Sunday: Doom on the Nations
Isaiah 13.1-22
Isaiah 13.1 has a heading that names Isaiah as the author (compare Isa: 1:1, Isa: 2:1); it seems, also, to begin a new section of his book. Chapters 13-23 contain oracles of judgment against various nations. Let’s take a look.
Why do the prophecies against the nations begin with Babylon?
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
Isaiah 10:5-34 had already announced judgment against Assyria, which posed the greatest danger in Isaiah’s day. While Isaiah 14:24-27 briefly reiterates the Lord’s plan to break Assyria, chapters 13-23 deal mainly with other threats, Babylon being the most important.
Endowed with a rich and ancient cultural, religious, and political legacy, Babylon later emerged as the superpower that conquered and exiled Judah. But from the human perspective of Isaiah’s time, it would not have been readily apparent that Babylon would threaten God’s people. During much of Isaiah’s ministry, Assyria dominated Babylon. From 728 B.C., when Tiglath-pileser III took Babylon and was proclaimed king of Babylon under the throne name Pulu (or Pul; see 2 Kings 15:19, 1 Chron: 5:26), Assyrian kings retook Babylon several times (710 B.C., 702 B.C., 689 B.C., and 648 B.C.). Babylon, however, eventually would become the great superpower in the region, the power that would destroy the Judean kingdom.
| Read through Isaiah 13:1-22. Notice how strong the language is. Why does a loving God do these things, or allow these things to happen? Certainly some innocent people will suffer, as well, wouldn’t they (Isa: 13:16)? How do we understand this action by God? What should these texts, and all the texts in the Bible that talk about God’s anger and wrath against sin and evil, tell us about the egregious nature of sin and evil? Isn’t the mere fact that a God of love would respond this way enough evidence to show us just how bad sin is? We have to remember that this is Jesus speaking these warnings through Isaiah, the same Jesus who forgave, healed, pled with, and admonished sinners to repent. In your own mind, how have you come to understand this aspect of a loving God’s character? Ask yourself this question, as well: Could not this wrath actually stem from His love? If so, how so? Or, look at it from another perspective, that of the Cross, where Jesus Himself, bearing the sins of the world, suffered worse than anyone else ever has suffered, even those “innocents” who suffered because of the sins of the nation. How does the suffering of Christ on the cross help answer these difficult questions? |
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It was only last year we did a study of the Book of Daniel and I wrote some comments about the political situation of the Fertile Cresent. If I have time I will see if I can find the summary that I wrote back then.
Essentially Bablyon was one of several city-states in the Euphrates Valley and they vied for power with one another. Typically they fought among themselves but joined forces when Egypt became a threat. The ongoing battle between the Assyrians (various names depending on who led the assault) and Egypt raged between the top of the Euphrates valley down to the Nile, with Canaan right in the middle. This was the political situation that the Hebrew peoples had to deal with.
There are some things that we should keep in mind when we read this history. Firstly, we need to remember that the Babylonian captivity was ultimately a good thing. To a large extent, the fact that the Hebrew scriptures were preserved in the way that they are is due to the Babylonian period. It was during this time that the Jews established the techniques of maintaining historic documents so that they were preserved. Babylon provided the Jews with relative religious freedom. It is interesting that the scene was set for the establishment of eastern rabbinical schools at this time too. The fact that so many Jews did not return after the exile was partly at least due to the fact that they were given a fair bit of freedom in exile.
Maybe, the lesson we need to learn from this is that God finds ways to use adversity to preserve his message to us.
thanks for your commentary Brother Maurice.
I think Babylon is used because it represents the kingdom of slavery for the Jews and it represents the final global theocracy which will be the government in existence at the Advent of the LORD.
Sadly, Babylon was a "plan B" due to the unbelief that was demonstrated in Jerusalem. Yet God uses the means required to preserve "the faith once delivered to the saints"(Jude 3). This has given hope to later generations, and the faithfulness of God is known by these prophecies and their unerring fulfillment. There should be no mistaking of Who is in charge at all times.
Does God need a plan B for this generation?
My Mother was born 102 years ago, growing up she was taught that Jesus was coming soon, so much so that her father, a well educated professor at a college, advised her she didn't need to study for a career because Jesus would be coming before she could use the qualification.
How did the knowledge of the doom on Babylon benefit the people of Isaiah's time? How does the doom of Rev 12-18 benefit us today?
For me this is what I learn from both of them:
1) The LORD knows what will happen in the future
2) He is ultimately in control
3) The current situation will not carry on forever
4) Evil will be punished and the perpetrators will be wiped out
5) No human is innocent, we all chose whom we worship
6) Parents are responsible for the fate of their children until they reach the age of accountability
7) Physical life is not all there is and it is the LORD who chooses who gets Eternal Life based on their response to the light they receive.
In light of the pandemic, it is very easy to forget the points you have made through your posting. Thank you for the timely reminder.
We learn that the Great Controversy, the battle between evil (satan) and good (God), has existed since sin entered the world thru the choice of adam and eve in Eden. We are part of the great controversy and we can choose to be Disciples of the LORD Jesus Christ or to follow our own path.
thanks for the comments Sister Shirley DeBeer
I do believe you are right Shirley. I too appreciate your 7 amazing facts.
Now in light of the topic for the week, I do believe pride cometh before a fall. The fall of evil will at sometime soon be carried out by the Lords coming. How soon I don’t know. I am reminded of a recent mission report in Sabbath School, “there are over a billion people who have never heard the name of Jesus,” who is going to bring Jesus to them. Go into all the world, preaching the gospel, and when it is preached to all the nations in all the world, then shall the end come. Matthew 24:14. and Matthew 28:19. I do believe that this means that everyone will have a chance to say yes or no, I don’t believe that we can say yes or no if we are given no light. We will have times of trouble and the end is not here yet. Matthew 24:6. Is it fair for us to want the Lord to come and put and end to this world for a thousand years, when there are billions who have not yet heard the name of Jesus? He is returning in His timeframe. So we will be faithful to God until earths temporary physical end, or our temporary end. 1Timothy 6:12. and Revelation 3:3.
John, absolutely we need to share the gospel with the whole world but I don't believe that everyone has to hear the gospel as we know it, see the options the Holy Spirit revealed through Paul.
Some believe that John 1:9 means that every one who is born has the seed of truth within them.
Yes, even so Lord Jesus come quickly. His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. The judgements will come, we must stay the course by trusting in His strength and His righteousness, as He comes with vengeance. Yes He is on His way He will save us. Isaiah 45:24. and Isaiah 35:4.
SDABC about Isaiah 13:9
The destruction of the sinner is not, as some imagine, an arbitrary act on the part of God.
The Lord loves sinners and wants to save them (Ezek 18:23, 31, 32; 2Pe 3: 9). But it is sin that finally destroys the sinner.
People who walk the path of iniquity,
in the end, they become so corrupt, cruel and irrational, that the measures taken to
harming others end up involving them in ruin. "If anyone sheds man's blood, his will be shed for man" (Gen. 9: 6). "All who use the sword will perish with the sword" (Mt 26:52;
Rev. 13:10).
History proves the truth of these statements. Babylon took the sword and was destroyed by it. This too
it happened to the Hittites, Assyria, Greece and Rome.
One day that principle will seal the fate of this sinful world.
Silvio, you write, "People who walk the path of iniquity, in the end, they become so corrupt, cruel and irrational, that the measures taken to harming others end up involving them in ruin."
Yes. This makes me think of Ps. 37:14-15 too. The whole of Psalm 37 is a beautiful poem about the future of the righteous and the wicked.
Thank you for this powerful comment, I'm blessed
Thank you all for your contributions I am teaching at Sabbath this week, I will surely share some of your comments, pray for us
But what does God wish to save sinners from? His final act of cleansing the earth of all sin, which will destroy all who have refused the gift of salvation in Christ through repentance and faith.
God is the sovereign creator, and He alone can rid creation of sin/sinners. Yes, it was everyone's choice to be saved or lost, but God alone can create a soul, and He only can destroy it(Matt 10:28). Satan/sinners may only destroy the body.
If you scrub your bathroom to avoid the build-up of bacteria, in this act of cleansing you will destroy the germs, but not out of anger or vengeance. You only wish to keep the environment healthy and safe for your family.
Our corrupt sinful nature loves to dominate and show supremacy over others. During colonization Indians fought against the British suppression. Now they have come to power they persecute the Muslims, Christians and all other minority religion declaring India to be a Hindu nation. Left on our own without the enmity created by God in Genesis 3:15 we only know destruction. This is not the action of God. This is the result of pride.
This problem is not only of the nation it trickles down to famiilies. Left on our own no one is exempt from this sinful behaviour.
Amen Bro Silvio- sin is such as terrible thing. Men who ruled this world have deceived and still deceiving their followers or those who choose to follow them with lies about God. The Lord is merciful, gracious, longsuffering but he still visits the iniquities of those who hates him to the third and fourth generations. Ex 20:5-6; 34:6-7.
The bible says when a nation cup is full with iniquities the Lord visits with judgement. Sin starts at the top, revival starts at the bottom. I am asking the Holy Spirit to start a revival in me so I can join with others who are willing to be revived to cont to spread this message of Christ soon coming.
Read John 10:10. I am not convinced that we can blame God for all of the senseless murder and atrocities ever committed. In the end, Satan is to blame not God. God wants everyone to be saved (2 Peter 3:9). We thank Thee LORD for thy mercies which are new every morning.
Sin doesn’t work to enhance human life. God in His great mercy doesn’t punish immediately so many may believe if God is loving, He should just pass over repeated rejections to His love, instructions and warnings. The truth is, because God is loving He must in His perfect time, keep His word. The end result of sin will be met.
Psalms 50:17-21 “Seeing thou hatest instruction, And castest my words behind thee. When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, And hast been partaker with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to evil, And thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; Thou slanderest thine own mother's son. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence;
Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself:
But I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.”
The Bible records how the people rejected God, and doing so they rejected His provisions including that of protection. Not all that suffer as a result of sinful practices may be guilty. For those who experience bad things because of the sins of others the Bible says,
“All who live Godly in Christ will suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12.
John 15:20 “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep your's also.”
Many promises are given to God’s people concerning His presence during such times. Even those who serve Him having not been exposed to the Word will have His abiding presence He promises to all of His children.
To some these promises may not seem comforting, but to God’s children these are truths God graciously reveals. We have a God, Emmanuel, He’s experienced what we have only without ever sinning.
When I think of God’s severe anger towards sin, I can’t help but look at the end results. It’s not for any selfish reason that God abhors sin. Even we born in sin can see the separations, destruction of life, disease and misshapen ideas it causes. There’s no joy or safety in sin if we include the end results with the assessment.
God in His mercy often turns an evil situation caused by sin so that we can have some benefits but sin itself leads to the opposite of what God has for His creation.
THE POWER OF INFLUENCE! Sin affects us as individuals, sadly also others around us get splashed by it too which have nothing to do with it but end up being affected. But I also know that if we are obedient to God, fear and respect Him as our God, the blessings that we receive are extended also to those around us, like our children, the rest of the family, friends or whoever we come in contact with.
I believe that the full appreciation of God’s Will as expressed in His Wrath, Anger, Righteousness, Mercy and Grace will remain a mystery to us until we receive our new existence. The by heaven made and administered new earth will assign a place for us in its administration; for those who will be born in this new world, Christ Jesus will be the King and Lord of all. I can glean from the Father's holy Scriptures that His all-knowing Will, which is unassailable, beyond reproach, perfect in righteousness, all-considered, applies perfect justice in a fallen world.
As I read through Isaiah 13:1-22KJV, I see events unfold at the time of Isaiah as well as the time of the end of the world. Nothing will be left in place which was present in the old world after: v.11 “And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
A living human being will become precious/rarer than: v.12 “…. than fine gold; even .. than the golden wedge of O’phir.” How does He do that?
v.13: “Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.”
Should the human mind even dare to question the mind of God who holds powers to ‘move the earth out of her place’? He speaks of the ‘haughtiness of the terrible’; what is this? Is it not the SIN of man to think himself to be a god with powers to determin the destiny of himself, others and the earth?
I believe it to be high time that man considers his true state of existence; he cannot and does not exist outside of the Will of God. There are those who exist physically, but are already dead in His eyes, and there are those who exist physically, but barely, who because they have accepted to live by Faith have received the true life of and by His Son, His living Word - Christ Jesus.
Faith is elusive, simple in its concept, but at the same time difficult to practice in man's daily life; the only means, though, through which man can exist in the eyes of God as we experience life.
Without the Spirit of God’s love to mitigate his actions, man is capable of incredibly cruelty toward his fellow man and the living creatures he shares this life with. The unbridled lust to establish his dominion in all he endeavors, fueled by the need to stamp out anyone and anything doing the same thing and standing in his way, is the sign of the fruit of the spirit of the one who first resisted God’s Will to be done in earth as it is done in heaven. The adversary determined to establish his own will and lure mankind into his snare of perpetual lies.
God’s will does not only call doom on all nations, He calls doom to the whole earth because man is again as he was in the days of Noah – void of the presence of His Father's Goodness, Mercy and Grace; except for the called-out ones of all ages and His living remnant who carry in their heart and mind the Seal of God, the old world is doomed.
We know that the Lord corrects those He loves (Heb. 12:6-7). Sometimes it seems like those who are not following God are having an easier life because of that. I think of Tevye in the movie "Fiddler on the Roof" who says to God, "I know, I know. We are Your chosen people. But, once in a while, can't You choose someone else?"
Psalmist Asaph says something very similar in Ps. 73:3-16 where he notes that the wicked seem to have no struggles, even their bodies are healthy and strong (Ps. 73:4), and they often seem carefree and to increase in wealth (Ps. 73:12).
Then in Ps. 73:17-28 Asaph recognizes that "those far from you will perish" (Ps. 73:27) and that the divine chastisement that we go through to change from being "senseless and ignorant" and as "a brute beast before you" (Ps. 73:22) is worth it because "it is good to be near God" our refuge, holding His Hand (Ps. 73:28, 23-24).