Isaiah 13-17
First posted on July 23, 2012


As the Lord speaks through his prophet Isaiah, he doesn't limit himself to revealing only what will happen to Israel.   The Lord goes on to tell what will happen to Babylon some time after they have conquered Israel.  Studying history hasn't been one of my hobbies, or of great interest to me....so as I read these lines I have to force myself to remember a couple of things:  The Babylonians conquered much of the middle east and ruled for around a hundred years, they were then overthrown by the Assyrians who ruled for about two hundred, then Alexander the Great comes along and conquers the region.    These are three of the kingdoms that God reveals will have charge of the land in the coming days.    He shares this knowledge with Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonians, through his prophet Daniel elsewhere in scripture.

So much for the history lesson.  What's the point?

God is in control of the future.  He loves His people, and even though they are to be punished, those whom he uses to punish them will be punished themselves (for the brutal way they treat the captives).   The Lord is grieved that this pain and suffering is coming upon his people.  That tells me that God hurts when we are hurt, even if we are the cause of our own suffering.

14:12 sounds like it might be describing the fall of Lucifer from heaven.  Although that is disputed by some, the point remains valid.  Lucifer became proud and arrogant and so did Nebuchadnezzar.   Both of them were cast down from their positions of power.

I take a lesson from the plight of the Moabites as well.   Moab has treated Israel with contempt for years.   Recently we have read that they would invade and oppress the Israelites.   In return the Israelites would attack and oppress them.   There was certainly no love between these two groups.    Yet the Lord is directing the Israelites to accept the Moabites into their land when their own land is conquered.   There is a time when humanitarian concerns overrule our political views.   I wonder if there is a principle to be applied here to the many people showing up on our southern border?   or to the nations surrounding the Gaza strip as the Palestinians flee that area?

Ruth was a Moabite.   She eventually marries Boaz, and one of their descendants is David, and eventually Jesus himself.      

Sometimes I think part of our problem is our memory.  We don't remember that we are all related.  It isn't realistic to think that God loves one group more than others....He created us all, and loves us all.    As members of the body of Christ, we should try a little harder to get along with each other, instead of being quick to "go to war".   We should focus on honoring Christ, and avoid the complications that follow disobedience.   And when God chooses to remind us that He is sovereign, then we should accept the punishment with humility, or celebrate our victory with humility.

  As is seen in this passage, He may use one group to rebuke another, but His love remains for both groups.    It isn't an easy concept to grasp, but it's true, nonetheless.

PR