Exiles

In this week’s chapter we’ll see Isaiah doing something that he has done before. He has something to say to one of the pagan nations, in this case, Babylon. And as I read it you will find that Isaiah is not very complimentary. But that shouldn’t be very surprising. Our goal in this, though, is not to study the ancient history of some long dead nation. Jesus has something for us here, something that we can use, something that we need to use. It is my hope that the Spirit will do His work here this morning so that you will believe the Gospel a little bit better and, in so doing, you will live well as disciples of Jesus.

Listen as I read Isaiah 47.

How damning! Isaiah describes Babylon and some of the traits that she boasted in. And as a part of his description of this nation he points to the punishment that is going to come because of those boasts. Let’s take a look at these. First, Babylon sees herself as in control of her situation and therefore quite secure. So, Isaiah writes, ‘Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures, who sits securely, who says in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children…”’ Did you hear the boast? ‘I’m in control of my life. There is no one who can threaten that. So, I am secure and nothing bad will happen to me.’ In this same quote Isaiah points to another characteristic of Babylon. He calls her a ‘lover of pleasure’. Bear in mind that ‘pleasure’ is a broad category. It can be summed up in terms enjoying the good life. Babylon gave herself to the pursuit of this kind of pleasant life, one without sorrow. Then, the last trait I want to point out is how Babylon was religious. Isaiah talks about their enchantments and sorceries, and their gazing at the stars which I understand as astrology. This is a very religious people. But they are God-less. They have ignored the true God. Three boasts: control, pleasure, religion.

Isaiah doesn’t just point out the evils of this place. He also points to the consequences of this evil. What will happen to Babylon? ‘Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no more be called tender and delicate. Take the millstones and grind flour…’ First, Isaiah describes how the great and exalted Babylon, the refined and delicate Babylon, will be humiliated. Instead of ruling from a glorious throne, she will sit in the dirt like a peasant. That reference to millstones and grinding flour – slave girls took care of such things. Babylon the queen of nations will become a slave girl. And then there is this. ‘…put off your veil, strip off your robe, uncover your legs, pass through the rivers. Your nakedness shall be uncovered, and your disgrace shall be seen.’ It is not enough that Babylon will be brought low. She will also be stripped naked so that all might see her. In this way she will be shamed and disgraced.

Do you see what Isaiah is doing here? He condemns Babylon for her claim to control her life, for her wanton pursuit of what is pleasurable and her God-lessness. And he predicts that the day will come when the God that she has ignored will act. He will bring His justice to bear, and the destruction will be complete. ‘I will take vengeance, and I will spare no one.’

I’m guessing that none of you are terribly surprised by what Isaiah has written. You’ve heard Isaiah condemn nations before. But there are some curious things going on here, things that just might lead to a little bit of surprise.

Let’s start with this. When did Isaiah write this? The exact date is not important. It’s enough to say that Isaiah wrote this something like a hundred years before Babylon became the bully on the block. During Isaiah’s lifetime the superpower of the region was not Babylon. It was Assyria. You’ll remember that we’ve encountered Assyria before in our journey through this book. So, Isaiah writes about Babylon’s glory days long before those glory days ever occurred.

The second curious thing is this. To whom is Isaiah writing this? It is addressed to Babylon. ‘Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon…’ Can it be that he writes with the expectation that the people of Babylon will actually read this, a hundred or so years down the pike? I doubt it. First, will any of them even have heard of this dead, Jewish prophet named Isaiah? And secondly, even if they have heard of him, will they care? After all, this Isaiah was a prophet of a disgraced God. Didn’t the Babylonians conquer Judah? Didn’t their gods defeat the God of the Jews? Why should Babylon listen to the spokesman of an obvious failure? I really don’t think that Babylon was Isaiah’s primary audience. Like so much of the second half of Isaiah’s book, this chapter was written for the benefit of the exiles of Judah, the exiles taken away from their native land and forced to live in Babylon more than 100 years after Isaiah’s death. Isaiah is writing this chapter for those Jewish exiles. And when you understand this, that odd sentence in the middle of Isaiah’s tirade makes sense. ‘Our Redeemer – the LORD of hosts is his name – is the Holy One of Israel.’ In the midst of his condemnation of Babylon there is this reminder for the people of God, a little note of hope. The whole of this chapter is for their sake.

It is here that I need to talk about one of the principle purposes of the Bible. A key goal of Scripture is to uncover the real which is so often hidden behind what is seen. And though it may sound odd, a really good example of this is the book of Revelation. The real situation of those seven churches is being revealed in that book. The mask that hides the real is being removed so that what is actually going on can be seen for what it is. Paul does this sort of things when he writes, ‘For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.’ The real battle wasn’t against the people making the lives of those Christians difficult. What was seen was hiding what was real. So, Paul lifted the mask. And that’s what all of Scripture does, in one way or another. In the Bible, the real, which is hidden behind what is seen, is revealed.

And that is what Isaiah is doing here. So, consider this question. What will the exiles of Judah see when they are in this very impressive land of Babylon? For one thing, they will see people who are very confident in themselves and in their situation. That’s what a person who feels in control will look like to people watching him. He exudes assurance. There is no doubt or hesitation, only decisive action. This is leadership material. These exiles will also see people who are enjoying themselves. They are having a blast. Life is fun, fun, fun. That’s the outward face of someone who pursues pleasure, the good life. And then, these Jewish exiles will see Babylonians who are obviously good people, religious people. Maybe they don’t go to our church, but they are faithful to their own. They aren’t the riff raff of society. They make good neighbors. All of that is the seen. But what is the real? Is it being confident or being a control freak? Is it enjoying a good life or continually pursuing pleasure? Is it being religious or is it refusing to bow before Jesus? Isaiah uncovers the real that is hidden under the seen. And part of that is the real end result. What often happens to a control freak? At some point or other, he no longer can control what is happening. As a result he cracks in some way. His method of living doesn’t work any more and he is crushed under it all. What happens to someone who lives for pleasure? He gets addicted to pleasure. And he finds that what used to produce that pleasurable feeling no longer does. He needs something more. And then there is the religious. Any religion that is not the religion of Jesus will ultimately fail. And when a person’s religion fails – not the outward rituals that he may perform, but the real religion of his heart, where he really banks his hopes – when that fails everything falls apart. Sometimes Jesus’ punishment is a swift death. But sometimes His punishment is no longer restraining you from what you want. Sometimes He lets you have what you pursue – control, pleasure and religion – so that you will suffer the consequences.

Isaiah writes for the sake of this community of Jewish exiles who live far from their native land, in an evil place. And he writes to warn them about their situation. He wants them to grasp what is real and not just what is seen. His goal is that they, being warned, might be careful. It’s here that that odd sentence comes into play. ‘Our Redeemer – the LORD of hosts is his name – is the Holy One of Israel.’ This is the note of hope for those exiles. In the Old Testament, your next of kin was obligated to rescue you, to redeem you, when you got yourself into a fix. So, Abraham was Lot’s redeemer. Boaz was Ruth’s redeemer. They came, and they rescued. Isaiah is telling the exiles that the Holy One of Israel is their Redeemer. He will come, and He will rescue them. And when He does, Babylon will be destroyed and the exiles will be restored. This is the note of hope as these exiles live in an evil place far from their native land, surrounded by hidden lies. Isaiah has written this chapter for those exiles.

Now, having said that let me tweak it. Isaiah has written this chapter not only for those exiles. He has written it for you. He might not have known it at the time, but the Spirit did. And the reason why Isaiah wrote this for you is clear. You also live as exiles in an evil place far from your native land, surrounded by hidden lies. I didn’t dream that up. I got it from the Bible. Peter describes you as exiles and Paul calls this place, ‘this present evil age’. You are the exiles Isaiah wrote to. You need to hear what he has to say because you live in the midst of evil, an evil that works hard to stay hidden.

So, what do you see? You see people who are so very confident, people who are enjoying their lives, people who aren’t ‘bad people’ at all. These are things that you see. But what is the real that is behind the seen? I recently heard about one of the guys who was in our Christian group back in college. He’s left his wife and taken up with another woman. That made me think about the fellow who was president of the group before me. He and his wife are now divorced. And not long ago one of the guys committed suicide. I don’t know the details of any of these situations, but I do know that it’s not supposed to be this way. And it’s my guess that one reason for these kinds of things is that many Christians are not aware of what is real but are being fooled by what is seen. I am concerned about this because another thing that I know is that these sorts of things can happen to us also. What do you think? Is it impossible that one of us, in the hope of finding a life with a little more fun in it, might leave his or her spouse? Is it impossible that one of us, having been completely fooled by the seen and then finding it to be a total lie, might commit suicide? Anyone who thinks that it could never happen here is simply naïve. These sorts of things are happening all around us and even to Christians. And one reason that it is happening is because what is real is being hidden by what is seen.

This is what is real. We are exiles. We are far from our native land. We live in a place that is filled with evil, and an evil that is hidden. But I’ll tell you what else is real. We have a Redeemer, and His name is Jesus. He has come to rescue us. He has already begun to do that. Because of Him, we are changed people. He has changed us on the inside and that change is slowly but surely expressing itself in how we live. His redeeming us has already begun. One day He will complete that redemption. He will come and destroy the evil of this place, and then He will restore us to the pristine beauty of the Garden. In the meantime, He has not abandoned us. He is still with us – Immanuel. He has not left us orphans but is with us by His Spirit. So, because of our Redeemer, even though we live as exiles in this evil place, we are not morose, or despairing. We do not hide in some corner, afraid of the evil. No. Because of our Redeemer we are confident, not because we are in control but because He is. Because of our Redeemer, we enjoy the good life, one built upon the truth of the Gospel. And because of our Redeemer, our religion is the only one that works.

So, be aware of what is real. Don’t be taken in by what is merely seen. Be wise as you make your way through this life. And as you do that, rejoice in what is at the heart of what is real. We have a Redeemer, and His name is Jesus.