Glimpses of Glory God's Rule

Well, good morning, and if you are just joining us, we are, as we have said, partway through

the book of Isaiah, which we're working through this term.

There is something quite majestic about the scope of this book.

It has a grandeur in its scope.

The second verse of Isaiah calls the heavens and the earth to bear witness, and in the

very last paragraph, we read of a new heaven and a new earth.

And so the journey of the book of Isaiah is from creation to new creation, such is the

scope of it.

It is cosmic, and cosmic renewal in a grand scale is what this book is about.

In God's wisdom and in his providence, that cosmic renewal is being worked out through

this little nation of Judah, being played out through the pages of history.

In this little nation.

And yet, as we open the book of Isaiah, it is quite dark days for Judah.

You see, Judah is sitting, waiting, cowering in the corner like a little puppy, waiting

for the mighty Assyrian army just on the other side of its northern borders to take up its

arms and walk in and annex Judah, as it has done Israel previously.

And so the question for Judah is, where is your security?

What is it that you are hoping for?

Where is it you look for your hope?

If you were here last week, the main idea was to turn to God's king for hope.

In repentance and faith, turn to God's king.

Today, it's linked to that idea, but it's turn away from other things as well, is the

point of today's message.

And so if you've got the St. Paul's app, three points.

God and the nations.

God and Judah.

And God and us.

So let's kick off, first of all, God and the nations.

Isaiah 1 to 12, which is where we finish last week, is the first main section of this prophecy.

And it began with a focus on Judah, and it ends with a focus on the nations.

And as we pick up the second major section of this book, which is chapters 13 to 27, we

Isaiah 13 · chapter mention

begin with a focus on the nations, and we end with a focus on Judah.

As a relatively small nation, it was constantly threatened by great powers.

And Judah, therefore, was constantly tempted to look to political and military alliances in

order to save her.

And so our concern today is really chapters 13 to 23, or really 13 to 27.

And if you've got a Bible in front of you and you flick through the pages, you'll see the

chapter headings or the section headings, and those section headings will tell you exactly

what these chapters are all about.

Now, they are 10 oracles, prophecies against the nations that are surrounding Judah.

They are structured into two groups of five oracles, and each of the two groups of five begin

with Babylon, the nation of Babylon.

Now, Babylon historically is known as one of the seven wonders of the world.

It's also the sacred capital and power base of the great king Nebuchadnezzar, who you can

read about in the Old Testament book of Daniel.

And the reason Babylon comes first in both sections of five oracles is that in Bible thinking,

Babylon is not just a real place, but it also is a symbol of collective human defiance and

rebellion against God.

Babylon was historically built on the site of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11.

And the Tower of Babel being the monument to human desire to push God out of life and to make

a name for ourselves.

It's the ultimate symbol, Tower of Babel, Genesis 11, the ultimate symbol of human rebellion against

God.

And it's a symbolism that's carried right through into the New Testament.

1 Peter 5, verse 13, the apostle Peter refers to the Roman Empire as Babylon.

1 Peter 5:13

And likewise, the apostle John announces the ultimate downfall of prideful world powers at the end of time in Revelation 18,

using the word Isaiah 21, fallen.

Fallen is Babylon.

Babylon.

Babylon.

And so as we consider the grand scope of Isaiah, we also note that Babylon rises at the beginning of the Bible and it falls at the end of the Bible.

Babylon represents all that stands against God.

All that is rebellious against God.

All that is an enemy of God.

All that is about human pride and achievement without God.

And even in chapter 13, which is our focus today, we are to understand that what is prophesied here about Babylon is more than just the nation.

In verse 11, we read God saying, I will punish the world for its evil.

What that means is, as we look at chapter 13, and please have your Bibles open because you really need to have your Bibles open.

I'll even pause for you to let you get it.

Excellent.

Going for apps, Bibles.

If you need a Bible, put your hand up or take one from the person next to you.

What this means is, as we read about Babylon here in chapter 13, we are reading about the great cities of our own day.

What does God say to London, Tokyo, New York, Beijing, Dubai, Sydney?

You could extend that and ask, what does God say to the great multinational companies of our day?

BHP and Apple and Amazon and Google and Meta.

And what's more, what does God say about the great ideologies and opinion formers and culture shapers of our day of liberal democracy and Islam and secularism?

What does God say to everything that we have built for ourselves?

Verse 6 of chapter 13.

Wail for the day of the Lord is near.

It will come like destruction from the Almighty.

And then down into verse 9.

The day of the Lord is coming, a cruel day with wrath and fierce anger to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it.

Both of those verses mention the day of the Lord.

It represents both a particular time in history and something far deeper and greater as well.

It's first a reference to the year 539 BC when the Babylonian Empire finally fell.

It finally fell to the Medi-Persian Empire under Cyrus.

But it also refers to a day that is yet to come when the Lord Jesus will return.

We see this at the end of the Bible.

And do what he did here to Babylon to bring judgment upon the pride and the arrogance of all who dare to oppose him.

And most of Isaiah 13, which was just read out to us, is a vivid description of what that day will be like.

What is it about our society that makes God in?

Well, in one verse, we are given a telling insight into the mind of the judge of all people.

Verse 11.

I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins.

I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless.

In its essence, evil is the opposite of everything that's good.

Evil is not a category that is reserved for some people, but not others.

It's a category that's reserved for all people, not just the worst of people.

It's described in verse 11 as arrogance, pride, haughty, as sin.

As the German theologian Martin Luther wrote, the human heart is curved in on itself.

Definition of pride.

Curved in on itself.

Looks to itself.

That's the essence of the problem.

We put ourselves where only God should be.

Now, I'll be frank with you.

I do not tend to think of my neighbours or even of myself as evil.

And yet, I have done things.

I have said things and thought things that have caused harm to others.

And I still do.

I've acted.

I do act for my own advantage at the expense of others.

I did it yesterday.

There was a long line of traffic.

I rammed up on the inside and pushed in.

The guy behind me didn't like it.

But my car was bigger than his.

In its essence, evil is the opposite of everything good.

It is my heart curved in and of itself.

Think about myself first.

I departed from the good ways of the God who made me.

And God says humanity must be held accountable for it and he will punish the wicked for their sins.

God will bring low the pride, the proud.

He will bring low the pride, the presumption of those who exalt themselves.

And so I ask you, have you ever believed your own publicity?

Have you ever refused to let God be God?

Have you ever thought that his word is mistaken, misguided, wrong?

Have you ever justified your behaviour?

Even used the Bible to justify your behaviour?

Have you ever justified your behaviour?

Have you ever justified your behaviour?

And so in verse 2, he will muster a mighty army through whom he will punish the proud.

Raise a banner on a bare hilltop.

Shout to them, beckon to them to enter the gates of the nobles.

I have commanded those I prepared for battle.

I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath.

Those who rejoice in my triumph.

Listen, a noise on the mountains like that of a great multitude.

Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms.

Like nations massing together, the Lord Almighty is mustering an army for war.

They come from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens.

The Lord and the weapons of his wrath to destroy the whole country.

That's God speaking to Babylon.

And the immediate result of God's judgment here is agonising helplessness, as we've all said in verse 6.

It's sobering.

Human greatness will come to nothing.

Weapons, it says he, will fall from limp fingers.

Nerves will flee from every heart.

And it's in this moment that the bankruptcy of human pride is laid bare.

And the impotence of all sources of security, hope and trust that we have built for ourselves will be gone.

The flaming faces of verse 8 is shame.

The shame of realising that my rejection of God has just been foolish.

We will all be in the same boat, but we'll all sing it upon ourselves.

The shame of rejecting God.

The foolishness of it.

And verses 9 to 18 is a devastating description of God's judgment.

It is gut-wrenching.

And so this should cause us to ask,

what is it that we are trusting in to defend ourselves against Almighty God?

Nothing will stand.

Verse 19 is really telling Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,

the pride and glory of the Babylonians,

will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.

You see, this is a message to Judah.

Babylon's not hearing this.

This is a message to Judah.

And God's saying here, have a look at Babylon, Judah.

Look at it.

The jewel of the kingdoms.

And all Judah could see in that moment was the jewel of the kingdoms.

This great city, the glory and the splendour of Babylon.

The first city in human history to get beyond 200,000 inhabitants.

The glorious city that had spectacularly throughout its history defied God and succeeded.

God says it will fall.

Judah, it will fall.

Look to that hope and it will fall.

And it did.

It fell.

It fell.

And as we're told, it will never be rebuilt again.

In 1983, Saddam Hussein started to rebuild Babylon to again be a symbol of greatness in the world.

He portrayed himself as the new Nebuchadnezzar, the new king of the Babylonian empire.

He had his name inscribed on the bricks as Nebi before him did in the original Babylon.

He had large portraits of himself put alongside King Nebuchadnezzar at the entrance of the rebuilt Babylon.

And signs throughout the city declared, this was built by Saddam Hussein, son of Nebuchadnezzar, king of kings, to glorify Iraq.

He ended up in a hole in the ground, running for his life.

Defiant to the end, he is dead and God, gone.

And the city that he was building for himself is still a ruins in the desert that you can visit today.

And so here the prophecy of Isaiah, nearly 3,000 years before that,

she will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations.

There no nomads will pitch their tents.

There no shepherds will rest their flocks.

But desert creatures will lie there.

Jackals will fill her houses.

There the owls will dwell.

And there the wild goats will leap about.

Hyenas will inhabit her strongholds.

Jackals, her luxurious palaces.

Her time is at hand and her days will not be prolonged.

You see, the message for Judah here as it gazes at great Babylon is very simple.

Empires will come and go.

Societies will rise and they will fall.

Great companies and institutions will burst onto the scene and disappear.

The rulers and kings will come and go.

And you will live.

And you will die.

I am so grateful to God for his timely providence of preaching today on Isaiah 13 to 23

and watching the coronation of King Charles III yesterday.

He's here and one day he will go.

The British Empire has risen and it will fall.

The Church of England has risen and it, with all its pomp and ceremony yesterday,

it too, unless it repents, will fall.

The grand scope of God's purposes from creation to new creation will continue.

Jesus sits on his throne alone.

From everlasting to everlasting.

So, why is this for Judah?

Why is Judah hearing this?

Why is God revealing this to Isaiah for his people?

Now, the first thing to say is that what Isaiah is not doing in these chapters,

Isaiah is not a self-righteous moraliser standing on the edges of society,

waving his finger at society going,

tut, tut, tut, tut, tut, tut.

You naughty people.

As the Church has done in society.

That's not what's happening here.

Neither is Isaiah simply a social reformer.

All these chapters consist of brutal oracles against the different nations of the world

for their pride and their rebellion.

And Isaiah never went on a preaching tour to those nations.

They never heard these oracles.

Isaiah isn't taking the platform of the United Nations,

decrying the behaviour of the foreign powers.

These oracles are recorded for the people of God.

Designed to build the faith of the people of God

and to deal with their idolatry.

It's about kicking idols and building faith.

That's what these chapters are about.

The primary purpose is to teach God's people about God,

about his absolute control over every nation of the world,

about the perfection of his justice.

They're designed for God's people to trust him,

to lean on him,

to cling to his word.

You see, the main issue in the opening chapters of Isaiah

is that Judah didn't trust in God.

They looked to other things for their security.

And what is amazing about that

is that we read in the early chapters

that they had their religion.

They were doing their sacrifices.

They were going to church.

They were doing their community groups.

They were reading their Bibles.

So to speak.

But God was not functionally the center of their life.

They were looking to other nations

as their security in the end.

As a nation, Judah desired to defend her borders

against a foreign aggressor,

which is not a bad thing.

It's a good thing.

The problem is that Judah, in that moment,

decided to go with human wisdom

and to trust in other nations for that security,

rather than the God who had rescued them

from slavery in Egypt,

who provided for them

and had for well over 2,000 years of their history

protected them.

And so God is demonstrating to Judah

in these oracles,

the naivety

and the futility

of trusting in human resources

and power and wisdom.

You want to go to Babylon, Judah?

It will soon be like Sodom and Gomorrah.

What about the Philistines?

What about Cush?

What about Egypt?

What about Moab?

No.

No.

No.

And so what is happening in these chapters

is that God takes his people on a journey

around the compass,

wherever Judah looked.

She is seeing nations whose glory is fleeting

and whose fate is sealed.

And there is nowhere

that she can look for her security

but the Lord,

the Lord who is the Lord of all the earth,

the ruler of nations,

the judge of humanity.

In chapter 17,

Judah is told to look to Damascus.

Look at Damascus.

This is their brothers to the north,

the ten tribes of Israel to the north.

Assyria destroyed those ten tribes of the north,

sorry, destroyed Damascus in 732 BC.

Ten years later,

it completely obliterated the nation.

Look to Damascus.

What was their problem?

What did they do?

They foolishly aligned themselves with Syria

in order to defeat the Assyrians.

And they lost.

But the real reason for her downfall

was her long, long history of idolatry.

Long history of idolatry

which eroded her single-minded commitment

to Yahweh,

to their God,

and opened her up to the politics of convenience

and worldly wisdom

instead of trusting their God.

And so,

in chapter 17,

verses 7 and 8,

we have the pivotal passage of repentance.

In that day,

people will look to their maker

and turn their eyes

to the Holy One of Israel.

They will not look to the altars,

the work of their hands.

In other words,

don't just look to God

for your hope,

but turn away

from your false gods

at the same time.

what we see here

is that God

has declared war

on idolatry.

It's in the New Testament

as well.

And it's particularly

in the New Testament

that we see

how God has declared war

on our idolatry.

we are to look to our maker

who on Mount Zion

took on the role

of Babylon for us.

He took on our rebellion

and our sin

and became

the consummate enemy

of God.

The eternal

and glorious,

the eternal

and glorious

maker

and judge

of humanity

experienced

demise

for us.

He experienced

shame

for sin,

shame

for rebellion,

shame

for our idolatry.

He experienced

death.

And yet

his resurrection

was a triumphant

victory

over all

the corrupt

political processes

and the false

allegiances

that resulted

in his undeserved

death.

The Jewish

nationalism,

the betrayal

of Judas

for 30 pieces

of silver,

the cruelty

of the Roman

cross

were all

expressions

of the Babylonian

principle

in this world.

And on

Mount Zion

as the nations

looked on

our maker

cried out

his last breath

it

is

finished.

And with

those words

God's

enemies

can now

be his people

and find

refuge in him

not fear

refuge

refuge.

And so

God is

inviting us

here

to

look

across

history

see

how

empires

have

fallen

and

realize

that

they

are

all

pointers

to

a

great

and

even

greater

and

more

terrible

day

of

judgment

when

we

will

give

an

account

before

God.

That's

what he's

doing

here

with

Judah

and

looking

at

Babylon

and

these

nations.

We

are

invited

to

read

the

writing

that's

on

the

wall

just

as

King

Belshazzar

did

as he

partied

carefree

on the

very night

the

Babylonian

empire

fell.

It

was

overrun

and

the

writing

was

on

the

wall

and

we're

meant

to

read

the

writing

that's

on

the

wall

as

he

did

on

that

night.

It's

written

right

across

human

history

God

has

numbered

our

days

we

have

been

weighed

on

the

scales

and

found

wanting.

How

are we

able to

stand

against

the

almighty?

The

only answer

is captured

in the

Christian

song

lyrics

dressed

in his

righteousness

alone

faultless

I

stand

before

the

throne

on

Christ

the

solid

rock

I

stand

all

other

ground

is

sinking

sand.

That's

the message

for

Judah.

That's

the message

for

Judah.

So let's

just close

off and have

a look at

us for a

moment.

this whole

chunk of

Isaiah

has the

aim of

demolishing

any

confidence

that we

might have

in our

own

resources

and human

wisdom

and human

methods

and

ingenuity.

It's

designed

to crush

our

idols

and to

build

faith.

Not

just to

turn to

God

in

faith

but it's

designed

to crush

our

idols

our

other

alternative

gods

that we

have

built

our

lives

on.

Now

idolatry

looks a

little bit

different

for us

than it

did for

Judah.

It might

have

similar

roots

but

for

instance

we

might

be

looking

to

other

nations

for

our

ultimate

security

rather

than

God.

That's

possible.

But

there's a

word in

the New

Testament

that

means

inordinate

desires

and it's

strongly linked

to the

idea of

Old

Testament

idolatry.

Every

single sin

that we

commit,

every

thought,

every

action

that we

have

that's

a sin

has a

deeper

source

to that

action.

There's a

sin

that's

beneath

the

sin

and the

sin

that's

beneath

the

sin

is that

each

one of

us

has

idols

that

we

trust

in

rather

than

Jesus

Christ

for

our

outstanding

with

God

and

others.

Romans

1 tells

us

that we

create

idols

because

we

want to

have

control

over

our

lives.

We

don't

want to

trust

God.

We

want to

control

our

lives

ourselves.

Galatians

4 tells

us

idolatry

is linked

to our

self

salvation.

1

John

5 tells

us

the

idolatry

is taking

good

things

and

making

them

ultimate

things.

They

are

things

that we

really

get our

sense

of

worth,

our

value,

our

security.

As

soon

as our

loyalty

to

anything

leads

us to

push

God

to

one

side,

his

word

to

one

side,

idolatry.

It can

be a

physical

object,

it could

be a

property,

it could

be a

person,

it could

be an

activity,

it could

be a

role,

it could

be an

institution,

it could

be a

hope,

it could

be an

image,

it could

be a

pleasure,

it could

be a

hero,

it could

even

be

a

theology.

idolatry.

And so

there's a

whole range

of them

and they're

all different

for all

of us.

We can

have a

power

idolatry,

an

approval

idolatry,

a comfort

idolatry,

a giftedness

idolatry,

a control

idolatry,

a helping

idolatry,

a dependence

idolatry,

an independence

idolatry,

a work

idolatry,

an achievement

idolatry,

a materialism

idolatry,

a religion

idolatry,

an irreligion

idolatry,

a cultural

idolatry,

a family

idolatry,

a relationship

idolatry,

a suffering

idolatry,

an image

idolatry,

an ideology

idolatry,

and on the

list goes

and goes

and goes.

And these

oracles

are designed

to pull the

rug out

from all

of them

and to

show us

their

powerlessness

because

everything

you put

at the

center of

your heart,

the center

of your

life.

If it's

not your

maker,

it will

control you.

It will

cause you

to work

for it.

It will

cause you

to give

yourself

to it.

Only

Jesus

Christ,

our true

maker,

our true

sovereign,

our true

savior,

gives

himself to

us to set

us free.

These

chapters

here are

designed to

expose our

own idols

for the

powerless

jokes that

they are.

If you're

not convinced

of that,

I would

invite you

in this

week to

visit two

places,

the rubbish

tip and

the cemetery.

There you

will discover

the end

of all

life and

the end

of all

things.

The rubbish

tip and the

cemetery.

The

cemetery.

future.

The

future.

The

future.

The

future.

The

future.

The

future.

The future.

Judah

looked to

the nations.

What are

you looking

to?

What are

you looking

to?

I'm going

to do

what I

did last

week.

Close

off our

time together.

I'm going

to invite

you to

bow your

heads.

Put your

hands out.

I'm going

to ask you

some questions

that might

just get

the start

of the ball

rolling for

you and

then I'm

going to

pray for

us.

Let me pray

to start

with.

Jesus

help us

to see

you.

Help us

to love

you.

Help us

to obey

you.

And in

doing that

help us

to see

the idols

of our

heart that

displace you

from the

center of

our hearts.

And so I

ask you

what is

your

greatest

nightmare?

What is

it that you

worry about

the most?

What

brings

out of

me the

strongest

emotions?

What do

I rely

on or

comfort

myself with

when things

go badly

or become

difficult?

What makes

me feel

the most

self-worth?

What am

I the

proudest

of?

What do

I need,

I mean

really need

other people

to see

in me?

What do

I really

want and

expect out

of life?

what would

really

make me

happy?

I wonder

if the

way we

answer those

questions

expose the

heart that

would defy

God if it

had to.

gracious God

we confess

that we

have built

our hearts

and our

lives around

things that

are good

but not

the best

and so we

confess our

idolatry.

We have

made these

things

absolutes

things that

love us.

And what

are they

compared to

you?

If we

have you

we don't

have to

have these

other

things.

These

idols

cannot love

us,

help us,

give us

hope or

significance or

save us as

you do.

and so

we ask

that you

would please

forgive us.

Please

forgive us

for trampling

on your

love for

us.

Please

forgive us

for our

lack of

gratitude,

our lack

of grateful

joy for

all that

you've done

for us.

As

hard as

it is,

we desire

to push

these idols

out from

the centre

of our

lives.

They are

repulsive

to you

and will

only lead

to our

ruin.

And so

help each

one of us

to see

them clearly,

to weigh

them against

all of your

goodness and

to expel

them from

the centre

of our

lives by

your grace.

Replace

them with

your gospel

by your

spirit for

your glory

and our

joy.

Amen.

Amen.