Sunday school lesson june 5 2022

                    Sunday, June 5, 2022

Lesson Text:  Isaiah 47:10-15; Time of Action: between 700 and 695 B.C.; Place of Action: Jerusalem

Golden Text:  “Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee” (Isaiah 47:15).

I. INTRODUCTION.  God is not controlled by time or situations; He controls them both.  In His wisdom, He knows what is going to happen and when it is going to happen.  Unlike man who only sees something after it takes place, God sees everything before it even exists.  Such is the story of Babylon in this week’s lesson.  The Babylonians took God’s people into captivity and through the prophet Isaiah God declared His judgment upon Babylon even before the nation became a world power.  This week’s lesson gives us some insight into the judgment of Babylon as prophesied by Isaiah and confirms that God “declares the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done…” (see Isaiah 46:10).

II. THE LESSON BACKGROUND.  Isaiah, whose name means “salvation of the LORD” was the greatest of the writing prophets. According to Isaiah 1:1, he carried on his ministry during the reigns of four kings in the southern kingdom of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.  He served as God’s messenger to Judah for about sixty years (from around 740 to 680 B.C.), roughly a hundred years before the other three major writing prophets — Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel.  During that time, Samaria (also known as the northern kingdom of Israel) was carried away by the Assyrians between 722 and 721 B.C. and Judah was invaded by Sennacherib of Assyria in 701 B.C.  While the political scene in Judah was different from the one in the northern kingdom of Israel or Samaria, the sins of the people were distressingly similar.  Idol worship, the oppression and marginalization of the poor for personal gain, and business practices that fundamentally threatened God’s Law were rampant (see Isaiah 1:1-23).  Isaiah’s calling was to serve as God’s messenger before the people of Judah and proclaim their sinful behavior.  Later in his ministry, the prophet insisted that his prophecies be recorded for future generations: “Go now, write it on a tablet…that it may be an everlasting witness. For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the LORD’S instruction” (see Isaiah 30:8-13).  The people’s sinfulness was demonstrated by their disregard for God’s law and His covenant claims on them as His people.  The prophecies against God’s sinful people could be summarized as follows: “If those whom God has called to be His own act as if they are not His people, then they will not be a people at all.”  In chapter 39, more than 150 years before it happened, Isaiah predicted that Judah would be invaded and taken into captivity to Babylon.  He was speaking as if the Babylonian Captivity had already happened.  In chapter 40 Isaiah prophesied the coming and mission of John the Baptist (see Isaiah 40:3-5).  In chapter 43, he prophesied the future redemption and restoration of Israel (see Isaiah 43:1-7), and in Isaiah 45:1-4, the prophet predicted that Cyrus, the future king of Persia, would release the captives and a remnant would return to Israel.  In 46:1-7, Isaiah contrasts the power of God to the powerlessness of idol gods, and in 46:8-13, Isaiah declared that there was none like Jehovah and again predicted the coming of Cyrus King of Persia even before he was born.  God would use him to deliver Israel from the Babylonian Captivity.  Then in chapter 47, God through Isaiah prophesies His judgment upon Babylon.  Again, remember, that Isaiah prophesied over 100 years before the Babylonian Captivity.  Our lesson begins with Isaiah 47:10.

III. DECEPTIVE WICKEDNESS (Isaiah 47:10-11)

          A. Babylon’s pride (Isaiah 47:10).  Our first verse says “For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.”   The word “thou” here refers to Babylon which this prophecy is all about (see Isaiah 47:1).  They had this deceptive and vain sense of security for they “trusted in (their) wickedness” and in their own “wisdom.”  Their power and wealth, which they had gotten by fraud and oppression, were their confidence (see Psalms 62:10).  Although David was talking about the “wickedness” of Doeg in Psalms 52:1-7, his words also fit Babylon.  They were so secure in their “wickedness” that they said “None seeth me” which means that there was no one to hold them accountable for their wicked deeds.  The Israelites were also guilty of having this same attitude (see Isaiah 29:15).  It’s common for sinners to convince themselves that they won’t be held accountable for their sins, because they are also convinced that their wicked deeds are hidden and that no one can discern their wickedness and deceit (see Psalms 10:2-6, 11).  They also thought they were wise enough to outwit all mankind, and therefore met all their enemies with defiance.  But their so-called “wisdom and knowledge perverted them.”  The word “perverted” means “deviating from what is considered moral or right or proper or good.”  Trusting in their human “wisdom and knowledge” led them astray from all that was right and good.  Not only were the Babylonians’ “perverted” by their human “wisdom and knowledge,” Isaiah also said “and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.”  Their claim that “I am, and none else beside me” was a brazen self-deification or claim to be gods.  By using the words “I am” Babylon usurped the name of God, the name that God identified Himself with to Moses (see Exodus 3:14).  These are the very words that God has often said concerning himself, “I am, and none else besides me,” (see Isaiah 45:5, 6, 18, 22) which speaks of God’s self-existence, His infinite and incomparable perfections, and His sole supremacy.

          B. Babylon’s fall predicted (Isaiah 47:11).  This verse says “Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou 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.”  Here Isaiah begins to declare what judgment the Babylonians will face.  He said “evil shall come upon thee.”   The word “evil” here refers to God’s judgment that will come to Babylon by way of disaster or destruction.  When God’s judgment comes, Isaiah said “thou shalt not know from whence it riseth.”  In other words, they won’t know when it will come nor will they have time to provide against it, or to prepare for it.  Babylon pretended to have great “wisdom and knowledge” (see verse 10), but with all her knowledge she cannot foresee, nor with all her wisdom prevent, the ruin that Isaiah was prophesying.  He continued to say “and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off.”  The word “mischief” here means “disaster” and when it comes, the Babylonians “shalt not be able to put it off.”  This means that they won’t be able to do anything to stop it.  They won’t even be able to conjure the “mischief” or disaster away with their sorceries and enchantments that they had such confidence in (see verse 12).  In the last part of this verse, Isaiah said “and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly” like a thief in the night (see I Thessalonians 5:2; II Peter 3:10) “which thou shalt not know,” that is, which the Babylonians would “know” nothing about or never thought of.  Although it was still in the future, God would use the Babylonians to bring His wrath against a sinful Judah, but He would later reverse things and the Babylonians would become the objects of God’s wrath (see Isaiah 47:6).  Note:  Indeed, fair warning was given to the Babylonians by Isaiah and other prophets of the LORD about their “desolation,” but history revels that they will pay no attention to it and so it would be justly ordered.  Those who refuse to heed the warnings of the written Word should not expect any further revelations.  There is no opposing the judgments of God when He sends them.  Babylon herself, with all her wealth, and power, and multitude, would not be able to “put off” or stop the “evil,” the “mischief” nor the “desolation” all of which will come to pass when the nation would be conquered by the Medo-Persian Empire under King Cyrus (see Isaiah 13:17-22).

IV. DECEPTIVE DEFENSES (Isaiah 47:12-15)

          A. The futility of sorceries (Isaiah 47:12-13).

               1. (vs. 12).  This verse says “Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.”  At this point in his prophecy, Isaiah mocks Babylon by telling them to continue to trust in their worthless witchcraft.  He told them to “Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth.”  Isaiah was sarcastically encouraging them in a mockingly way to keep on having confidence and trusting in their “enchantments (using certain formulas for magic spells), and with the multitude of thy sorceries (the power to command evil spirits).   The phrase “wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth” means that they had worked all their lives learning and practicing magic and spells.  Then Isaiah said “if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.”   In other words, if they continued to practice their magic, they may be able to “profit” from it and “prevail” over their enemies by striking fear in them when God brought His judgment upon them.  Of course, Isaiah knew that would not work.  A clearer translation of this verse would be “If you think you can, make a stand in opposition to the invading enemy (the Medo-Persians); you have worked hard all your life learning magic and spells, so keep on using that magic and maybe those spells will help you and maybe you will be able to frighten your enemies.”  As noted earlier in this section, Isaiah was mocking or making fun of the Babylonians in this verse; he was not serious.  He was well aware that God would not allow Babylon to be successful with those ungodly practices any longer.  All attempts to continue those heathen practices, “enchantments, and the multitude of thy sorceries” would prove to be futile or worthless.

               2. (vs. 13). This verse says “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.”  Isaiah continued to tell the Babylonians how useless their heathen practices would be when God sent His wrath upon them.  At that time they would seek “the multitude of thy (your) counsels” which would be futile because as Isaiah said “Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels.”  This means that they would be tired of the advice they would receive from all their advisors.  Then again, Isaiah speaks sarcastically mocking the Babylonians when he said “Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.”  In other words, the prophet was saying “why don’t you send for the men who read the stars, and can tell when the month starts to see if they can tell you when your troubles (see verse 11) will come.”  The “astrologers, the stargazers” and “the monthly prognosticators” looked to the stars for signs from the gods to direct them about what to do (see Daniel 2:2).  The people believed that these wise men and their dependence on magic could defend them when the enemy came.  Note:  The Babylonians had great confidence it these so-called wise men, but they were all crooked, and their art was a sham.  It was proven that these heathen diviners had no power to save Babylon when her destruction was literally fulfilled the night that Babylon was taken and Belshazzar was slain.  All the king’s astrologers, soothsayers, and wise men, were quite puzzled by the handwriting on the wall that pronounced the fatal sentence of the Babylonians (see Daniel 5:8-31).

          B. The judgment by fire (Isaiah 47:14-15).

               1. (vs. 14). This verse says, “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.”  The word “they” here refers back to the “astrologers, the stargazers” and “the monthly prognosticators” in the previous verse.  They were considered to be the wisest of all Babylonians and their counsel was highly sought after.  But Isaiah prophesied that a time would come when “Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame.”  When God brings His judgment upon Babylon, all those trusted wise men who consulted the stars to get word from their gods would become like “stubble” that feeds a “fire.”  They will be worthless and useless before a consuming “fire.”  To make room for their own wise men, the Persians will cut off the wise men of Babylon, and the “fire shall burn them,” and “they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame.”  Those who are devoured by their sins can expect nothing more than finding themselves fuel for a devouring “fire” of judgment (see Matthew 13:41-43, 49-51; Revelation 20:10-15).  When God kindles His “fire” among the Babylonians, Isaiah said that it “shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before;” instead it would be “a coal” to “burn them.”  They shall be utterly consumed by the judgments of God, burnt to ashes.  Babylon’s astrologers practiced their craft to save Babylon from these prophecies, but Isaiah said that “they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame” meaning God’s judgment.  In other words, these astrologers and wise men can’t even save themselves, so surely they can’t save the nation (see Daniel 2:10-13).

               2. (vs. 15).  Our final verse says “Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.”  Again, the word “they” refers to the “astrologers, the stargazers” and “the monthly prognosticators” (see verse 13).  These astrologers who dealt in black art were in effect “merchants” for the Babylonian people.  Fortune-telling was one of the best trades in Babylon, and those who followed that trade probably lived as splendidly and got as much money as the richest “merchants.” Isaiah prophesied that these fortune tellers and astrologers would become like their “merchants” from whom they bought and sold “from (their) youth” or throughout their lifetime. When some of these astrologers and other wise men were devoured by God’s judgment, others “shall wander every one to his quarter” meaning they would flee from their country, and there would be no one to “save” Babylon.  Just as their astrologers, with whom they had “laboured,” failed the Babylonians, so would their “merchants” who would also abandon Babylon, making sure that they protected their own effects, and not caring about what happened to Babylon.  No one would even offer to lend a helping hand, not to a city by which they had received so much money from commercial trade.  Everyone was for himself, and very few if any were for their friends.  The New-Testament Babylon (probably Rome) is lamented by the “merchants” that were made rich by her, but they very wisely “stand afar off” to mourn for her (see Revelation 18:11-15), not willing to attempt to do anything to help.  We should be grateful that by faith and prayer, we have the privilege of having a God who is “a very present help in time of trouble (see Psalms 46:1)!”

V. Conclusion.  This week’s lesson teaches us that every nation of the world is under God’s control, and He will use any of them to accomplish His purposes. Even before Babylon became a world power, God declared that He would use them to discipline His people and then destroy the Babylonians for how they treated them.  God has not changed.  He already knows what will happen tomorrow and even in the next century, and any nation that opposes His will and His way will face destruction.  If God said it, it will come to pass (see Isaiah 48:3)!

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