Babylon Judged

Isa 47:1 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.

A picture of fallen Babylon. I suppose the U.S. is a type of Babylon, once rich, arrogant, self indulgent and spoiled by her abundance. This is how Babylon was, when they took Israel into captivity. The LORD used them for this purpose. They were not so kind to the Jews in general, so now they were themselves under the judgment of God. The virgin daughter, once like a princess, sits on the ground for there is no longer a throne for her. You no longer will be called tender and delicate, you are removed from your place of honor.

I think we sometimes are like this description, sitting and having a pity party because we lost our dream. Well, get up, for God has more for you to do. In Christ we remain on the throne with him. If he is our Lord, we are kings and queens under Christ Jesus.

Isa 47:2 Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.

Grind meal as a slave. I think of Samson. once the pride of Israel, blinded and grinding meal because he lusted after a woman of the world and ignored his calling from God.

Judg 16:21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.

The Babylonian virgin was made common and forced to march through rivers as a slave to another people. To be a slave of wicked men is a pity, but to be a slave as Christ commanded, to serve others; it is a blessing.

Isa 47:3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.

The LORD is taking vengeance on a proud and wicked people. Nakedness and shame shall be seen, It is the LORD'S doing. What the world does in secret and the secret sins of their heart, are plainly visable to our God.

Eph 5:12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
Eph 5:13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
Eph 5:14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

The unsaved with their sins are made manifest by the law of God.

Psa 44:20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
Psa 44:21 Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.

What of the church? Jesus described the end time church as naked and miserable.

Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Who is our God? Isaiah tells us.

Isa 47:4 As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 47:5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.
Isa 47:6 I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst show them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.

The LORD was angry with Babylon, who he called to take his people, his inheritance captive; the saints of God, the bride of Christ, because they showed them no mercy. The very old of the Hebrews were given a very heavy yoke. The LORD looks on the elderly with love and he expects us to honor them. Jesus taught that they should be taken care of, even before gifts to God.

Mat 15:4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
Mat 15:5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
Mat 15:6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

Isa 47:7 And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it.

How like a person caught in a sin, to appeal to their personal honor, when found guilty. We know our righteousness is not the righteousness of God.

Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Isa 64:7 And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

Isa 47:8 Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:
Isa 47:9 But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.

Reaping what is sown. Careless living and pride shall reap a difficult harvest. The things that they trusted in, were an abomination to the LORD, these shall be cut down with your pride.

Gal 6:3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
Gal 6:4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.

The cause of the judgment of God

Isa 47:10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.

For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me.

Success by any means, just so long as you get what you want. There is a saying: do not hit a man when he is down, for he may get up. God knows what we are doing and the reasons why. They were full of pride and without mercy towards the Hebrew slaves. Now they face the vengence of God.

Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.

Even now the wisdom of the world is not truth. God's wisdom is the truth. To accept man's thoughts above the word of God, is to live a perverted life, a life of lust and craving for wealth and power. You have become God of your life. The world sets humanistic standards. " To be a self actualized person". " I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul ". What does God command? We are to love God with all our heart and to obey him. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Who is your master? Self or the LORD? We are given a will to choose and when God convicts us, we should obey him and follow him.

The judgment of God

Isa 47:11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.

This is so true. A life lived apart from God opens the door to satanic destruction. Even when you get all there is to get of your desires, you will have no peace. Who will you call to when mischief shall fall on you? Mischief: the Hebrew word, hovah, meaning ruin, disaster. Look around the world now. People have lost their money, their jobs, their life is in ruin, without the LORD. As with Babylon, there seems to be no solution. Sudden desolation from a conquering nation, leaving you a slave and a stranger, just as were the Hebrews that you treated badly. Who will you cry out to for help, your lucky charms?

Isa 47:12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.
Isa 47:13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.

They cannot save anyone.

Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:Rom 3:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
Rom 3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Isa 8:19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?

Isa 47:14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.
Isa 47:15 Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.

Rev 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Rev 18:8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.