The Sins of the Oppressor
5Sit
in darkness and silence, O Babylon; never again will you be called “The Queen
of Kingdoms.” 6For I was angry with my people Israel and began to
punish them a little by letting them fall into your hands, O Babylon. But you
showed them no mercy. You have made even the old folks carry heavy burdens. 7You
thought your reign would never end, Queen Kingdom of the world. You didn’t care
a whit about my people or think about the fate of those who do them harm.
8O pleasure-mad kingdom, living at ease, bragging as the greatest in the world—listen to the sentence of my court upon your sins. You say, “I alone am God! I’ll never be a widow; I’ll never lose my children.” 9Well, those two things shall come upon you in one moment, in full measure in one day: widowhood and the loss of your children, despite all your witchcraft and magic.[1] (Isaiah47:6–8)
The oppressors of God’s people were to be judged because of their terrible sins, in particular their cruelty toward God’s people. Historically, Babylon, as the capital of a worldwide empire, was the center of the world, the focus of the world’s attention. But it was the small nation of Israel and her people that were the focus of God’s eye. Within Israel, there were a small number of people who truly trusted and loved the Lord, who obeyed His commandments, and lived righteously. Thus, God was working behind the scenes through world events to save His people from the persecutions and bondages of this world. But in this present point, God spelled out even more sins of the oppressor, sins that explain exactly why Babylon was to be destroyed.
a. Cruelty
to God’s People. The first sin of the oppressor was the mistreatment of
God’s people, and the cruel abuse inflicted upon them (v. 6). Some generations
before, the Lord had actually raised up and worked through Babylon to execute
judgment against the savage Assyrians and other wicked nations of the earth. Then,
due to Israel’s terrible sins, God used Babylon as His agent to execute
judgment against His own people. Israel’s sins had aroused His anger;
therefore, the Lord had used Babylon as the rod of His discipline. Through
disciplining His people, the Lord sought to stir them to return to Him (Is.
42:23–25; 43:22–28; La. 2:2; also see Is. 9:8–10:34 to compare how
God uses nations to discipline His people). But Babylon failed to respect
the basic human rights of other
people. They showed no mercy to Israel, God’s very own inheritance whom He had chosen to be His people. Even the elderly
were forced to do slave labor and grueling work. These actions exposed the vilest
traits of human nature as revealed in the Babylonian’s vicious, merciless
spirits and coldhearted cruelty. This was the first sin for which the oppressor
was to be condemned.
V “Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace
have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Ro. 3:15–18).
V “For their feet run to evil and make haste to
shed blood” (Pr. 1:16).
V “For they sleep not, except they have done
mischief; and their sleep is taken away unless they cause some to fall” (Pr.
4:16).
V “A heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
feet that be swift in running to mischief” (Pr. 6:18). “Their feet run
to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and
destruction are in their paths” (Is. 59:7).
V “Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand” (Mi. 2:1).
b. Boasting
&
Misplacing their Security: Failing to think about God &
the consequences of sin. Boasting in their prosperity and power and placing
their security in the things of the world was the second sin of the Babylonian
oppressor. The leaders and people of the great empire thought they would
continue forever, that their nation would always be the queen, the superpower of the world. No thought was ever given to
another nation’s rising and becoming more powerful than Babylon. No thought was
ever given to the only living and true God nor to the consequences of their own
immoral, unrighteous, and malicious treatment of others. For this reason, the
hand of God’s judgment was to fall upon Babylon. Note that this sin of boasting
and misplacing security will be a trait in the New Babylon. It will arise in
the last days of human history and will be one of the reasons why the New
Babylon will be destroyed by God (Re. 18:7; Re. 18:1–24).
V “And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast
much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be
required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?”
(Lu. 12:19–20).
V “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth
take heed lest he fall” (1 Co.
10:12).
V “Charge them that are rich in this world,
that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living
God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Ti. 6:17).
V “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he
saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (Js. 4:6).
V “For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s
desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom
the Lord abhorreth” (Ps. 10:3).
V “They that trust in their wealth, and boast
themselves in the multitude of their riches; None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a
ransom for him” (Ps. 49:6–7).
V “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou
knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Pr. 27:1).
V “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool:
but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered” (Pr. 28:26).
V “They have belied the Lord, and said, it is not he; neither shall evil come
upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine” (Je. 5:12).
V “Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the Lord; which say, who shall come
down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?” (Je. 21:13).
V “Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men” (Ho. 10:13).
c. Fleshly,
Carnal Pleasure: Living carelessly, immorally. The oppressor’s third
sin was living a fleshly, carnal life (v. 8a). The Babylonians were a
people given over to self-gratification, living carefree and careless lives.
They were pleasure-loving people filled with a spirit of selfishness, indulgence,
license, partying, and immorality. Little or no thought was given to the fact
that they were becoming a reckless and undisciplined society. Satisfying their
fleshly cravings and carnal appetites was the full focus of their lives. The
Babylonians rarely thought about a future life with the only living and true
God. Centuries of worshipping false gods that “allowed” them to indulge in
their most lustful desires had hardened their hearts against the Lord.
Consequently, the hand of God’s judgment was to fall upon this oppressor of His
people, Babylon.
V “And that [seed] which fell among thorns are
they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and
riches and pleasures of this life,
and bring no fruit to perfection” (Lu.
8:14).
V “And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast
much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be
required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
So is he that layeth up treasure for himself
and is not rich toward God” (Lu.
12:19–21).
V “(For many walk, of whom I have told you
often, and now tell you even weeping, that
they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is
their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly
things.)” (Ph. 3:18–19).
V “But she that liveth in pleasure is dead
while she liveth” (1 Ti. 5:6).
V “And [they] shall receive the reward of
unrighteousness, as they that count
it pleasure to riot in the daytime. Spots they
are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they
feast with you; Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin;
beguiling unstable souls: a heart they have exercised with covetous practices;
cursed children” (2 Pe. 2:13–14).
V “He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich”
(Pr. 21:17).
V “For the drunkard and the glutton shall come
to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a
man with rags” (Pr. 23:21).
V “Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant” (Is. 56:12).
d. Pride, Self-Sufficiency,
&
Self-Exaltation (Humanism): Exalting self (man) as supreme,
self-deification. An attitude of pride, self-sufficiency, self-exaltation,
and self-deification was the fourth sin of the oppressor. The Babylonians had a
firm belief in humanism or
self-deification, that “I am, and there is none beside me” (v. 8).
They felt that no one was superior to them, not even God. They even exalted
themselves as the supreme society among the human race. And they rested secure
in this fact, boasting among the nations that they were the greatest among the people and empires of
the world. Not surprisingly, they felt that their armies were undefeatable,
that their nation would never suffer like the widow nor ever lose so many
children (soldiers) that another nation could conquer them. Feeling that they
controlled their own lives and destiny, they deified themselves. They regarded themselves as the supreme or
greatest race on earth. This humanistic
spirit—puffed up pride, self-sufficiency, self-exaltation, and
self-deification—was the fifth sin that was to doom the oppressor.
V “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be
abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Mt. 23:12).
V “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he
saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (Js. 4:6).
V “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves
the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh,
and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of
the world” (1 Jn. 2:15–16).
V “The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices
that they have imagined” (Ps.
10:2).
V “Therefore, pride compasseth them about as a
chain; violence covereth them as a
garment” (Ps. 73:6).
V “These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and
hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren” (Pr. 6:16–19).
V “When
pride cometh, then cometh shame” (Pr.
11:2).
V “Pride goeth
before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Pr. 16:18).
V “A high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin” (Pr. 21:4).
V “He that is of a proud heart stirreth up
strife” (Pr. 28:25).
V “A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honor
shall uphold the humble in spirit” (Pr.
29:23).
V “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will
ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit
also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will
ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou
shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit” (Is. 14:13–15).
V “Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus,
Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the
seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of
God: Behold, thou art wiser than
Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: With thy wisdom and
with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and
silver into thy treasures: By thy great wisdom and by thy traffic hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart
is lifted up because of thy riches: Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because
thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; Behold, therefore I will bring
strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their
swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.
They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the
seas” (Eze. 28:2–8).
V “Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord” (Ob. 1:4).[2]
Are You Caught Up in The Pursuit of Power and Pleasure?
Our society is addicted to pleasure and power, but these can quickly vanish. Look at your own life and ask yourself how you can be more responsible with the talents and possessions God has given you. How can you use your life for God’s honor rather than your own? Remember, God is not opposed to wealth, riches, and worldly honor, what God is opposed to is the pursuit of the world’s riches for the sake of it itself. Your time, talent, and treasure are meant to be a blessing to you; however, primarily, your life is to bless others. Our blessings or worldly wealth is to be enjoyed within the confines of responsible moral behavior; it is not a license to willfully sin. We cannot take a penny with us beyond this life. Thus, start laying up your treasure in heaven through be a blessing to others.[3]
[1] Taylor, Kenneth Nathaniel. 1997. The Living Bible,
Paraphrased. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
[2] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2005. Isaiah: Chapters 36–66. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
[3] Life Application
Bible Notes. 2007. Tyndale.
No comments:
Post a Comment