Year 2, Week 7, Day 5 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 7, Day 5

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Isaiah 47-48.

Today’s reading continues Isaiah’s prophecy to Judah. Isaiah 47 continues the word, begun in the previous chapter, against Babylon. Whereas Isaiah 46 addressed ineffectiveness of the Babylonian gods in comparison to the one true God, Isaiah concludes his words against Babylon by announcing their fall as a nation: “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. Take the millstones and grind flour, put off your veil, strip off your robe, uncover your legs, pass through the rivers. Your nakedness shall be uncovered, and your disgrace shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will spare no one” (Isaiah 47:1-3). Babylon was prideful in what they considered their invincibility, but they would fall: “You felt secure in your wickedness; you said, “No one sees me”; your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” But evil shall come upon you, which you will not know how to charm away; disaster shall fall upon you” (Isaiah 47:10-11a). Isaiah 48 returns to address Israel whose time in captivity would be for the purpose of testing and refining them that they might learn to give glory to God: “For my name’s sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another” (Isaiah 48:9-11).

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was the connection between the cause behind Babylon’s fall and the certainty of it. The Babylonians were cruel: “I was angry with my people; I profaned my heritage; I gave them into your hand; you showed them no mercy; on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy” (Isaiah 47:6). The LORD handed Israel over to the Babylonians for chastening purposes, but the Babylonians had no right to treat them the way that they did. God ordained the Babylonian captivity of Israel, but He did not approve of their cruelty. The LORD would hold Babylon accountable for the way that they treated Israel. But Babylon offended the LORD in a way that ran even deeper than their cruelty. Babylon’s great offense we her arrogance: “Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me…You felt secure in your wickedness; you said, “No one sees me”; your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me” (Isaiah 47:8,10). Cruelty stems from arrogance. The mistreatment of people is rooted in notions of superiority. Babylon saw themselves as autonomous and untouchable; but they would learn otherwise: “But evil shall come upon you, which you will not know how to charm away; disaster shall fall upon you, for which you will not be able to atone; and ruin shall come upon you suddenly, of which you know nothing” (Isaiah 47:11).

Babylon was confident in their religious superstitions and expert counselors:”Stand fast in your enchantments and your many sorceries, with which you have labored from your youth; perhaps you may be able to succeed; perhaps you may inspire terror. You are wearied with your many counsels; let them stand forth and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at the new moons make known what shall come upon you” (Isaiah 47:12-13). But none of those resources would be enough to circumvent their destruction: "Behold, they are like stubble; the fire consumes them; they cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. No coal for warming oneself is this, no fire to sit before! Such to you are those with whom you have labored, who have done business with you from your youth; they wander about, each in his own direction; there is no one to save you” (Isaiah 47:14-15). The sad end to Babylon’s story was the concluding words: “there is no one to save you.” These sad words are also just words for Babylon’s lack of a Savior is a reality for which they were morally culpable. In their prideful arrogance, they saw no need for a Savior as they believed they were sufficient in themselves: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

The arrogance that the Babylonians exhibited was not an indigenous matter limited to their ethnicity. The mindset that believes, “I am, and there is no one besides me,” is a universal human condition. This condition is the essence of worldliness: “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:16-17). And reminiscent of Babylon, the prideful orientation of worldliness is heading for a great and final fall: “After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast” (Revelation 18:1-2).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe