Posted October 6, 2020 10–06–2020 Isaiah 47.1–15 Bible Study Read Isaiah 47:1–15. I Will Print the Net–2 Translation
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Posted October 6, 2020 10–06–2020 Isaiah 47.1–15 Bible Study Read Isaiah 47:1–15. I will print the Net–2 translation. BABYLON WILL FALL 47:1 “Fall down! Sit in the dirt, O virgin daughter Babylon! Sit on the ground, not on a throne, O daughter of the Babylonians! Indeed, you will no longer be called delicate and pampered. 2 Pick up millstones and grind flour. Remove your veil, strip off your skirt, expose your legs, cross the streams. 3 Let your naked body be exposed. Your shame will be on display! I will get revenge; I will not have pity on anyone,” 4 says our Protector— the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name, the Holy One of Israel. 5 “Sit silently! Go to a hiding place, O daughter of the Babylonians! Indeed, you will no longer be called ‘Queen of kingdoms.’ 6 I was angry at my people; I defiled my special possession and handed them over to you. You showed them no mercy; you even placed a very heavy burden on old people. 7 You said, ‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’ You did not think about these things; you did not consider how it would turn out. 8 So now, listen to this, O one who lives so lavishly, who lives securely, who says to herself, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! I will never have to live as a widow; I will never lose my children.’ 9 Both of these will come upon you suddenly, in one day! You will lose your children and be widowed. You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, despite your many incantations and your numerous amulets. 10 You were complacent in your evil deeds; you thought, ‘No one sees me.’ Your self-professed wisdom and knowledge lead you astray, when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’ 11 Disaster will overtake you; you will not know how to charm it away. Destruction will fall on you; you will not be able to appease it. Calamity will strike you suddenly, before you recognize it. 12 Persist in trusting your amulets and your many incantations, which you have faithfully recited since your youth! Maybe you will be successful— maybe you will scare away disaster. 13 You are tired out from listening to so much advice. Let them take their stand— the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make monthly predictions— let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! 14 Look, they are like straw that the fire burns up; they cannot rescue themselves from the heat of the flames. There are no coals to warm them, no firelight to enjoy. 15 They will disappoint you, those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth. Each strays off in his own direction, leaving no one to rescue you.” COMMENTS: The Fall of Babylon (47:1-15) The fall of Babylon has already been spoken of in chapter 14 and now there is a fuller development of that theme. It is not only the gods of Babylon that are to fall but Babylon herself. She is personified as a royal virgin who will be humiliated. Instead of being a queen she will become a servant or a prostitute. The contrast between the gods of Babylon and the savior God of Israel continues, for it is made plain that the Babylonian gods cannot even save themselves (v. 14). The poem falls into four strophes: verses 1-4; verses 5-7; verses 8-11; verses 12-15. BABYLON DETHRONED (47:1-4) v. 1: The opening strophe commences with direct address to Babylon that is continued throughout, except for the reference to the redeemer of Israel in verse 4. Babylon is addressed as ‘the virgin daughter of Babylon’, a personification of the city. The parallel phrase is ‘daughter of the Chaldeans’, using the alternative word for the Babylonians. The proud city is called upon to go and sit in the dust, on the ground (cf. 3:26), as a sign of abject humiliation. No longer will she be on a throne, for the delicate daughter will be compelled to carry out menial work. From pampered existence she will be reduced to servitude. v. 2: The picture of the completely changed condition of Babylon continues with reference to a task normally performed by women, especially slaves (see Exod. 11:5). Grinding flour with millstones was a daily occurrence. The remainder of the verse depicts the queen becoming a captive. She sets aside her veil, and in order to cross streams as she goes into exile she has to lift up her skirts and bare her legs. v. 3: The downfall of Babylon had been described earlier by Isaiah (see especially 13:18-20), and here the language finds a parallel in Ezekiel 16. Babylon the prostitute who had uncovered herself in her adulteries will be uncovered in judgment. God will take vengeance upon her without sparing anyone. This accords with Jeremiah's teaching on the same subject (Jer. 50:15, 28). v. 4: This verse is a response by Isaiah to the teaching just given from the Lord. God is spoken of as ‘our protector/redeemer’. The coming fall of Babylon is intimately connected with the fact that the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the holy one of Israel, is the redeemer of his people. Israel’s redemption and Babylon’s fall are two aspects of the same truth. BABYLON'S GREATNESS TO END (47:5-7) v. 5: The second strophe begins at this point. Babylon is again commanded to sit in the dust (see v. 1) and to do so in silence. This will be in contrast to the way in which Babylon previously had dictated the rules to others. Now she will be deprived of that status, as she goes into imprisonment herself. Babylon will no longer be called ‘Queen of the Kingdoms’. She was noted in the ancient world for her beauty ‘Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the glory of the Babylonians' pride’ (Isa. 13:19, NIV). That appellation will not be appropriate any more for just as she will no longer be ‘delicate and pampered’ (v. 1), so her status will be reduced. v. 6: The accusation here is a repetition of what the history of Israel declares. Because of the people's covenant rebellion, God was very angry with them (2 Kings 17:18-20), and they were taken away from Palestine into captivity. Submission to Babylon was part of God's purpose, and even the treatment meted out to the aged was part of foretold judgment (Deut. 28:49-50). v. 7: Though Nebuchadnezzar could boast about Babylon (see his words in Dan. 4:30), yet her glory was not going to last forever. Even though she considered herself an everlasting queen, yet her time was short. She did not give a thought to that possibility, nor how it would turn out. Babylon's greatness will come to a sudden conclusion. IMPENDING JUDGMENT (47:8-11) v. 8: The third strophe that begins at this point stresses the self-satisfaction of Babylon. She is an irresponsible creature, thinking she was secure and there was no possibility that she would ever be deprived of her husband or her children. Her boastful claim was that there was none like her, which amounted practically to a claim that she was divine. v. 9: Sudden calamity will overtake Babylon in spite of all the magical precautions she takes. Archaeological discoveries have shown how elaborate were the magical ceremonies of ancient Babylon. The clay tablets have revealed some of the various methods used to determine the future. The king of Babylon is pictured in Ezekiel 21:21 casting lots with arrows, consulting idols, and examining the liver of a slain animal to determine which road he should take. Two of the terms used here for the sorcerer and the charmer are from the list of banned Canaanite practices in Deuteronomy 18:10-11. No magical practice will be able to ward off the inevitable judgement. v. 10: Babylon had been confident in making and carrying out her plans. Her trust was in herself, not realizing that in God's sight those plans were evil. She thought that there was no god who saw her wickedness. Isaiah had earlier condemned those in Jerusalem who tried to hide their plans from the Lord (29:15). Even though Babylon prided herself in her wisdom, yet that very same wisdom led her astray. She claimed to be divine. v. 11: What proud Babylon did not realize was that her boasts would not save her from God's judgment. When disaster came no magical spells would be able to deliver. When calamity fell there would be no possibility of paying a ransom price to avoid it. The Medes would not accept any bargaining; they demanded absolute surrender. Moreover, the devastation that would encompass her was both unpredictable and sudden. NO SAVIOR FOR BABYLON (47:12-15) vs. 12-13: The fourth and final strophe commences with verse 12. Babylon is encouraged to continue with her spells and sorceries that have been a lifetime pursuit. Babylon falsely thought that these things might be successful or cause terror. However, as verse 13 makes plain, all this activity with magicians and sorcerers was utterly futile. Babylon was notorious for the prevalence of astrologers and stargazers, as Daniel 2 confirms, but none of this frenetic activity will result in deliverance.