The Oracle Concerning Babylon – Part 2
Isaiah 13:1-14:26 (13:9-26)
June 25, 2023
We want to jump back in to this first oracle tonight.
It is stated as “the oracle concerning Babylon” but you are aware now
That we are talking about the global world system.
Babylon is a reference to that system and Isaiah begins his oracles
Talking about God’s promise to destroy it.
We saw:
#1 THE RECRUITMENT
Isaiah 13:1-5
As God called for a mighty army to come “to execute My anger”.
• God is angry at sin.
• God is angry at sinners.
• He patiently endures them now, but He won’t forever.
The day of His wrath is coming and here
He recruits the army who will bring that wrath to the earth.
#2 THE RESPONSE
Isaiah 13:6-8
This is the response of sinners, not the response of the redeemed.
The response of the redeemed comes in chapter 14.
Very simply God expects sinners to “wail” to “be terrified” to “writhe in pain” to “look at one another in astonishment”
• He isn’t looking for them to repent.
• He isn’t looking for them to change.
• He is looking for them to be judged.
The time of salvation is over.
And we started looking at the third point this morning.
#3 THE REASON
Isaiah 13:9-11
We asked the question: WHY THE DAY OF THE LORD?
Why is God so angry?
And we simply read:
(9) “Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it.”
God is coming to exterminate sinners.
And the analogy of an exterminator is a pretty intense analogy.
Once a year Carrie will call Terminex to come to our house and spray for spiders and ants and those nasty water beetles that like to invade.
When the Terminex man arrives and asks what she wants, SHE DOESN’T SAY,
• “Well, I’d like to see if we can’t have a discussion with the ants and see if they’ll
stay off the counter.”
• “I want the spiders to be more courteous to us”
• “I’m seeking to live in peace with the water beetles.”
No, when the Terminex guy comes Carrie only wants him to come
For one reason; extreme, severe, and thorough judgment.
And Isaiah says that God will do the same thing to this world.
WHY?
BECAUSE THEY ARE SINNERS.
Let us never forget the chief threat and dangers of sin.
• Sing brings death.
• God kills sinners.
• God told Adam that if he ate from that tree he would surely die.
Genesis 5:5 “So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.”
• In Noah’s day God killed sinners with the flood.
• In Abraham’s day God killed sinners with fire and brimstone from heaven.
• In Moses’ day God killed sinners with plagues and by drowning them in the Red Sea
• In Joshua’s day God killed sinners with the sword of the Israelites.
It was promised at the beginning and it is seen repeatedly,
God kills sinners.
Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned”
You say, “Well I sinned, and I didn’t die.”
• Adam didn’t die immediately either.
• God graciously gave Adam time to repent.
Humanity is in that cycle as well.
God is patiently awaiting repentance.
“Today”, Paul told us, “is the day of salvation”.
But that day will soon end and the day of the LORD will come.
And on that day “He will exterminate” sinners.
And Isaiah goes on:
(10-11) “For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light. Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.”
In a moment, God will turn out the lights and He will kill sinners.
(11) “I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.”
• “evil”
• “wicked”
• “iniquity”
• “arrogance”
• “proud”
• “haughtiness”
• “ruthless”
God will put an end to them all.
Judgment will fall on sin.
How gracious was God to Adam in the garden.
That Adam did not instantly die.
• God clothed him in animal skins as a form of atonement.
• God allowed him the blessing of children.
• God allowed him to keep his wife.
• And Adam’s death was actually postponed a good many years.
And God shows similar grace and patience to sinners today.
• Enduring their scoffing and their disobedience
• And not immediately crushing them as they deserve.
But that day of patience won’t last forever.
His day is coming and on that day He “will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity.”
THE FOOLISHNESS OF MAN is that
They don’t take advantage of the patience of God.
Paul wrote:
Romans 2:4-11
“Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.”
God’s patience will end and He will exterminate sinners from the earth.
Sin is the reason for the coming day of the LORD.
#4 THE RESULT
Isaiah 13:12-16
• Ok, so God is angry and He is mustering an army.
• Ok, so men are going to be terrified in that day.
• Ok, so God says He’s going to exterminate sinners from the land.
What will it look like when He is finished?
“I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold And mankind than the gold of Ophir.”
In short, after the exterminator is done,
The spider problem will be over.
He goes on:
“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.”
You’ve seen this before.
John saw it too.
Revelation 6:12-14 “I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.”
I’ve always pictured it as God
Sort of slapping the earth out of orbit
And everything goes wrong after that.
He is so angry and filled with such fury
That He just knocks the earth out of its place.
The natural ramifications alone are staggering.
But here the focus is NOT ON geographical or environmental judgments.
THE FOCUS IS ON GOD’S WRATH POURED OUT ON SINNERS.
And we read:
(14-16) “And it will be that like a hunted gazelle, Or like sheep with none to gather them, They will each turn to his own people, And each one flee to his own land. Anyone who is found will be thrust through, And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword. Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces Before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished.”
Everything about that is a person’s worst fear.
“like a hunted gazelle”
• Always on the run,
• Always in danger,
• Always someone shooting at you.
“like sheep with none to gather them”
• A defenseless animal,
• Totally dependent upon the care and direction of the shepherd.
• Now left alone with no direction, no protection.
Sinners are hunted and vulnerable and have no clue what to do.
Have you read about the locusts in Revelation?
Revelation 9:2-6 “He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them.”
Joel saw them too.
• They aren’t really locusts, they’re demons.
• But they afflict like locusts.
Men are hunted, men are afflicted,
And they have nowhere to turn but to each other.
It’s like two men in a crashing airplane each looking to the other for help.
They’re going to turn to each other; but it won’t help.
They’re going to try to flee home; but it won’t help.
“Anyone who is found will be thrust through, And any who is captured will fall by the sword.”
Do you know what we call that?
NO SURVIVORS.
“Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished.”
You understand THE RESULT of God’s day of wrath?
It is death, death, death, death, death.
This is not a laughing matter.
This is not a small thing.
When God’s word says that “the wages of sin is death”
You now have a better grasp on the seriousness of God’s warning.
And we’d be failing if we didn’t at least take a moment here
And focus upon the Savior who endured this wrath for us.
On that cross, when the sky went dark, and God dealt with sin,
THIS WAS THE WRATH THAT CHRIST WAS BEARING.
Only He wasn’t bearing God’s wrath for one sinner,
He was bearing God’s wrath for all the elect for all time.
• He was “thrust through” for each of us.
• He was “dashed to pieces” for each of us.
He bore God’s full wrath on that cross to satisfy this fury.
All the anger, all the rage, all the indignation, Christ bore it all.
And His atoning sacrifice; His substitutionary death
Remains the only way for sinners to escape this horrific day.
BUT SINNERS WHO HAVE REJECTED CHRIST and have chosen rather to continue in their sin, will endure this day on their own.
This was the warning of the writer of Hebrews.
Hebrews 10:26-31 “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
ALL SINNERS ARE JUDGED.
They are either judged vicariously through Christ
Or they are judged personally at the hand of God.
And their fate is the same.
DEATH
Not only is it physical death in this life, which all men face,
It is what Scripture calls “the second death.”
Revelation 20:14 “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.”
That is the ultimate result of the day of God’s wrath.
And then we see:
#5 THE REALITY
Isaiah 13:17-22
Now we are coming to the end.
We are coming to the conclusion of the matter
For this sinful world system.
You do see in verse 17 a reference to “the Medes”
This is another verse that causes problems.
Surely Isaiah as talking about historic Babylon here since he mentions the nation that ultimately conquered them, right?
Well, obviously he was.
But he WAS ALSO speaking of the judgment of this world system.
Just as Babylon would represent the entire evil world system, “the Medes” will represent the army that God uses to destroy them.
This is one of those instances where Isaiah sees both a near and far prophetic fulfillment.
• It is the nation of “the Medes” who will ultimately supplant the nation of Babylon,
• But they did not bring on Babylon the type of destruction that is listed here.
• There is a greater punishment coming on this world, than even the nation of the Medes brought.
And the picture here is that of a judgment which cannot be avoided.
“Who will not value silver or take pleasure in gold.”
We read about that this morning:
Zephaniah 1:18 “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.”
Many times in the book of the Kings
• We see a nation rise up to oppress another nation
• And the solution is to send the threatening king an offering of gold.
IN SHORT, YOU PAY HIM OFF.
He leaves and spares his troops any risk of death in battle,
But he leaves wealthier for his trouble.
THE PROBLEM is on this day the attacking king isn’t looking to get rich.
His only motivation is the destruction of the world.
He can’t be bought off.
What is more, he is RUTHLESS. He will show NO PITY.
(18) “And their bows will mow down the young men, They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb, Nor will their eye pity children.”
It is yet another ruthless analogy that
Seems so foreign to our world about God.
They just don’t have a concept of our God in judgment.
They have been brainwashed to believe that
There will never be any consequences for sin, and it just isn’t true.
When God comes forth to judge the world,
He will do so without reprieve and without mercy.
We have recently sung that new hymn entitled, “Not In Me” by Sovereign Grace Music.
I love the stanza which says,
“No separation from the world
No work I do, no gift I give
Can cleanse my conscience, cleanse my hands
I cannot cause my soul to live
But Jesus died and rose again
The power of death is overthrown
My God is merciful to me
And merciful in Christ alone”
God has shown tremendous mercy to this world in sending His Son to save it.
• For those who have rejected His Son…
• For those who have rejected that mercy…
• There will be “no pity”.
It just speaks again and again and again of the vileness of sin.
How many ways can we warn that sin should be avoided?
• God hates it.
• God will judge it.
• God will judge it thoroughly.
And that is seen in verse 19
“And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.”
He’s just going to burn it all.
Everything this world loves in their sinful flesh and God will burn it.
We didn’t read it this morning, but now:
TURN TO: REVELATION 18:8-24
• Do you see the grief?
• Do you see the despair?
HER GLORY IS FINISHED!
Jeremiah 51:60-64 “So Jeremiah wrote in a single scroll all the calamity which would come upon Babylon, that is, all these words which have been written concerning Babylon. Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “As soon as you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words aloud, and say, ‘You, O LORD, have promised concerning this place to cut it off, so that there will be nothing dwelling in it, whether man or beast, but it will be a perpetual desolation.’ “And as soon as you finish reading this scroll, you will tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, and say, ‘Just so shall Babylon sink down and not rise again because of the calamity that I am going to bring upon her; and they will become exhausted.’ ” Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.”
RIGHT NOW this world prances and parades and mocks and scoffs
And acts as though they can do whatever they want
And they will always be able to.
NOT SO!
(20-22a) “It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation; Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there. Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers And jackals in their luxurious palaces.”
This is another reason why we know Isaiah is talking about more than the nation of Babylon.
• Babylon the nation was conquered by the Medes,
• But men live in that nation even today.
• You know it as Iraq.
But this final judgment of God on the world will never again be inhabited.
What does God teach us about His plans beyond the destruction of this world?
Isaiah 65:17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.”
I don’t know what God will do on the new earth that could be so spectacular
That would make one not even remember the Grand Canyon or the Sequoias,
But He’ll do something spectacular.
It will boggle the mind.
And yet the greatest reality is that the new one will have NO SIN.
2 Peter 3:13 “But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”
This old system is destroyed and replaced with a new one.
The old one will fall and never rise again.
(22b) “Her fateful time also will soon come And her days will not be prolonged.”
It is called “Her fateful time”.
• It is her fate
• It is her destiny
• It is set
• It is coming
GOD WILL JUDGE THIS WORLD.
And Isaiah has spared no graphic language in speaking of this day.
IT IS COMING.
But as we wrap up this 13th chapter it is good to ponder,
WHAT ARE WE TO DO WITH SUCH INFORMATION?
And there are OBVIOUS APPLICATIONS.
We could talk about the NECESSITY OF WARNING SINNERS.
• You remember John’s admonition to “prophesy again” after he got a taste of the coming wrath of God.
• That would not be a wrong response.
And certainly if you have never repented of your sin and trusted in Christ
A passage like this should motivate you to do that now.
• You don’t know the day of His coming, but He is coming.
• He is coming like a storm and it will be just that sudden.
• His judgment will be real.
Certainly this text should motivate repentance.
But listen, as we have said, this passage ISN’T FOR THE LOST.
• This oracle was given to the redeemed.
• This oracle is given to the remnant.
• This oracle was for the church.
And while we take no pleasure in the death of the wicked…
While the judgment of God can turn our stomach bitter…
WE DO LONG for the day when sin is eradicated.
Notice how Peter wrote about the day of the LORD.
2 Peter 3:11-12 “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!”
Peter talked about the fury of this day but did you notice how Peter said we approach it?
He said, “looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God”
• As the church we look for this day!
• As the church we hasten this day!
• As the church we pray for this day!
• As the church we long for His appearing!
And so this evening take heart church.
There is coming a day when sin will be destroyed!
WE WILL NEVER AGAIN
• Endure a culture that hurls temptation at us with every billboard and every
commercial.
• Endure a media that flaunts sinful behavior and tells us to embrace it.
• Be gagged with vileness just crammed down our throats.
THIS WORLD IS SO VILE TODAY THAT
It BRINGS NOTHING BUT deception and defilement and depravity.
• It seeks to drag us into sin.
• It seeks to indoctrinate our children with perversion.
• It seeks to push us to tolerate sin and embrace folly.
I was listening to an interview with Al Mohler this week who was discussing the Target pride display that has led to so many boycotting the store.
And the questioner was asking Why Target would do such a thing even though it clearly has hurt their revenue?
And Mohler’s answer was spot on.
He said that “Progressives count on the fact that offense lessens over time. And so the left has argued that this is one of the ways you make progress. You offend people and then they’re just less offended next year and then less offended next year.”
Target isn’t doing this because they think it will make them money.
Target is doing this because they are part of a corrupt world ideology
That is seeking to move your meter to become more tolerant of sin.
Oh sure you hate it right now, but after a year of it, they’re betting you’ll swallow some of it and then move your “normal meter” further to the left.
AND BY PERSISTENCE THEY DEFILE.
That is our world.
And we fight it on literally every street corner.
And let’s be honest.
IT IS EXHAUSTING!
Now it’s not exhausting if you don’t war against it,
But many do and for them it is exhausting.
• You often times stand alone.
• You often times lose your argument.
• You often times find people who stand with you today giving in tomorrow.
(You know they boycott Target today, but within 3 months they’re over it)
You feel like you’re using a tea spoon to hold back a title wave.
IT FEELS LIKE A LOSING BATTLE.
BUT GOD…
God has promised His church that this sin infested environment will not win the day.
He will come and He will pour out His rage upon sin and upon sinners
And He will put an end to all of it.
And there has to be at least some part of us that hears that and yells, “HALLELUJAH!”
Our God is coming and He will deal with it.
And this is very much an ANTICIPATED RESPONSE by Isaiah.
Isaiah 35:3-4 “Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.”
Isaiah clearly sees the message of God’s impending judgment
As a message meant to
Encourage the exhausted and strengthen the feeble.
John said the same:
When he spoke of the fall of Babylon:
Revelation 18:20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.”
In our culture if you stand against sin
• You are called hateful,
• And not like Jesus,
• And out of touch,
• And homophobic,
• And misogynistic,
• And sometimes racist,
• And whatever else they can come up with.
IT IS EXHAUSTING TO STAND AGAINST SIN.
It is exhausting to stand for the truth.
It can make you feeble trying to continue in the fight.
And to that group of people Isaiah’s message is music to the ears.
It is not that we delight in the destruction of the wicked,
But we certainly long for a day when God puts an end to sin.
Living in this world is like
Standing in garbage pit with people
Continually dumping more on your head
And we sure look forward to someone putting a stop to all of it.
Well, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.”
That is the hope of the church as we study these oracles.
And I don’t really want to get in to it too much tonight,
But we even look at what ISAIAH SAYS NEXT.
(14:1) “When the LORD will have compassion on Jacob…”
This judgment of sinners is actually viewed
As an act of compassion from God toward His people.
He has pulled our lives up out of the miry clay
And we look forward to the day when He destroys all the miry clay.
THAT DAY IS COMING.
So church, don’t lose heart.
• Church, don’t stop standing.
• Church, don’t give in.
• Church, don’t assimilate.
• Church, don’t compromise.
Stand for the truth, stand for righteousness,
The “day of the LORD” is coming and on that day WE WIN!
