Isaiah has predicted that Cyrus, king of Babylon, will be brought to judge Israel and the nearby nations. But Babylon has no right to boast. It too is evil and will be brought down, as chapters 46-48 foretell. In chapter 46 the useless idols of Babylon collapse. Here it is Babylon, herself.
Isaiah 47:1-3, Queen dethroned
“Go down, sit in the dust,
Virgin Daughter Babylon;
sit on the ground without a throne,
queen city of the Babylonians.
No more will you be called
tender or delicate.
Take millstones and grind flour;
take off your veil.
Lift up your skirts, bare your legs,
and wade through the streams.
Your nakedness will be exposed
and your shame uncovered.
I will take vengeance;
I will spare no one.”
Babylon, chosen as a tool of judgment for Israel, has no righteousness in herself. Here she is portrayed as a dethroned queen, made to work in a mill and wade through water. A once proud woman is forced to act as a shameful slave.
Isaiah 47:4-5, Arrogance instead of reflection
Our Redeemer—the LORD Almighty is his name—
is the Holy One of Israel.
“Sit in silence, go into darkness,
queen city of the Babylonians;
no more will you be called
queen of kingdoms.
Babylon will eventually fade away, because the God of all creation has full power over history.
Isaiah 47:6-7, I was angry, but...
I was angry with my people
and desecrated my inheritance;
I gave them into your hand,
and you showed them no mercy.
Even on the aged
you laid a very heavy yoke.
You said, ‘I am forever—
the eternal queen!’
But you did not consider these things
or reflect on what might happen.
Babylon has arrogantly assumed it would have power forever. "Not so," says YHWH Almighty. Although God was angry with Judah, Babylon acted in cruelty, without mercy.
Isaiah 47:8-11, Disaster follows her wickedness
“Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,
lounging in your security
and saying to yourself,
‘I am, and there is none besides me.
I will never be a widow
or suffer the loss of children.’
Both of these will overtake you
in a moment, on a single day:
loss of children and widowhood.
They will come upon you in full measure,
in spite of your many sorceries
and all your potent spells.
You have trusted in your wickedness
and have said, ‘No one sees me.’
Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you
when you say to yourself,
‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
Disaster will come upon you,
and you will not know how to conjure it away.
A calamity will fall upon you
that you cannot ward off with a ransom;
a catastrophe you cannot foresee
will suddenly come upon you.
Babylon is portrayed as a powerful arrogant queen, trusting in sorcery and spells. Her wisdom and knowledge will fail her. (Babylon was indeed one of the leading repositories of knowledge at that time.) Eventually Babylon too will face disaster. Even though she claims she will never be a widow or be childless, both these calamities will come and come quickly.
Isaiah 47:12-15, Futile magic and astrology
“Keep on, then, with your magic spells
and with your many sorceries,
which you have labored at since childhood.
Perhaps you will succeed,
perhaps you will cause terror.
All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!
Let your astrologers come forward,
those stargazers who make predictions month by month,
let them save you from what is coming upon you.
Surely they are like stubble;
the fire will burn them up.
They cannot even save themselves
from the power of the flame.
These are not coals for warmth;
this is not a fire to sit by.
That is all they are to you—
these you have dealt with
and labored with since childhood.
All of them go on in their error;
there is not one that can save you.
The Babylonian culture dealt in magic and astrology. (They developed a circle of 360 degrees so that they could study the stars, a concept we still use today.) "Go on," says YHWH. "Keep trying with your spells and stargazing -- see how far that will get you." All of Babylon's religious rites are in error and will not save them.
No comments:
Post a Comment