Isaiah 47 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Isaiah 47. Let’s go!
Isaiah 47:1-11 (NIV)
1 “Go down, sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, Daughter of the Babylonians. No more will you be called tender or delicate.
2 Take millstones and grind flour; take off your veil. Lift up your skirts, bare your legs, and wade through the streams.
3 Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one.”
4 Our Redeemer–the LORD Almighty is his name– is the Holy One of Israel.
5 “Sit in silence, go into darkness, Daughter of the Babylonians; no more will you be called queen of kingdoms.
6 I was angry with my people and desecrated my inheritance; I gave them into your hand, and you showed them no mercy. Even on the aged you laid a very heavy yoke.
7 You said, ‘I will continue forever– the eternal queen!’ But you did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen.
8 “Now then, listen, you wanton creature, lounging in your security and saying to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.’
9 Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells.
10 You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
11 Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away. A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you.
On verses 1-11: About 150 years before it happens, Isaiah predicts the fall of the Babylonian empire. God used Babylon to discipline Israel and Judah (v6a), but Babylon was merciless in how she exercised her power (v6b). Babylon was also full of pride, thinking that she had no equal (v10) and could never suffer harm (v8). So God will hold Babylon to account. Babylon “the queen of kingdoms” (v5) will be dethroned.
What can we learn from this?
– When God gives you power, He expects you to exercise that power with compassion and humility.
– God will hold us accountable for the way we used the power He gave us.
– Pride comes before the fall.
– God is sovereign and can use whomever He chooses.
Isaiah 47:12-15 (NIV)
12 “Keep on, then, with your magic spells and with your many sorceries, which you have labored at since childhood. Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause terror.
13 All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you.
14 Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame. Here are no coals to warm anyone; here is no fire to sit by.
15 That is all they can do for you– these you have labored with and trafficked with since childhood. Each of them goes on in his error; there is not one that can save you.
On verses 12-15: Rather than helping Babylon, the spiritists, sorcerers and priests that Babylon looked to for help would only wear her out (v13). They would not be able to save Babylon or themselves (v14-15).
Looking to the occult for guidance will only wear you out, lead you astray and cause you to be in bondage.
Sovereign God, I pray that I would use the power You have given me with humility and compassion. May I look to You for guidance and not to the occult. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!