Good evening, and God bless you. Let's turn to Isaiah 51:11 for a text.
'Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away'.
Jerusalem was founded by the Jebusites - Serpent's seed - descended from Canaan following the Flood. Like Phoenix and Mesa, Jerusalem was a twin city comprising Upper and Lower cities on Mount Zion and Moriah. When Joshua conquered Canaan and slew Adonizedek King of Jerusalem, it was divided between Benjamin and Judah. However, the Jebusites were not wholly driven out of it. Later, David brought the head of Goliath thither (I Samuel 17:54), and afterwards drove out all the Jebusites still residing within its walls, fixing his own dwelling on Zion which he called 'the City of David' (I Samuel 5:5-9; I Chronicles 12:4-8). It became ISRAEL'S capital, and the place of God's dwelling.
During the tribulation, the spiritual Serpent's seed will rule Jerusalem under Satan himself incarnate in the man of sin, that great ruler of the church, the denominations, and the whole world of nations. When David's greater Son slays the spiritual Serpent seed, New Jerusalem, Jesus Christ and the saints, shall descend upon Zion. Zion will become the dwelling place of God. Jerusalem capital of the saints of ALL NATIONS from the Millennium. 'And in that day there shall be no more Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts' (Zechariah 14:21).
Now we're going to do a little Bible study in Isaiah 48, starting with verse one. 'Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the Name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness'.
Jacob, the natural name of the nation's father, means 'supplanter'; he was called 'Israel' by God, a new spiritual name (Genesis 35:10). Israel means, 'contender with God', or 'overcomer'.
The Northern kingdom of Israel is already prey of an exile of immeasurable duration. God defines Judah as part of Israel but, this prophecy is addressed chiefly only to the people of Judah. The semen from his loins.
Judah swears by the Name of the Lord but not in truth and sincerity, nor in righteousness. (Which is living faith, the Token on display).
'For they call themselves of the holy city, and depend upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his Name'.
They identify with God as the people of His Covenant. They desire the blessing and honor, but are not willing to give Him Lordship. Only Israel belonged to God and possesses the holy city where the temple was located. Thus Jesus spoke of impersonators 'which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan' (Revelation 2:9).
'I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; [an iron sinew would be hard to bend, and a brow of brass fixed, obstinate and impenetrable]; I have even from the BEGINNING declared it to thee; [from Mount Sinai, Israel worshipped the golden calf as the god which brought them out of Egypt (Exodus 32:8- 9)]; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them'.
From ancient times and before He gave this prophecy of Cyrus (we read in 44:27 and 45:1), God had vindicated Himself to be the true God and superior to idols as was evidenced by prophesying the future and accomplishing new things (Isaiah 41:22-23; 42:9) such as Israel's future deliverance from a future captivity by a future king called Cyrus.
God's words went out of His mouth and into Israel's ear, but Israel did not heed them.
'You have heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even HIDDEN things, and thou didst not know them'. [But you DID hear. Why do you refuse to declare it?]
Now ISRAEL had been defeated in 721BC and the nation carried away by Shalmaneser. Here nine years later, in 712BC, Isaiah is prophesying. He's been foretelling the defeat of JUDAH, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, and captivity of her citizens by Babylon in 606 BC - 106 years BEFORE the event; their release by the edict of Cyrus in 536BC, calling him by name 150 years before his time.
God had told the defeat of the world's first superpower 100 years before its rise to power. Stupendous! Yet Israel claimed to 'know it all'. How like false Spiritual Israel today who says she is rich and in need of nothing, ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. So we have a shadow and type. Unlike their idols, God was able to foretell the future, sustain His people, and even rescue them from calamity.
Let's notice the likeness between natural Babylon and spiritual Babylon; natural Israel and Spiritual Israel brought out in Isaiah 47. The first three verses show the shame and humiliation Babylon shall suffer.
'Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate'.
Babylon is called a 'virgin daughter' because no enemy has been able to break her walls (hymen). Although she would not be destroyed or raped; under Cyrus the Medes and Persians would humble her and her days of glory would be over.
'Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers'.
Babylon will be subjected to menial tasks like a poor household servant. Instead of her hair made up and adorned with gold and costly pearls, it should hang down. Instead of fine clothes of purple and scarlet, her leg should be bared in the performance of janitorial duties. And she shall wade through streams on her way to exile.
'Thy nakedness shall be exposed, yea, thy shame shall be seen: [how like Revelation 3:17 where Christ charges Mystery Babylon, the great harlot who has made kings and nations drink the wine of her fornication, as 'wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked']: I will take VENGEANCE, and I will NOT meet thee as a man'. [I will not be seduced and meet you for love, but for judgment. In other words, I will not change my mind].
'So says our Redeemer [or THUS SAITH THE LORD], the LORD of hosts is His Name, the Holy One of Israel'.
Isaiah 47:5-11, 'Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, "The MISTRESS of kingdoms". I was wroth with my people, I have POLLUTED mine inheritance, and given them into YOUR hand: thou didst shew them NO mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. [Babylon was a beautiful and wealthy city. Part of her wealth resulted from God using her to plunder Jerusalem (Isaiah 42:24) and she was filled with pride over her accomplishments (Daniel 4:30)]. And you said, I shall be MISTRESS for ever: so that you did not lay these things to thy heart, neither remember the latter end of it.
Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am MISTRESS, and none else beside me; I shall NOT sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of your enchantments. For you have trusted in thy wickedness: you said, "None sees me". Your WISDOM and your KNOWLEDGE, has perverted thee; and you have said in your heart, "I am MISTRESS, and none else beside me". Therefore shall evil come upon thee; you shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and DESOLATION shall come upon thee SUDDENLY, which thou shalt not know'.
In Isaiah 47:5-11 we have a contrast between Babylon's lofty opinion of herself and the lowly position assigned to her by God. Compare her fall with that of Mystery Babylon.
Revelation 18:7-8, 'How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, "I sit a QUEEN, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow". Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her'.
Babylon was the world's first superpower, and the spirit which made her what she was will incarnate the man of sin in spiritual Babylon. Jesus used almost identical words to Isaiah in describing Mystery Babylon.
'Stand Persist with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast labored from thy youth; and see if so be thou shalt be able to profit, and see if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee'. [None of these dubious individuals or their dubious methods will be able to prevent disaster].
'Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast labored, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee'.
The Babylonian's ability to read the stars would not delay the judgment that was coming upon the astrologers and the nation. They would be destroyed as rapidly as stubble. And so will it be with those identified with Mystery Babylon (Malachi 4:1; Matthew 3:12). The beast that is cast alive into the Lake of Fire without judgment in Revelation 19:20 is not the man of sin alone but his whole church and their daughters which are his body because they are identified with him.
All of Babylon's resources: sorcerers, astrologers, and their merchants who supplied her, would be as helpless as their idols; and no one would be able to rescue her.
Revelation 18:9-11, 'And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, "Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come". And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more'.
Once again, Jesus speaking of the fall of Mystery Babylon employs almost identical words to Isaiah who was prophesying the fall of Babylon.
Isaiah 48:7, 'They are created now (i.e. THIS instant... 'suddenly', see verse 2), and not from the beginning; and before today when you heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. [They were spoken into being by the prophetic Word NOW, and not previously, so Israel cannot say, "We knew it all the time".]
'Yes, you've never heard; yes, you have never known; yes, from the very beginning - the Exodus - your ear was not opened: for I the Lord knew what traitors you are, rebels from earliest childhood'.
Like the denominations, false Spiritual Israel, Israel did NOT foresee the future as God, and will be punished for her deafness by Babylonian Captivity, and for refusing correction and for adultery with strange gods.
'For My Name's sake will I DEFER mine anger, and for My Praise will I REFRAIN for thee, that I cut thee NOT off. Behold, I have REFINED thee, but NOT with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of AFFLICTION. For Mine Own sake, even for Mine Own sake, will I do it: for how should My Name be polluted? and I will NOT give My glory unto another'.
As Israel's spiritual treachery and fall would dishonor God's Name, she will be refined in the furnace of affliction, called 'Jacob's trouble', not as silver, for there is nothing precious in her. So her restoration will cause His Name to be praised. And in spite of her sin, God will be faithful to His Covenant and will act for His Own sake.
Were He to destroy Israel, the heathens would claim their idols had conquered Him. And He will not permit them to receive His glory.
Isaiah 48:12-15, 'Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, My called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. [This is the same God who was manifested in the flesh of a virgin-born Man (Revelation 1:11)].
Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they execute My decrees. [This is the Creator who continues His work in the present. He made the heavens of which the astronomers enquire].
All of you, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them has declared these things? The LORD hath loved Cyrus: he will do His pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. [He calls upon the stars and asks which of them prophesied that Cyrus will conquer Babylon almost 200 years into the future?] I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called Cyrus: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous'.
Isaiah protests to his congregation regarding his ministry, 'Come near unto me, hear ye this; "I have NOT spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD has sent me, by His Spirit,". [Isaiah chides his congregation. He had always spoken openly and not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God. And now he comes with THUS SAITH THE LORD].
'Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. O that you had hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before Me'.
Isaiah expresses God's lament over Israel's unbelief and what might have been had they been righteous. Instead of God's blessings of peace and prosperity for obedience, judgment was necessary, and thousands would be cut off. Moses had prophesied Israel's captivity and dispersion in Deuteronomy 28 and 29 where he divided the tribes, putting their backs against Mount Ebal and Mount Gerazim and enumerating the blessings and curses.
'Go ye forth of Babylon, FLEE ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of SINGING declare ye, TELL this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, "The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob".'
The return from Babylon shall not be inferior to its type, the return from Egypt. Although Israel will not have to 'flee' from Babylon, the Lord urges them to leave quickly (150 years in the future) because He is going to judge the Babylonians. And when they depart, to declare this prophecy to the glory of God.
Over a hundred years later, in about 595BC we find Jeremiah making the same prophecy. Jeremiah 51:6-7, 'Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her INIQUITY; for this is the time of the LORD'S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense. Babylon hath been a GOLDEN CUP in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have DRUNKEN of her wine; therefore the nations are mad'.
And we find Jesus speaking almost identical words to those who will heed in THIS day and flee 'Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth'.
Revelation 17:4, 6, 'And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, [her locks were not uncovered] having a GOLDEN CUP in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her FORNICATION: And I saw the woman DRUNKEN with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I was astounded'.
Revelation 2:21, 'And I gave her space to repent of her FORNICATION; [almost a thousand years of Dark Ages]; and she repented not'.
Revelation 18:3-6, 'For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her FORNICATION, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. [The Royal Court and many of the leading Jews did not return to Jerusalem. Seven hundred years after the death of our Lord Jesus, Babylon was the centre of Jewish religious life].
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her INIQUITIES. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the CUP which she hath filled fill to her double".'
Now lets compare TODAY with the natural type of old Babylon. Jeremiah 51:8-9, 'Babylon is suddenly FALLEN and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: [natural Babylon had 'space to repent'], forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies'.
Now Jesus: Revelation 18:2, 5, 'And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is FALLEN, is FALLEN, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird... For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her INIQUITIES'.
That's the Shout of the Lord's prophet to THIS day.
Jeremiah was prophesying in 595BC, 11 years after Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem, and 60 years before the command to release Israel. His words warning natural Israel to flee natural Babylon are almost identical to those of Jesus warning Spiritual Israel, His Covenant people, to flee spiritual Babylon.
Isaiah 48:21, 'And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out'.
The command to flee Babylon recalls Israel's flight from Egypt. When Israel left Egypt, God miraculously provided water in the desert. Moses struck the rock and water poured out (Exodus 17:6). And on their return to Babylon, the Israelites would again have sufficient water. God promised it (Isaiah 43:19-20; 35:6).
And today the call to BOTH wise and foolish virgins is Revelation 18:4 and 22:17, 'And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, My people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues ... And the Spirit and the Bride say, "Come". And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely'.
Isaiah 48:22, 'There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked'. For the wicked - Jew or Gentile - there will be no peace (or rest). bb960214.htm