Isaiah 52

Verses 1-10, “Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean Shall no longer come to you. Shake yourself from the dust, arise; Sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion! For thus says the Lord: “You have sold yourselves for nothing, And you shall be redeemed without money.” For thus says the Lord God: “My people went down at first Into Egypt to dwell there; Then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. Now therefore, what have I here,” says the Lord, “That My people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them Make them wail,” says the Lord, “And My name is blasphemed continually every day. Therefore My people shall know My name; Therefore they shall know in that day That I am He who speaks: ‘Behold, it is I.’ ” How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns!' Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, With their voices they shall sing together; For they shall see eye to eye When the Lord brings back Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, You waste places of Jerusalem! For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has made bare His holy arm In the eyes of all the nations; And all the ends of the earth shall see The salvation of our God.”

The Jews had sold themselves into slavery, and got nothing in return. This is what happens when you serve other gods. People willingly make themselves slaves to sin, and the wages of this arrangement is death.  Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Just because redemption is free to us, doesn't mean there was not a cost. Jesus Christ paid it all when He died in our place. Therefore, since Christ has purchased our freedom, we do not allow ourselves to go back into slavery...either to men or sin. Instead, we become slaves to righteousness, which leads to eternal life.  Romans 6:15‭-‬18, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”

Verses 11-15, “Depart! Depart! Go out from there, Touch no unclean thing; Go out from the midst of her, Be clean, You who bear the vessels of the Lord. For you shall not go out with haste, Nor go by flight; For the Lord will go before you, And the God of Israel will be your rear guard. Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, So His visage was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men; So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; For what had not been told them they shall see, And what they had not heard they shall consider.”

The Jews were called to depart from Babylon, and God promised to personally guard them on their way out.  After all, those who are vessels unto God have no business being yoked up with the world's system. The future Babylon represents a one world system of government, both political and spiritual, that is to come. They are known for their spiritual adulteries and corruption, and their evil ways are commonly embraced by those of all nations. We are called to separate ourselves from this, cleansing ourselves from this filthiness, remaining vessels for honor unto God. Friendship with this system is so contrary to God and His law that it is considered by Him to be hated toward Him.  James 4:4, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

It is said that all false religions can be traced back to Babylon. In addition, there are many practices that originated in Babylon that the world embraces, including the holidays that we celebrate. Revelation 18 tells us that through her scorcery, all the nations are deceived. Scorcery comes from the Greek word pharmakeia...the mixing and using of drugs. Under their influence, you cannot be sober minded and watch for the Lord's return. Scorcery can also involve the practice of magical arts, of which our culture and Hollywood have readily embraced. The only way we are going to resist all this worldliness is through humility.  James 4:7‭-‬10, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

We need to put off the worldly works of the flesh, and put on Christ...discerning the time.  Romans 13:11‭-‬14, “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”