Daily reading

Today’s reading is: Isa. 13-16; 2 Kgs. 16:19-20; 2 Chr. 28:26-27

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Isaiah Chapter Thirteen

  1. Chapter Thirteen begins a series of messages against Babylon (Isa. 13:1-22; 14:1-23; 21:1-10; 39:5-8; 43:14-15; 48:12-22).
    1. Original Babylon was Nimrod’s rejection of God’s plan for the nations (Gen. 10:8-10).
    2. A subsequent Babylon, 18th century BC was Hammurabi’s empire of written law.
    3. At the time of Isaiah, Assyria was the dominant world power, in which Babylon was a troublesome province.
      1. Within 100 years of Isaiah’s prophecies, Nabopolassar will successfully revolt and overthrow the Assyrian empire and the neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) empire will arise.
      2. Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabopolassar, will be the tool of the Lord’s judgment against Judah in 586BC. 
    4. Post-captivity Babylon was a Jewish intellectual center until the middle ages (cf. 1st Pet. 5:13), eclipsed by Islamic Baghdad and disappearing from world history.
    5. Eschatological “Babylon” is also identified as eschatological “Rome,” introduced by the Hebrew prophets (Isa., Jer., Ezek., Dan.) with the ultimate revelation by the Apostle John (Rev. 14-18).
    6. While it is cumbersome to write and speak about Nimrod’s Babylon, Hammurabi’s Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, Talmudic Babylon, and Eschatological Babylon—the cumbersome distinctions are quite useful for providing clarity in prophetic studies.
      1. Some prophecy scholars and authors reference a revived Babylon.
      2. Some prophecy scholars and authors reference a revived Roman Empire.
  2. The message of Isaiah 13 is called an “oracle.”  מַשָּׂא massā’ #4853: load, burden, utterance, oracle (Isa. 13:1; 14:28; 15:1; 17:1; 19:1; 21:1,11,13; 22:1; 23:1; 30:6).
  3. The Lord musters a mighty army from a far country “to destroy the whole land” (Isa. 13:1-5).
  4. It is not immediately clear which army is in view, until the following context establishes the time-reference as the Day of the Lord (Isa. 13:6-16).
  5. The destruction of Babylon, in conjunction with the end-times Day of the Lord, is seen as final and eternal (Isa. 13:17-22).

Isaiah Chapter Fourteen

  1. The Lord promises a restoration to Israel, and the eschatological theocratic kingdom blessings of Israel are then described (Isa. 14:1-2).
  2. Israel’s establishment in kingdom glory will prompt a taunt against the world forces of darkness (Isa. 14:3-23).
    1. The oppressor and his fury will cease when he is imprisoned in the abyss for a thousand years (Isa. 14:4; Rev. 20:1-3).
    2. The power behind wicked rulers is broken (Isa. 14:5-6) as the rod of iron is given to Christ (Ps. 2:9; Rev. 12:5; 19:15).
      1. Babylon represents much more than a single earthly empire.
      2. It is mentioned more times in the Bible than any other city, other than Jerusalem.
      3. When the Lord began to establish His plan for nations, Babel stood in opposition to His plans (Gen. 11:1-9).
      4. In the end-times it will be “Babylon” once again which stands opposed to the LORD (Rev. 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2,10,21).
    3. The earth rejoices in the rest it enjoys (Isa. 14:7,8; Rom. 8:19-22).
    4. The denizens of hell celebrate Satan’s fall (Isa. 14:9-11), and will have all eternity to ponder the failure of his rebellion against God (Isa. 14:15-17).
    5. The Lord reflects back to the fall of Satan, and his five declarations of “I will” (Isa. 14:12-14; Lk. 10:18; Rev. 12:3-4).
      1. “Lucifer” is the Latin name for Hēylēl Ben-Shāchar—the name of Satan prior to his fall (Isa. 14:12 Vulg., KJV, NKJV).
      2. His heart was lifted up in pride to exalt himself (Isa. 14:13-14; Ezek. 28:15-17).
    6. This passage concludes with a vivid description of eternal hell (Isa. 14:18-23).
  3. The Lord returns His attention back to Isaiah’s generation, and pronounces judgment upon Assyria (Isa. 14:24-27).
  4. Isaiah pronounces ten other מַשָּׂא massā’ oracles, beginning with Philistia (Isa. 14:28-32).

Isaiah Chapter Fifteen

  1. Isaiah’s next מַשָּׂא massā’ oracle centers on Moab (Isa. 15:1-16:14).
  2. Moab’s judgment is sudden (Isa. 15:1), and causes the Lord’s heart to cry out (Isa. 15:5; 16:11).

Isaiah Chapter Sixteen

  1. Moab’s only answer will be to submit to Jerusalem, and offer the proper tribute of worship to the Davidic Messiah/King (Isa. 16:1-5).  This will result in a restoration of the fortunes of Moab (Jer. 48:47).
  2. The Lord returns His attention to the present time with a three year prophecy concerning Moab’s degradation (Isa. 16:13-14).

(2nd Kgs. & 2nd Chr. Outlines provided on TTB Day 181)