Isaiah 47: 1 – 15
Watcha Gonna Do When He Comes And Deals With You
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 meal. Remove your veil, take off the skirt, uncover the thigh, pass through the rivers. 3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame will be seen; I will take vengeance, and I will not arbitrate with a man.” 4 As for our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is His name, The Holy One of Israel. 5 “Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; For you shall no longer be called The Lady of Kingdoms. 6 I was angry with My people; I have profaned My inheritance, and given them into your hand. You showed them no mercy; On the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily. 7 And you said, ‘I shall be a lady forever,’ so that you did not take these things to heart, nor remember the latter end of them. 8 “Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures, who dwell securely, who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I know the loss of children’; 9 But these two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day: The loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their fullness because of the multitude of your sorceries, for the great abundance of your enchantments. 10 “For you have trusted in your wickedness; You have said, ‘No one sees me’; Your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you; And you have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’ 11 Therefore evil shall come upon you; You shall not know from where it arises. And trouble shall fall upon you; You will not be able to put it off. And desolation shall come upon you suddenly, which you shall not know. 12 “Stand now with your enchantments and the multitude of your sorceries, In which you have labored from your youth—Perhaps you will be able to profit, perhaps you will prevail. 13 You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators stand up and save you from what shall come upon you. 14 Behold, they shall be as stubble, the fire shall burn them; They shall not deliver themselves From the power of the flame; It shall not be a coal to be warmed by, nor a fire to sit before! 15 Thus shall they be to you with whom you have labored, your merchants from your youth; They shall wander each one to his quarter. No one shall save you.
I enjoy watching the History Channel. I am amazed at Nazi Germany. You may wonder why? Have you ever thought about how a bunch of evil killers manipulate a whole country and gain power almost over the entire globe? You see how they are so sneaky that the betray one another and yet the country somewhat obeys and follows rules. These sons of Satan put to death millions of people. Then you have Stalin of Russia who is also personally responsible for killing around 25 million. And as the ages move forward other beasts gain power over a kingdom or country and follow the same murderous pursuits.
In our studies of the book of Isaiah what evil country do you think was brutally causing trouble? – Babylon. So, if salvation is to triumph, and if righteousness is to be exalted, and if God’s people are to be glorious in what we read in our last study of chapter 46 verse 12-13 then it can only come about through the destruction of evil and of idolatry, and from Isaiah’s religious viewpoint that means the destruction of Babylon. Until Babylon is dealt with the Servant is restrained.
We should note at once that this destruction of Babylon is not attributed to Cyrus as the one being ‘the servant’. We can only find such an idea there if we read it into the passage. Even though he conquered Babylon, he used this as one of his headquarters. When you see the Greeks under Alexander The Great take over, he also used this city as his capital.
Babylon’s destruction is partly related to her ill-treatment of God’s people. Because she has ill-treated God’s people, God will ill-treat her. Indeed He will destroy her. But even that is not given as the main reason for God’s destruction of Babylon.
What is to happen is seen as God’s judgment on something which is the epitome of evil, just as it was in chapters 13-14. It is because our Heavenly Father Adoni Yahweh is the Redeemer of His people (verse 4), and as such must deal with the continuous menace of Babylon. It will occur because to Isaiah Babylon is more than just a city. It is because it is an idea. It represents Babel which came into existence as recorded in the book of Genesis 11, “Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” 5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.”
Babylon has been the symbol of rebellion from the beginning, and is the earthly symbol of all enmity against God. And its total end is therefore necessary because this enmity must be dealt with if the Servant is to perform his task. Here therefore it is to be faced up to head on.
Please take note that Babylon is the exact opposite of the Servant, Who Is our Master and King Lord Jesus Christ. This one is proud and boastful. Babylon could never be a servant! We learn from history that Babylon’s entire distant splendor sums up all that is in opposition against God. So while even for Egypt and Assyria there is future hope, there is no future hope for Babylon. John recognized this in the Book of Revelation where again Babylon was depicted as summing up man’s opposition to God and His ways, and needing to be destroyed.
Even the nations saw Babylon as exceptional long before it rose to its later period of supremacy, both because of its glory and its proud claims, and because of its past. The gardens of Babylon were recognized as one of the Wonders of the World.
Babylon was noted for being the home of the occult and of ‘wise men’ and of those who could supposedly delve into all mysteries and understood the past and could discern the future.
That is why God impressed it upon Isaiah to foresee the destruction as so totally necessary. It would stress God’s judgment on all such lascivious behavior and would indicate the certainty of the final defeat of the phony gods.
If you look at a globe or map of the world and measure 20 to 40 degrees from the equator you come across the area where Islam is prominent. If you compare these nations you would not be off target in proclaiming that the evil fallen angels have congregated.
The reason for Babylon’s destruction in context is made clear by our Wonderful Holy Spirit. It is because she called herself ‘the Lady of the kingdoms’. It is because she will oppress the people of God. It is because she considered herself eternal. It is because she saw herself as the incomparable and the invincible. It is because she was full of sorcery and enchantments, because she thought of herself as divine - ‘I am and there is none beside me’. She was the anti-God. That was why she had to be destroyed. She is therefore to lose everything.
All this startling truth is proclaimed in just these 15 verses of chapter 47. So, let’s jump into today’s passages.
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 meal. Remove your veil, take off the skirt, uncover the thigh, pass through the rivers. 3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame will be seen; I will take vengeance, and I will not arbitrate with a man.”
The picture is vivid. Again on the history channel there was a program which displayed exactly what we see written here. The program was called ‘Cleopatra, portrait of a killer’. Apparently Cleopatra had a sister and a brother who had a potential future claim to her kingdom. This innocent young girl was taken and placed into captivity in sanctuary temple. Ultimately she was severely dealt with and then slain on Cleopatra’s orders.
Our Precious Holy Ghost paints a picture of a tender and delicate young queen who is dethroned and made to sit on the ground in the dust, and then has to take the lowliest and most undesirable of occupations in order to survive, and is finally dragged down and raped. It is the picture of a woman’s worst nightmare, and is describing the fate of Babylon. It will be reduced to poverty and servitude, and will be stripped and raped. The slow progress of her degradation admirably fits the slow progress of judgment on Babylon revealed in history, until its final end came and it was stripped naked of all that it was.
This young woman is called on to descend from her throne and to sit on the ground, in the dust, because she is no longer to be looked on as tender and delicate, as a lady. She is to be humiliated and distressed, possibly even becoming a beggar. Then she is told that if she wants to eat and drink she must take millstones and grind meal. This was a task for the very poor, the very humble and for prisoners.
Then she is told to unveil herself, take her clothes off, and ‘pass through the rivers’, probably a euphemism for rape. To pass through the rivers was to go through difficult times. She is to be totally shamed. The idea is that the worst that can possibly happen will come upon Babylon.
I sometimes think of the prophet Ezekiel and what he wrote in chapter 16, which as we review it, speaks about today’s passages, ”Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, 3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: “Your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 As for your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown out into the open field, when you yourself were loathed on the day you were born. 6 “And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ 7 I made you thrive like a plant in the field; and you grew, matured, and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed, your hair grew, but you were naked and bare. 8 “When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine,” says the Lord GOD. 9 “Then I washed you in water; yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood, and I anointed you with oil. 10 I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of badger skin; I clothed you with fine linen and covered you with silk. 11 I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your wrists, and a chain on your neck. 12 And I put a jewel in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate pastry of fine flour, honey, and oil. You were exceedingly beautiful, and succeeded to royalty. 14 Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you,” says the Lord GOD. 15 “But you trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your fame, and poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it. 16 You took some of your garments and adorned multicolored high places for yourself, and played the harlot on them. Such things should not happen, nor be. 17 You have also taken your beautiful jewelry from My gold and My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images and played the harlot with them. 18 You took your embroidered garments and covered them, and you set My oil and My incense before them. 19 Also My food which I gave you—the pastry of fine flour, oil, and honey which I fed you—you set it before them as sweet incense; and so it was,” says the Lord GOD. 20 “Moreover you took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore to Me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your acts of harlotry a small matter, 21 that you have slain My children and offered them up to them by causing them to pass through the fire? 22 And in all your abominations and acts of harlotry you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, struggling in your blood. 23 “Then it was so, after all your wickedness—‘Woe, woe to you!’ says the Lord GOD— 24 that you also built for yourself a shrine, and made a high place for yourself in every street. 25 You built your high places at the head of every road, and made your beauty to be abhorred. You offered yourself to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your acts of harlotry. 26 You also committed harlotry with the Egyptians, your very fleshly neighbors, and increased your acts of harlotry to provoke Me to anger. 27 “Behold, therefore, I stretched out My hand against you, diminished your allotment, and gave you up to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. 28 You also played the harlot with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; indeed you played the harlot with them and still were not satisfied. 29 Moreover you multiplied your acts of harlotry as far as the land of the trader, Chaldea; and even then you were not satisfied 30 “How degenerate is your heart!” says the Lord GOD, “seeing you do all these things, the deeds of a brazen harlot. 31 “You erected your shrine at the head of every road, and built your high place in every street. Yet you were not like a harlot, because you scorned payment. 32 You are an adulterous wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband. 33 Men make payment to all harlots, but you made your payments to all your lovers, and hired them to come to you from all around for your harlotry. 34 You are the opposite of other women in your harlotry, because no one solicited you to be a harlot. In that you gave payment but no payment was given you, therefore you are the opposite.” 35 ‘Now then, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD! 36 Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because your filthiness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your harlotry with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them, 37 surely, therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved, and all those you hated; I will gather them from all around against you and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness. 38 And I will judge you as women who break wedlock or shed blood are judged; I will bring blood upon you in fury and jealousy. 39 I will also give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your shrines and break down your high places. They shall also strip you of your clothes, take your beautiful jewelry, and leave you naked and bare. 40 “They shall also bring up an assembly against you, and they shall stone you with stones and thrust you through with their swords. 41 They shall burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; and I will make you cease playing the harlot, and you shall no longer hire lovers. 42 So I will lay to rest My fury toward you, and My jealousy shall depart from you. I will be quiet, and be angry no more. 43 Because you did not remember the days of your youth, but agitated Me with all these things, surely I will also recompense your deeds on your own head,” says the Lord GOD. “And you shall not commit lewdness in addition to all your abominations. 44 “Indeed everyone who quotes proverbs will use this proverb against you: ‘Like mother, like daughter!’ 45 You are your mother’s daughter, loathing husband and children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and children; your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. 46 “Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells with her daughters to the north of you; and your younger sister, who dwells to the south of you, is Sodom and her daughters. 47 You did not walk in their ways nor act according to their abominations; but, as if that were too little, you became more corrupt than they in all your ways. 48 “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “neither your sister Sodom nor her daughters have done as you and your daughters have done. 49 Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit. 51 “Samaria did not commit half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters by all the abominations which you have done. 52 You who judged your sisters, bear your own shame also, because the sins which you committed were more abominable than theirs; they are more righteous than you. Yes, be disgraced also, and bear your own shame, because you justified your sisters. 53 “When I bring back their captives, the captives of Sodom and her daughters, and the captives of Samaria and her daughters, then I will also bring back the captives of your captivity among them, 54 that you may bear your own shame and be disgraced by all that you did when you comforted them. 55 When your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters return to their former state, then you and your daughters will return to your former state. 56 For your sister Sodom was not a byword in your mouth in the days of your pride, 57 before your wickedness was uncovered. It was like the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria and all those around her, and of the daughters of the Philistines, who despise you everywhere. 58 You have paid for your lewdness and your abominations,” says the LORD. 59 For thus says the Lord GOD: “I will deal with you as you have done, who despised the oath by breaking the covenant. 60 “Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. 61 Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed, when you receive your older and your younger sisters; for I will give them to you for daughters, but not because of My covenant with you. 62 And I will establish My covenant with you. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, 63 that you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”
The Lord Most High – Jehovah Elyon =will exact vengeance on Babylon in full because of her behavior. Her sin will receive its deserved punishment to the full. There will be no quarter. ‘I will meet no man’ may mean that God is saying, ‘I will spare no man’, or it may indicate a refusal to parley, a refusal to draw back from complete punishment. Either way it is now too late for mercy. Babylon must face its final doom.
4 As for our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is His name, The Holy One of Israel.
In the book of Leviticus chapter 25 verse 25 we find out what a ‘Redeemer’ is someone who paid up on behalf of a poor relative. Yahweh is acting as Israel’s Redeemer. He Is acting on behalf of Israel. The idea of redemption indicated delivery by the exercise of power. The basic meaning was delivering by the payment of a price; by the payment of money, the provision of a substitute or by the expending of power. We are not told which is the basic idea here - possibly all three.
The name ‘Yahweh of hosts’ - Jehovah Sabbaoth - brings out that He is the God of battle and of all power. Thus His redemption will succeed. ‘The Holy One of Israel’ is a reminder of His purity and grandeur. He is the unique and righteous One, and acts righteously against the unrighteous.
5 “Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; For you shall no longer be called The Lady of Kingdoms.
Here Babylon is depicted as being degraded and becoming like a lowly ladies’ maid or servant who is dismissed to sit quietly in the darkness, away from the lighting, until bidden, and is not allowed the luxury of sharing the bright lighting. She is excluded from the inner circle. Thus Babylon is no longer to be the proud ‘Lady of the kingdoms’, feted by all. She is to lose her position, her luxuries and her privilege. She is to be humiliated and to become a serving woman. And in the end her silence and darkness will be permanent. This ‘silence’ signifies loss of authority and therefore of a right to speak, with darkness indicating imprisonment.
6 I was angry with My people; I have profaned My inheritance, and given them into your hand. You showed them no mercy; On the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily.
Please note our Holy Qedosh Yisreal – Holy One of Israel words. ‘I was angry with my people.’ That is He felt it necessary to punish their sins as they deserved. ‘I profaned my inheritance.’ He allowed unclean Babylon to invade the land that was His inheritance. His own people had rendered it unclean, so He magnified its uncleanness. These people God used to punish Israel but they went overboard with their cruelty. It kind of reminds you of the horror you see on TV from the Holocaust of WW II.
7 And you said, ‘I shall be a lady forever,’ so that you did not take these things to heart, nor remember the latter end of them. 8 “Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures, who dwell securely, who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I know the loss of children’;
I mentioned the Nazi’s and their flippant prediction of a thousand year reign. They followed the same arrogance that Babylon mouthed off about. They both abrogated the role of El Olam - The Everlasting God. No one could be sure of the future for ever except God. But she was so sure of her own everlastingness that she did not consider her behavior or her doings, nor consider that all earthly things have an end, and that that end would be determined by her behavior. She believed that she would last forever and retain all her privileges. She did not need God. You know with all their evil and murder Nazi Germany did not last over 20 years.
To be a lady meant to be pampered and cosseted, and because of Babylon’s glory, and her reputation, that was what happened to her. She tended to be treated as special even by conquerors. Esarhaddon of Assyria restored her. Assyrian princes ruled over her. Cyrus the Persian made her a capital city. She was clearly used to such treatment. Thus because she was used to being pampered she assumed that the gods, even Yahweh, would pamper her. That is why she did not consider her ways. She was presumptuous. Nor would she bring to mind what the consequences of such evil behavior would be. She thought she was eternal.
Babylon was given to excessive pleasures and considered that she had a unique right to them. And history records the extravagant living in Babylon. She was noted for it. She dwelt carelessly, confident that no one could call her to account. And above all she spoke as though she was above all others, almost the equal of Yahweh. And she arrogantly assumed that no harm could befall her, and that she could not lose her protector, either her king or her god Marduk (Bel), nor see her children, her citizens, slaughtered. This may be seen as reflecting a time when she was virtually independent, but not necessarily. Babylon felt herself superior even to her conquerors. She seduced them to her will. It was an attitude that prevailed whatever condition she was in.
9 But these two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day: The loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their fullness because of the multitude of your sorceries, for the great abundance of your enchantments.
When her judgment came it would come extremely quickly. And in that day she would lose everything. Her claims would be repudiated by events. She would lose her protector and see her children slaughtered. And this would happen in spite of all her multiplied sorceries and enchantments. And Babylon, famous for its priests, its sorcerers and its enchanters who would one day be exclusively given the name of Chaldeans, would discover that in the end they could not save her.
Please look at the significant prophecy statement ‘They will come on you in their full measure.’ Not just a normal defeat, but an overwhelming humiliation and end. The idea far exceeds that of Cyrus. The point all the way through is that this Babylon is an unusual case and will be dealt with unusually.
10 “For you have trusted in your wickedness; You have said, ‘No one sees me’; Your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you; And you have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’
Her trust was in her wickedness. She did shameful things that had to be done in the dark. Note what the words imply. She knew in her heart that what she did was wrong. She just thought that if no one knew she could get away with it.
I want us all to stop and consider these verses. Are your hearts stirred? Do you see anything familiar here? We need to take some inventory of our own lives as well as how our country is performing. Now look at how swiftly judgment comes.
11 Therefore evil shall come upon you; You shall not know from where it arises. And trouble shall fall upon you; You will not be able to put it off. And desolation shall come upon you suddenly, which you shall not know.
Because she has trusted in extreme wickedness, wicked things will come on her. She will sow what she has reaped. And it will come surreptitiously, she will not know its dawning in spite of her fortune-tellers and diviners. And she will not be able to ward off what is coming by atonement. She has gone too far for atonement. Her sin is unforgivable. So will come on her such desolation as she could not even begin to comprehend, for it is beyond anything she has ever known or heard of.
12 “Stand now with your enchantments and the multitude of your sorceries, In which you have labored from your youth—Perhaps you will be able to profit, perhaps you will prevail. 13 You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators stand up and save you from what shall come upon you.
The multiplicity of their counsels, conflicting advice from many sources, is in stark contrast to the one counsel of Adoni Yahweh. Yahweh’s counsel does not weary men by its continual contradictions. It has simply to be responded to or ignored.
Isaiah now calls on her to do what she can with what she has. It will be of no use. Her enchanters and sorcerers have many decades of experience of magic and sorcery; let them now take their stand with it. It will not benefit her, but she may as well try. She will not prevail, but again, she may as well try. Indeed she is worn out by all the advice and words from the gods, and from their ancestors, and from the stars, described as the ‘multitude of your counsels’. And she was so proud of them. Well, let all those who engage in foretelling the future now stand up and save her from what is to come on her. But they will not be able to.
14 Behold, they shall be as stubble, the fire shall burn them; They shall not deliver themselves From the power of the flame; It shall not be a coal to be warmed by, nor a fire to sit before!
How about nuclear bombs going off? All people will be burned up along with all their paraphernalia, as stubble is burned in the fields. They will be unable to deliver themselves from the flames because of their intensity.
15 Thus shall they be to you with whom you have labored, your merchants from your youth; They shall wander each one to his quarter. No one shall save you.
I suggest that you do the following things in the future. When you watch the news when something drastic has happened, look at the people and study them closely. You will note them fulfilling all that is written here. They just stagger back and forth - very sad indeed. Some just recently commented to me about how I like history. It is true and my comment back is that the scary point is that we never learn anything from history. We are always bent on repeating the same things which leads to judgment. Lord, please have mercy on us.
