Against Babylon

Emmanuel Baptist Church of Nipawin Sermons

Passage: Isaiah 13:1-14:27 | Message By: Chris Hutchison | Series: Lord of the NationsIntroduction to This Series Here we are, the Sunday after the federal election. An election that, more than any in recent history and perhaps Canadian history, was shaped by international concerns. Four months ago, nobody would have predicted the result of Monday night because four months ago, nobody would have predicted the kinds of things the President of the United States would start saying and how both the Canadian public and Canadian politicians would respond to those statements. And here we are, in the aftermath of an election that will no doubt prove to be consequential, and might be particularly so for the people of God in this nation. As Canadian Christians, in addition to caring about many of the same issues that the rest of our nation cares about, we especially care about religious freedom and the moral fabric of our nation and whether religious charities get tax exemptions, all matters that could very well be shaped in the next few years by the decisions Canadians made on Monday night, decisions that were shaped largely by international concerns. And none of this is new. Relationships between other nations have always been a major factor for the people of God. From Abraham to Moses to David to Nehemiah, so much of the history of God's people was forged in relation to the nations that surrounded them. And the clear message time and time again that God had to send to His people is that though He was their God, He was not merely their God. The God of Israel was the God of more than just Israel. All the earth was His, and Israel was His treasured possession among all peoples (Exodus 19:5–6). And we know how often Israel forgot this, which is why the Lord needed to remind them again and again through the prophets of what was true. It was three years ago that we spent time in Isaiah 1-12, where the theme was God's grace triumphing over the rebellion of his people. And Isaiah told how that would happen through the arrival of an anointed king who would rule over the nations, whose government would increase unendingly, and under whose reign the world would be made new (Isaiah 9:7, 11:6). “In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious” (Isaiah 11:10). One day, Israel's king will be the world's king. But in the meantime, God told His people how He was sovereignly directing the history of the nations for the good of His people. We got a sneak peek of this back in Isaiah 10 with God's judgement on Assyria. But now, in this next section of Isaiah, this theme moves front-and-centre. Israel and Judah are definitely in the picture, but the main focus becomes how God is going to deal with the nations of the earth, both in the immediate future and then into the distant future. And just like with Israel, we see both judgement and salvation. In fact, that's one of the most wonderful pictures of the future we get in these chapters—the nations gathered in, worshipping Him and enjoying His grace right alongside of Israel. And that's a time that we're already living in. Most of us are among those Gentiles who have been welcomed into the people of God, living in a time when David's son is ruling from His heavenly throne and God is directing the nations for the good of His people. Even so, there are many promises we still await fulfillment of, and we need to be reminded, as much as Isaiah's first readers, that our God is the Lord of the nations. Introduction to This Passage So, that's a general introduction to this series in Isaiah which will take us through the rest of the spring and summer. Now, let's take a specific look at today's passage, which, as we can see from verse 1, is an oracle—or a prophetic announcement—concerning Babylon. We might not be all that surprised to see Babylon head up the list of Isaiah's...