Morning Light – March 21st, 2017 – Isaiah 47: Babylon Lady of Nations

Morning Light – Isaiah 47
Today: [Isaiah 47] Babylon Lady of Nations. In this chapter Isaiah foretells the coming destruction of Babylon. It was ultimately Cyrus of the Medes and Persians who overthrows Babylon but it was God using him as a type of Christ to set His people free. For us we see that Babylon is not a land mass or a political state, but a spirit such and the spirit of antichrist that John told us in the 1st century was already at work in the earth. Babylon is that spirit of the secular which brings confusion and misdirection into human culture, causing men to see nothing higher than themselves to worship and nothing more noble to give themselves over to than their own debauchery. In this midst of this Rev. 14 and 18 speak eloquently of the destruction of this Mystery Babylon and the call of God to His people that we would “come out of Babylon and not be partaker of her sins ….”
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[Isa 47:1-15 KJV] 1 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: [there is] no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. 2 Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. 3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet [thee as] a man. 4 [As for] our redeemer, the LORD of hosts [is] his name, the Holy One of Israel. 5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms. 6 I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. 7 And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: [so] that thou didst not lay these [things] to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. 8 Therefore hear now this, [thou that art] given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I [am], and none else beside me; I shall not sit [as] a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: 9 But these two [things] shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, [and] for the great abundance of thine enchantments. 10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I [am], and none else beside me. 11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, [which] thou shalt not know. 12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. 13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from [these things] that shall come upon thee. 14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: [there shall] not [be] a coal to warm at, [nor] fire to sit before it. 15 Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, [even] thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.
In this chapter Isaiah speaks to the shame of Babylon that is to come. At the time that Isaiah writes these things peace and prosperity rules during the reign of Hezekiah. Yet he foresees that because Hezekiah disclosed the wealth of the kingdom to the emissaries of Babylon that the kingdom will be taken into captivity by the Babylonians. At the time Isaiah predicts the Babylonian invasion, Babylon is not perceived as a threat. Therefore his predictions are held suspect even though he accurately predicts the down fall of Egypt, Ethiopia and the dramatic downfall of the Assyrian. The Assyrians came and besieged the city and as Isaiah foretold – neither Ethiopia or Egypt came to Israel’s aid. Yet God sends His angel to the besieged city and slays 180,000 Assyrians in one night – thus not only delivering the city, but effectively destroying the might of Assyria. Now Isaiah declares that the Babylonians will come after the time of Hezekiah. Hezekiah is blasé about this invasion because he is promised by God through Isaiah that it won’t happen in his lifetime. This was a great mark against an otherwise great and godly king.
In this chapter, Isaiah sees Babylon destroyed by a deliverer of the Medes and Persians by the name of Cyrus. Yet it is according to verse 4 that it is given to understand that God Himself is the redeemer of the nation and the people. Cyrus will redeem the city and the nation but even when the city is rebuilt and the temple restored it is only done so as a province of Persia and later of Rome itself. It was not until 1948 that Israel once again from the time of Zedekiah it’s last king before Jesus – that it was restored as a nation-state.
In verse 5 Isaiah calls for nation of Babylon to sit in silence for it will no longer be called the lady of nations. When reading these passages we must remember that in New Testament times Babylon has long vanished into history and was no longer any more a nation even in name only. Nonetheless the New Testament prophets speak of Mystery Babylon, even in the end times. Babylon is a spirit that exists even in our day just as the spirit of Anti-Christ that John said was already working in the earth.
[Rev 18:1-4, 20 KJV] 1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 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. 3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. 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. … 20 Rejoice over her, [thou] heaven, and [ye] holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
It is important for us to identify this Babylon because we are commanded Rev. 18:4 to “come out of her My people that you be not partakers of her sins…” Some people believe that Babylon is the Roman Catholic Church. Others believe that Babylon is the city of Rome itself. Still others believe that Babylon is the United States and will go to some lengths to show how it fits the description. Whatever the answer to the question we know that the basic nature of Babylon is confusion and inability to speak with one voice because of the agenda of sin and rebellion that controls all who are influenced by this spirit. To me Babylon is the spirit behind humanism and secularism that pull God down and reduce His truth to a fairy tale while holding sacred above all the rights of an individual to defy all convention and morality in search of the pleasures of sin. Looked at this way we can see the need to withdraw ourselves from the false tolerance, and multiculturalism that says there is no objective truth or objective moral standards but each man inherent has the right to do as he pleases without interference or accountability on any level.
In verse 8 we see the spirit of Babylon that says there is no high authority that herself and that she will never suffer for her sins. Yet for all her soothsayers they shall be as stubble before the sovereignty of God that ultimately will bring all humanity into account before His throne. Toward that end, we look to the Father as the only one who can redeem us from the sadism of the secular that mocks our values and despises our God. We live in a culture that tolerates anything or anyone except those that believe in the God of the bible. Yet we can take consolation with Isaiah and those he prophesies to that God will bring this principality and power to its end and deliver us into the righteousness of His kingdom within His divine timeline.