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Isaiah 13 - The Day of Yahweh Against Babylon · Tabernacle Talk - A Bible Study Podcast with Pastor Bryon Self

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  Welcome to Tabernacle Talk. Tabernacle Talk is a Bible study
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  podcast brought from Tabernacle Baptist Church in Essex, MD.
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  I'm your host, Brian Self. We hope this podcast encourages
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  you to know Christ, grow in his word, and show his love to
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  others. Let's dive right in.
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  Welcome back to Tabernacle Talk. Today we are in Isaiah chapter
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  13, Isaiah chapter 13, and especially after last episode
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  talking about the, you know, joy of God and his salvation,
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  lifting up the Lord, all that today's episode is going to kind
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  of hit you like a freight train a little bit.
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  So just be aware that that is coming because now after God
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  has, particularly after Isaiah's been prophesying, preaching
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  about all of the good that would eventually come back to Israel
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  and Judah, part of that good is dealing with evil within the
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  world. So what we're going to see today
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  is God's justice and judgment being poured out onto evil.
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  So sometimes people go, well, why doesn't God stop evil?
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  This today and some over the next few days, is what it looks
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  like for God to take care of evil.
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  We're also going to see some of these things that as Isaiah is
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  prophesying them, it should give us an indication of how we are
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  to read some things even in Revelation with John and borrow
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  some of the word. Pictures and ideas that are at
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  play will help us to understand the end of the book if we do our
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  homework now. So let's begin reading Isaiah
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  chapter 13 verse #1A pronouncement concerning Babylon
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  that Isaiah, son of Amos, saw. Lift up a banner on a barren
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  mountain, call out to them, signal with your hand, and they
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  will go through the gates of the nobles.
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  I have commanded my consecrated ones.
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  Yes, I have called my warriors who celebrate my triumph to
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  execute my wrath. These are those, if you will,
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  that are doing God's will to take care of evil, He says.
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  Listen, a commotion on the mountains, like that of a mighty
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  people. Listen, an uproar among the
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  kingdoms, like nations being gathered together.
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  So you should probably think a little bit about what John says
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  in Revelation about nations being gathered together.
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  It's a time of judgment, says Yahweh of heaven's armies is
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  mobilizing an army for war. They're coming from a distant
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  land from the farthest horizon. Yahweh and the weapons of his
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  wrath to destroy the whole country.
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  So God says Babylon, you're getting wiped out.
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  Verse number six, whale for the day of Yahweh is near.
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  It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
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  This is going to be really important.
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  So the day of the Lord, the day of Yahweh is a consistent theme
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  throughout Scripture. It is the day when all wrongs
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  are made right and all evil is punished.
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  All of those that have been righteous are are vindicated,
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  are shown to be in the right. And so it is a wonderful day in
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  some respects and in the other days, like it is a, it is a
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  fearsome day to think about the day when God justice is
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  exercised on all of human evil. And here we're going to keep
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  reading through to kind of get that fuller picture of, OK, is
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  this talking about the ultimate day of the Lord, or is this
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  talking about a more localized day of the Lord when God
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  executes judgment on Babylon itself, which is a picture of
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  what he will do for all of the human nations at the end of
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  time. So here the Devi always near,
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  it'll come as destruction from the Almighty.
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  Therefore everyone's hands will become weak and every man will
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  lose heart. They'll be horrified.
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  Pain and agony will seize them. They'll be in anguish like a
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  woman in labor. They'll look at each other,
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  their faces flushed with fear. When, if you will, as God brings
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  this, this punishment, this justice on those who have been
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  so horrific to others and caused others to live in fear through
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  what the Babylonians had done to them.
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  Now God says it is coming back on you.
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  Verse #9 Look, the day of Yahweh is coming cruel with fury and
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  burning anger to make the earth a desolation and to destroy its
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  sinners. God is, if you will, like the
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  flood wiping out evil and starting over.
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  Verse #10 Indeed, the stars of the sky and its constellations
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  will not give their light. The sun will be dark when it
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  rises, and the moon will not shine.
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  So here is there's this picture of even the heavens are
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  overturned and changed through this justice that is taking
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  place on earth. I've mentioned before on here,
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  whenever you see any of the heavenly bodies referenced in
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  scripture, you should also think about the angelic beings, the
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  heavenly host, some good, some bad.
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  You have like Michael and Gabriel or some of the ones that
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  are named as being, if you will, the good guys, the good angels.
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  And then you have Satan and the others that are mentioned as
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  being evil against God. And so here there is a turnover
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  not just of the land but also the skies, or if you will use in
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  Genesis one language, the heavens and the earth.
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  So when God brings His justice, it is justice finally brought on
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  both the fallen demons and the earth and the humans that were
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  there, the sky rulers and the land rulers.
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  Verse #11 I will punish the world for its evil and wicked
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  people for their iniquities. I will put an end to the pride
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  of the arrogant and humiliate the insolence of tyrants.
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  We can either, as we heard in James 4, humble ourselves under
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  the mighty hand of God and He will exalt us, or we can choose
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  to say no, I'm going to be proud until God himself humbles me.
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  These tyrants, these kings, despots that proclaimed
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  themselves to be demigods, descendants of divine beings.
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  God says your cruelty, your violence, the way that you have
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  treated other nations around you, not building up human
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  flourishing, but bringing human destruction and loss of life so
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  as to better enrich and empower yourself.
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  God says there is going to be ultimate punishment for this
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  verse #12 I will make a human more scarce than fine gold and
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  mankind more rare than the gold of Ophir.
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  Here there is no one. It's not just OK, well, one king
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  is going to go away. And it's, it's not all that bad.
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  No, God is dealing with all human evil.
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  And when that day comes, that ultimate day of the Lord, may
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  you and I be found safe in Christ Jesus.
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  May we not be those that have snubbed our nose at God?
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  Verse #13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the
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  earth will shake from its foundations at the wrath of
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  Yahweh of heaven's armies on the day of His burning anger.
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  You can think even of what John wrote about the great
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  earthquake. The the wrath of the Lamb is
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  what He calls that particular thing at the end of time as
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  Jesus returns, and in his return as he speaks, there is a shaking
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  of all creation that even the heavens and the earth are not
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  secure in the light of the One who is ultimate stability and
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  security. And all that was tainted by sin
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  and broken is done away, and the new is put into its place, the
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  new, the whole. What will be forever.
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  Who were summer 14? Like wandering gazelles and like
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  sheep without a shepherd, Each one will turn to his own people.
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  Each one will flee to his own land.
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  Whoever is found will be stabbed, and whoever is caught
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  will die by the sword. Their children will be dashed to
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  pieces before their eyes. Their houses will be looted and
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  their wives raped. Now, as we read those verses, if
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  we think like, Oh yeah, this is just God's idea of a perfect
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  punishment for these people, we can go, well, that seems really
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  unjust. But here, as God is describing,
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  yes, and some cosmic terms, the downfall of Babylon itself in
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  some ways that even as I've been talking through are reminiscent
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  of the great end of time itself. This is also human armies who
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  are going to do to Babylon what Babylon did to them.
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  Can I ask you, do you think that the way that you interact with
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  other people, would you want them to treat you that way?
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  Would you want to be forgiven as much as as you forgive others?
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  Would you want to be talked about by others the way that you
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  talk about them? Let's remember what Paul tells
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  us in Galatians 6. Don't be deceived.
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  God is not mocked for whatever a person sows that they will also
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  reap. So here the Babylonians being
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  rapists and child murderers, the other nations would eagerly do
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  that back to Babylon in a show of force and strength and show,
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  Oh yes, this is the way that you treated us.
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  And so we're going to be mad against you.
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  We went over what is that Psalm 137 or so that talks about the
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  Babylonians forcing the Jewish people to sing as they're in
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  exile and the Jewish people are like, listen, happy will be the
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  person that treats you as you have treated us.
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  So that's you need to keep that in mind when you read through
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  this. This is not God's like perfect
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  desire of what he wants. This is the natural consequence
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  of human evil in sin. Sin only ever begets more sin
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  against you. Verse #17 look, I'm stirring up
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  the Medes against them. This would be the Medo Persian
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  Empire, he says, who cannot be bought off with silver and who
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  have no desire for gold. These are not mercenaries.
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  They have a personal vendetta against Babylon and they would
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  come and destroy them. You can listen in our Tabernacle
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  Baptist Essex sermon podcast. I went over Daniel one through
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  12, Daniel one through 6 back in October and November of 2024,
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  and then Daniel 7 through 12 last July.
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  And I believe it's Daniel four that talks specifically.
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  It might be Daniel five that talks about the night that
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  Babylon fell and Daniel as he prophesized even to those kings
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  and to let him know like hey, this is coming from God and so
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  there's nothing that you can do. And Daniels prophecies came true
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  just as you know, hundred 150 years before Isaiah had
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  prophesied this very thing would happen verse #18 their bows will
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  cut young men to pieces. They'll have no compassion on
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  offspring. They will not look with pity on
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  children. This would also then mean that
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  the Medo Persian Empire as they continued in pursuit of violence
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  and death and destruction that they would also need to be
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  punished as well that that comes later.
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  But I just want you to know God's not like signing off like,
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  Oh yes, this is all wonderful. I'm I'm so happy with this.
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  God uses human will to accomplish his divine will in
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  such a way that God does not ever command evil to be done.
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  He never condones evil. All evil must be punished.
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  But even through our brokenness, God is still able to 'cause
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  there to be justice and righteousness, freedom for
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  people. And that is a super, super
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  complicated intermix. If you guys ever want just a
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  super deep dive on this, you can read the book Providence
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  Providence by John Piper. It's like a 700 page book and he
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  dives a lot into the sovereignty of God.
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  So I encourage you to give that a read through if you want to
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  dive into that even more. Verse #19 in Babylon, the jewel
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  of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans will
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  be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.
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  It'll never be inhabited or lived, and from generation to
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  generation a nomad will not pitch his tent there, and
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  shepherds will not let their flocks rest there.
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  But desert creatures will lie down there, and owls will fill
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  the houses. Ostriches will dwell there, and
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  wild goats will leap about. Hyenas will howl in the
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  fortresses and jackals in the luxurious palaces.
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  Babylon's time is almost up. Her days are almost over.
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  So here in especially verses 20 through 22, here's a poetic
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  rendering of this. It's not God saying, all right,
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  literally no one will ever live in this city or like city area
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  again. And so if someone ever does live
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  in that city area of where Babylon once was, boom, you
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  know, the Bible's not true. Gotcha.
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  No, this is poetic language saying there is not going to be
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  a continuing civilization that is there when that destruction
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  occurs. It's going to be a complete and
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  total destruction. Like it would be years and
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  years, I think a couple centuries, if I recall
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  correctly, before Babylon would have any sort of rebuilding
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  done. And so just wanted to highlight
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  that there. And then you have these
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  wilderness creatures in verses 21 and 22, the desert creatures
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  that like in the sea, where I've mentioned before, actually even
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  in Isaiah, the Leviathan, the sea Dragons, the sea monsters
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  that the ancient Near Eastern peoples had in their mythology
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  that like those things were the ocean bad guys seeking to
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  destroy all life and to live in a, you know, chaos world, if you
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  will, overflowing with water where no humans can live.
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  The flip side of that is the wilderness where it is too dry
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  to live. So you have, if you will,
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  Genesis 1 and 2, Genesis 1, there's too much water
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  everywhere, so there can't be life.
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  So God brings the land from the water.
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  Or Genesis 2, you have a wilderness where it's too dry to
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  live. And so God brings these streams
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  and he brings a garden that's there.
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  So it's those types of things that happen.
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  And here these are wilderness creatures that communicate a
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  place where it is either impossible or incredibly hard to
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  live in that place. And so these are the kinds of
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  things. So even in the rest of Scripture
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  when you hear about owls, ostriches, wild goats, hyenas,
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  jackals, which if I remember correctly, well, I don't have
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  my, I don't have my Bible study program pulled up at the moment.
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  So I will tell you, look up verse #22 in some Bible study
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  software and look at what that underlying Hebrew word there is
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  in for jackals in verse #22 It's kind of a fun rabbit hole to go
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  down. So what do we take from this
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  passage? This is the condemnation of
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  Babylon. We are not Babylon.
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  Babylon was destroyed long ago. What do we take from this?
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  God is true to His word. So you can believe Him and you
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  should obey and follow God because one day ultimate justice
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  is coming. And so because of that, we want
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  to be safe. And the way to be safe is to be
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  on God's side. How do you get on God's side?
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  Do you have to be perfect? Do you have to give money?
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  Do you have to have perfect attendance?
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  What do you have to do to get on God's side?
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  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved and your
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  household. That is the the testimony of
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  scripture. Those that have placed their
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  faith in Jesus, choosing His way instead of their own, will find
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  refuge and safety. Also, God will deal with evil
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  and he will deal with it proportionately.
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  He is not indifferent to those that have harmed you, those that
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  have harmed your loved ones. And whether met out on Christ on
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  the cross or on the person that sinned, God will have ultimate
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  eternal justice levied out on humanity.
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  And then also realize that this world's kingdoms will not last.
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  They will all come to an end one day.
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  And so put your faith in God's Kingdom.
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  Live for His nation, don't live for your own thankful to be here
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  in America. I've so many wonderful freedoms
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  that that I'm thankful to the Lord for and I want to make sure
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  that I'm using all of my rights and privileges while I while I
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  have them and but that does not mean that my ultimate hope is in
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  America. American can do whatever it
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  wants. God's Kingdom will last forever.
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  And so I don't have to fear man. I don't have to fear what might
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  happen in my nation because I know that I am secure in my God.
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  And though Babylon is destroyed, God's Kingdom is everlasting.
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  So live for the Kingdom of heaven.
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  Don't live for Babylon today. Don't live for empire.
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  Don't live for the kingdoms and politics and all of those things
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  of our world today. Thanks for tuning in.
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  Hope you have a wonderful day. See you next episode for Isaiah
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  14.