11Go now, leave your bonds and slavery. Put Babylon and all it represents far behind you—it is unclean to you. You are the holy people of the Lord; purify yourselves, all you who carry home the vessels of the Lord. 12You shall not leave in haste, running for your lives; for the Lord will go ahead of you, and he, the God of Israel, will protect you from behind.[2] (Isaiah 52:11–12)
Depart, Depart! Flee the Captivity of Babylon. When liberty was proclaimed, God’s people were to immediately leave the land of their bondage. They were to get out and never return because Babylon was the epitome of wickedness and idolatry. Babylonian society was steeped in the pollutions of this world:
Ø
sexual immorality
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impurity
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debauchery
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idolatry
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witchcraft
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hatred
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discord
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prejudice
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jealousy
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rage
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hostility
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selfish ambition
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greed
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covetousness
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injustice
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envy
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drunkenness
Ø orgies
Babylon Was
No Place for God’s People. Believers were to turn away from the sinful
nation and its people and return to the promised land. They were not to touch
any unclean thing nor were they to take any unclean thing—whether behavior or
object—with them. They were to make a complete break from the world of their
captivity. They were not to continue or even be reminded of the wicked world
that had held them in bondage.
Note that
priests, in particular, were to keep themselves pure, for they would be
carrying the holy vessels (utensils) and furnishings that belonged in
Jerusalem’s temple. Cyrus would return the holy vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had
taken as plunder from the temple (Ezr. 1:7). Handling the holy vessels
of the Lord was a very special privilege that God had given the priests.
Therefore, the priests were to prepare themselves for the task through ritual
cleansings (Nu. 3:5–13; 2 Chr. 5:2–10).
God Gave His People a Wonderful Promise: they would not be threatened or forced to flee as they left Babylon. Centuries before when the Israelites were set free by the Egyptians, they had to flee for their lives (Ex. 12:33–39; Ex. 14:5–12). Although they did not have to flee from this captivity, God’s people were not to linger. The Lord instructed them to depart immediately, to make haste to get out of Babylon (the world). If they would leave the world of wickedness and false worship without delay, God would personally go before them and guide them, and He would grant His presence as a rear guard to protect them. With His guidance and protection, they would reach the promised land.
Thought 1. Note This Important Fact:
the events described above had not yet taken place when God’s prophet Isaiah
was predicting them. Think about this fact for a moment. It would be
more than 150 years before King Cyrus defeated Babylon and set God’s people
free. This is an astounding prophecy and clear proof of the accuracy of
God’s Holy Word.
What God is saying in this passage is of paramount importance, and it is applicable to believers of all generations. When we as believers hear the message that sets us free, we are to immediately leave the world of wickedness and false worship. We are to spiritually separate ourselves from the pollutions of this world. We are to touch no unclean thing. “Depart, Depart, go out from there!” This is God’s strong charge to us. After we have been set free from sin and death by Christ, we must have nothing else to do with the evil and the idols of this world. We are to renounce all sin and idol worship, put them behind us, and be totally separated to God.
V “And with many other words did he testify and
exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation” (Ac. 2:40).
V “I wrote unto you in an epistle not to
company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this
world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must
ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep
company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or
an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no
not to eat” (1 Co. 5:9–11).
V “Be ye not unequally yoked together with
unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and
what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with
Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement
hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as
God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (2 Co. 6:14–16).
V “Wherefore come out from among them, and be
ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and
ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Co. 6:17–18).
V “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful
works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in
secret” (Ep. 5:11–12).
V “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that
walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us” (2 Th. 3:6).
V “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a
cause to decline after many to wrest judgment”
(Ex. 23:2).
V “Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a
covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a
snare in the midst of thee” (Ex.
34:12).
V “Blessed is
the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way
of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful” (Ps. 1:1).
V “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou
not.… My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their
path” (Pr. 1:10, 15).
V “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and
go not in the way of evil men” (Pr. 4:14).
V “Be not thou envious against evil men,
neither desire to be with them” (Pr.
24:1).
V “Make no friendship with an angry man; and
with a furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare
to thy soul” (Pr. 22:24–25).
V “Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee” (Pr. 23:6–7).[3]
Vers. 11, 12. —Christian pilgrimage. We May Regard the Departure and Journey of The Israelites from Babylon to Jerusalem as Pictorial of Our Departure from the “Far Country” Of Sin for The Heavenly Zion. Thus Considered, We Are Taught—
I. That Entrance on The New Path Should Be an
Act of Obedience as Well as Wisdom. It was an eminently wise thing on the
part of the Israelites to return to Jerusalem. Whatever interests, pecuniary or
social, they may have formed in exile, their true heritage was in the land of
their fathers; the politic in their policy remained, but the wise in their
wisdom left. This, however, was not the only or the main inducement. They were
called to return as an act of obedience.
The Lord their God summoned them. It was a Divine voice that said, “Depart ye,
depart ye, go ye out from thence.” Our true interest demands that we should
leave “the City of Destruction” and seek “another which is an heavenly.” Only a
false prudence detains; wisdom, deep and true, urges to depart. But this is not
the only consideration. God our Divine Father, Jesus Christ our righteous Lord,
commands us. He calls us to leave the kingdom of unrighteousness and to enter
the path of holy service. To linger is to be guiltily disobedient; to set forth
is to do the will of God.
II. That Entrance on Christian Pilgrimage
Should Be an Act of Deliberate Conviction. “Ye shall not go out with
haste.” There should, indeed, be no delay; but, on the other hand, there should
be no hurry. More than once Jesus Christ checked the advances of disciples who
were acting on impulse rather than conviction (Matt. 8:18–22; Luke 14:28–33).
Do not take the greatest step which can possibly be taken without earnest
thought, deep deliberation, repeated prayer.
III. That Christian Pilgrimage, Especially the
Direct Service of God, Should Be Characterized by Purity. “Touch no unclean
thing; … be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.” The Israelites were
not to soil their hands with any forbidden or ill-acquired treasures; and the
Levites were to take peculiar care that their hands were clean, for they would
bear the sacred vessels of the temple. All Christian men must see to it that
their hearts are uncorrupted and their hands undefiled by the many evils which
are in the world. Anything like covetousness, envy, unchastify, intemperance,
vindictiveness, makes service unworthy, and Divine worship unacceptable. By
watchfulness and prayer let the ministers of Christ, more especially, cleanse
their hearts and their hands.
IV. That the Guardianship of God May Be Counted Upon All the Way. “The Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward;” i.e. there shall be a complete defence from danger; though enemies should threaten you before and behind, you shall find an ample security in God. We find ourselves assailed by spiritual perils coming from opposite quarters: we are tempted by fanaticism on the one side and by indifference on the other; by pietism and secularism; by presumption and distrust; by undue asceticism and laxity; by superstition and scepticism; but if we are obedient and reverent in spirit, our God will be a shield against every foe.—C.[4]
[1] Taylor, Kenneth Nathaniel. 1997. The Living Bible,
Paraphrased. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
[2] Taylor, Kenneth Nathaniel. 1997. The Living Bible,
Paraphrased. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
[3] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2005. Isaiah: Chapters
36–66. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible.
Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
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