Wrath and Compassion | Isaiah 13:1-14:23
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“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.” ― Charles Dickens
The opening to “A Tale of Two Cities” might never have been more fitting than today. Seemingly contradictory attributes can exist at the same time. But this can be deeply confusing and discouraging for people. The prophet Isaiah is helping us make sense of it.
Seemingly contradictory attributes also exist in God. Incredible wrath, incredible compassion, not balanced, but both in their fullness. Whatever attributes He has, He has in their fullness. He doesn’t do half-measures.
And this leads to some dilemmas for us in trying to understand Him. For example, we see God in the Bible, and sometimes in our lives, wildly angry over sin, injustice, rebellion, and at the same time, compassionately saving His loved ones through that judgment. He floods the earth and saves one righteous family. He sends hellfire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah and saves one family. He swallows up the Egyptian army in the Red Sea, and one family walk through on dry ground. And in the New Testament, “Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought there, ...and the blind and the lame came to him in the temple ,and he healed them (Matthew 21:12, 14).” How can God be both filled with wrath and filled with compassion at the same time? How should we live accordingly?
There is another tale of two cities. It’s called the Bible. The two cities are Babylon and Jerusalem, and the biblical authors use them to teach us about God and our relationship with Him.
Babylon
Babylon
Babylon = “the gate of god(s)”. A shift has happened. In the first twelve chapters, Isaiah has been prophesying the downfall of Israel and Judah, focusing on the current threat, Assyria. Chapters 11-12 closed the first movement of Isaiah’s prophecy with the promise of judgment on Assyria, the salvation and restoration of a remnant of His people, and a Messiah who will restore those in exile to dwelling with God. It ends with God’s redeemed people singing His praises in the promised land.
Isaiah’s second movement opens with this “oracle”, a “heavy word”, against Babylon. Why is he talking about Babylon all of a sudden? One reason is that in the near future (100 years), when Assyria falls and fulfill’s Isaiah’s prophecy, Babylon is the empire that will come to power. Babylon will conquer Judah and Benjamin, lead their people into exile, and will be a superpower for almost ninety years.
But Isaiah 13-14 are special because they don’t make sense if you look at them the same way you look at other prophecies. For one thing, if you study history, you find out that Isaiah’s prophecy about the fall of Babylon in chapter 13 doesn’t have any historical fulfillment. He depicts the Medes, a people east of Babylon, being stirred up by God to slaughter and overthrow the Babylonians. While the Medes did indeed take over Babylonian territory as their empire expanded, they didn’t exactly bring down the empire with a great battle. And anyway, Isaiah skips over the next big event for Judah, which is the fact that Babylon will conquer Judah and skips to Babylon’s downfall. So, either Isaiah was a false prophet, or something else is going on here.
Let’s lay down a few principles to guide us.
The Bible is a complex unity, with a story arc that reaches its climax in Messiah. In telling that story, the biblical authors weave together certain themes. Babylon happens to be one of those themes. We meet it in the book of Genesis, and it shows up in Revelation, and in some surprising places in between.
Biblical prophecy is the combination of foretelling future events and forthtelling, the message of a prophet’s preaching. The forthtelling will explain the meaning of the coming events according to God’s plan to provoke repentance and faith, or encouragement and hope.
With these two principles together, let’s remember something Dave told us when we began Isaiah. Biblical prophecy can be thought of as looking out over the future as a series of mountain ranges. God brings significant events and people into view for the prophet, and these can be seen above everything else. But just like looking at a mountain range from a distance might make two mountains that are really miles apart look like very close together, or even one and the same, a prophet might be looking at a range, for example, the range of Babylon, and see multiple events or eras as more closely connected than they actually are.
In this case, the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy about Babylon seems to be something reaching a fulfillment in the future, and while the Medes might be the next empire in line after the Babylonian Empire falls, the destruction and desolation might also be a later fulfillment. And maybe Isaiah is setting us up for something else to come.
Alex Motyer, a commentator on Isaiah says, “Thus we move with Isaiah from the definite present, the world around him (the precise headings) into the hazier future (the enigmatic headings) and on to the remoteness of the eschaton, the Last Day where, from Isaiah’s perspective, everything seems to merge into one.” Motyer, Alec. Isaiah (p. 145). IVP. Kindle Edition.
Babylon begins in Genesis 11. Human beings rebuild after the flood of Noah’s time. And maybe in fear, maybe in rebellion, gather in one place on the plains of Shinar, which is now part of Iraq, and build a city with a tower, and they say, “let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” One city will centralize all human activity. Whatever they meant, and whatever their reasons, this was directly opposed to God’s purpose, which was that humans should fill the earth and rule over it for God, so that the earth would be full of the knowledge of the LORD.
The plans of the people at Babylon were to centralize power and control, to protect and promote themselves, in opposition to God. In Genesis 11, God comes down and scatters those people after all, but as the Bible develops the theme, Babylon as a city or empire or system for running the world, rises and falls like a blemish on the face of the earth, and it represents something. The biblical authors will use Babylon as the city that symbolizes the kingdoms of this world that rule in pride and arrogance, built on corruption and the will of men, in opposition to the kingdom of God, ruling in justice and righteousness, centered in the city of Jerusalem, or Zion. Babylon is the kingdom of this world, Jerusalem is the kingdom of the world to come.
Motyer describes the biblical theme of Babylon this way, “Babylon is the ‘superpower’, it represents the ‘imperialist syndrome’, the world ordered by the imposition of centralized government...But [Isaiah’s message is that] Babylon’s political domination will be broken—...In a word, human efforts to unify the world as one ‘city’ are insufficient.” Motyer, Alec. Isaiah (p. 145). IVP. Kindle Edition.
So, even though Judah does not yet even know Babylon will rise, conquer them, and lead them into exile, Isaiah wants them to encourage them that because Babylon is corrupt, it is insubstantial and will fall. But when we read Isaiah 13, we realize that the focus really isn’t Babylon, but God. As the violence, oppression, injustice, immorality, and sin of the world ruled by Babylon grows, the wrath of God grows. And God will act.
Isaiah 13:11 (ESV)
I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.
When the day of the Lord comes (13:6, 9), God’s wrath toward the pride of men will shake heaven and earth.
Isaiah 13:13 (ESV)
Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger.
Verses 15 and 16 are graphic in their description of the results of the wrath of God poured out on the kingdom of this world. But ultimately, the message is clear. The LORD God is filled with wrath for proud and arrogant sinners who live in Babylon. Isaiah uses several different words to describe God’s wrath: anger (13:3), indignation (13:5), wrath, and fierce anger (13:9, 13). On the “day of the LORD”, He will pour out all of this multiplied wrath on Babylon and those that live in her.
Then, Isaiah says something strange. He begins chapter 14 with the word, “for”. It is a connecting word. All of that wrath that will bring utter destruction and desolation to Babylon in chapter 13 is connected to what comes in chapter 14.
Isaiah 14:1 (ESV)
For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob.
The LORD’s wrath for Babylon is connected to His compassion for Israel. In fact, His wrath for the oppressive empire can be seen as one and the same thing as His compassion for His chosen people. After His people have been exiled for their sin, He will choose them, restore them, and set them up as rulers over the nations that oppressed them. The captives will become captors, and the slaves will become masters. In fact, verses 3-23 of chapter 14 are a taunt Israel will use against the king of Babylon. He is proud in His power, but he is doomed to hell. When God’s wrath comes down on Babylon, you had better hope you aren’t in charge.
But again, the big picture is really about God. In Isaiah 13:1-14:23, we have two long poems depicting God’s wrath for the kingdoms of this world that oppose God in their pride. And sandwiched in between is this incredible compassion of God for His chosen people. One God, with one heart and one mind. Filled with wrath, filled with compassion. What does this mean for us?
When Jesus the Messiah, full of the Holy Spirit, comes to preach to Israel, He doesn’t say much about Babylon. But He does talk a lot about the Kingdom of God. And He tells us that this world has a ruler who is being cast out as the kingdom of God expands. And He warns us that our default as humans is to the world system, like walking on a wide path with many people, all heading to destruction.
Jesus teaches us that we should not love our lives in this world at the expense of finding our life in the kingdom of God. Mark 8:34-36. Then He demonstrated what He meant by giving His life on the cross, in obedience to God, and as an atonement for the rebellion of every one of us who, in our sin, lives in opposition to God in Babylon.
This whole world is like one big Babylon. It offers security and prosperity if you will help build its cities and towers to make a name for ourselves. All you have to give is your soul. Jesus’ apostles were living under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was brutal, oppressive, it demanded the worship of the emperor and treason was not tolerated. But their allegiance was to the kingdom of God, and the Roman Empire persecuted them. So, when they sent letters to the churches around the Empire they used a different name to describe the empire: Babylon. (1 Peter 5, Revelation 18)
So, addressing the people of God, the prophets, Jesus, and His apostles all said that our lives in this Babylon world will never be comfortable. The world will hate you, it will persecute you, it won’t understand you, because those who belong to this world are held captive to one way of thinking. Their minds are hostile toward God.
John 16:33 (ESV)
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Whenever someone puts their faith in Jesus, the captive becomes the captor, we are taking every though captive to Christ - 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.
1 John 5:4 (ESV)
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
In fact, this is the whole message of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the last book of the Bible. In His death on the cross, Jesus has overcome the world. He repudiated the world and its system that places self above God and others. And He defeated the ruler of the world, Satan, by resisting temptation to the point of shedding His blood. So, choose your allegiance carefully. You can love your life in Babylon (Rome, America, etc.), and lose your soul, or you can overcome the world by faith in Jesus Christ. Let His death be your death to the world. In the end, God destroys Babylon in His wrath, and in His compassion for His people.
Do I have divided loyalties? Is there some Babylon thinking still in me? Do I value security and possessions more than faith in God? Do I live according to my identity in Christ, chosen and loved, with a gospel mission to the nations? The gospel is that the God of wrath is filled with compassion, and has demonstrated both of these through Jesus. Escape the wrath of God by coming out of Babylon, and into the kingdom of God through faith in Jesus.