Isaiah 47:7-15 – Sins of the Ungodly
These are grim sounding words. But this is what comes upon the ungodly. This is talking about the end of Babylon which would come in 200 years. But as we’ve seen, there is a bigger context; we are looking at God’s deliverance from a far greater evil, the evil of sin. It would be through a great deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ, that sin would be chased away from the nations.
In verses 7-8 we see pride and self-righteousness. Babylon drives away all thought of any judgment of God for sin. Babylon proudly says, “Nothing can possibly happen to me”. However, that is not the case at all. We find this pride, this self assurance, in all sorts of lands and peoples today who assume that all things will continue as they are. But we see throughout history that nations rise and fall, and they will continue to do so until our Lord Jesus comes back. Babylon is setting herself up in the throne of God. She is saying of King Jesus, “I will not have this man to reign over me.” This is a viewpoint of nations all over the place, even in our own day. God not only gave power to Babylon but gave Babylon great riches. And we see the misuse of this affluence in verses 7-8. They are enslaved to pleasure and ease; righteousness and holiness must be tossed out the window.
In verses nine and ten, we see what comes of all the misuse of power, riches, and influence – the loss of children and widowhood. Both will happen, and all at once. The reason for this is that they trusted in their wickedness instead of yielding in repentance to King Jesus. They thought they had wisdom and knowledge. But instead of giving glory to God, they thought of themselves and trusted in themselves as the ones who would deliver themselves.
We see Babylon’s folly in verses 11-13. They are trusting in something that God hates, divination and astrology, and yet, it can tell them nothing.
In verses 14-15 we see that those who defy king Jesus will burn up like stubble in an unstoppable fire. All those who had been doing business with Babylon and bringing in riches, when trouble came, didn’t try to help. They just got out of the way, like people running away from a fire. Sins of the ungodly bring judgment. It is trusting in the Saviour and the King that brings life.
Question
- How does Babylon act?
Prayer Points
- Pray that we would put our trust in Jesus and not in ourselves.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.