Monday, March 18, 2024

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 86, A Prophecy Against Babylon, Part Four

Today we conclude the vision the Lord gave to Isaiah regarding the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, which would happen within approximately two hundred years, for Judah will last an additional one hundred and thirty years after the fall of Israel, after which the captives from Judah will be held against their will in Babylon for about seventy years until the Medo-Persian army invades Babylon. 

Yesterday Isaiah foresaw lookouts posted on the watchtowers of the cities of the kingdom of Babylon, waiting for news. We talked about how the Medo-Persian army broke through the walls of the capital city of Babylon, flooding into the city and engaging its citizens in battle---a battle in which many Babylonians perished, including their king. Now Isaiah foresees this bad news traveling around the region.

"And the lookout shouted, 'Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; every night I stay at my post. Look, here comes a man in a chariot with a team of horses. And he gives back the answer: 'Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground!'" (Isaiah 21:8-9) We don't know which city is in view here, although I imagine the vision represents several cities where the same event occurred.

The scene is something like this: The man in the watchtower on the city walls sees a chariot with a team of horses approaching, driving wildly, and he knows there is news. He knows it is probably bad news, similar to how Paul Revere made his ride calling out, "The British are coming!" The watchman shouts down to the driver and asks him what has happened and the driver answers, "Babylon has fallen!" By this the watchman knows the capital city has been overtaken by the enemy.

The gods of Babylon (which are false gods) have not been able to protect those who worship them. These deities can do nothing good or bad for those who make offerings to them. These deities cannot even protect the images that represent them; therefore, Isaiah says, "All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground!" 

In Isaiah's day the nation of Babylon was not a great world power. It had been in the past but had fallen into decay. But it will rise again soon, overthrowing its oppressor---the Assyrian Empire---and taking over many other nations, including Isaiah's nation of Judah. When the people of Judah are taken captive to the foreign land of Babylon and held for approximately seventy years, they will have the word of Isaiah to study. They will know the prophecy of the downfall of Babylon. They will know that the Medes and the Persians will overthrow Babylon. Isaiah's words will be a comfort to them then and, as he relays the message of the Lord to the people of his own day, he assures them that it is the infallible and unfailing word of God. "My people who are crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the Lord Almighty, from the God of Israel." (Isaiah 21:10)

Later in our study of the Bible, when we arrive at the book of Revelation, we will see the rise of an empire which is symbolically referred to as "Babylon". It is the corrupt world system of the end times. It is a world system of materialism. It is a world system of false religion. But that empire too will fall, just as ancient Babylon fell. When the Lord gives the Apostle John a vision of the end times, the same cry will go up that went up in ancient times: "Babylon has fallen!" And just as the Lord predicted that ancient Babylon would never be rebuilt, the corrupt empire of the end times will never rise again either. The Lord will put down, once and for all, the rebellion of man. The Lord will put down, once and for all, the workings of Satan and the angels who followed him in revolt against the Lord. Never again will there be wickedness on the earth. The kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ will begin and will last forever. 

Sunday, March 17, 2024

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 85, A Prophecy Against Babylon, Part Three

The Lord has been providing Isaiah with a vision of the fall of Babylon. In Isaiah's day the old kingdom of Babylon had largely disintegrated and it was not capable of preventing itself from being overcome by the Assyrian Empire. But the Neo-Babylonian Empire will soon rise and throw off the shackles of Assyria and then will conquer several other nations, including Isaiah's own nation of Judah. 

Isaiah's prophecy against Babylon is still about two hundred years in the future from his day but, during the time when many of his people will sit captive in Babylon, they will remember the promise of the Lord to judge Babylon. They will take comfort in the knowledge that He will judge the nation that invaded them, the nation that burned Jerusalem and the temple, the nation that dragged thousands upon thousands of their people off to a foreign land.

Isaiah continues relaying to us what the Lord revealed to him. "This is what the Lord says to me: 'Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees. When he sees chariots with teams of horses, riders on donkeys or riders on camels, let him be alert, fully alert.'" (Isaiah 21:7)

In the vision the Lord is giving Isaiah, Isaiah has been watching the fall of Babylon unfold as if he is standing right there when it happens. You'll recall from Friday's study that Isaiah foresaw the reveling that would be going on in Babylon on the night when the Medo-Persian army will breach the walls of the capital city. Isaiah observed King Belshazzar and his officials drunkenly carousing while the enemy was at the gates. In describing what he saw, Isaiah said, "They set the tables, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink!" 

This is what Isaiah said they should have been doing: "Get up, you officers, oil the shields!" The soldiers should have been preparing to defend their city and their king; instead they were invaded that night and a great number of them fell by the sword, including their king.

Keeping in mind that Isaiah is watching the fall of Babylon as if he is actually there, the Lord is not telling Isaiah himself to post a lookout. Isaiah is going to tell us what the lookouts posted in the watchtowers of the cities of Babylon will see and hear when the nation is being invaded. Isaiah isn't about to see chariots or horses or donkeys or camels invading Judah at this time and he is not the one who is to post a lookout. According to historical sources, the Medo-Persian army did indeed use camels and donkeys as well as horses and chariots. Isaiah, in his vision, foresees this great army and the modes of transportation they will use for war. 

As I mentioned in Friday's study, we will talk about the fall of Babylon---and the method used by the Medo-Persian army to gain entrance to the city where Belshazzar drunkenly partied---when we arrive at the book of Daniel, for this happened during the lifetime of Daniel. But when news that the capital city of Babylon has been overtaken reaches other cities of that nation, a great cry of anguish will ensue. In our next study session we will take a look at that portion of Isaiah's vision and we will discuss how it relates to the vision given to the Apostle John in the book of revelation. Isaiah foresaw the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Apostle John foresaw the fall of a corrupt financial, political, and religious world system of the end times referred to as "Babylon".

Friday, March 15, 2024

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 84, A Prophecy Against Babylon, Part Two

In the first portion of Chapter 21 we found Isaiah predicting the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire at the hands of the Medo-Persian Empire. At the time he makes this prediction, the Assyrian Empire is the most powerful nation in that part of the world, but we know that Babylon rose to great power and conquered Assyria and that Babylon, in turn, was conquered by the Medo-Persian Empire.

When Isaiah is given the "dire vision" of the invasion and fall of Babylon, he feels what will be felt by the citizens of that nation. He says, "At this my body is racked with pain, pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor; I am staggered by what I hear, I am bewildered by what I see." (Isaiah 21:3)

When we closed yesterday's study we talked about how it should break our hearts when unrepentant people pass out of this world. It should break our hearts to think about the judgment they will face. The thought of anyone leaving this world lost and having to face a holy God without the Redeemer to defend them should make us feel as Isaiah feels. 

The citizens of idolatrous Babylon will tremble in terror when their enemy breaches the walls of the capital city and begins the attack, but this would not have happened to them if they had placed their trust in the one true God. They could have lived in peace as a sovereign nation, I am sure, if they had made Him the Lord of their lives, just as the people of Israel and Judah could have lived in peace if they had not turned to idolatry. The Lord makes it plain in the Scriptures that nations fall because they did not acknowledge Him---because they despised Him and because they persecuted those who loved Him.

Isaiah continues, "My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; the twilight I longed for has become a horror to me." (Isaiah 21:4) Armies in ancient times did not typically attack at night. In those days they lacked the equipment to be able to see what they were doing in the night. That is why the saying became popular: "We attack at dawn!" But even though it was not common to be attacked at night, this is exactly what will happen in Babylon when the army of the Medes and Persians breaches the city walls while King Belshazzar holds a drinking party. That very night King Belshazzar and many others lost their lives trying to defend their city. 

Nighttime doesn't bring any reprieve for those who are lost without the Lord either. The most horror-filled nights of my life were the nights when I struggled with the knowledge that I was lost without the Lord. I spent a number of nights wide awake and almost trembling in fear during the summer of 1992. I could not sleep for fear that I might die before dawn, yet at the same time I was resisting submitting myself to the Lord. 

While Belshazzar and his officials blaspheme the name of the Lord and drink their wine from the golden receptacles that King Nebuchadnezzar's soldiers looted from the Lord's temple at Jerusalem many years earlier, the enemy is creeping into the city. Rather than being alert and on guard, they are trying to numb themselves to this imminent threat. They should have been on their feet, armed and ready, which is why Isaiah says, "They set the tables, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink! Get up, you officers, oil the shields!" (Isaiah 21:5)

When we arrive at the book of Daniel we will discuss in more detail how the enemy army was able to get into the city before the citizens even knew it. But for now we will close with a reminder that, as believers, we are to be on our feet, armed and ready at all times. We have an enemy and we are commanded to be on our guard against him. "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8) We are not to live in fear of this roaring lion, for greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4), but if we are not alert and of sober mind we may suddenly realize that sin has crept into our lives and gained a foothold without us having noticed it. We are to be on guard, daily communing with the Lord and allowing Him to search our hearts to point out any areas in which we are spiritually weak, asking Him to strengthen us in those areas so our enemy doesn't catch us off guard and tempt us into sin.


Thursday, March 14, 2024

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 83, A Prophecy Against Babylon, Part One

Isaiah has been making many predictions against ancient nations that were, at times, enemies of Israel and Judah. He has been warning the people of Judah not to ally themselves with other nations against the Assyrian Empire, for the Assyrian Empire will conquer Israel but not Judah. A different nation will conquer Judah: the Neo-Babylonian Empire. In Isaiah's day this would have been difficult to imagine but in about 130 years after he speaks the words of the prophecy this will come true. 

But in time Babylon too will fall. Chapter 21 contains a prophecy against that nation, long before it has done anything against the people of Judah. In fact, in Isaiah's time a king of Judah will think the king of Babylon is his friend.

Babylon is not Judah's friend but an enemy. The Lord will someday judge this enemy though, as He reveals to Isaiah. "A prophecy against the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror. A dire vision has been shown to me: The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot. Elam, attack! Media, lay siege! I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused." (Isaiah 21:1-2)

The plain upon which Babylon lay was surrounded by various lakes and marshes, plus the Babylonians installed plentiful and intricate systems of irrigation to bring water in from the Euphrates River. Many scholars believe this is why Babylon is called "the Desert by the Sea" because it would have been a barren wasteland if there had not been a number of water sources (called "seas" here) from which to bring in much-needed moisture.

Isaiah speaks of himself when he says, "A dire visions was shown to me", but I believe he is speaking in the words of the Lord when he says, "I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused". The Lord is the one who is going to bring to an end all the groaning she (Babylon) caused His people. 

The Lord will accomplish this by allowing other people to rise to power---people capable of overthrowing Babylon. Elam and Media, which were mentioned in verse 2, lay within what is modern-day Iran. They were major cities of the ancient kingdom of Persia and, as we've mentioned before and as we will study in detail when we arrive at the book of Daniel, the Neo-Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Medo-Persian Empire. This is why the Lord calls for Elam to attack and Media to lay siege; that is exactly what will take place approximately 200 years after the Lord shows Isaiah this vision.

The things shown to Isaiah in the vision given him by the Lord will cause him great distress as he experiences, vicariously, the things the people of Babylon will experience when judgment falls upon them. This passage is quite long and it will take us several days to discuss it thoroughly, so we must leave off here at verse 2 and will pick up with verse 3 in our next study session.

I will close by saying that the judgment of others should always distress us, just as it will distress Isaiah. We should have a heart like the Lord's for our fellow man. We should long to see their day of repentance and redemption, not their day of destruction. We all have sinned against the Lord and are worthy of destruction and it's only by the grace of God that we are offered a means of salvation and a way to escape the judgment.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 82, An Unusual Sign

Chapter 20 only has six verses and we will be looking at all six today. This chapter is titled "A Prophecy Against Egypt And Cush" and the Lord will ask Isaiah to do something unusual as a sign that the Lord's people are not to ally themselves with Egypt and Cush. 

As our chapter opens the Assyrians have captured a great city of Philistia, called Ashdod. "In the year that the supreme commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it---at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz." (Isaiah 20:1-2a) 

Ashdod was one of the top five largest cities in Philistia. You may recall that earlier in the book of Isaiah we found Isaiah delivering a prophecy against the Philistines, who were ancient enemies of the people of Israel. Although the descendants of Jacob were probably not sorry to see the Philistines defeated in a battle, the fact that Ashdod had fallen meant that the Assyrians were continuing to advance toward them. The news that Ashdod had fallen would have been quite alarming. 

In the year that this news comes, the Lord tells Isaiah to do something unusual. "He said to him, 'Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet.' And he did so, going around stripped and barefoot." (Isaiah 20:2b) Prophets tended to wear rough clothing, like sackcloth, to signify sorrow over the sad spiritual condition of their nation. It was also a sign of humility. Isaiah is to humble himself even further by removing the garment of a prophet and by removing the sandals from his feet as he walks throughout the land proclaiming the message of the Lord.

Some versions of the Bible use the word "naked" when describing how Isaiah walked throughout the land. Many scholars dispute that translation since the Bible does not encourage immodesty. It would have been a shame and disgrace for a child of God to appear in public unclothed and this is why so many scholars believe that all Isaiah was asked to do was remove his outer garment and to walk around wearing the long undergarment. 

People will stop and stare at him as he does this, which is what the Lord intends, because Isaiah's appearance is to be a sign to everyone. "Then the Lord said, 'Just as My servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush, so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared---to Egypt's shame.'" (Isaiah 20:3-4) 

The text above lends credence to the theory of some scholars that Isaiah actually was naked, but that is still not necessarily so, for conquerors had a habit of cutting off the undergarment robes of their captives just below the buttocks in order to humiliate them. An example of this occurred when some of David's men were poorly treated by King Hanun of the Ammonites. David sent an envoy to the king as a gesture of goodwill but Hanun ordered his soldiers to cut off the men's garments at the buttocks and to shave half their beards off. (This passage can be found in 2 Samuel 10.) It's possible that Isaiah wore his undergarment shortened, or that he wore only his undergarment, or that he was unclothed. 

Whatever actually happened here in regard to how much or how little Isaiah is wearing, the purpose is to provide a visual aid to go along with the prophecy he is delivering. "Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be dismayed and put to shame. In that day the people who live on the coast will say, 'See what has happened to those we relied on, those we fled to for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?'" (Isaiah 20:5-6)

In Chapter 19, when we studied Isaiah's prophecy against Egypt, we found him ending on a hopeful note: someday there will be a widescale turning to the Lord in Egypt. But that doesn't mean Isaiah's nation of Judah should ally itself with Egypt and with Egypt's Cushite king against Assyria. Assyria will conquer Egypt and will take captive many Egyptians and Cushites. At this time in history the Egyptians and Cushites are idolatrous heathens and the Lord's people are not to place their trust in pagans but in the Lord. The Lord is Judah's strength; all other help will fail.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 81, A Prophecy Against Egypt, Part Five

Yesterday's study ended on a hopeful note, with Isaiah predicting that the people of Egypt would turn to the Lord. This prediction was somewhat fulfilled in ancient times when many in Egypt heard and believed the gospel message. But a lot of scholars believe that the majority of Isaiah's prediction is yet to come true.

We will pick back up with the verse we ended with yesterday and move on from there. "In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a monitor to the Lord at its border. It will be a sign and witness to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt." (Isaiah 19:19-20a) As we discussed yesterday, a temple to the Lord was built in Alexandria during the Ptolemy (Greek) Dynasty of Egypt. But a number of scholars believe that there will be a day when a vast percentage of the people will turn to the Lord and worship Him in the way the descendants of Jacob worship Him.

"When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, He will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them." (Isaiah 19:20b) Some identify this savior and defender as the rulers of the Persian Empire and Greek Empire, during whose eras Egypt enjoyed freedom from her former oppressors such as Assyria and Babylon, and during which era the Egyptians, Judeans, and Assyrians were at peace with each other. In a larger sense, the Lord has also sent them a Savior and Defender in Christ, and some students of prophecy interpret verse 20b to be a reference to how there will be a turning to Christianity in Egypt in the last days.

"So the Lord will make Himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them. The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; He will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the Lord, and He will respond to their pleas to heal them." (Isaiah 19:21-22) Whatever is meant by these two verses, we know that the Lord's ultimate goal in bringing hardship to anyone is that they would repent. He does not want to destroy anyone; He wants people to turn to Him and be saved. Likewise, when He allows hardship in the lives of those who already belong to Him, it is to accomplish a purpose in our lives. It is to help us, not to hurt us. As Job said in his time of distress: "For He wounds, but He also binds up; He injures, but His hands also heal." (Job 5:18)

"In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, 'Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.'" (Isaiah 19:23-25) This is something no one of Isaiah's day could have imagined! They could imagine an alliance with Egypt against Assyria but no one in Israel or in Judah could imagine any sort of fellowship with the Assyrians who threatened their very existence at the time.

Some of this was fulfilled during the Persian and Greek Empires, as we've already mentioned, when these nations were at peace with one another. But we still don't, today, see the Israelites and the descendants of the Assyrians and Egyptians worshiping the Lord together at the same altar. This part remains to be fulfilled, but isn't it a beautiful prophecy? Those whose ancestors bowed to false gods will bow to the one true God. Those whose ancestors hated and persecuted the Israelites will someday worship the one true God with the Jewish people. 



Monday, March 11, 2024

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 80, A Prophecy Against Egypt, Part Four

Isaiah has been predicting collapse for ancient Egypt. This is going to take place in the form of governmental failings, drought that will affect agriculture and the fishing industry and the trading of goods, civil unrest within the nation, and invasion and subjugation by other empires.

Now he says: "In that day the Egyptians will become weaklings. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the Lord Almighty raises against them. And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified, because of what the Lord Almighty is planning against them." (Isaiah 19:16-17)

The interpretation of verses 16-17 is unclear. Judah itself would be conquered in a little over one hundred years after Isaiah gave this message and it is difficult to see how, during Isaiah's time or afterwards, the Egyptians would have shuddered in fear at the mention of the name of Judah. Most scholars appear to believe these verses predict a time that has not yet come to pass and I tend to agree with that assessment. 

Whenever the Bible uses the term "in that day" it is often a reference to the end times or to the eternal kingdom of the Messiah. We can see that verse 16 may have been fulfilled in antiquity, when the Lord allowed great disasters to befall Egypt, but verse 16 seems so closely connected to verse 17 (including the use of the word "and" between the two verses) that this may indicate a future event. The "fear" and the "terror" Egypt will experience at that time may indicate a reverent fear of Judah's God and a widescale turning to Him.

In our own day only about ten percent of Egyptians are Christian and there are so few Jews that a percentage cannot even really be calculated, so it seems clear that Isaiah's prediction has not yet fully come true. This next segment may have been partially fulfilled in antiquity but most of it remains to be fulfilled as well.

"In that day five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord Almighty. One of them will be called the City of the Sun. In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord at its border." (Isaiah 19:18-19) What does Isaiah mean when he says five cities of Egypt will speak the language of the land of Canaan? Does he mean they will speak the language of the descendants of Jacob, to whom the Lord gave the land of Canaan? Scholars are divided in their opinion of this prophecy and some scholars don't offer an opinion on it at all.

An altar to the Lord was indeed built during the time when the Greeks were Pharaohs of Egypt. A Jewish high priest named Onias built a temple, including an altar, in Alexandria when Ptolemy VI was king of Egypt. During that time there were a number of converts to Christianity in Egypt. However, there is reason to believe that Isaiah's prediction will be fulfilled in bigger ways in times to come. 

When we continue our study of this chapter in our next session, we will discuss how some of Isaiah's prophecy in Chapter 19 may have been partially fulfilled in the time of Alexander the Great and thereafter. But we will also discuss the fact that not all of Isaiah's prophecy fits into history, leading us to believe that much of it regards a time still to come.