Chs. 46 & 47

46:1-4

46:5-9

46:9-11

46:12-47:3

47:4-7

47:8-11

47:12-15

Recap

A. Find Out:

1. Which gods do what ? v.1a

2. How do they move and what does that impose? v.1b-d

3. What happens to them? v.2

4. To whom does the Lord then speak? v.3a,b

5. What does He say He's done for them? v.3c,d, 4a

6. What does He say He will do for them? v.4b-d

B. Think:

1. What point is the Lord making about the Babylonian gods?

2. How does He contrast Himself?

3. Why do you think He's saying this?

C. Comment:

     The Lord has already a number of times decried the worship of idols. Now He specifically derides the gods of Babylon. Bel was the chief city-god of Babylon and Nebo was his son. They are represented by idols that are carried in and out of the city, but they are just burdens on their worshippers. They are just dead weights to be humped around, wearying their followers. Of course they don't actually exist so the whole idol thing is pointless; they don't actually exist so the whole idol thing is a pointless exercise! When Babylon falls, these lumps of wood will just be carried away. They can do nothing to stop it.

     Then the Lord contrasts Himself with these ‘gods'. Instead of being carried by them, they have been carried by the Lord throughout their history, right up to the present time.

     He reminds them that He has sustained and carried them and uses that as a basis to promise that He will carry and sustain them in the future, and will rescue them from what is coming. He is the Lord, the One who has all power, the One who comes to His people and provides for them. He is not a burden like these worthless idols. To the contrary, He is a burden carrier! Israel are the burden and the Lord carries them. Similarly the Lord carries us.   

D. Application:

1. Nothing about the Lord is burdensome.

2. Everything about the Lord is life and freedom. Praise Him!

Chapter: Isaiah 46

Passage: Isaiah 46:5-9

A. Find Out:    

1. What does the Lord ask? v.5

2. What do some people go about doing? v.6

3. What do they then do with it? v.7a,b

4. But what then happens? v.7c-e

5. How does He then address them and instruct them to do? v.8

6. What are they to remember? v.9a

B. Think:

1. How is verse 5 a continuation from the previous verses?

2. What is the point the Lord is making here about idols?

3. Why do you think He says, “Remember the former things”?

C. Comment:

      In this chapter the Lord has been deriding the Babylonian idols who He says are just a burden.  He, by comparison, carries the burden of Israel. Come on, He says, who have you got that you can compare with me?  He then derides the idols again!

      Watch what goes on (implied) and you'll see the rich people weighing out silver and gold and giving to those who work with such metals, and they turn them into ‘gods'. They then hoist them up, carry them around and then set them down (presumably) in a place of honour – and there they stay! It just sits there and you can cry out to it as much as you like but it won't do anything or say anything, it's just a dumb idol!  And you call this a god?????

     Come on, He continues, clear your minds and get this clearly fixed in them, you rebellious idol worshipping people – think about your history! Think back to what has gone on in the past. What is He saying here? Think back to all the times in history when God has interacted with Israel and all the things He has done for them. Dumb idols sit there doing nothing. God is an active God who does things for Israel. There is no comparison, so why worship silver and gold that can do nothing!

D. Application:

1. God is a living active God who desires to interact with you in your life.

    Submit to His Lordship.

2. Do not put your trust in “things”, whether they be money, jobs, prestige,

     nice houses or whatever.

Chapter: Isaiah 46

Passage: Isaiah 46:9-11     

A. Find Out:

1. What, again, does the Lord instruct them to do? v.9a

2. What does He say about Himself? v.9b,c

3. What does He say He does? v.10a,b

4. What does He say about that? v.10c,d

5. What does He say He will do? v.11a,b

6. What does He say about all of this? v.11c,d

B. Think:

1. What does God say about the duration of his purposes?

2. What does He say about the detail of His purposes?

3. What does He say about the certainty of His purposes?

C. Comment:

      The Lord has derided the idols that can do nothing, that have no impact on the world because they cannot move or speak. Now by way of stark contrast He speaks of His own activities. As we saw yesterday He tells them to remember His activities in their history. Now He speaks about Himself and His eternal purposes.

     First He again declares His uniqueness. We need to be reminded of this again and again. There ISN'T another God, He alone is the One Supreme Almighty Being.

     He plans and purposes. Perhaps we sometimes take this for granted, but He denies that He is a God who simply made everything and then sat back and let it all happen. No, His purposes involved Him interacting with His people, Him acting on their behalf.

     From the very beginning of all things, He saw the future, saw what would happen if left to ourselves, and so He planned into history His acts that would create a people to reveal Him and prepare the way for His Son to come and bring the salvation the world would so desperately need. Those purposes even involve Him interacting with Gentile unbelievers, so that he could use them as a means to bless His people. More than that, these plans cannot be thwarted by men or demons, these plans take them into account and so these plans are sure and certain and WILL be fulfilled.

D. Application:

1. Rejoice in the fact that God IS in control of His plans.

2. Rejoice in the fact that these plans are certain – an involve you!

Chapter: Isaiah 46

Passage: Isaiah 46:12 - 47:3       

A. Find Out:

B. Think:

1. In what way does the Lord promise to lift Israel?

2. How is He warning of Babylon's downfall?

3. How is He revealing Himself generally?

C. Comment:

D. Application:

1. The Lord opposes the proud and exalts the humble.

2. Which are we?

Chapter: Isaiah 47

Passage: Isaiah 47 :4-7

A. Find Out:

1. What does Isaiah declare? v.4

2. What does the Lord tell Babylon to do and why? v.5

3. What does the Lord say He had done with His people and why? v.6a-c

4. How had Babylon acted? v.6d,e

5. How had they responded at that time? v.7a,b

6. What had they not done? v.7c,d

B. Think:

1. Why does the Lord tell off Babylon?

2. What had that actually been?

3. What does that tell us about the discipline of the Lord?

C. Comment:

     The Lord continues to rebuke Babylon. The interesting thing about what He says, is that it hasn't yet happened when Isaiah was writing. This was a prophetic word for the future after the exile; there is no other way to view it.

     First of all Isaiah can't stop himself making a simple declaration of who the Lord is. A prophet is a truth teller and in the midst of this word against Babylon, the prophet declares that the Lord, who is their Redeemer, is the redeemer of ISRAEL. That needs to be borne in mind throughout all He says about Babylon.

     Then the Lord chides Babylon and speaks again of its downfall, but then explains why. The Lord has been angry with the ongoing idolatry of Israel and so took them into exile (all in the future) and in the process razed Jerusalem and it's temple to the ground. This was absolutely devastating to Israel. Babylon had carried the inhabitants away to exile. Only a remnant in the land stayed in the land, and even they eventually fled to Egypt. Babylon has taken Israel into basic slavery and had treated them harshly. What Babylon has not realised was that all of this was the Lord's doing and part of His removing and then reconstructing Israel. Now Babylon will be held to account for their bad attitude.

D. Application:

1. Being an instrument of correction gives you no excuses.

2. God expects us to show grace and mercy at all times to all peoples.

Chapter: Isaiah 47

Passage: Isaiah 47:8-11

A. Find Out:

1. How does the Lord now address Babylon? v.8a,b

2. What was Babylon saying to itself? v.8c,d

3. What does the Lord say will happen to them? v.9

4. Despite what? v.9

5. What, again, had they been saying? v.10

6. But what will happen to them? v.11

B. Think:

1. How was Babylon saying it felt secure?

2. On what was it relying?

3. Yet what was going to happen to it?

C. Comment:

     The Lord has spoken to Babylon about the fact that they had been part of God's plan of dealing with Israel but had done it harshly and without mercy. Now they will be held to account.

     But first we have to note the sense of security that they felt. They believed that they had become so great and that there was no one else like them, so obviously there was no one who could be a threat to them.  Or at least, that was how they saw it!  They also had magicians and casters of spells and relied on the occult and believed that they were in control of these sorts of powers (as all such people wrongly believe!) and this added to their sense of security, as false as it was.

     You think your future is secure, says the Lord (v.8e), well it's not! Despite all the things you rely on, disaster is going to come on you! Three times in verse 11 the Lord declares this with different words – disaster, calamity, catastrophe! There is no room for misunderstanding here!

     It doesn't matter how secure you may feel, if the judgement of God comes, NOTHING will keep you! Nations rely upon size, strength, big armies, strong economies or whatever, but if God's wrath has been incurred then nothing will protect that nation. God does hold nations to account and when He does, His judgement WILL come.

D. Application:

1. The anger of the Lord is a fearful thing. We should fear it.

2. The anger of the Lord only comes on ongoing sin. Repent of it.

Chapter: Isaiah 47

Passage: Isaiah 47:12-15

A. Find Out:

1. What does the Lord say to them to do? v.12

2. What does He say about their seers? v.13

3. What does He say they are like? v.14

4. What does He say they cannot do? v.14

5. So what does He conclude about them? v.15

B. Think:

1. Who does this passage speak to?

2. What does it say about how long this has been going on?

3. What does it conclude about them?

C. Comment:

      The Lord has been speaking against Babylon and has warned that a calamity will come upon them. Now He speaks against those seers practising magical arts to foretell the future.

      He derides them in verse 12. It's like He says, “Come on then, you've been trying this stuff throughout your life. Keep on, you never know, it might work one day!” Divine sarcasm is cutting!

       He addresses the people: “Come on then, look to these so called astrologers, these ones who have done nothing for you except weary you with false hopes, see if they can tell you about what I'm going to bring on you!”

       No, He goes on, they are going to be burnt up in what is coming and they can't even save themselves (meaning, if they were sensible and could see the future, they would do something about it, even if it were just to flee).  This destruction that is coming is not going to be any minor affair, a fire you could sit comfortably beside.  All they can do, these foolish delusional, false predictors or the future, is keep on in their error, misleading the people and giving them false hope. They will not save the people of Babylon. God has decreed what will happen and both people and astrologers will not stop it. The only thing that would stop it is whole-hearted repentance, and they are not going to do that.  No, they WILL be destroyed.

D. Application:

1. Judgement is only averted by whole hearted repentance.

2. In God alone is salvation. All else is doomed.

RECAP - "Babylon in the Scheme" - Isaiah Chapter 46 & 47

SUMMARY :  

- speaking of the Babylonian idols or gods (v.1,2)

- reminding Israel what He's done with them (v.3,4)

- pointing out the folly of relying on immobile idols (v.5-7)

- declaring Himself to be their living Saviour (v.8-13)

- declaring the downfall of Babylon (v.1-5)

- condemning Babylon for its attitude towards Israel (v.6,7)

- warning them against being complacent (v.8-10)

- declaring that they will be destroyed. (v.11-15)

COMMENT :

LESSONS?

PRAY :

PART 4 : "Memo to Israel in the future"