Isaiah 13:1-22 A Day of the Lord for Babylon 3/7/2021 Have you ever wondered what in the world is going on? In the world? Thigs seen downright crazy. Nuts! China is flexing its muscles. Iran wants a nuclear weapon. The governor of New York is a pervert. What is going on? Psalm 2:1-6 God is up to something and is going to do something. The Day of the Lord is a day of judgment upon every nation. We have already considered the nature of the “Day of the Lord” as Isaiah speaks of it in Isaiah 2:12-21. It is essential to understand what this term “Day of the Lord” means in Biblical prophesy. It shows up in the New Testament as well as we saw last fall in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11. So, there is a Day of the Lord coming, a day of judgment for the world and salvation for God’s people. This morning we are going to focus on the “judgment for the world” part of this coming Day. We are in the middle of the Book of the King, Isaiah 6-39. Isaiah is prosecuting Jerusalem and Israel for their sin, rebellion, and corruption. And he is prophesying the coming judgment of God. He is bringing Assyria to punish His people. And yet, God is going to preserve a remnant of faithful people who will seek Him. To them, His people, He is sending a Messiah King. This King will not be like dead King Uzziah, powerful and arrogant as he was. This King will not be like faithless and pretentious King Ahaz. This King will be a light in the darkness, wonderful counselor, mighty God. (Isaiah 9) This King will sit on the throne of David and reign forever in justice and righteousness. This King will bring peace and the knowledge of the Lord… that will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11) When He comes this King will restore the remnant and establish His kingdom… and gather His people from all over the whole world. When this King comes, we will say what Isaiah says in Isaiah 12:1-6. But now a major change of focus takes place in Isaiah’s message. Where he was speaking to the people of Israel and Jerusalem, now he is speaking to Babylon. In fact, through the next 11 chapters, all the way through Isaiah 23, Isaiah will be speaking to other nations. What we are not going to do it to go through each of these oracles in turn. It would be an interesting study, but the message of each prophesy is similar. We will look this morning at the oracle of judgment upon Babylon. Next week we will look into the oracle of judgment upon the king of Babylon in chapter 14. And these two messages will have to serve to represent the prophesies against Assyria… Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Ethiopia, Egypt, Arabia, Tyre and Sidon. There is, of course, a great lesson in all these oracles considered together. The Lord is sovereign over all the nations, and He determines their fate. I. Yahweh reigns over every nation and people. Isaiah 13:1-5 These five verses are an awesome moment in the revelation of God. You must understand the moment and the historical situation. Israel had rebelled against Jerusalem and so now these two tiny nations had been at war with one another. At the same time, other nations around them would attack from time to time. It was an insecure world. Recently, under King Uzziah, things had been fairly peaceful and stable in the land. But that was beginning to change. Assyria and Egypt were the two regional superpowers. Egypt was fading and Assyria was ascendant. In fact, King Ahaz, when threatened by neighboring nations, Damascus and Samaria… had appealed to Assyria and made an alliance of sorts. A deal with the devil? He actually gave the Assyrians a tour of Jerusalem and paid them with the Temple treasures. So, Assyria smashed Damascus and Samaria and all of the northern kingdom. Isaiah knew that Assyria was not to be the end of Jerusalem. The Lord had told him this. But, behind Assyria, farther to the east, another power was rising, looming dark and dangerous. They would be more powerful than Assyria. God had given Isaiah the understanding to see it. This was the kingdom of Babylon. These first five verses describe Babylon on its way in Isaiah’s future. Why is all this important? Well, who in those days would even doubt that history would be shaped by Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon? Who but a prophet of the Lord God Almighty? Isaiah now takes us behind the scenes to see what is really happening. The Lord is in command. Isaiah 13:1-5 It is here Yahweh of Hosts who is depicted as commanding the advancing Babylonian army. Do you see? He gives the commands. vs. 3 He has commanded His holy ones = not morally holy, but set apart for this task. It is His anger they are carrying out. (vs. 3) The tumult of nations surrounding Israel and Judah is His doing. (vs. 4) “Yahweh of Hosts” is mustering the army for battle. (vs. 4) When you read the name “Yahweh of Hosts” realize that God is identifying Himself in terms of Exodus 3. God there tells Moses that His name in “I Am that I Am.” This is His memorial name, who He is. God, Elohim, is what He is. Yahweh, “I Am,” is who He is. He is the eternal, self-existent, self-sufficient, covenant keeping God over all nations. And He is the one who commands the angelic armies that have more power than any human effort. You might look out at the world today and think, well, history is going to be determined by America… and China… and maybe Russia and India and Germany and England… It is our foreign and domestic policy decisions that will shape the future. All our news media and pundits and politicians are sure that this is so. It is our decisions and policies and alliances that will shape the future for our children and their children… So, we’d better spend our money the right way and elect the right people and enact the right laws. Do you believe this? Do you live like you believe this? It is all wrong. It is backwards and upside-down. These things do not determine the future. Only God does. All our decisions factor into God’s scheme only to the degree that we are responding to His truth and His will. If we do right, blessing, ultimately. If we trust Him, salvation. If we do wrong, disaster. Moreover, this nation, our nation, is only but one more tool of Yahweh in working out His plan. America will fade into oblivion just like all the other nations that have come and gone. You and your children and brothers and sisters and friends and employees and the guy standing by the road... Will live forever in heaven or hell. But this nation will be gone someday, its life like a gnat compared to even one human being. It is people that God cares about, and nations that He commands, uses, crushes, and destroys. II. Yahweh will punish the world for its pride and evil. Isaiah 13:6-16 There are two Biblical concepts that we need to understand at this point in Isaiah’s prophesy. There is the nation of Babylon as used throughout the Bible. There is the term “Day of the Lord” as used throughout the Bible. This idea of a Day of the Lord runs throughout Old Testament prophesy and often points to immediate events. There was a Day of the Lord coming for Israel and Jerusalem who would not obey God. There was a Day of the Lord coming for nations that persecuted Israel. The term “Day of the Lord” always indicates fearsome judgment for those who have disobeyed God. And it also means salvation, rescue, and vindication for those who have trusted in the Lord, in Jesus. But the Scriptures indicate that there will be a final, great, and glorious Day of the Lord. Peter quotes Joel in Acts 2:19-21. The day of the Lord is a day of wrath and a day of salvation. The entire book of Revelation presents a prophetic picture of this final Day of the Lord. Here, in Isaiah 13:6 and 9, the “Day of the Lord” is a day of judgment for Babylon. But this is even more important in Isaiah than it might first seem. Because “Babylon in the Bible comes to mean more than just the ancient empire called Babylon. Even back in Genesis 11, with God’s judgment upon those building a city and a tower on the plain of Shinar… And all the way through, until the great prophesy of the destruction of Babylon in Revelation 17-18… Babylon is the name used for the powerful world system ruled by the servants of Satan. And, so, when Peter in 1 Peter 5:13 wrote of the Roman Empire and Rome itself, he called it “Babylon.” And, if you would look at the world today and ask, “Where is Babylon now?” You would look for where is the world system that has its influence everywhere and extends its power… And, you might see Babylon as America, or all western society. Or maybe we are Assyria and China is Babylon on the rise.