Isaiah 13 - The Lord Is Sovereign

The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. 2 On a bare hill raise a signal; cry aloud to them; wave the hand for them to enter the gates of the nobles. 3 I myself have commanded my consecrated ones, and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger, my proudly exulting ones. 4 The sound of a tumult is on the mountains as of a great multitude! The sound of an uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathering together! The Lord of hosts is mustering a host for battle. 5 They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, the Lord and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. 6 Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! 7 Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt. 8 They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame. 9 Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. 11 I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless. 12 I will make people more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger. 14 And like a hunted gazelle, or like sheep with none to gather them, each will turn to his own people, and each will flee to his own land. 15 Whoever is found will be thrust through, and whoever is caught will fall by the sword. 16 Their infants will be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished. 17 Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold. 18 Their bows will slaughter the young men; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not pity children. 19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them. 20 It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there; no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there. 21 But wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will dwell, and there wild goats will dance. 22 Hyenas will cry in its towers, and jackals in the pleasant palaces; its time is close at hand and its days will not be prolonged.

Target Date: Sunday, 21 April 2024

Word Study/ Translation Notes:

6 – near - qârôb, kaw-robe’; from 7126; near (in place, kindred or time):— allied, approach, at hand, + any of kin, kinsfolk (-sman), (that is) near (of kin), neighbour, (that is) next, (them that come) nigh (at hand), more ready, short (-ly).

The day of the Lord” (v. 6), the day in which He will actively intervene in history, would be “near” (Heb. qarob). The Hebrew word describes the total preparedness of that day to dawn whenever the Lord decides that its time had come. It does not necessarily mean that the day is soon or imminent.

Thoughts on the Passage:

This passage moves from the judgment meted out upon the apostasy of Judah to the control of the sovereign God over ALL nations.

This is never a matter of “our God versus theirs”; it is only God acting for His own glory in his perfect movement of all nations.

But perhaps Erlandsson gives the most perceptive key when he comments that these oracles are not so much an announcement of doom upon the nations as they are an announcement of salvation to Israel if she would trust her Lord.

Without doubt the nations never heard these words or, if so, only second-hand, but Israel heard them first-hand.

Does God have words for people who will never hear? Of course. And they are responsible before Him for the message, not because He is tricking them, but because He is holy, and they stand condemned because of the sin into which they are born.

Tribes and nations also, whether they acknowledge God or not, will all be held responsible to His holy standard.

What is the indictment of v.11?

I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.

He does not condemn them for their lack of adherence to His Law, but to their “wickedness”, “evil”, “arrogance”, and “pride”.

Their remedy, like that of Ninevah after the arrival and preaching of Jonah, is not the institution of new laws, but repentance from the evil they had practiced.

Sodom was not judged on the basis of the Mosaic Law (which came 400 years later), but on the offense they had given to God’s revelation of Himself they could easily see. They were wicked apart from the Law, but still judged by God’s holy standard.

Nations are not converted, and those who place their hope in the legal change of the nation are distracted from our true hope: the salvation of God’s people from within the nation.

Where is the Geneva of Calvin? The Providence of Roger Williams? The Princeton and Yale Universities of Jonathan Edwards? All gone.

Nations do not endure. Institutions fade and die. The people around you – they will endure eternity in heaven or in a burning hell.

Tribes and associations and states are every one temporary accumulations and voluntary groups of people.

It makes no literal sense to want to “save America” – from what?

From sin? From idolatry? From God’s wrath? There is only one way to do that – person-to-person with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

From foreigners? We are called to welcome the sojourner, the foreigner. This may offend, but I really don’t care: I would be more sympathetic to so-called “Christian” nationalists if their doctrine didn’t include so much “America for Americans” rhetoric. If their stated goals were to care for those who need it. If their goal did not so obviously seem to be to protect what we have from those who might erode our share of it. If the Jesus they claim to worship would be at home walking the border with an AR-15 to protect a border that will be gone in 500 years.

These nations, not even Judah, are being judged by God because they didn’t protect their borders: they are judged because they allowed the poor to be deprived of justice, that they allowed the wealthy and powerful to injure their brother.

That they set up for themselves idols they bowed down to.

That they enslaved and murdered the innocent.

And EVERY promise in this entire book, Isaiah or the Bible as a whole, is fulfilled in one place – in Jesus Christ alone.

The evil of Babylon (the world) will be remedied by Jesus Christ.

The pain of Judah (God’s people) will be assuaged by Jesus Christ.

The plight of the poor will be heard and addressed by Jesus Christ.

And for those who practice the evil, or give pain to His people, or who neglect those in need are in opposition to Jesus Christ.

I will not go verse-by-verse through this passage because what we see about God from the highest level IS the point, I believe, of the passage.

The details of His judgment, while horrific, are meant to draw a picture of the awfulness of God’s wrath and the supremacy of His sovereignty, not to give us a sneak peak of the newspaper headlines of that day.

No one died to save a nation. God has not presented a gospel to a nation.

God sent His Son to save people OUT OF the nations. Save them OUT OF the world.

If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. – John 12:47-48

This is the only place I know of in the New Testament that the term “save the world” is employed, and it is precisely pointing to the particular salvation of those individuals who are called and obey.

On the nations (generally applied outside OT Israel since they were in an exceptional covenant with God):

What concern does God have for a nation? God raises up nations for His sovereign plan and purpose alone, and then for only an allotted time.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14 For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. 16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. – Exodus 9:13-16

God’s judgment on nations is by the “weightier things of the law”:

Justice to the people.

Compassion for the poor and defenseless.

The rise and fall of every nation, every association of people, is the result of God’s will and for His glory.

No earthly nation is “God’s kingdom” – each is used and proves to be a breakable tool.

Even revivals such as Josiah’s are short-lived and serve only to stay God’s judgment a generation or two.

Nations are not intended to survive forever – until the full coming of the eternal kingdom of God.

A nation, as a collection of evil, sinful men, is diseased at the outset.

The initial sin collects, clots, and ultimately brings about its fall under God.

The purpose of the positive law in the state is to imitate the righteous rule of God, not to establish it.

The law restrains evil, but it is unable to abolish it.

The law seeks peace between men, but it cannot make peace. It can only punish the breach of peace.

The laws of a nation will always be a subset of God’s perfect law, imperfectly applied, but with the goal to allow their people to live quiet lives.

It might be argued that even the Mosaic law is a subset of the full Law of God, sufficient to identify our need of a savior, but incomplete in that it does not enumerate every possible offense against the Holy One.

It will always be imperfect because there is no savior given to save from man’s laws.

Earthly law knows naught of grace, so it must be restrained lest it become oppressive toward sins that do not threaten justice.

The kingdom of God will never be brought by men to earth, no matter how pious they be.

A good nation may endure a generation or two, but no longer.

Israel under Moses and Joshua, then the decay of Judges.

Israel under David and Solomon, then the split under Rehoboam.

Calvin’s Geneva, Cromwell’s Britain, Plymouth and Providence colonies.

Only God can build His kingdom – enough of the “church militant” cry thinking we should do anything of the sort.

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. – Matthew 16:18

We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’ ” – Mark 14:58

But lest we are skeptical of the source: For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. - 2 Corinthians 5:1

Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, 49 “ ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? 50 Did not my hand make all these things?’ - Acts 7:48-50

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption - Hebrews 9:11-12

Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God - Revelation 21:9-11

“Thy will be done on earth” is a prayer for the greater action of the Spirit in the hearts and lives of men.

Anything men will build, though impressive, will be flawed and failing.

Consider even the church, a group of saints, and the convulsions these assemblies endure from time to time.

No kingdom could be built here on earth for God that does not begin with perfect, sinless men beginning the work. Thus, enduring nations are not for now, but for God’s eternal kingdom.

But what about John 3:16 – “Go so loved the world…”?

The word “so” (houtos) is not an intensifier, meaning “God loved the world SO much…”; it is an adverb that means “in the following way”, which means “God loved the world in this way…”.

He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” - Psalm 2:4-6

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. – Acts 17:24-27

What is the Good News of this passage – Where is Jesus Christ? (if you can’t answer this question, are you finished?)

God is sovereign over every nation, and even those who seem most opposed to the truth of the gospel are under God’s sovereign control.

Applications:

For the Christian:

Don’t be distracted by the “Christian Nationalists” who are simply trying to use the church to gain a numerical advantage for their own power.

For the Backslidden:

For the Unconverted:

Primary Preaching Point:

Jesus came to save us out of the world, not to save the nations of the world.

Building Points:

What are nations?

What are the responsibility of nations?

What is the hope of the nations?

Sermon Text:

It is a good thing that Isaiah tells us right from the start who he is talking about in this chapter.

He does not name them in the prophecy until verse 19.

He is talking about Babylon which was, in his time, just a city in what is today central Iraq.

It had been the great capital of an empire, but Babylon’s best days were long past.

What is remarkable is that Isaiah is not talking about ASSYRIA, who was, in that moment, both in control of Babylon and marching an army on Jerusalem.

We know, who have read the books of the Kings and Chronicles, who are familiar with Ezra-Nehemiah and Esther, and who have read the other prophets who had not written before Isaiah – Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and most of the Twelve minor prophets, that Babylon WILL BE the nation who finally conquers Judah.

But this nation is exactly where Isaiah begins this twelve-chapter set of prophecies against the nations who are not Israel’s descendants.

Today, we don’t see these chapters as remarkable, but they really are.

Our God is SOVEREIGN.

He is the God over the whole earth.

Every flower, every sparrow, and every person in every nation – He is the God of everything.

There is nowhere He isn’t God; nowhere He isn’t the High King.

And just as there is no person who will not give an account to Him, there is no nation that is not under His control here and now.

In his great sermon on Mars’ Hill in Athens, Paul declared to the idolaters gathered there:

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. – Acts 17:26-27

Notice the truth Paul preaches here:

1. From one man, Adam, God made every nation that will ever exist.

2. The periods and boundaries of their existence were decided BEFORE He created Adam.

having determined – past tense that goes further back than when He “made Adam”.

3. Why were these nations created, raised up in their day and for their hour?

For the same reason everything else was created – for God’s glory alone.

God created man, and as men filled the earth, they began to organize into groups, tribes, and nations.

The first nation we see in detail in the Scriptures is in Genesis 11 – some time after the Flood when people were supposed to be moving out over the whole earth.

We see the first empire bent on power – and its name was Babel (the same word as Babylon).

I’ll not take time to review the entire story this morning, but think about what this city-state of Babel sought to do – to build a tower to God.

To invade heaven (as they understood it).

And even though they had no hope at all to do that, their hearts were indeed wicked and disobedient.

There is still today the temptation toward this particular type of idolatry – the idolization of the nation.

No nation, even one founded on the idea of liberty, deserves the devotion and love we must have for God.

Nations are not eternal. Every one will fall.

Nations are not righteous.

Nations are not even REAL in the same way that people are real.

Nations are simply a group of people organized in some way.

There are many who would say that the United States has been blessed by God, and we have.

But Babylon could say the same thing in our passage today:

God calls them His “consecrated ones”, HIS mighty men. (v. 3)

God raised them up for their time, and in that time, they received His blessing.

And God has for the United States given us tremendous blessings.

But here is the important point – In NEITHER case was this done because the nations were worthy.

The destruction God would work at the hands of the Babylonians would happen AGAINST them in their time.

This city, who overthrew the great Assyrian empire, would be replaced by the Persian Empire (in v. 17 called the Medes).

I am not trying to be shocking when I say this, but it might be shocking for some: God did not save Babylon. God will not save America. One day, this nation will disappear from the world.

And we should take very seriously the warnings of verses 19-20:

And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them. 20 It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there; no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there.

If you go to Iraq today, there is a place where Babylon was.

Saddam Hussein tried to rebuild parts of it, but it is still a ruin.

2500 years after it was overthrown, it is remembered only by archaeologists who dig through the ruins.

The city, which at its height held more than 200,000 people now has about 3000 living within 25 miles of its center.

The atrocities of Babylon listed in verses 16-18 include this one that stands as a grave warning to us:

They will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb (v.18).

The reason their conquerors will have no mercy is because the Babylonians had no mercy.

Can a nation, our nation, who has murdered more than 60 MILLION children – the fruit of the womb – escape the righteous judgment of God?

Brothers and sisters, if Abel’s innocent blood cried out to God, how loud is the chorus of millions of innocents sacrificed with the BLESSING of our nation?

It’s not just about the government; in fact, it has very little to do with the laws.

It is about the wickedness of the people who have chosen more than 60 million times to murder.

And the millions of people who applaud that wickedness as an exercise of self-empowerment.

Can God’s good justice be long away?

In verse 6, we see the promise: The Day of the Lord is near!

Like we have looked at in other contexts, this Day of the Lord is the day of His earthly judgment on the nation.

And that word “near” is important.

It doesn’t mean necessarily “close” or “tomorrow”;

It means that it is READY, that all the preparations have been made.

It could happen any time because nothing else remains to be ordered.

The nations may build up their strength; it will do them no good.

They may justify their national sins; God is not fooled and will not be mocked.

Some nations, to avoid hearing the word of God’s judgment, will assault His faithful saints, raging against God through His people.

They will unleash their own fury against Him.

But Psalm 2:4-6 tells us:

He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” - Psalm 2:4-6

For a nation, NOTHING will save the nation out of God’s hand.

God did not send His Son to save NATIONS; God sent His Son to save His people OUT OF the nations.

PEOPLE are saved – nations rise and fall in the sovereign will of God.

PEOPLE are eternal souls – nations are a set of ideas, agreements, and boundaries that change over time.

PEOPLE will populate heaven – and in that place, there is only ONE KING.

He is the same King who sits right now over all the earth, ordering it according to His will.

Perhaps, though, you are thinking about Nineveh after Jonah preached to them. God didn’t destroy them, did He?

Of course He did. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire – the one that got destroyed by Babylon.

Yes, they repented, but recall the timetable Jonah had given them: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jonah 3:4)

At the end of the book of Jonah, all we see is that their repentance carried them beyond that forty-day mark. They did not make it much further.

Revivals and Awakenings are certainly something to pray for, but their effect in prolonging the days of a nation seems limited from the witness of Scripture and history:

Moses and Joshua were two able and godly leaders, but when Joshua died, the people “did what was right in their own eyes”.

The peaceful reigns of David and Solomon ended with the split of the nation of Israel into civil war after Solomon’s death.

The revival of Josiah, when the Law was discovered in the decrepit Temple during a renovation, lasted only until his death and no further.

And what of the Plymouth and Providence colonies in America, which lasted less than 100 years in faithfulness.

What of the Great Awakening in England and America, when Whitefield, Edwards, and the Wesleys preached (along with so many other faithful men)? The effect of that fervor cooled even in the next generation.

Maybe you are sitting there thinking “Please give some good news.”

We have seen that very good news already in Isaiah – it is written and promised often.

God will save His people.

Remember, he is our sanctuary. He is our deliverer.

And even more than that, He has now given us something Isaiah would have given anything to see:

He has given us the gospel of Jesus Christ.

He has given us His Holy Spirit.

Brothers and sisters, I don’t know if our nation or our state has forty days left or forty years or longer, but this I do know:

God works His sovereign work in our world to bring His people to Himself.

To gather them in, His sheep brought into His fold.

And we still have today.

That is the work of the church, the work of His people.

Walk in His light, walk in His Spirit, and carry the light of His good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ, into our nation.

Everything else is a distraction.

And He will use our faithful work to bring His people out of the darkness that is crumbling into His eternal light.

Certainly we should call out the sin of our country, but the only remedy, the only salvation for ANYONE in our nation is to repent from their sinful life and trust in Jesus Christ and His work to save them.

Can anyone say they love America if they do not try to rescue Americans from the sin that will bring them before God’s judgment?

Can you say you love Alabama if you will not speak about the way that God has made that sinners might be saved from His wrath?

Can you say you love Alex City, or Sylacauga, or Childersburg if you will not seek through the Holy Spirit to obey the word He has given us?

Can you say you love God if you hate your neighbor?

Pray for the eradication of the despicable practice of abortion.

And you have liberty in Christ to do any good and lawful thing to speak out against the evil.

Some may protest; some may write the lawmakers;

Some may run for office; some may do other things.

But all can, and should, pray.

And all of us must realize the battle is not about changing people’s minds about abortion;

The wicked heart is full of murderings.

The battle is to let the Holy Spirit change the person, from the inside out, replacing their heart of stone with one of flesh.

Believer, you are here for two reasons:

To be a disciple and to make disciples.

To allow the Holy Spirit to reform you into the image of Christ, and to call others to faith in Him so they can be remade as well.