THE FIVE WOES OF BABYLON

The Character of Babylon

1) He has been deceived by intoxication. 2) His pride and arrogance never rest. 3) His greed never has enough. 4) His conquering of nations never ceases.

Isaiah 13:11 “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.”

See Daniel 5:1-6, 17-31...

The Woes of Babylon

The plunderer will be plundered. (Verses 6-8)

Jeremiah 50:23 “How the hammer of the whole earth is cut down and broken! How Babylon has become a horror among the nations!” (see Jeremiah 51:27-29)

The one who has cut off many peoples will be cut off. (Verses 9-11)

Isaiah 47:11 “But evil shall come upon you, which you will not know how to charm away; disaster shall fall upon you, for which you will not be able to atone; and ruin shall come upon you suddenly, of which you know nothing.”

Much like Genesis 4:10, when the Lord told Cain that the blood of Abel was crying out from the ground, here the wood and stone from stolen houses are crying out for judgment.

The cities built with blood will be burned up. (Verses 12-14)

In Genesis 9:5–6 the Lord pronounces judgment for the one who murders his fellow man. He says that the one who sheds blood will have his own blood shed. This is exactly what the Lord is pronouncing here on Babylon.

Jeremiah 51:58 ““Thus says the Lord of hosts: The broad wall of Babylon shall be leveled to the ground, and her high gates shall be burned with fire. The peoples labor for nothing, and the nations weary themselves only for fire.””

Isaiah 11:9 “They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

The one who poured out wrath on the nations will drink from the cup of God’s wrath. (Verses 15-17)

Jeremiah 51:7 “Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, making all the earth drunken; the nations drank of her wine; therefore the nations went mad.” (See Isaiah 51:21–23)

The one who stripped others of their belongings will themselves be stripped naked.

Isaiah 14:8 “The cypresses rejoice at you, the cedars of Lebanon, saying, ‘Since you were laid low, no woodcutter comes up against us.’”

The one who trusts in idols will have no one to deliver him. (Verses 18-20)

Isaiah 45:20 ““Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save.” (see Isaiah 46:1-2)

Coming Out of Babylon

The only thing that can deliver us from the coming judgment is repentance and faith.

Isaiah 66:1–2 “Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”

Jeremiah 51:45 ““Go out of the midst of her, my people! Let every one save his life from the fierce anger of the Lord!”

Habakkuk 2:4 ““Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.”