Isaiah 13:1-14:28
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
[READING - Isaiah 13:11]
11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.
[PRAYER]
[CONTEXT] Although we are in Isaiah 13, we are still in the first part of Isaiah, which comprises chapters 1-39.
The message of this first part is that God loves his rebellious people too much to leave them rebellious; he will refine his people through severe punishments until a righteous remnant emerges—a righteous remnant that will live in a glorified City of God, a righteous remnant that will live in peace and safety under the reign of the glorified King.
That is what the sovereign Lord will do with Israel and Judah, but what will he do with the other nations?
Isaiah chapters 13-27 answer that question.
In this section we will learn about God’s specific plan for Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, etc.
But what we will really see is God’s general plan for the whole unbelieving world.
11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.
26 “This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations.
[CIT] In Isaiah 13-14, Isaiah delivered God’s word against Babylon, which prompted God’s people to sing a taunt against Babylon.
[PROP] These chapters, and all the other chapters of this section, remind us that YHWH is no local deity restricted to ruling over his people in his land.
YHWH is the sovereign ruler of the heavens and the earth.
He rules over all, and all will answer to him.
[TS] We’ll only get through Isaiah 13:16 tonight, but there are two PARTS to our sermon tonight…
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
#1: The Lord musters his army against Babylon (vv. 1-5)
#1: The Lord musters his army against Babylon (vv. 1-5)
1 The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. 2 Lift up a standard on the bare hill, Raise your voice to them, Wave the hand that they may enter the doors of the nobles. 3 I have commanded My consecrated ones, I have even called My mighty warriors, My proudly exulting ones, To execute My anger. 4 A sound of tumult on the mountains, Like that of many people! A sound of the uproar of kingdoms, Of nations gathered together! The Lord of hosts is mustering the army for battle. 5 They are coming from a far country, From the farthest horizons, The Lord and His instruments of indignation, To destroy the whole land.
[EXP] The great world power at this time was Assyria, but the up-and-comer was Babylon. Because Isaiah prophesied to Judah and it would be Babylon that ultimately carried Judah into exile, the first nation addressed by God in this section is Babylon.
We should be sure to notice that the judgement coming against Babylon is coming from God.
“I have commanded My consecrated ones, I have even called My mighty warriors, My proudly exulting ones, to execute my anger,” (v. 3).
“The Lord of hosts is mustering the army for battle,” (v. 4).
“The Lord and His instruments of indignation, to destroy the whole land,” (v. 5).
His ‘instruments of indignation’ are his weapons of wrath—the Lord’s weapons to carry out his anger on Babylon’s wickedness.
[APP] God created the first man, Adam, and from him came all men—including Babylonian men.
In Adam, all men sinned against God and stand justly condemned by God as a result.
Men prove the justness of their condemnation by sinning against God just as Adam did.
Thus, every man is born an enemy of God and has confirmed his status as an enemy of God by his wickedness.
The Lord of hosts is angry with the wicked every day, and he will bring forth the weapons of his wrath to slay them.
We sometimes sing the song, “I’m A Child of the King.”
I think its in the third verse that it says,
“I once was an outcast, stranger on earth,
A sinner by choice, and an alien by birth...”
Do you believe this?
Do you believe that apart from Jesus you are an outcast, a stranger from God on earth?
Do you believe that you were a sinner by choice and alienated from God by birth?
Do you know that you can be made a child of the King through faith in Jesus Christ?
“I once was an outcast stranger on earth,
A sinner by choice, and an alien by birth,
But I’ve been adopted, my name’s written down,
An heir to a mansion, a robe and a crown.”
The second part of that verse is only true for us as we trust in Jesus who took the wrath of God that we deserved on himself as he hung for us on the cross.
Only by way of his death and resurrection have we been adopted into the family of God.
Only by way of his death and resurrection have our names been written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Only by way his death and resurrection do we have a home in heaven, a robe of righteousness, and a crown of victory.
Only by way of Jesus are we saved from the wrath of God.
Any who refuse that way of Jesus, will meet the Lord and his instruments of indignation on the day of the Lord, the day of judgment.
[TS] That bring us to vv. 6-16…
#2: The Lord brings wrath to Babylon (vv. 6-16)
#2: The Lord brings wrath to Babylon (vv. 6-16)
6 Wail, for the day of the Lord is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. 7 Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man’s heart will melt. 8 They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame. 9 Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light. 11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. 12 I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold And mankind than the gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the Lord of hosts In the day of His burning anger. 14 And it will be that like a hunted gazelle, Or like sheep with none to gather them, They will each turn to his own people, And each one flee to his own land. 15 Anyone who is found will be thrust through, And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword. 16 Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces Before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished.
[EXP] Later, Isaiah will write, “No eye has seen and no ear has heard… what God has prepared for those who love him,” (Isa. 64:4).
In the same way, no eye has seen and no ear has heard what God has prepared for those who reject him.
Just as our heavenly reward will be better than anything we previously imagined, so will the suffering under judgment be worse than anything previously imagined.
Notice the terror of God’s judgment in vv. 7-8.
7 Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man’s heart will melt. 8 They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame.
Limp hands have been zapped of their strength by fear of the Lord’s judgment.
Melting hearts only beat with dread due to fear of the Lord’s judgment.
All—including the strongest, toughest, most powerful—will be terrified.
Pain and anguish will take hold of them like a woman in labor, wide-eyed with fear, their faces flush with fear and pain.
This is the terror that Babylon experienced on the day that God brought his judgment against that wicked nation.
Notice the desolation of God’s judgment in vv. 9-10.
9 Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light.
In the Scriptures, cosmic signs like the stars falling and the Sun and moon going dark are often signs of God’s impending judgment.
They are signs that can’t be missed and can’t be ignored.
They are signs that indicate the day of the Lord is at hand.
It will be a day cruel with fury and burning anger.
It will be a day who’s purpose is make the land a desolation.
It will be a day in which all sinners are exterminated.
Now, this might frighten us because we are all sinners who have fallen short of God’s righteous standard, but we are repentant sinners who have trusted in Jesus as our atoning sacrifice for sin and as our righteousness before God.
There is, therefore, no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus.
The day of judgement will be a day of rewards and praises for us know Christ.
But the sinners who should be frightened are those who haven’t repented of sin and trusted in Jesus for salvation.
If they persist in their sin and unbelief until the end, they will be exterminated on the day of judgment.
Notice the globalization of God’s judgment in vv. 11-13.
11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. 12 I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold And mankind than the gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the Lord of hosts In the day of His burning anger.
As we’ll see throughout this section of Isaiah, the punishments prophesied against the nations, in this case specifically against Babylon, are the punishments prophesied against the whole unbelieving world.
The whole unbelieving world will feel the terror of God’s wrath.
The whole unbelieving world will be exterminated by the holiness of God.
He will end the arrogant and the haughty.
He will make mortal rarer than the finest pure gold.
And he will do this the world over with heavens trembling and earth shaking.
Notice the vulnerability of God’s judgment in vv. 14-16.
14 And it will be that like a hunted gazelle, Or like sheep with none to gather them, They will each turn to his own people, And each one flee to his own land. 15 Anyone who is found will be thrust through, And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword. 16 Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces Before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished.
The hunted gazelle is fast but will soon be captured.
The sheep without shepherd are defenseless and will soon be slaughtered.
On the day of judgment, people will run to their own people and land looking for protection, but they will only find death—thrust through with the spear, felled by the sword, little ones dashed to pieces before their eyes, houses plundered, wives ravished.
This is sin against God full-grown, and sin when it is full-grown leads to death.
It’s inescapable.
We might ask, “How could God do this to the Babylonians? How could he slaughter them all? How could he dash their little ones to pieces?”
One answer is to ask, “Why doesn’t God do this to all of us? Why doesn’t he slaughter us all? Why doesn’t he dash us all to pieces on the rocks of his judgment?”
The wonder is not the he brings his wrath on some.
The wonder is that he doesn’t bring his wrath on all, but chooses instead to save some by dashing his own son the rocks of his judgment.
Another answer is to understand that God will not literally take sword in hand to slaughter the Babylonians or personally dash their little ones to pieces or personally ravish the wives.
No, when God wants to punish a nation, he allows another nation to come against that nation.
In this case, the Medo-Persians will eventually come against Babylon, and just as Babylon was the instrument in God’s hand that did wickedly against so many other nations, so the Medo-Persians will be the instrument in God’s hand to do wickedly against Babylon.
God doesn’t force a people to do wickedly, but when he desires to use their own wickedness for his sovereign purposes, all he has to do is remove his restraining hand.
[ILLUS] You might have heard that former heavyweight boxing champion, Iron Mike Tyson, is supposed to fight a YouTube influencer name Jake Paul at some point this year.
Jake Paul can throw a punch, but if he was fighting Mike Tyson in his prime, it would be no contest.
It might be no context even know that Mike Tyson is well past his prime, but Mike Tyson in his prime might have separated Jake Paul’s head from his body.
Mike Tyson feared no one in his prime.
When the words of Isaiah 13 were delivered to God’s people, Babylon was still coming into its prime.
Assyria was still the big boy on the block, but its power was waning and soon Babylon would be world champion.
That being the case, Babylon feared no one, but it would be made to fear.
God’s word said that it would fall under his judgment, and no sinful nation—no matter how powerful—is a match for Almighty God.
[TS]…
Conclusion
Conclusion
[ILLUS] Dalton said to me yesterday, “It’s weird that we Americans refer to the Queen of England as the Queen and that we refer to the King of England as the King; I mean, he’s not our king and she wasn’t our queen, so why do we call them that?”
I said, “Well, that’s we call them because that’s the title they hold in their own country, so we just refer to them by that title as a sign of respect.”
But Dalton’s question was valid because the King or Queen of England is only truly King or Queen in their sovereign territory, which means they don’t exercise any sovereign authority anywhere else because they aren’t sovereign anywhere else.
YHWH, however, is different. He is Lord of lords and King of kings everywhere because there is nowhere that his sovereign authority does not rule.
Babylon found that out.
Other nations would find it out too.
One day, the whole unbelieving world will find that out.
[PRAYER]