THE LORD ALMIGHTY IS OUR REDEEMER

Isaiah 47:1-15 / Keywords 47:4

Our Redeemer--the LORD Almighty is his name-- is the Holy One of Israel.

 

47:1 “Go down, sit in the dust,

    Virgin Daughter Babylon;

sit on the ground without a throne,

    queen city of the Babylonians.[a]

No more will you be called

    tender or delicate.

2 Take millstones and grind flour;

    take off your veil.

Lift up your skirts, bare your legs,

    and wade through the streams.

3 Your nakedness will be exposed

    and your shame uncovered.

I will take vengeance;

    I will spare no one.”

4 Our Redeemer—the Lord Almighty is his name—

    is the Holy One of Israel.

5 “Sit in silence, go into darkness,

    queen city of the Babylonians;

no more will you be called

    queen of kingdoms.

6 I was angry with my people

    and desecrated my inheritance;

I gave them into your hand,

    and you showed them no mercy.

Even on the aged

    you laid a very heavy yoke.

7 You said, ‘I am forever—

    the eternal queen!’

But you did not consider these things

    or reflect on what might happen.

8 “Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,

    lounging in your security

and saying to yourself,

    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.

I will never be a widow

    or suffer the loss of children.’

9 Both of these will overtake you

    in a moment, on a single day:

    loss of children and widowhood.

They will come upon you in full measure,

    in spite of your many sorceries

    and all your potent spells.

10 You have trusted in your wickedness

    and have said, ‘No one sees me.’

Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you

    when you say to yourself,

    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’

11 Disaster will come upon you,

    and you will not know how to conjure it away.

A calamity will fall upon you

    that you cannot ward off with a ransom;

a catastrophe you cannot foresee

    will suddenly come upon you.

12 “Keep on, then, with your magic spells

    and with your many sorceries,

    which you have labored at since childhood.

Perhaps you will succeed,

    perhaps you will cause terror.

13 All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!

    Let your astrologers come forward,

those stargazers who make predictions month by month,

    let them save you from what is coming upon you.

14 Surely they are like stubble;

    the fire will burn them up.

They cannot even save themselves

    from the power of the flame.

These are not coals for warmth;

    this is not a fire to sit by.

15 That is all they are to you—

    these you have dealt with

    and labored with since childhood.

All of them go on in their error;

    there is not one that can save you.

Footnotes

a. Isaiah 47:1 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 5

1. You did not consider these things (1-7). Babylon is compared to a virgin daughter, delicate and tender. However, God would send her into harsh labor and shame her before the nations. God would take vengeance upon Babylon for what she did to Israel. God had been angry with his people and gave them into Babylon's hand for judgment. But Babylon was merciless in her ways. Babylon thought she would reign forever and foolishly did not reflect on what might happen to her. The Holy One of Israel would punish Babylon and reveal himself as the Redeemer of his people.

 

2. Disaster will come upon you (8-15). Babylon was very proud of herself and wicked. She trusted in sorcery, human wisdom and knowledge. She was comfortable and secure. God taunted Babylon to use astrology and magic spells to ward off God's judgment. But these things could not save them. Disaster would fall upon Babylon. Widowhood and lose of children would come in a moment. God would send a catastrophe they would not foresee.

 

Prayer Lord, cleanse me from pride and depending on the things of this world. Thank you for being my Redeemer. Help me to be merciful as you have been with me.

One Word God punishes the proud