Year 3, Day 31: Isaiah 47

Isaiah 47 gives us a couple of really neat snapshots.  So let me summarize the chapter really quickly and then I’ll be free to chase a few rabbit trails of thought.  I like rabbit trails.  Some of the best theology comes from chasing rabbit trails.

The Humiliation Of Babylon

Anyway, Isaiah 47 is about the coming destruction of the Babylonians Empire.  However, this chapter isn’t so much about the defeat of the Babylonians as it is about the humiliation of the Babylonians.  The Babylonians thought they were the queen – even the mistress of the gods.  God would show them just how wrong they were.  Their arrogance would turn into their folly.

You see, this should seem like a familiar theme.  Do you remember the proclamation of folly upon the Assyrians in the chapters prior to 40?  God used the Assyrians to bring judgment upon the kingdom of Israel and a good portion of the land of Judah.  But the Assyrians were proud and they went too far.  They were merciless in their conquest.  So, God uses the Babylonians to bring judgment upon the Assyrians.

However, the Babylonians are no better.  Yes, the name changed.  Yes, the form of government was a little different.  Yes, the geographic location of the capitol was changed.  But the reality is that the lack of humanity displayed in the conquering nation was no different.*  The Babylonians thought they were the masters of the world and that all their captives were there to serve them forever.  They were brutal and arrogant – equaling the arrogance and brutality of the Assyrians.  So, God will bring them to their knees as well.  It’s not mentioned in this chapter, but we know that God will bring the Persians down upon the Babylonians.

Alone At The Top

I have been doing a great amount of thinking about this dynamic of humanity for a few years now.  Our competitiveness is such a double-edged sword.  If we have a little, we grow and increase and become better people.  But when we feed our competitiveness we become focused on the win.  Nothing is as important as being number one.  Nothing is as important as grinding our opponents into the ground.  Too much competitiveness causes us to focus on ourselves and our own glory.  An overabundance of competitiveness drives us into being a self-monger.  We see it over and over in human history as nations rise and fall – as leaders of nations rise and fall.  We see it in athletes and pop culture icons.

I remember hearing the saying that “it’s lonely at the top.”  As verse 10 says, “I am here and nobody is beside me.”  I’ve begun to think that the reason it is lonely at the top is that in order to get to the top one must take on such an overabundance of human competitiveness that nobody even wants to be around us anymore.  We become so focused on our success and domination that we forget to be humble.

So, God promises to bring the Babylonians down.  He promises to expose the Babylonians.  They will be the ones taking up the millstone and grinding the flour rather than being served by those who do such things.  God promises to spare none of them.  They will go down and sit in darkness and shame.  Because they showed no mercy, God will cast them away.  Note to self: Learn that lesson NOW.  Show mercy.

Profaning His Own People

I would also like to follow the rabbit trail of verse 6.  God says, “I was angry with my people.  I profaned my heritage.  I gave them into your hand.”  I was struck by two things.  First of all, God is clear.  He was the cause of the humiliation of the Hebrew people at the hands of the Assyrians and Babylonians.  God didn’t just allow it to come to pass.  God brought it upon His heritage.

Second, what really struck me about this is the use of the word “profane.”  In the Hebrew, the word used hear can also mean to kill, pierce, wound, violate, pollute, or defile.  None of those terms are all that pleasant, for the record.  But here’s the deal.  God did it to His own people.  Granted, they walked away from Him.  It was judgment.  They totally deserved it.  They completely had it coming.  But God did it nonetheless.

So often we like to think of God as the God of grace.  He is.  So often we like to think of God as the God of peace.  He is.  So often we like to think of God as the God of mercy.  He is.  So often we like to think of God as the God of love.  He is.

But He is also the God of judgment.  He is the God who can be just in giving us what we truly deserve.  He is the God who knows how to give out exactly what is called for based upon the status of our hearts.  Today, I think that thought scares me.  I so want to run back to the “grace side” of God.  But I think today I need to dwell in the Law.  I think I need to remember that while God does give grace and forgive the repentant, He is also the God of judgment – even upon His own.

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*For another rabbit trail, I have begun to wonder why we use the word “humanity” to describe the “right way” to treat one another.  Words like “humanity” and “humane” are beginning to make less sense the more I read into God’s Word and try to see through God’s eyes.  The problem with humanity is that we don’t treat one another with grace and compassion.  We don’t give one another the benefit of the doubt.  We don’t forgive.  Those are things that are second-nature to God, not humanity.  Conceptually, I think what Isaiah 47 is saying that the problem with the Babylonians wasn’t that they didn’t have “humanity” among them but rather that they had too much “humanity” among them!  They don’t need more humanity; they need more divinity {or at least divinely inspired behavior.}  Anyway, I know I’m not going to change the English language.  But I wanted to put that thought out there.