Prophecy Against Babylon
1 An oracle concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:
2 Raise a banner on a bare hilltop,
shout to them;
beckon to them
to enter the gates of the nobles.
3 I have commanded my holy ones;
I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath—
those who rejoice in my triumph.
4 Listen, a noise on the mountains,
like that of a great multitude!
Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,
like nations massing together!
The LORD Almighty is mustering
an army for war.
5 They come from faraway lands,
from the ends of the heavens—
the LORD and the weapons of his wrath—
to destroy the whole country.
6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
7 Because of this, all hands will go limp,
every man’s heart will melt.
8 Terror will seize them,
pain and anguish will grip them;
they will writhe like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at each other,
their faces aflame.
9 See, the day of the LORD is coming
—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—
to make the land desolate
and destroy the sinners within it.
10 The stars of heaven and their constellations
will not show their light.
The rising sun will be darkened
and the moon will not give its light.
11 I will punish the world for its evil,
the wicked for their sins.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty
and will humble the pride of the ruthless.
12 I will make man scarcer than pure gold,
more rare than the gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;
and the earth will shake from its place
at the wrath of the LORD Almighty,
in the day of his burning anger.
14 Like a hunted gazelle,
like sheep without a shepherd,
each will return to his own people,
each will flee to his native land.
15 Whoever is captured will be thrust through;
all who are caught will fall by the sword.
16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;
their houses will be looted and their wives ravished.
17 See, I will stir up against them the Medes,
who do not care for silver
and have no delight in gold.
18 Their bows will strike down the young men;
they will have no mercy on infants
nor will they look with compassion on children.
19 Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,
the glory of the Babylonians’ pride,
will be overthrown by God
like Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 She will never be inhabited
or lived in through all generations;
no Arab will pitch his tent there,
no shepherd will rest his flocks there.
21 But desert creatures will lie there,
jackals will fill her houses;
there the owls will dwell,
and there the wild goats will leap about.
22 Hyenas will howl in her strongholds,
jackals in her luxurious palaces.
Her time is at hand,
and her days will not be prolonged.
My Understanding: I believe the Lord would have me make practical application of this passage of scripture to how it might apply to his people, the church, today. A banner, at the time of this writing in Isaiah, was placed upon a pole and was used as a signal in order to call troops together and/or for calling the nations to bring Israel back home [Ref: NIV Study Bible 1984]. As I contemplated this idea prayerfully before the Lord, I received a picture of what a banner might look like today. What I envisioned were websites on the internet used for the purpose of getting out messages, such as Christian discussion websites, personal blogs, social networks, such as My Space or Facebook and/or Twitter. The internet is an information network designed for people to share stories, news, “how to’s”, photos, songs, etc. This is the “banner” of the 21st Century where we can “summon” the church back home to obedience to Jesus Christ.
I believe God is calling out to his servants, today, to raise such a banner and to shout to his people, the church, and to beckon to them to enter into a right relationship with Jesus Christ. So many in today’s church are living just like the world, yet God has called us to be separate from the world and its influences. He called us to be a holy people, his called out ones, set apart for his pleasure and his service. He did not call us to blend in with the world and/or to become partakers with the world in their evil desires and practices. Yet, there is not much of a distinction these days between the church and the world, as so much of today’s church has adopted the ways and the practices and even the philosophies of the world in order to reach the world, but what they fail to recognize is that they are attracting the world because they are offering them the same things the world is offering, just a cleaned-up version. The cross of Christ is an offense to the world and is not attractive.
One day God is going to judge the people of the earth. The Bible says that judgment begins with the family of God. Revelation begins with letters to the churches, which I believe still apply today, in which Jesus Christ told the churches what was good and bad about them, where they needed to repent, warned what would happen if they did not repent (judgment), and encouraged faithfulness, endurance, perseverance, and overcoming the temptations of the flesh and of the world and of evil desires and to live and to walk in obedience to Christ. These principles are still what God desires of his church and I believe he is still warning his church, where it is needed, to repent and to return to their first love, Jesus Christ, to stop living like the world, to discontinue their lukewarmness, and to get on fire for the Lord.
The Lord gave me this song, In That Day, to write yesterday, which is based off of Isaiah 12, which is a song about the day of our salvation. This certainly applies now to what happens, or should take place, when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, because of what he did for us when he died upon the cross for our sins and then rose from the grave, conquering death, hell, Satan and sin, so that we could be free of the ultimate eternal punishment of sin, and so that we could also be free from the control sin might have over our lives on a day-to-day basis. On the basis of what Jesus Christ did for us in setting us free, we should not only praise him for his goodness to us in saving us, and for his grace and mercy and forgiveness, but we should live like we’ve been set free from the control of sin by living lives pleasing to God in every way. And, we should be raising that banner and telling the world about how they, too, can come to believe in Jesus Christ. As well, we should be calling out to the church, beckoning them to return to a right relationship with Jesus Christ, for the sake of their spiritual well-being today, as well as to spare them the rod of Jesus’ divine discipline, initiated in order to purify them and to make them holy.
Yet, judgment will only last for a time, and then Jesus will return for his bride and we will be with our Lord forever and our salvation will be complete. God will restore his people to himself and we will be his people and he will be our God and we will reign with him for 1,000 years on the earth, after which time there will be a new heaven and a new earth and we will live with him forever and ever. I look forward to that day! Yet, I am so thankful, too, for the day of my salvation when the Lord became my Savior, my strength and my song!
In That Day / An Original Work / May 21, 2011
Based off of Isaiah 12 (NIV 1984)
In that day you will say: “I will praise You, Lord.
I know You were angry; anger’s turned away.
God is my salvation; I’ll trust; not afraid.
The Lord, the Lord, my strength; the Lord, Lord, my song;
He is my salvation; Lord, my comforter.”
With joy you’ll draw water from salvation’s wells.
In that day you will say: “Give thanks to the Lord.
Call on His holy name; make Him known today.
Proclaim: He’s exalted. Tell what He has done.
Sing, for He is glorious; make this known to all.
Shout aloud; sing for joy, people of Zion;
Great is the Holy One, who among us dwells.”
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
Song
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