Well good evening everyone and welcome to my sixty first episode. Tonight, I want to resume our study of the book of Isaiah by looking at the first eleven verses in chapter 14. This chapter continues with Isaiah’s prophecy of judgment against Babylon, and it also includes a message about Assyria and Philistia. I’m going to take this apart verse by verse so if you have a Bible nearby feel free to follow along. Otherwise just sit back, relax, and enjoy. Okay verses 1-2:
14 But the Lord will have mercy on the descendants of Jacob. He will choose Israel as his special people once again. He will bring them back to settle once again in their own land. And people from many different nations will come and join them there and unite with the people of Israel. 2 The nations of the world will help the people of Israel to return, and those who come to live in the Lord’s land will serve them. Those who captured Israel will themselves be captured, and Israel will rule over its enemies.
So, this is a report of the Israelites finally coming home from their exile in Babylon. Remember that Israel’s disobedience brought down God’s judgment in the from of Assyria’s conquest of the northern kingdom in 722 B.C. and Babylon’s conquest of Judah – the southern kingdom – in 586 B.C. But now the Israelites are returning home. God never forgets and he always honors his promises. He remembered his promise to Abraham to turn his descendants into a nation who would become his chosen people. And so from the beginning God intended to preserve his people and rescue them from their predicaments.
One of Isaiah’s prominent themes involves non-Israelites joining the Israelites as they return from exile. Isaiah predicts that these foreign people will help the Israelites rebuild their towns. God has two purposes for providing this foreign aid to the Israelites. First is to express his mercy and his grace for the Israelites. Second is because he wants to bring non-Israelites into his plan for salvation. Listen to what God says through Isaiah in chapter 56:
6 “I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord,
who serve him and love his name,
who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest,
and who hold fast to my covenant.
7 I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem
and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer.
I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices,
because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.
God’s desire is to bless all people of all nations through his chosen people Israel. The Bible says that God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who treat Israel with contempt. Perhaps this biblical injunction explains why antisemitism seems to have super-natural staying power. All families will be blessed through the family of Israel – namely because Jesus Christ would be born from the lineage of king David. Understanding that God has an infinitely high regard for all people – independent of ethnicity, language, or socioeconomic status – reminds us that we must resist the temptations of tribalism and only caring for our own people. Okay, let’s look at verses 3-4:
3 In that wonderful day when the Lord gives his people rest from sorrow and fear, from slavery and chains, 4 you will taunt the king of Babylon. You will say,
“The mighty man has been destroyed.
Yes, your insolence[b] is ended.
So often you hear people say that the Bible promotes slavery. This claim simply does not hold. The entire book of Exodus is centered around God abolishing the slavery of the Egyptians over the Israelites. But even if we set that key story aside, verse after verse in Scripture shows God liberating his people from bondage. That’s what we are seeing here in verse three. Listen to what Ezra says when he expands on this verse:
8 “But now we have been given a brief moment of grace, for the Lord our God has allowed a few of us to survive as a remnant. He has given us security in this holy place. Our God has brightened our eyes and granted us some relief from our slavery. 9 For we were slaves, but in his unfailing love our God did not abandon us in our slavery. Instead, he caused the kings of Persia to treat us favorably. He revived us so we could rebuild the Temple of our God and repair its ruins. He has given us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem.
Furthermore, Scripture elaborates on the fact that God does not show favoritism to any group of people. Deuteronomy 10:17 says:
17 “For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed.
And one of the fundamental messages in the New Testament is that we are all one in Christ. Listen to this passage from Galatians chapter 3:
26 For you are all children[m] of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.[n] 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile,[o] slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children[p] of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.
If the Bible teaches equality under Jesus and if God is continuously in the business of liberating people from slavery – whether it’s slavery at the hands of others or bondage to your own sin – I just don’t see much of a case for claiming that Scripture promotes it. Okay, so before we continue into the next verses I need to tell you that the following is often considered dual prophecy. It had significance for the historical city of Babylon and it has significance for any nation – even ones today – who oppose God. Let’s look at verses 5-8:
5 For the Lord has crushed your wicked power
and broken your evil rule.
6 You struck the people with endless blows of rage
and held the nations in your angry grip
with unrelenting tyranny.
7 But finally the earth is at rest and quiet.
Now it can sing again!
8 Even the trees of the forest—
the cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon—
sing out this joyous song:
‘Since you have been cut down,
no one will come now to cut us down!
So the issue here is that Babylon was an evil nation. Babylon brutalized their captives without mercy. They even oppressed the elderly and the infirm. You can see that despite the fact God was using them as a tool for bringing judgment on his people – he was still keeping track of their own sins. You should know that any power you have in a given situation is power that God has permitted you to have. That means you are not the originator of your own power. That means you are not in control over when your power fades. Babylon’s fatal failure was misunderstanding this reality.
If you live in the developed world, you live in a situation where you could easily fall into this trap. Babylon was untouchable during the height of its power – then it was gone. The Assyrian Empire was untouchable during the height of its power – then it was gone. So if you’ve been born into such a country, understand that your security comes from God. Thank him for it and then use what resources you have available to help those who are not in a good position. Most of all, don’t buy into the deception that you are powerful by your own merit. Never use your position of power to abuse those underneath you.
Now, notice these verses about creation being at rest and being able to sing again. This is what it will be like when Christ establishes his kingdom. Listen to what happens in Luke’s gospel when Jesus rides into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday:
7 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
In the book of Romans, Paul says that creation and everything in it eagerly awaits the return of the Creator. It’s hard to express in words what this glorious time will feel like. Psalm 98 gives us a glimpse, listen to verses 1-9:
1 Sing a new song to the Lord,
for he has done wonderful deeds.
His right hand has won a mighty victory;
his holy arm has shown his saving power!
2 The Lord has announced his victory
and has revealed his righteousness to every nation!
3 He has remembered his promise to love and be faithful to Israel.
The ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
4 Shout to the Lord, all the earth;
break out in praise and sing for joy!
5 Sing your praise to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song,
6 with trumpets and the sound of the ram’s horn.
Make a joyful symphony before the Lord, the King!
7 Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!
Let the earth and all living things join in.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands in glee!
Let the hills sing out their songs of joy
9 before the Lord,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice,
and the nations with fairness.
Sometimes when things get difficult it can do a lot of good to just sit and meditate on passages like that. Things might be brutal for you and you may have made too many mistakes – but your place next to Christ is not lost to you. If you’re alive and listening to this, then there’s still hope if you invest your trust in Jesus. Okay, let’s move on to verses 9-11. We are back to the prophecy against Babylon and the consequences of their cruelty:
9 “In the place of the dead[c] there is excitement
over your arrival.
The spirits of world leaders and mighty kings long dead
stand up to see you.
10 With one voice they all cry out,
‘Now you are as weak as we are!
11 Your might and power were buried with you.[d]
The sound of the harp in your palace has ceased.
Now maggots are your sheet,
and worms your blanket.’
So the idea here is that a conquered Babylon will end up no better than all of the other superpowers who fell away. Ezekiel refers to Egypt in this way when he says, “Down in the grave mighty leaders will mockingly welcome Egypt and its allies, saying, ‘They have come down; they lie among the outcasts, hordes slaughtered by the sword.’”
I think sometimes we can forget the finite nature of things in this life. At the time this podcast is being produced, the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is burning down its final embers. It is truly a heartbreaking day for Paris and for all of the people who made special memories there. Some day I would have liked to see the Notre Dame Cathedral for myself. I’m saddened to know this is no longer a possibility.
Notre Dame was one of the world’s most famous cathedrals and it had stood for more than 800 years. It survived wars, riots, revolutions, celebrations – who knows just exactly how much life those walls have witnessed. For 800 years, Notre Dame stood strong but once the fire took hold it was gone in mere hours. And when I saw vast crowds of people standing in the streets crying as they watched it burn – I couldn’t help but wonder if what they were truly crying for was the gut punch realization that none of this lasts forever. Death and destruction bring us heartbreak and the deepest sadness. But it’s also true that in those moments you can abandon yourself long enough to realize that you are not abandoned. That God has never left you. What I learned from watching Notre Dame fall is that if you put your faith in the things of this world, you are setting yourself up for disappointment and death. But if you put your faith in Christ the Lord – then your faith, hope, and love will go with you into everlasting life.
If you find this content valuable, feel free to share it and to use it in your own studies. If you’d like to support this podcast, you can do so at www.patreon.com/michaelhbaun. There is a link in the description. Your generosity goes a long way to promoting the growth of this enterprise and the cause of free speech. Thank you all for joining me this evening, and I will see you in the next episode.
The MHB Podcast 