Babylon Has Fallen, Has Fallen (Isaiah 21)

Isaiah 21:1-17

"Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground!" (Isa 21:9b)

The whole world in His hands...at the moment and into the future. Isaiah 13-23, a new section of oracles against the nations, began with the Mesopotamian powers of Babylon and Assyria (ch.13-14). Then the oracles moved to the neighbors Philistia (14b), Moab (15-16), Aram and Israel (17a). Isaiah 17b-18 is an interlude chapter (17:12-18:7), where Cush (Ethiopia) was used to declare that Yahweh is the Lord of the nations (Isa 17:13). Then came the oracle against Egypt (ch.19-20). In essence Isaiah 13-20 declares that God rules decisively over the nations. In Isaiah 21-23 he makes more declarations to the same effect, but with an interesting difference. He speaks more allusively, more vaguely, more mysteriously, because he is giving less attention to his immediate surroundings and peering out further into a more remote future. What does Isaiah see? He sees a redeeming God at work in a deeply troubled world.

The Unforgivable Sin (Isaiah 21-23)

Isaiah 21-23

"...but you did not look to the One who made it, or consider the One who created it long ago" (Isa 22:11b, HCSB). "The Lord of Heaven's Armies has revealed this to me: "Till the day you die, you will never be forgiven for this sin." That is the judgment of the Lord, the Lord of Heaven's Armies" (Isa 22:14, NLT).

1. Babylon has fallen (21:1-10): Don't trust Babylon.
2. The uncertain world goes on (21:11-12): Live with faith in the tension of uncertainty.
3. There are no human solutions (21:13-17): Learn to trust God.
4. God does not forgive disregarding him (22:1-25): Never forget to look to your Maker.
5. Consumerism, capitalism and covetousness (23:1-18): Don't be seduced.
   

God's Plans for Babylon and Assyria (Isaiah 13-14)

Read Isaiah 13-14

1. God summons his troops (13:1-5): God musters an army for war (Isa 13:4b).
2. God destroys the proud (13:6-16): God puts an end to all who are arrogant (Isa 13:11).
3. God desolates Babylon (17-22): God overthrows Babylon (Isa 13:19).
4. God restores his people (14:1-2): God has compassion on Jacob (Isa 14:1).
5. God humiliates/humbles the proud king of Babylon (14:3-23): "How you have fallen" (Isa 14:12).
6. God's sovereign plan and purpose WILL prevail (14:24-27): Who can thwart God's purpose out turn back his out-stretched hand? (Isa 14:27)
7. God warns those who gloat (14:28-32): Do not rejoice that your enemy is struck and broken (Isa 14:29a).

How You Have Fallen (Isaiah 13-14)

Isaiah 13-14 (Isa 13:1-19; 14:1-2, 9-17, 22, 24-27)

"I, the Lord, will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their sin. I will crush the arrogance of the proud and humble the pride of the mighty" (Isa 13:11, NLT). "How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!" (Isa 14:12)

Theme: God, who is sovereign over all, will triumph over the self-sufficient, the proud and the arrogant; they will be humbled and brought low.

1. Despite Your Failures, Let's Meet and Talk (Isaiah 1).
2. The Ideal and The Reality (Isaiah 2-4).
3. A Worthless Vineyard (Isaiah 5).
4. I Saw The Lord (Isaiah 6).
5. Trust or Bust (Isaiah 7).
6. Is God Your Sanctuary or Your Judge? (Isaiah 8).
7. See The King in His Beauty (Isaiah 9).
8. Destruction and Deliverance (Isaiah 9-10).
9. A Glimpse of Heaven (Isaiah 11-12).

Intoxicated with the Maddening Wine of Adultery

"'Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,' which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries" (Rev 14:8). "...the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries" (Rev 17:2).

(Today's sermon on The Wrath of God explains how intoxication with the wine of adultery seduces us with min-numbing stupor.)

Why is Babylon regarded as the mother of prostitutes (Rev 17:5)? It is because she is not only a prostitute herself, but she spawns other prostitutes and evils like her own. She is "filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries" (Rev 17:4). She is able to do so very well because the people of the world are only too happy at being seduced by her prostituting herself. Thus, Babylon the prostitute represents society's allure of material prosperity and pleasure, seducing the unwary into adultery against the Lord. The prostitute desires nothing less than we becoming unfaithful to our True Spouse.

The Gods and Idols of Babylon are Doomed (Isaiah 46,47)

Babylon, representing worldly kingdoms in contempt of God (Rev 18:1-24), are destined for defeat and destruction.

God's Purposes Always Prevails (Isa 46:1-13)

Bel and Nebo (Isa 46:1), the 2 chief gods of Babylon can't save them when Cyrus came to take them into captivity (Isa 46:2). Only God is able to save his remnant (Isa 46:3,4). God cannot be compared to anything in creation (Isa 46:5), not to gold or silver that can never save anyone (Isa 46:6,7). So, God says to his people, "Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind" (Isa 46:8), and "Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted" (Isa 46:12), for our natural thoughts gravitate to idols and resist the truth about God. Only God is God whose purposes always prevail (Isa 46:9-11,13).

Babylon is Doomed to Humiliation (Isa 47:1-15)

As judgment descends upon Babylon (Isa 47:1-3), God is the only place of refuge (Isa 47:4). Though God used Babylon to discipline his people, as he said he would (Dt 28:49,50), God still held Babylon accountable for her abuses (Isa 47:5-7), and her self-deifying autonomy (Isa 47:8,10). She will suffer sudden loss of children and widowhood (Isa 47:9), disaster and ruin (Isa 47:11-15).

Practical Application: "Remember this, keep it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels" (Isa 46:8).

Remember: "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me" (Isa 46:9).

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God Rules Over The World (Isaiah 13)

• Isa 1-5 is God's lament of his people: "Ah, sinful nation" (Isa 1:4).
• Isa 6-12 is God's preservation of a remnant through grace: "Your guilt is taken away" (Isa 6:7).
• Isa 13-27 is God's judgment and grace for the world: "We have a strong city" (Isa 26:1).

God is no local tribal deity, but the Judge and Savior ruling over all the world. God's purpose is moving history forward for the benefit of his people. Isaiah reveals the sovereign ways of God with the nations, beginning with Babylon (Isa 13).

Isaiah foretells Babylon's destruction (Isa 13:1-5)

Isaiah announces God's oracle/prophecy/message against proud Babylon (Isa 13:1,2,19), which was regarded as the epitome of religion and culture, symbolizing ungodly nations. God himself would consecrate/summon an army as his instrument of severe judgment (Isa 13:3-5).

What happens on that day? (Isa 13:6-22)

The day of God's judgment on Babylon is described as "destruction from the Almighty" (Isa 13:6), "a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger" (Isa 13:9), when God "will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins" (Isa 13:11). Here are a few descriptions of that dreadful day:

• "all hands will go limp" (Isa 13:7)
• "every heart will melt with fear" (Isa 13:7)
• "terror...pain and anguish will grip them" (Isa 13:8)
• people will be "scarcer than pure gold" (Isa 13:12)
• "whoever is captured will be thrust through" (Isa 13:15)
• "their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives violated" (Isa 13:16), etc.

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