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Today's reading

December 19, 2024

Picture: Dread and Joy

Isaiah 47:1-3, 10, 12-13, 15; Isaiah 48:20-23

Dread and Joy
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This promise of rescue and deliverance seemed so fragile in the presence of their captors that one would never hold onto it too tightly. But promises were compounding and prophecies were gathering on the borders of reality. Israel's misplaced expectations had been dashed before; would this moment be any different? Would this tattered nation rise with the tide of hope that seemed to be lapping at their feet? Or, would they sink into disappointment stranded between promises. Isaiah's words written 150 years prior allay their apprehension by addressing fate of Babylon and then Israel.  

"Come down and sit in the 

        dust,

O virgin daughter of

        Babylon;

sit on the ground without a 

        throne,

O daughter of the

        Chaldeans!

For you shall no more be

        called

tender and delicate.

Take the millstones and

        grind flour,

put off your veil,

strip off your robe, uncover

         your legs,

pass through the rivers.

Your nakedness shall be

         uncovered,

and your disgrace shall be

         seen.

I will take vengeance,

and I will spare no one."

​

Isaiah 47:1-3 (ESV)

Babylon's fate was sealed. Isaiah pictures them as an exquisite princess, living a life of luxury. The princess will soon be cast down, forced into harsh labor, covered in dust and stripped of her dignity. This seemed impossible. Babylon wasn't always the most powerful nation, but they had consistently been the center of culture, knowledge, and influence. Yet their fate was sealed.

"You felt secure in your

       wickedness;

you said, 'No one sees me';

your wisdom and your

        knowledge let you

        astray,

and you said in your heart,

'I am, and there is no one

        besides me.'"

​

Isaiah 47:10 (ESV)

Babylon's knowledge created a sense of privilege. They thought other cities could fall, but the glory of their city would stand forever. There were many libraries throughout the Babylon that were filled with Omen texts. These texts were used by pagan priests and sorcerers to help kings make decisions. They were filled with tests that used the stars, the organs of sacrificial animals to determine the correct decision in a given situation. Archeologists have recovered 70 such texts. Babylon's belief was that the combination of these texts and their sorcerers and priests made them impervious. They stood alone as the an indominable force living by the Motto "I am! And there is none beside me." But the Israelites and the Babylonians would learn that there is only one I AM.

"Stand fast in your

        enchantments

and your many sorceries,

with which you have

        labored from your

        youth;

perhaps you may be able to 

        succeed;

perhaps you may inspire

         terror.

You are wearied with your 

         many counsels;

let them stand forth and

         save you,

those who divide the

         heavens,

who gaze at the stars,

who at the new moons

          make known

what shall come upon you.

​

Such to you are those

           with whom you have 

           labored,

who have done business

          with you from your

          youth;

they wander about, each in

         his own direction;

there is no one to save you."

​

Isaiah 47:12-13, 15 (ESV)

But what about Israel? Would Babylon fall only to provide the 12 tribes with a new captor? Isaiah draws on a memory forever etched into their collective conscience to stir their confidence. Hundreds of years prior the Children of Abraham had been bought and sold like cattle and clamored for deliverance from their enemy pharaoh.

"Go out from Babylon, flee

        from Chaldea,

declare this with a shout of

       joy, proclaim it,

send it out to the end of the

      earth;

say, 'The LORD has

      redeemed his servant

      Jacob!'

They did not thirst when

      he led them through

      the deserts;

he made water flow for

      them from the rock;

he split the rock and the

      water gushed out.

'There is no peace,' says

       the LORD, 'for the

       wicked.'"

​

Isaiah 48:20-22 (ESV)

​

God would deliver Israel out of Babylon just like he had when he used Moses to lead them out of Egypt. They were not fools to place their hope in God. As we find ourselves humbled, waiting for God's promises to unfold before us, our hopes can become thread bear. But, God promises that our perseverance will create hope which will not disappoint because it rests on the sacrificial love of our risen savior.

This is Christmas to you.

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