September 13
Isaiah 12:1-14:32 | PS 57:1-11 | Prov 23:9-11 | 2 Cor 13:1-14
More important than trying to piece together each word of prophecy is to understand that God has put forth promises through the mouth of His prophets, and that each and every one of these promises will come true. He is truth, His promises can be trusted. When Jesus spoke to the people, He said in Luke 12:54-56, “Then He also said to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?” God knows that we all develop some level of understanding through years of experience. Interestingly, today, this is even marginalized and “knowledge” is paraded. College grads with no experience, people with little to no wisdom speak forth words with certainty based on an internet search or what they were told in school with no real experiential wisdom.
With this in mind we must remember the role of the prophet as described in 1 Peter 1:10-12, “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.” They spoke forth not from their own wisdom or knowledge. They spoke forth in complete trust in their God who gave them the information to speak forth. With that in mind, when we read Isaiah 13-15, and for that matter, all of Isaiah, he didn’t know how this information was going to play out. Realize that the burden to Babylon was spoken at a time that Babylon was still a secondary power behind Assyria. It would be one hundred years before they rose to the top empire. In Isaiah 13:17, we are introduced to the Medes who were barely worth mentioning at this time, yet they would conquer the Babylonian empire 200 years after this prophecy was written.
As we read Scripture, especially prophecy, we must keep our minds and hearts open. These prophecies had both near and far implications. Whenever you see phrases such as “the Day of the Lord” or God’s “indignation” this speaks forward to the future tribulation. So weaving through this portion there are references to the soon to be Babylonian empire and the future Babylon during end times. There are references to the king of Babylon and to Lucifer, Satan, the power behind the evil Babylon in Isaiah 14:12-14. What is important to realize is this prophecy was not issued to the Babylonians, but to the Jewish people. It was to let them know that though they were under persecution at various times by their neighboring enemies, they could trust God who would never forget them. As we go through these prophecies, both past and future, and as we see our current world collapsing around us, May we remember the same and learn to trust God’s promises, not necessarily because we understand it, but because He said it, and He can be trusted.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: