. Too many times Christians have conceived the spirit of evangelism as holding out hat in our hand pleading with people to accept our humble savior. We have to remember when dealing with those outside of Christ that their minds and dispositions are inherently opposed to Christ because every spirit (human spirits included) that do not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh arises from the spirit of antichrist that works in the earth to keep men from salvation. We are not winning hearts and minds – we are warring against a principality and power intent in destroying all mankind.
Speaking centuries after the destruction of ancient Babylon the book of Revelation speaks of Babylon as a spiritual principle of confusion and contamination of the godly influence of the church:
[Rev 14:8 KJV] 8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
[Rev 18:2 KJV] 2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
What is Babylon? It is the construct of ungodly culture and society outside of Christ. Revelations 19:10 exhorts the apostles and prophets of that day to rejoice over the destruction of Babylon. This tells us that Babylon is a spirit opposed to the existence of the apostles and prophets in our day and therefore is seen as a spirit of opposition that works even in the culture of the church against these two aspects and callings of the 5-fold ministry. Babylon does not persecute teachers or pastors or evangelists but it is a spirit utterly opposed to the idea that apostles and prophets still exist today. It is very common for leaders and ministers to suggest that God’s people do not need these ministries – that having a pastor or a denominational affiliation is enough. Rev. 18:4 speaks to us today:
Rev. 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Isaiah looks down through time and not only sees the destruction of ancient Babylon but the defeat of the spirit of Babylon itself. He sees that hour when God shall wipe all tears from the eyes of His people and the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established above all mountains and all peoples will flow into it. In verse 9 Isaiah says that the declaration of God’s people will be in that day that they have waited on the Lord and He has saved them, they have waited upon the Lord and now their hearts are filled with rejoicing for He has delivered them.
How about you? Are you waiting on the Lord? Perhaps you are surrounded by people that mock the gospel and persecute you because of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Take heart. Just as the spirit of antichrist and Mystery Babylon work against the faithful even so God Himself is present by the Holy Spirit to work in your defense to bring about highest heart’s desire and greatest dream fulfilled in your life.