HOPE
Good morning Class
Question of the day: It is slowly starting to feel and look like fall. What do you enjoy doing most during the fall season?
I hope you enjoyed your week focusing on praise! Because this week... well this week is not so positive or upbeat. In fact it is quite the opposite.
Today we look at chapter 13. This chapter starts a whole bunch of chapters that are prophecy against a certain country or city and they aren't pleasant.
Let's read together: Isaiah 13
A Prophecy Against Babylon
13 A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:
2 Raise a banner on a bare hilltop,
shout to them;
beckon to them
to enter the gates of the nobles.
3 I have commanded those I prepared for battle;
I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath—
those who rejoice in my triumph.
4 Listen, a noise on the mountains,
like that of a great multitude!
Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,
like nations massing together!
The Lord Almighty is mustering
an army for war.
5 They come from faraway lands,
from the ends of the heavens—
the Lord and the weapons of his wrath—
to destroy the whole country.
6 Wail, for the day of the Lord is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
7 Because of this, all hands will go limp,
every heart will melt with fear.
8 Terror will seize them,
pain and anguish will grip them;
they will writhe like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at each other,
their faces aflame.
9 See, the day of the Lord is coming
—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—
to make the land desolate
and destroy the sinners within it.
10 The stars of heaven and their constellations
will not show their light.
The rising sun will be darkened
and the moon will not give its light.
11 I will punish the world for its evil,
the wicked for their sins.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty
and will humble the pride of the ruthless.
12 I will make people scarcer than pure gold,
more rare than the gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;
and the earth will shake from its place
at the wrath of the Lord Almighty,
in the day of his burning anger.
14 Like a hunted gazelle,
like sheep without a shepherd,
they will all return to their own people,
they will flee to their native land.
15 Whoever is captured will be thrust through;
all who are caught will fall by the sword.
16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;
their houses will be looted and their wives violated.
17 See, I will stir up against them the Medes,
who do not care for silver
and have no delight in gold.
18 Their bows will strike down the young men;
they will have no mercy on infants,
nor will they look with compassion on children.
19 Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,
the pride and glory of the Babylonians,
will be overthrown by God
like Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 She will never be inhabited
or lived in through all generations;
there no nomads will pitch their tents,
there no shepherds will rest their flocks.
21 But desert creatures will lie there,
jackals will fill her houses;
there the owls will dwell,
and there the wild goats will leap about.
22 Hyenas will inhabit her strongholds,
jackals her luxurious palaces.
Her time is at hand,
and her days will not be prolonged.
We are going to look at this in sections.
Verses 1-8
Here we see the prophecy describing the coming doom for Babylon. The strength that is about to come down on them.
This is really bad news depending on who you are. If you are on the side of the children of God, then this is good news right?
Let's think about this in terms that we might better understand. Let's say you find out you have cancer. If you hear the Dr. talking about the powerful meds, the treatments that are all designed to wipe out the cancer, then you are excited about the army that is soon to start killing the cancer that is trying to kill you. If you are getting beat up, seeing a warrior come onto the scene and start fighting for you, that is a good thing.
Here we see good news for God's people.
It is important to remember that this is all before Babylon is even a powerful kingdom. It is hasn't risen to power yet but this is the prophesy.
This is not going to be a little thing. This is a huge event. Warriors for God are coming together.
This is talking about Babylon, but it is also talking about the second coming.
The day of the Lord is coming!
Do we still have any fear about this type of event happening?
I know I did as a little girl?
Where did that fear come from?
Do you KNOW what side you are on?
Is there any part of you, that when hearing this questions if you are on the right side?
If there is, I want to assure you, that if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, if you have declared him to be Lord of your life, then YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT SIDE! Then this army is coming to defend you, and put an end to all the suffering!
Verses 9-10
These are descriptions of what that time will be like. Reading it this week, I have also wondered if it is literal and figuratively speaking. This will be a time when even what should be light is dark! In 1 John it says, "If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth."
I am sure that on the Day of the Lord, there will be lots of darkness.
How do we know we are in the light?
How do we make sure we are being a light for our community?
Verses 11-19
This section was disturbing.
This all sounds horrific.
The lines about "no mercy on infants" made me almost want to stop reading Isaiah.
HOWEVER... Let's look at it this way... Even the seed, even the roots, will be destroyed. The root of all sin, the seed of all sin, will be gone. This is not just a small correction, this is completely wiping out evil!
I don't know about you, but I would love for God to come into my life and wipe away all my sins, even those that seem to raise there ugly head. The very root or seed of the sin I would like gone!
God is not returning, is not coming to just slap on the hand evil, but he will get rid of it. All the tears will be wiped away! All evil will be gone!
Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms.
We need to be careful to make sure we don't get caught up in what is shinny. Babylon, was seductive, it was intoxicating. What we are told to be sober, it isn't just about not getting drunk on beer or wine, it is about not getting intoxicated by this world. Not getting sucked into or seduced by the world. Babylon was a nation founded on the principle that "I am everything." It was a nation that was all about pride in who they were, in how amazing they looked. It was evil, but it looked good.
How can we avoid becoming part of Babylon?
How do we avoid being drunk on self and seduced by the harlot Babylon?
Verses 20-22
Is this good news?
Both literal Babylon and the future Babylon will never again be. This struggle is just for a time.
This week I saw a TicTok done by a woman who has battled cancer. She filmed herself at different stages. At times she seemed depressed and you were sure she was dying. Then there would be good news and then bad news etc. Eventually she shares a clip where she now has hair again, she has color in her cheeks and she shares that she is cancer free.
This struggle, this battle that we are in, we know one day will end and the world will be free from the cancer of sin!
IT WILL be ALL gone!
Oh what a day that will be.
This is not just a battle that will go on forever. Death will not always be part of our story. Sin will be gone and we will be with our Lord and Savior!
That is the good news of this chapter.
I would like for you to take just a few minutes if you can, and share what Jesus has done for you personally. We need to hear the hope, the miracles, the testimony's!
Jesus is coming, again and he WILL make this earth new, NEVER to be inhabited every again by Babylon! Oh what good news that is!
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