Isaiah 47

Verses 1-10, “Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; Sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no more be called Tender and delicate. Take the millstones and grind meal. Remove your veil, Take off the skirt, Uncover the thigh, Pass through the rivers. Your nakedness shall be uncovered, Yes, your shame will be seen; I will take vengeance, And I will not arbitrate with a man.” As for our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name, The Holy One of Israel. “Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; For you shall no longer be called The Lady of Kingdoms. I was angry with My people; I have profaned My inheritance, And given them into your hand. You showed them no mercy; On the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily. And you said, ‘I shall be a lady forever,’ So that you did not take these things to heart, Nor remember the latter end of them. “Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures, Who dwell securely, Who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, Nor shall I know the loss of children’; But these two things shall come to you In a moment, in one day: The loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their fullness Because of the multitude of your sorceries, For the great abundance of your enchantments. “For you have trusted in your wickedness; You have said, ‘No one sees me’; Your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you; And you have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’ ”

Babylon will be brought low for their sin, and also for the sake of vengeance, because they treated God's people with no mercy. Although God allowed this captivity to happen to punish Judah, Babylon has become a proud lady, who thinks she cannot have her power and honor taken away. He will, however, expose her nakedness and bring shame upon her. People often mistake God's longsuffering as His acceptance of their wicked ways. The more they "get away" with it in their minds, the more unstoppable they think they are, and become blinded with pride as they trust in their wickedness. Once God has had enough, there will be no changing His mind. The Babylonians could not talk their way out of His coming judgement, as God states that He will not arbitrate with them.

Some may think that this is cruel to punish people this way. But many never really repent of their sin, but are just sorry they got caught and are suffering consequences for their actions. This worldly type of sorrow leads to death...both spiritual and sometimes physical. We need to have godly sorrow while there is still time to repent, that we may be vindicated instead of paying the penalty we deserve for our sins.  II Corinthians 7:9‭-‬11, “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what  clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.”

Verses 11-15, “Therefore evil shall come upon you; You shall not know from where it arises. And trouble shall fall upon you; You will not be able to put it off. And desolation shall come upon you suddenly, Which you shall not know. “Stand now with your enchantments And the multitude of your sorceries, In which you have labored from your youth— Perhaps you will be able to profit, Perhaps you will prevail. You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, And the monthly prognosticators Stand up and save you From what shall come upon you. Behold, they shall be as stubble, The fire shall burn them; They shall not deliver themselves From the power of the flame; It shall not be a coal to be warmed by, Nor a fire to sit before! Thus shall they be to you With whom you have labored, Your merchants from your youth; They shall wander each one to his quarter. No one shall save you.”

Because Babylon has trusted in her sorceries and wicked ways, God invited them to seek their false gods for help. If they had any real power, they would be able to help, but nothing will put off this judgment that the Lord declared. Babylon had rejected God for so long, despite the truth that He is the only God who saves. If you do not have the covering of Jesus Christ, be clear that there is no one else who can save you. Do not think there is safety in numbers either, especially in a day when entire church movements are going astray. We already know that the multitude is on a wide road leading to eternal torment, whether they are inside the church or outside. Stay on the narrow difficult path, even if you are walking alone.  Matthew 7:13‭-‬14, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”