In our reading today, we have the beginning of a new subsection (Is. 13-23) in the Book of Isaiah. In these chapters, we read of a series of prophetic oracles given by God to Isaiah regarding the future of several foreign nations. One of the key truths that we learn through these oracles is that the God of Israel is also the God of whole world. Israel may be in a special covenant relationship with Yahweh God, but all the surrounding nations are accountable to God as well.
The Lasting Legacy of the Tower Builders of Babel
It is also no accident that the prophetic writings of this section begins with a word pertaining to the kingdom of Babylon (Isaiah 13:1-14:23). We first read of this nation in the Tower of Babel story in Genesis 11:1-9. In that historical event, we read that the inhabitants of the earth stopped in the Babylonian (Shinar) plains and decided to build a Tower, reaching to heaven, in order to make a name for themselves (Gen. 11:4). The Lord came down from heaven and judged these first Empire Builders by confusing their language and scattering them across the earth.
The reason for this judgment of the Tower Builders was their hubris and arrogance against God, and for their disobedience to the God-given cultural mandate of Genesis 1:28. In that mandate, God had given man and woman the great task of being fruitful, filling the earth, and subduing it for the glory of God’s name. Instead of being motivated by faith and a desire to magnify God’s name, the earth’s inhabitants stopped in the plains of Babylonia, and built a tower to magnify themselves, without God in the picture.
Ever since this early historical event of the first Empire Builders, Babylon has carried the symbolical and spiritual significance of representing the epitome of man’s effort to make the world run without God. It is not surprising that Peter refers cryptically to Rome as Babylon in 1 Peter 5:13. Rome is the capital of the idolatrous Roman Empire and it will be the place where both the Apostles Peter and Paul will be martyred. They will be martyred for their faithfulness to the Gospel message that Jesus Christ is the true LORD of the world, and not the Roman Caesar, Nero.
In Revelation 17 and 18, the Apostle John makes mention of an anti-God Empire that is full of idolatry and the spilled blood of the prophets and saints. This Empire is called Babylon. Many commentators believe that this Empire has a double reference. It represents both first-century Rome, and the end-time world civilization that will be arrayed against God, and will be severely persecuting Christians.
Man’s Glory Is Like Grass
As we look more closely at Isaiah 13 and 14, we see that the Lord has given Isaiah prophetic insight into the future of the Babylonian Empire. In Isaiah’s time, Babylon was a nation that possessed a vital and energetic culture, but was not yet the world power it would become. Isaiah sees Babylon rising to glory, but because of its man-centeredness, he also sees this historic kingdom’s inevitable judgment by God. The Lord will eventually bring the Mede-Persians to defeat the Mede-Persians (Is. 13:17).
In the midst of this prophetic oracle against Babylon, the Lord has a prophetic word of hope for the faithful remnant of God. In Isaiah 14:1-3, we read that the Lord will restore Israel to its land and that people from other nations will join God’s people to serve Him together. I believe this is a reference to Jews and Gentiles being reconciled to God through the Jewish Messiah-King, Jesus. Gentile Christians are joined together with Jewish Christians in the Olive Tree of Israel (Romans 11:17-24). Believing Jew and Gentile are joined to the True Vine, Jesus, so we can bear fruit for God’s glory (John 15:1-8).
There is hope for people who turn in faith and repentance to the covenant- making and the covenant-keeping God of Israel. This is what the people of Israel had to hear, even as their God was bringing other nations to carry out His judgment against them for their unfaithfulness. This message is also what foreign nations like Babylon, Assyria (Is.14:24-27), the Philistines (Is. 14:28-32) and Moab (Is.15:1-9) had to hear as well. The glory of man lasts for but a day, but the word and purposes of the Lord stand forever (Is. 40:6-8). This is Good News!
QOTD: Is the driving motivation in your life to build a tower for your glory, or is it to bear fruit in union with King Jesus, the True Vine, for the glory of God?