By Eugene Garner

ISAIAH - CHAPTER 47

DIVINE JUDGMENT UPON BABYLON

    To fully appreciate the judgment of Babylon one should study this chapter along with chapters 13 and 14. The kingdom of Babylon reached the height of her glory under Nebuchadnezzar, who captured and destroyed the city of Jerusalem, around 586 B.C. - some time after Isaiah's prophetic ministry had ended. The prophet Daniel pictures the conditions that existed in Babylon during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors - clear on down to the fulfillment of the prophecy recorded in Isaiah 47. One may read his record of Babylon's fall to the Medes and Persians in Daniel 5.
    As suggested in our approach to Isaiah 13, Babylon is sometimes used symbolically, in the scriptures, of a highly organized world-system (religious, political and commercial) which is diametrically opposed to God and His order for man and the universe. Of this Babylon, one must understand that her judgment awaits the future. But, the same sovereign God Who put an end to the ancient city and empire, will as surely call a halt to the world-system of rebellion at the exact time appointed by the good counsel of His will!

   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. Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.

    1. By use of striking symbolism, Jehovah addresses proud Babylon with a command to manifest the signs of her degradation: "Come down! and sit in the dust!" (vs. 1).
      a. "Virgin" is used of Babylon because she had never before been conquered, and her defenses were considered impregnable.
      b. "Daughters of Babylon" speaks of the citizenry, (comp. Jer. 51:33-40).
      c. To "come down and sit in the dust" depicts the extreme reversal of Babylon's fortunes.
        1) From exaltation, honor, power and glory, she has been reduced to humiliation and shame.
        2) No more will she be called "tender and delicate", she will be the "mistress" no longer!
    2. A second command is given that she perform the work of abject slavery, (vs. 2).
      a. One is reminded of the task assigned to Samson when he was enslaved by the Philistines, (Judges 16:21).
      b. To remove her veil, put off her luxurious robes and expose the nakedness of her leg, was the most degrading humiliation conceivable to the modest women of Babylon, (comp. 32:11).
      c. The shame of Babylon would be obvious to all, (vs. 3a).
    3. Undiluted calamity is the destiny of Babylon, and nothing can intervene to thwart or hinder the judgment divinely purposed upon her, (vs. 3b; 34:8; comp. 63:4).

   As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.
   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.
   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.

    1. The overthrow of Babylon is a further exhibition of the universal sovereignty of Jehovah of Hosts, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, (vs. 4).
      a. From ancient times He has been bound to them by the strong, yet tender, ties of covenant relationship.
      b. His purpose for her has been clearly stated, and He is able to bring it to pass.
    2. Babylon is commanded to sit in silence and darkness - no longer to be called "the mistress of kingdoms", (vs. 5; 13:18-22; Dan. 2:37-38; comp. Rev. 17:18; 18:1-10).
    3. Wroth with His people, the Lord profaned His inheritance - delivering them up to the discipline of captivity in Babylon, (vs. 6; 43:28).
      a. Babylon's dealings with them were without mercy; unconscious that she was acting as God's agent, her actions were cruel, inhumane and wicked!
      b. She laid an unbearably heavy yoke upon the aged and helpless, (comp. Lam. 4:16; 5:12).
    4. Presuming herself to be "mistress forever", she gave no thought to the consequences of her conduct - no consideration of an inevitable judgment on her attitude and actions, (vs. 7).

   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: 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.
   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.
   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.

   1. The pride of wickedness of Babylon is evident in the presumptuous attitude of one who feels so secure that she may abandon herself to pleasure, (vs. 8; Jer. 50:11-12).
      a. "I am," she said, "and there is none beside me!"
        1) This involved the claiming of a title that belongs to God alone, (see on 45:5-6; 46:9).
        2) The Babylonian tablets, in the British Museum, show that the rulers of Babylon were entitled "King Vicars" - the same title that is given to the Roman Pope on his coronation day.
        3) This signified that the king was the earthly voice of God; as such he had no equal among men.
        4) One king of Babylon learned by experience that his rule was totally dependent on the God of Israel, (Dan. 4:4-37).
      b. "I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I suffer the loss of children!" (Rev. 18:7).
        1) She cannot conceive of herself as mourning or experiencing any sense of personal loss.
        2) She feels perfectly secure in the midst of all her wickedness.
    2. The calamity that befalls Babylon will be sudden and shocking; "In a moment" (in one single day) she will suffer both "widowhood and the loss of children", (vs. 9a; 13:16-18; 14:22; Psa. 73:19; comp. I Thess. 5:3; Rev. 18:1-8).
    3. Babylon has looked, for counsel, to her sorcerers and enchanters, (vs. 9b, 13; Rev. 18:23; comp. Nahum 3:4-6).
    4. Trusting in her wickedness, she presumed herself unaccountable for her actions, (vs. lOa).
      a. Her heart perverted, through wisdom and knowledge, she said: "I AM", and, in essence, "NOTHING ELSE MATTERS!"
      b. The inevitable fruit of such an attitude is CALAMITY that cannot be charmed away.
      c. Desolation, sudden and unexpected, is her inescapable lot! (Jer. 51:8, 43).

   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. 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. 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. 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.

    1. From her origin, under Nimrod (Gen. 10:10), Babylon has trusted in sorcery and enchantments; Jehovah now challenges her to look to them and see whether they so terrorize the Holy One of Israel as to prevent His purposed judgment upon her sin, (vs. 12).
    2. Since she has a wearying number of counselors (astrologers, stargazers and monthly prognosticators), let them rise up, if they can, and save her from what Jehovah has declared will be her lot, (vs. 13; Jer. 51:58, 64; Dan. 2:2, 10).
      a. They will all be as stubble - consumed by the fire of divine indignation, (vs. 14a; 10:17; Jer. 51:29-32; comp. Isa. 5:24-25; Nah. 1:10; Malachi 4:1).
      b. They cannot even deliver themselves from the power of the flame, much less those who trust in them!
    3. In the day of her distress Babylon will be forsaken of all those who have labored with her - those who have been her merchants from youth - none will be able to save her! (Rev. 18:9-11).