Territorial Pain, C. R. Oliver [most read books of all time TXT] 📗

Territorial Pain

Introduction:
          We will steer our study over four chapters reviewing several of the enemies of Israel. Beginning with Babylon in Chapter 13, it is necessary to point out, not only the accuracy of the Prophet, but the long timeline. (Sometimes the prophet reaches into the future for over 100 years and is "on the money" historically. This prompts biblical critics to declare there are many Isaiah writers who voice their work in this book. Don't believe them.) 

Chapter 13: Babylon!

Isaiah 13:19
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
The beauty of the Chaldeans' pride,
Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

Like Sodom and Gomorrah, Babylon has been symbolically used as a depiction of luxuriant degradation and depravity. Often, Babylon has been associated with religious perversion (the Catholic Church for example). Sometimes, whole nations have been castigated with Babylon's name applied to government and financial systems. "The Babylonian System" most recently can be heard rattling from pulpits across the world in reference to Capitalism (as if Capitalism was inherently evil).

Comment: Capitalism's roots were in the Reformation and its foundation supported by the Protestant Ethic. This is precisely why many Popes and Pentecostals join in array against its entrepreneurial freedom. Max Weber's old standby, Capitalism And the Protestant Ethic should be re-read before judging it.

(Misappropriation of Scripture is so common today that the Spirit of Discernment must be used even in church.) 

True, some of the associative aspects of ancient Babylon validate several of the above claims, but in the case of Isaiah 13, the prophet is talking about the ancient kingdom of Babylon, not some spiritual symbolism. Interestingly enough, he speaks nearly two hundred years before it exercises its power over Israel, even saying that its kingdom would fall by the conquering hand of the Medes (which were a "non-entity" during 740 BC). No wonder Ezekiel and Daniel and the three Hebrew children took courage in the face of their adversity-they knew the game plan of God by reading Isaiah. 

Historically, Nebuchadnezzar desecrated the Temple in 586BC and took away King Zedekiah, leaving Jeremiah standing in the muddle that remained. The Babylonians destroyed Israel and took as slaves the able bodied and intelligent, leaving the remainder to fend for themselves in the destruction. The prophet Isaiah hears from the Lord: "pay-back time" is on His agenda. Although God allowed Babylon to punish His people, He did not order Babylonian cruelty and it would be returned on their heads. (Read the account of Belshazzar's feast in Daniel 5 and its debauchery and how startled they were when the Medes broke through their security and annihilated them in one night.) 

The Medians had no mercy. They, and the Persians, pillaged, raped and burned. Isaiah saw it so clearly that his descriptions were as accurate to history as if he had been a reporter on the scene.

Isaiah 13:17-19
Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, Who will not regard silver; And as for gold, they will not delight in it. Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces, And they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb; Their eye will not spare children. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, The beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.'

Think on the last line of this scripture, "as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah." This is the picture associated with Babylon! Revelation's reference to Babylon has THAT image. (In the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, God completely destroyed a sexually perverted [homosexual] community sparing only Lot and a portion of his family. (See: Leonard Ravenhill's book, Sodom had no Bible.) 

Review the verses prior to these verses. It is the Lord who assembles the ravenous army.

Isaiah 13:6
Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. 

Isaiah 13:9
Behold, the day of the LORD comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; Observe the extent of this tumultuous time.

Isaiah 13:11
I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. Wherever evil, iniquity, arrogance, pride and haughtiness abound, count on it, God will come on the scene. Those characteristics elicit the following treatment.

Isaiah 13:15-16
Everyone who is found will be thrust through, And everyone who is captured will fall by the sword. Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered  And their wives ravished.

Those who would overthrow Iraq and occupy physical Babylon have not met the true God of the universe when He was stirred to anger. Babylon fell in a day under the kingship of Belshazzar; its heritage was onerous.

The exactness of this prophecy is startling. It beckons modern prophets to either be specific and abandon their nebulous jargon or cease claiming the office. Modern Prophets, give us dates, times, exact situations or persons or shut up!!! 

Chapter 14 Words against the King of Babylon, Assyria and Philistia:

(A continuation of the prophecy against ancient Babylon [modern Iraq]).

Isaiah 14:22
"For I will rise up against them," says the LORD of hosts,
"And cut off from Babylon the name and remnant,
And offspring and posterity," says the LORD.

Isaiah opens this chapter with encouragement for the people of God (BEFORE they are taken captive). He tells them they will return from Babylon and be blessed in the "land of the Lord." Israel will take captive those who captured them and make servants of them. Israel will have rest, peace and prosperity from the hand of the Lord. THEN, they will openly triumph over the King of Babylon with their words and judgments.

Isaiah 14:1
For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land.

Isaiah 14:2
They (Israel) will take them captive whose captives they were, and rule over their oppressors.

Israel is made to realize how much the Lord loves them. Far in advance of their troubles is the promise of restoration and victory over their enemies. THAT is a picture they had to carry into their captivity and why God advises to, "Count it all joy." The sequence of Scripture offers a prelude and postlude to their captivity. As a prelude, there is much shouting and joy in both Chapter 12 and Chapter 14. 

AGAINST BABYLON AND ITS KING

Part of Israel's restoration was giving them the fruit of their lips. What they say of the King of Babylon will come to pass. They had to speak it by faith in order to see it crystallize into fact.

The Prophet gave them words from God, and they had to take up those words and put them into the atmosphere of their confession.

Isaiah 14:3-4
It shall come to pass in the day the LORD gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say:

(Below is a summary of what they are to say while ending it with this declaration:)

Isaiah 14:23
'I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,' says the LORD of hosts

Notice what this proverb covers.

They declare the end of Babylon's beauty and its ruling King (v. 4). 
(Who caused this to come to pass?)

Isaiah 14:5
The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of the rulers;

The earth itself rejoices when the evil ones are cut down with no hint of return. All of nature rejoices and is joined by the Cypress and the Cedars (choice trees). Paul said the earth groaned for its redemption.

Hell and the grave rejoice.

Isaiah 14:9
Hell from beneath is excited about you,
To meet you at your coming
From its depths the kings of the earth are assembled to add their Words.

Isaiah 14:9-10
All the kings of the nations.
10 They all shall speak and say to you:
'Have you also become as weak as we?
Have you become like us?' 

(The rulers point out the King of Babylon's grave condition: maggots and worms.)

God compares Babylon's King to satan, who fell from heaven (v.12ff).

Isaiah 14:12
'How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!'
The pompousness of the King of Babylon paralleled the speech of the devil.

(Notice: 740 BC had a greater understanding of how satan was "behind the Throne" than most moderns. They knew how he was directing and prompting evil works. Hitler and Stalin would attest.)

A favorite passage for many preachers is this parallel drawn between satan and the King of Babylon. (I suppose equating national leaders with the devil is not a new phenomenon.)

Isaiah 14:16-17
'Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying:
"Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms? 
Who made the world as a wilderness
And destroyed its cities,
Who did not open the house of his prisoners?"'

Note the contrast between the King of Babylon and the other world leaders.

Isaiah 14:19-20
Like a corpse trodden underfoot. 
You will not be joined with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land 
And slain your (own) people.

The Lord makes decrees that must come to pass (See: Sealed Unto His Coming).

Isaiah 14:22
'For I will rise up against them,' says the LORD of hosts,
'And cut off from Babylon the name and remnant,
And offspring and posterity,' says the LORD. 

Isaiah 14:23
'I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,' says the LORD of hosts

Please notice God's reason for such action:

Isaiah 14:21
Prepare slaughter for his children 
Because of the iniquity of their fathers,
Lest they rise up and possess the land,
And fill the face of the world with cities.

AGAINST ASSYRIA:
In the book, Sealed Unto His Coming, I go into detail about the sovereign seal of God on certain events in history. One may not pray against them, seek the Lord to change His direction or try to influence His opinions. Notice now His reasoning: He wants to punish them over His land (v. 25). Is this why He is gathering folk over Israel today? Are we to note verse 26?

Isaiah 14:24-27
The LORD of hosts has sworn, saying, 
Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,
And as I have purposed, so it shall stand: 
That I will break the Assyrian in My land,
And on My Mountains tread him underfoot.
Then his yoke shall be removed from them,
And his burden removed from their shoulders. 
This is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth,
And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. 
For the LORD of hosts has purposed,
And who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
And who will turn it back?

          This prophetic word was written before the rise to power of the Assyrians. The Lord did to them exactly as He promised. What is He promising today? What is He saying to you? 

AGAINST PHILISTIA
          When King Ahaz died, the surrounding nations saw this as opportunity to make moves against Israel-exploiting the situation. God reminds them, "He is in charge."

Isaiah 14:32-15:1
'The LORD has founded Zion,
And the poor of His people shall take refuge in it.'

Isaiah 14:31
'All you of Philistia are dissolved;
For smoke will come from the north,
And no one will be alone in his appointed times.'

This is a promise and not a threat! God gave promises to His beloved Israel in this chapter and also to the enemies of Israel. The