The Oracle Concerning Babylon – Part 1
Isaiah 13:1-14:23 (13:1-9)
June 25, 2023
If you were with us last Sunday night you know that we introduced
This most intimidating section of Scripture here in the book of Isaiah.
If you’ve read through Isaiah you know that chapters 13 through 23
Are very difficult to grasp and very difficult to swallow.
We call them “The Oracles”
• “Oracle” is a word that means “burden”
• And it is literally the burden that God is placing on the back of sinful people.
• Depending on how you count them Isaiah addresses between 11 and 13 nations here in this segment.
• And they are messages filled with judgment.
If you were not here last Sunday night I would encourage you to go and listen to that sermon online, as it will help you understand what is going on here better.
But to just quickly remind you.
These oracles are MESSAGES FOR THE CHURCH.
• The nations Isaiah references here never heard these messages.
• They were given for the church’s benefit.
And we discussed how studying these oracles
• Should give you HOPE,
• Should grow your FAITH and drive you toward Christ
• Should give you WARNING.
• Since Peter says that “judgment is to begin with the household of God…”
• Since Jesus warned that “not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will
enter the kingdom…”
• Since Paul warned us not to participate in certain sins since “it is because of
these things that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of
disobedience…”
This segment in Isaiah should drive us to
A time of self-evaluation to make our calling and election sure.
But as we said, that was all covered last Sunday night.
We also, last Sunday night,
Briefly addressed this first oracle which is identified in verse 1 as, “The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.”
I told you that this particular oracle
Causes problems for many commentators.
The reason is because
• During Isaiah’s day, Babylon isn’t even on the scene yet.
• They really aren’t even a threat.
• It will be another 75 years before Babylon threatens Jerusalem.
The problem IS NOT that Isaiah is seeing problems that have not yet occurred, he is a prophet after all.
The problem for many commentators is
WHY ISAIAH WOULD ADDRESS THIS ONE FIRST?
• If Isaiah has any desire to address the people of his day, you might eventually get to the future, but the bully of Isaiah’s day is not Babylon, it is Assyria.
• Now, because of this there are some, as we mentioned, who think that this is really about Assyria since during Isaiah’s day Babylon was a city that was controlled by Assyria.
• But there’s a stretch in making that argument.
So why did Isaiah address Babylon first?
(Especially if it would have seemed irrelevant to his contemporaries…)
And here is the reason:
• When Isaiah addresses Babylon here in chapters 13 & 14 he is addressing more than just the future nation of Babylon.
• Isaiah is addressing the entire world system.
Babylon is often in Scripture used as a representative of the world.
FOR EXAMPLE:
The birthplace of all false religion is actually found in Genesis 11
TURN TO: Genesis 11:1-9
• The tower of Babel is legalism personified.
• It is works-based religion at its finest.
It is a dramatic picture of men
Who are trying to figure out how to get to heaven
And logical thinking their plan was to build a tower to get there.
Of course God scattered them that day
And man’s plans for works-based salvation
Have propagated from that day across the globe.
Their idea was the best that man could come up with.
(All human efforts are just as foolish)
Thankfully Paul addressed that thinking for us in Romans 10:
Romans 10:6-9 “But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;”
Paul explains to us that to obtain salvation:
• It does not requiring us ascending into Heaven and bringing Christ down to save us.
• Nor does it require us descending into the grave and rescuing Christ from death.
No, all salvation requires is faith.
“if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;”
Salvation is not by works like the men of Babel thought, it is only by faith.
But the works-based false religion that started in Babel
Has literally spread throughout the world.
It comes in various forms and fashions
But it has the same inability to reconcile man and God.
But that was just the start of Babylon.
We certainly are aware of the major role the nation of Babylon will play in the persecution of God’s people.
• We know how Nebuchadnezzar will sack Jerusalem, tear down its walls and
burn the temple.
• We know how he will exile the few survivors to Babylon.
• We know how he will seek to force them into acts of paganism and even
idolatry as he commands them all to bow to a golden image of himself.
• We know how his grandson Belshazzar used the golden utensils stolen from
the temple and Jerusalem as instruments of sin and immorality.
So not only is Babylon a picture of false religion,
She is also a clear picture of the enmity
That the world has for God and for His people.
Legalistic religion always persecutes the true redemption of God.
• Ishmael mocked Isaac and had to be sent away.
Even today, men who stroke their ego
By believing that they have done something to merit their salvation
Have enmity for those who receive salvation by grace alone.
Paul makes that clear in his letter to the Galatians.
Well, that was Babylon.
• An evil world system that promotes legalistic false religion.
• An evil world system that persecutes the true people of God.
But their story does not top there.
TURN TO: ZECHARIAH 5
In Zechariah we are confronted with a sort of bizarre and cryptic story,
But it’s not that difficult once we think it through a little.
It begins in the first 4 verses with a flying scroll which is clearly the word of God.
• We read how it enters houses and convicts sinners.
• It exposes liars and thieves and false converts.
• God is the force behind it, as it is His instrument to purify His people.
A key phrase is in verse 4 when God says, “I will make it go forth”
SO GOD IS SENDING FORTH HIS WORD.
Now there’s a reason for this, and it is because currently in the world it is not God’s word that is going forth, rather it is wickedness.
Verse 5 says, “Lift up no your eyes and see what is going forth.”
So in the world we have something that is “going forth”
But it is not God’s word.
God will send His word to confront that reality.
So what is going forth in the world?
• In verses 6-8 it’s very symbolic but the easy explanation is that whatever this woman is Zechariah calls her “wickedness”.
So currently in the world wickedness is going forth,
And God would send His word to confront that. Makes sense.
But notice what happens.
(9-11) Before this wicked woman can be destroyed she is rescued and they take her “to build a temple for her in the land of Shinar; and when it is prepared, she will be set there on her own pedestal.”
And just to make sure you make the connection,
“the land of Shinar” is Babylon.
SO…
• Not only is Babylon the propagator of false religion.
• Not only is Babylon the persecutor of the things of God.
• Babylon is also the protector of wickedness.
Now there is ONE MORE reference to Babylon that we need to see.
TURN TO: REVELATION 17
Read verses 1-6
That picture alone sort of makes it all come into focus doesn’t it?
• This wicked woman has shown up again.
• She is propagating her false religion.
• She is spreading wickedness and immorality.
• She is on her pedestal.
• She is worshiped and adored.
• All the kings of the world are in on it.
• And she is a great persecutor of the people of God.
And not only that, but we learn that
She is ultimately used and sustained by Satan.
• She is the product of his scheming.
• He is the architect of this evil world system
• She is under his control.
• He is using her for the corruption of the world and the persecution of God’s people.
Now TURN TO: REVELATION 18
Read verses 1-3
• It is more of the same.
• She is the evil world system of sexual immorality and sinful pleasure.
And here God announces her destruction.
But notice the response to her demise.
Read verses 4-24
You see Babylon is also representative of the evil world economic system.
• She makes sinful men get rich and satisfies their base and fleshly lusts.
• She is the very epitome of sin and uncleanness.
• She is the very epitome of worldliness and greed.
• And on the day God judges Babylon sinners will lament and grieve.
Today perhaps it might be like if God were to wipe out Las Vegas.
• All the sin and gambling and immorality and greed and excess and rampant
sinfulness just totally eradicated…
• People would grieve and mourn the loss because of all the sinful pleasure that
it represented.
Well Las Vegas is just a dot on the map
Which sort of represents the worst of humanity.
But in reality this is the world.
And what a lesson on the true colors of the world Babylon is.
• That which propagates false religion.
• That which persecutes the people of God.
• That which protects wickedness.
• That which is powered by Satan.
• That which is pursued by the unredeemed.
WE ARE TALKING HERE ABOUT
THE EVIL AND SATANIC WORLD SYSTEM.
This first oracle concerning Babylon is far more
Than just a city in Isaiah’s day
Or a nation that invaded Israel 2600 years ago.
Babylon is a way of identifying the evil world system as a whole.
AND THAT IS WHERE ISAIAH STARTS.
• He DOESN’T START by speaking of God’s destruction of a single nation,
• He STARTS these oracles by speaking of God’s destruction of the entire sinful and Satanic world system.
And this ISN’T HARD TO SEE as we work through it.
Look down at verse 5, “They are coming from a far country, From the farthest horizons, The LORD and His instruments of indignation, To destroy the whole land.”
Look down at verse 11, “Thus I will punish the world for its evil…”
Look at verse 13, “Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the LORD of hosts In the day of His burning anger.”
But the most telling comes at the end of chapter 14
Look at 14:26-27, “This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. “For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”
That is what we are talking about.
• It is God’s announcement…
• God’s oracle…
• God’s burden that He will lay on the back of this sinful world.
And we now come face to face with the reality that
This world and its evil world system are on a countdown.
God will destroy this world along with all its iniquity.
We know He is capable and willing for He only made it 6 chapters into the Bible
Before He flooded the whole world in global judgment the first time.
But Peter said:
2 Peter 3:7 “But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”
He won’t flood this world again.
He already gave a precursor to what the next judgment will look like.
He showed us that in the 19th chapter of Genesis when
He rained fire and brimstone upon the immoral cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
God will again destroy this world and its ungodly men.
Psalms 9:8 “And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.”
AND THE NAME FOR THIS FATEFUL DAY
In which God will destroy the earth
And execute judgment upon it is called:
“The Day of the Lord”
Ezekiel 30:3 “For the day is near, Even the day of the LORD is near; It will be a day of clouds, A time of doom for the nations.”
Joel 1:15 “Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.”
Joel 2:11b “The day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome, And who can endure it?”
1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 “Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.”
2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”
You get the idea.
• This world is headed for judgment.
• It is headed for a date of destruction.
• We read words like “near” and “doom” and “destruction” and “awesome”
But no one gave more adjectives to that day than the prophet Zephaniah.
Zephaniah 1:14-18 “Near is the great day of the LORD, Near and coming very quickly; Listen, the day of the LORD! In it the warrior cries out bitterly. A day of wrath is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of trumpet and battle cry Against the fortified cities And the high corner towers. I will bring distress on men So that they will walk like the blind, Because they have sinned against the LORD; And their blood will be poured out like dust And their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold Will be able to deliver them On the day of the LORD’S wrath; And all the earth will be devoured In the fire of His jealousy, For He will make a complete end, Indeed a terrifying one, Of all the inhabitants of the earth.”
This is the day in which God comes
And begins to deal with sinners in justice.
CURRENTLY, we are now in a time of God’s patience.
2 Peter 3:8-9 “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
• God is now patiently waiting until all of His elect are saved.
• It is a time of common grace where it rains on the just and the unjust.
• It is a time of basic love where God wishes good will on all men.
But the current time is a temporary one.
• There is coming a day in which God will deal with every rebel.
• There is coming a day in which God will crush His enemies.
• He will trample them underfoot and destroy them.
ISAIAH SAW THAT DAY.
It is important that we as the church understand what he saw.
Let’s start looking at that one this morning.
• It covers in total 2 chapters and there will be 8 points,
• But let’s just start working through it.
#1 THE RECRUITMENT
Isaiah 13:1-5
This oracle of God’s judgment against the evil world system called “Babylon”
• Begins with God filling the role of a military recruiter
• Summoning to Himself an army
• To go out and execute His anger.
(2) “Lift up a standard on the bare hill, Raise your voice to them, Wave the hand that they may enter the doors of the nobles.”
• It is God signaling His soldiers
• It is God recruiting His army
• It is God pictured as entering castles and strongholds to gather warriors to Himself.
• He is recruiting an army.
AND IT IS AN ARMY BUILT FOR ONE PURPOSE.
It is NOT to keep the peace.
It is NOT to defend God’s house.
It is NOT to coerce men to change their behavior.
(3) “I have commanded My consecrated ones, I have even called My mighty warriors, My proudly exulting ones, To execute My anger.”
This army of God has been assembled for ONE PURPOSE.
“To execute My anger”
There is a startling reality to many in our world today.
The notion that God has anger.
Does He?
Psalms 7:11 “God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day.”
Do a concordance search regarding “the anger of the LORD burned”.
• Exodus and Numbers and Deuteronomy are filled with the phrase.
• They built a golden calf…
• They grumbled about no water…
• They sought to supplant Moses…
We’ve already read several times here in Isaiah
About God’s anger being directed toward His people because of their sin.
• Five times we’ve read the phrase, “In spite of all this His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”
• We saw God raise up the Assyrians to invade and punish sinners.
YES, GOD HAS ANGER.
How could a holy God look upon this sin infested world and not be angry?
Do not confuse His patience with approval.
Just because He has not yet unleashed judgment
Does not mean He is not angry about it.
There is coming a day when God will raise up an army for one purpose
And it will be “To execute My anger.”
And rest assured the army He raises WILL BE ABLE to do it.
He calls them “My consecrated ones”
• Which speaks of people who are raised up and trained up for this very purpose.
WE THINK IN OUR DAY OF SPECIAL FORCES.
Navy Seals or Army Rangers who are specifically chosen
And trained for a particular mission.
He calls them “My mighty warriors”
• Which speaks of their power and fighting ability.
He calls them “My proudly exulting ones”
• Which speaks of their confidence.
• They know they are going to win.
And this super army will be raised up by God to unleash His fury.
And in verse 4 we hear the DREADFUL SOUND OF THEIR MARCH.
(4) “A sound of tumult on the mountains, Like that of many people! A sound of the uproar of kingdoms, Of nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts is mustering the army for battle.”
• Off in the distance you can hear them coming…
• Off in the distance you can hear their march…
You say, “I don’t hear anything.”
Well listen to how Jesus described it.
Matthew 24:4-7 “And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.”
Do you hear it now?
(5) “They are coming from a far country, From the farthest horizons, The LORD and His instruments of indignation, To destroy the whole land.”
You do understand that when we talk about
The coming judgment of God
We are not talking about “if” we are talking about “when”.
God’s judgment is coming.
His “indignation” is on its way.
And He will “destroy the whole land.”
• About 6,000 years ago the place where you are sitting right now was under water as God flooded the earth,
• And there is coming a day in which the place where you are sitting will be destroyed with fire.
It is a terrible day that is coming.
TO WHICH ISAIAH SAYS:
(6) “Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.”
• It’s NOT a day of repentance.
• It’s NOT a day of salvation.
• It’s NOT a day of negotiation.
• It is ONLY a day for sinners to scream in horror.
When the day of the LORD comes
The only objective of the armies of God is “destruction”.
They have no other agenda.
God is coming to judge the earth.
He has recruited His army to do it.
There’s a second thing we see here.
#2 THE RESPONSE
Isaiah 13:7-8
This is the sinner’s response to the day of the LORD.
The response of the righteous comes in chapter 14.
We read this verse last Sunday night just to get a taste
Of the sort of things we’ll be studying in these oracles.
BUT LOOK AT THIS.
When is the last time you can say that you were truly terrified?
I think about our poor neighbors in Matador this past Wednesday night.
• People who were pulled out of the wreckage of collapsed homes.
• People who watched buildings and vehicles blow away.
You know that many of them were terrified.
We are talking here about a terror where
You are in the midst of extreme danger
And you have no control over it.
(7) “Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man’s heart will melt.”
(8) “The will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame.”
• That means their faces are pale white, they have no blood in them.
• They are utterly terrified.
• They are literally gripped with fear.
Odds are pretty good that you’ve been scared before in your life,
But it’s doubtful that most in here have ever been that scared.
Perhaps if you’ve been in a storm like our neighbors.
Maybe if you were a soldier off in war and facing battle.
The response to the day of the LORD is absolute gut-wrenching terror.
It is terror beyond what the human mind can fathom.
Ezekiel 22:14 “Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong in the days that I will deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken and will act.”
And the obvious answer is: NO!
• You can’t endure it.
• You’re not strong enough.
• You’re not brave enough.
I don’t know where you think you measure on the courage meter but it’s not high enough. “all hands will fall limp…every man’s heart will melt.”
We hear of men scampering into holes in the ground
And crying out for the rocks to fall on them
And hide them from the presence of the LORD.
• On that day NO ONE will talk back.
• On that day NO ONE will fight back.
• On that day NO ONE will clinch their fist and stiffen their neck and “take it like
a man”
Everyone will quiver in fear.
No one is strong enough to endure God’s wrath.
Hebrews 10:31 “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
IF YOU WANT AN ILLUSTRATION,
Scripture provides for us a unique one.
“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job.”
• He was an upright and righteous man fearing God and turning away from evil.
• But Satan incited God to chastise Job and Job lost everything.
• From the midst of his pain Job actually stated that he wished God would appear before him and given him an explanation.
Job would live to regret that request for in Job 38 the storm arrived.
Job 38:1-3 “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, “Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge? “Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!”
• We’ve had tornadoes on our mind this week.
• Let this verse sink in.
• A tornado showed up at Job’s house and Job did what you would do, he fell down and cowered in fear.
• God told him, “gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!”
God told Job to get up and face the whirlwind.
Get up and face the tornado and answer Me.
You asked for Me, well, here I am.
I can’t even fathom the scene.
Halfway through the storm, God asked for a response.
Job 40:1-7 “Then the LORD said to Job, “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it.” Then Job answered the LORD and said, “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth. “Once I have spoken, and I will not answer; Even twice, and I will add nothing more.” Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm and said, “Now gird up your loins like a man; I will ask you, and you instruct Me.”
• Job was ready to hit the cellar at that point,
• But the LORD wasn’t finished.
• You stand there Job and listen.
• And God went on.
And when God finally finished addressing Job.
Job 42:1-6 “Then Job answered the LORD and said, “I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ “Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” ‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’ “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.”
Do you think Job ever had a notion to invite God to come stand right in front of him again?
And you want the remarkable part?
GOD WASN’T EVEN OUT TO DESTROY JOB.
YOU CAN’T HANDLE IT.
Remember when God came down on Mt. Sinai?
Exodus 20:18-19 “All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.”
You understand the point.
God is coming with destruction in His hand,
And no man will be able to endure it.
But before we close this morning LET’S ASK the most obvious question.
WHY?
Why is God coming to destroy the world?
#3 THE REASON
Isaiah 13:9-12
There are some more adjectives to describe “the day of the LORD”
Words like “cruel” and “fury” and “burning anger”
Again we see that He will “make the land a desolation”
BUT WHY?
“And He will exterminate its sinners from it.”
Why is He angry?
Why is He coming?
He is coming to kill sinners.
OFTEN TIMES we talk about the dangers and CONSEQUENCES of sin.
We look at a drunk
• And warn him about the dangers he poses to his health
• And we talk about the dangers he poses to his family.
We look at an adulterer
• And we warn him about wrecking his family.
We look at a greedy man
• And we warn him about the realities of being unfulfilled and it never being enough.
And look, those warnings are true.
• Sin brings with it inherent consequences and dangers.
• Sin will ruin your life, it will wreck your marriage, it will splatter into the lives of your kids.
But none of those reasons are the primary reasons
That sin should be avoided.
Do you want to know why sin is so bad?
God will kill you if you do it.
Romans 6:23a “For the wages of sin is death…”
There’s more to talk about here, but thus far the point is clear.
• This world is a sinking ship.
• It has been marked for destruction.
• God will destroy it because of the sin upon it.
THE WISE MAN REALIZES THAT
And forsakes this world and all its ideologies
And wisdom and logic and false religion
AND CLINGS TO CHRIST.
1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”
That is the very truth of God.
Babylon won’t last, don’t go down with the ship.
THIS MORNING
• Instead of anticipating the wrath of God,
• I would invite you to embrace the mercy of God which comes only through Jesus Christ.
Jesus said it very clearly.
John 3:16-21 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
Jesus bore God’s wrath that you might be saved from it.
Cry out to Him right now.
