It would be so easy to be filled with anxiety, fear, and uncertainty as we look at all that is occurring in this world. That is true if you do not consider how majestic the Sovereignty of Almighty God is. He who created the world and everything in it, is not caught off guard by all these occurrences. This is particularly evident as we consider Chapters 13-23 of Isaiah. Beginning in Isaiah 13 we are told by God of the fall of Babylon. This 100 years before Babylon was an empire. Then what is described includes their destruction then plus a description of a destruction yet to come. Remember God is outside space and time. Nothing escapes His watchful eye.
Therefore, we can be totally secure in His providential care of us. No real worries. No fears. He has a perfect plan for you and for me. Remember that we study these chapters. What does this mean for you today? Are there any circumstances He cannot provide and care for. Even last week as I faced no running water, hot temperatures, icy winds, and no internet. Was there ever a moment that God was not in control of every circumstance? No, the Sovereignty of Almighty God was there in the details. Whether His Permissive Will or His Sovereign decree; either meant He had a plan in each detail for my life.
How Majestic the Sovereignty of Almighty God
The oracle (or burden) concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
On a bare hill raise a signal;
cry aloud to them;
wave the hand for them to enter
the gates of the nobles.
I myself have commanded my consecrated ones,
and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger,
my proudly exulting ones.
The sound of a tumult is on the mountains
as of a great multitude!
The sound of an uproar of kingdoms,
of nations gathering together!
The Lord of hosts is mustering
a host for battle.
They come from a distant land,
from the end of the heavens,
the Lord and the weapons of his indignation,
to destroy the whole land. Isaiah 13:1-6 ESV
Even though God used Babylon to punish His wayward people, so bent on idolatry. Now God sends other “nations” to punish Babylon. If you remember Nebuchadnezzar even ultimately laid aside His pride and worshiped God. However, his grandson did the unthinkable, using temple treasures in his festival. Defiantly blaspheming all that was sacred. Thus the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon.
Think of this! Before the Babylonian Empire existed, God foretold of their destruction by more than one nation. Ah, but that is not all. He foretells of a yet future destruction of “Babylon”.
The Final Destruction of Babylon to Come
Wail, for the day of the Lord is near;
as destruction from the Almighty it will come!
Therefore all hands will be feeble,
and every human heart will melt.
They will be dismayed:
pangs and agony will seize them;
they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at one another;
their faces will be aflame.
Behold, the day of the Lord comes,
cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
to make the land a desolation
and to destroy its sinners from it.
For the stars of the heavens and their constellations
will not give their light;
the sun will be dark at its rising,
and the moon will not shed its light.
I will punish the world for its evil,
and the wicked for their iniquity;
I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant,
and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless. Isaiah 13:7-11 ESV
Will Babylon be rebuilt into an empire before its destruction in Revelations? Or is God referring here to the “ideology of Babylon” that is in the world? He can certainly ascertain either or both to play out. We do know the Medes and Persians overtook the empire and the city of Babylon in Daniel’s day. But that destruction was not the complete destruction predicted in this second part of their predicted destruction as Babylon, the city was partially rebuilt by Sadam Hussein. We must not underestimate how truly Majestic the Sovereignty of Almighty God is. It is obvious that He hates arrogance and pride.
Indignation of the Lord
“Because of the indignation of the Lord she will not be inhabited,
But she will be completely desolate;
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified
And will hiss because of all her wounds.
“Draw up your battle lines against Babylon on every side,
All you who bend the bow;
Shoot at her, do not be sparing with your arrows,
For she has sinned against the Lord.
“Raise your battle cry against her on every side!
She has given herself up, her pillars have fallen,
Her walls have been torn down.
For this is the vengeance of the Lord:
Take vengeance on her;
As she has done to others, so do to her. Jeremiah 50:13-15 NASB
This is yet the future destruction. As we often see in prophecy there are near and far fulfillments.
I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold
And mankind than the gold of Ophir.
Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,
And the earth will be shaken from its place
At the fury of the Lord of hosts
In the day of His burning anger.
And it will be that like a hunted gazelle,
Or like sheep with none to gather them,
They will each turn to his own people,
And each one flee to his own land.
Anyone who is found will be thrust through,
And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces
Before their eyes;
Their houses will be plundered
And their wives ravished. Isaiah 13: 12-16 NASB
How Majestic the Sovereignty of Almighty God—beyond our comprehension
Behold, I am going to stir up the Medes against them,
Who will not value silver or take pleasure in gold.
And their bows will mow down the young men,
They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb,
Nor will their eye pity children.
And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;
Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there,
Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.
But desert creatures will lie down there,
And their houses will be full of owls;
Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there.
Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers
And jackals in their luxurious palaces.
Her fateful time also will soon come
And her days will not be prolonged. Isaiah 13: 17-22 ESV
A Message of Hope for Israel/ Destruction for the Proud
When the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and again choose Israel, and settle them in their own land, then strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. The peoples will take them along and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them as an inheritance in the land of the Lord as male servants and female servants; and they will take their captors captive and will rule over their oppressors.
And it will be in the day when the Lord gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and harsh service in which you have been enslaved, that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say,
“How the oppressor has ceased,
And how fury has ceased!
“The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of rulers
Which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes,
Which subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution.
“The whole earth is at rest and is quiet;
They break forth into shouts of joy.
“Even the cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low, no tree cutter comes up against us.’
“Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you come;
It arouses for you the spirits of the dead, all the leaders of the earth;
It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones.
“They will all respond and say to you,
‘Even you have been made weak as we,
You have become like us.
‘Your pomp and the music of your harps
Have been brought down to Sheol;
Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you
And worms are your covering.’ Isaiah 14: 1-11 NASB
Although, this did give the Israelite nation hope in their return to Jerusalem. Which did occur under Cyrus. Still they did not have full peace nor restoration of their land completely. Yet the display of how majestic the Sovereignty of Almighty God is points to the millennium in these verses. No more wrath in the Kingdom of God! The kings are in Sheol, the place of waiting. Previously, divided between Abraham’s bosom (Paradise) and Hades, the place of torment. That is until Christ led captivities captive. Now it is the place of torment only. So, blended here are the past and the future events as though one, but not solely one event. Eaten up with pride, these kings are depicted as lying on their beds of maggots created with their own arrogance.
Speaking of Arrogance
“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!
You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
But you are brought down to Sheol,
to the far reaches of the pit.
Those who see you will stare at you
and ponder over you:
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
who shook kingdoms,
who made the world like a desert
and overthrew its cities,
who did not let his prisoners go home?’
All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
each in his own tomb;
but you are cast out, away from your grave,
like a loathed branch,
clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,
who go down to the stones of the pit,
like a dead body trampled underfoot.
You will not be joined with them in burial,
because you have destroyed your land,
you have slain your people.
“May the offspring of evildoers
nevermore be named!
Prepare slaughter for his sons
because of the guilt of their fathers,
lest they rise and possess the earth,
and fill the face of the world with cities.”
“I will rise up against them,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, descendants and posterity,” declares the Lord. “And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts. Isaiah 14:12-23 NASB
The Sovereignty of Almighty God in the World and in the Spiritual Realm
Indeed, how majestic is the Sovereignty of God both in the world of humanity and the Spiritual Realm. Again in Ezekiel 28 there is a reference to Satan. He was in the Garden with Adam and Eve. Also, He was a beautiful cherub of God before his pride overtook his heart. As Ezekiel 28 speaks of the earthly king of Tyre. But then it resumes with the head of all pride and arrogance, Satan. But the final sentence this is:
“By the multitude of your iniquities,
In the unrighteousness of your trade
You profaned your sanctuaries.
Therefore, I have brought fire from the midst of you;
It has consumed you,
And I have turned you to ashes on the earth
In the eyes of all who see you.
“All who know you among the peoples
Are appalled at you;
You have become terrified
And you will cease to be forever.”’” Ezekiel 28: 18-19 NASB
God is definitively in control and therefore, we have no reason for despair or sorrow.
Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He (Jesus) Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly, He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. Hebrews 2:14-18 NASB
Song for this week: Ephesians 1 Song
Please watch the following video in the YouTube Channel
Ephesians 1 Song
by Effie Darlene Barba
How Was it Lord You Called me Saint
Before you Formed this Earth
Ascertaining You would acquaint
Me with Your Spirit, give me new birth
Chorus
You called me Yours, did justify
That to my sin and shame I’d die
Washed in Christ’s Blood You did Sanctify
My heart and soul that bye and bye
Into thy presence I will fly
To bow before thy wondrous throne
My life no longer is my own
But Yours to do with as you will
Your Spirit my heart does fill
To overflow with your dear love
Your Grace and Mercy from Above
Chosen Beloved Redeemed I am
By the Good Pleasure of Your Will
Overwhelmed by love and Grace Divine
How Can My Heart be still
Bridge
His Spirit seals me eternally
In Christ alone I am set free
And cloaked with in His Righteousness
What wondrous joy and bliss
My sin now thrown away
Because Jesus Christ my Lord did pay
My debt upon the cross He bore
My heart can now truly soar
The chains of death to hell were thrown
For He declared me Saint in Christ alone
I must Sing forth a song of praise
To Glorify Your Name, Your son
My arms and hands I will raise
Proclaim in Him the victory won
Chorus
You called me Yours, did justify
That to my sin and shame I’d die
Washed in Christ’s Blood You did Sanctify
My heart and soul that bye and bye
Into thy presence I will fly
To bow before thy wondrous throne
My life no longer is my own
But Yours to do with as you will
Your Spirit my heart does fill
To overflow with your dear love
Your Grace and Mercy from Above
DO YOU KNOW CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR AND LORD? He is our only Hope in Life and Death! Our Joy is found in Him.
Therefore if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord: I urge you today. Go to my page titled How to Be Saved by clicking on this link. There is nothing more important than this; because He is the way, the truth and the life. I urge you to seek Him today.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. Furthermore, I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. That is except for my own books. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR. Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
Please note: This Post only has quotes from the KJV Bible except where otherwise indicated
