READ: Is. 47:1-15: … I will take vengeance, and I will not arbitrate with a man. As for our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is His name, the Holy One of Israel …
The LORD also has a word for the inhabitants of Babylon. They will hear His judgment. He had used them to punish His people (v.6), to bring them to repentance, to turn them back to their LORD. For this purpose, He even left His sanctuary (Ez. 9:1-7).
But the Babylonians abused their power and oppressed Israel harshly and persistently (vv.6,7). They trusted in their own might and greatness, exalting themselves against God. They did not repent of this. They indulged in their pleasures without honoring God (Rom. 1:21).
They believed themselves to be invincible and untouchable. They also practiced various occult activities that offended God: sorcery, incantations, and astrology (vv.9,12,13). Their so-called wisdom and knowledge made them rebellious and arrogant (v.10).
They thought they could continue living in carefree indulgence. But then, sudden destruction will come upon them: disaster in the form of inevitable devastation. There will be no deliverance possible; nothing can help them, and they will be consumed by fire.
This judgment, this divine sentence over Babylon, had already been foretold by Moses in the song he sang shortly before his death (Deut. 32:26ff). This judgment also foreshadows the fate of the Babylon of our time.
The depiction of ancient Babylon strongly resembles today’s world with its godless culture, pursuit of pleasure, shamelessness, and pride (Rev.17 and 18). Let us heed the call of Rev.18:4: Come out of her, My people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.
Yet, even now, we find comfort in Is. 46:13: I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off; and My salvation shall not delay. I will place salvation in Zion, for Israel My glory.
How do we escape our godless culture today?
Sing: Ps. 97:4,5