Where the World Is Going

In Isaiah 13, God describes the way that He will judge Babylon, for their sin.

"The sound of a tumult is on the mountains as of a great multitude! The sound of an uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathering together! The LORD of Hosts is mustering a host for battle. They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, the LORD and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole land."
-Isaiah 13:4-5

God's weapon of choice for dealing with Babylon is identified,

"Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold."
-Isaiah 13:17

In 539 BC, the Medes and the Persians will come in to Babylon, and take over. You can read about it in Daniel 5. It's a pretty cool one!

But Isaiah is writing about this 150-200 years before this will happen! That's a pretty awesome prophecy, and it's part of what proves our Bible as accurate. No other religious document contains fulfilled prophecy like the Bible does.

So what does this mean for us today?

1. We can trust the Bible. It's been proven! 
This means that we should trust the Bible. God has proven that it is His Word, and not just some nice ideas. Since His Word has proven itself, we should base our lives off of it's contents.

2. We can trust God!
Think about this with me. If God knew 150 years before it happened that He would use the Medo-Persian empire to judge Babylon, doesn't that mean that He knows what will happen in your life as well. He knows the circumstances that you will face, He knows the trials that will come your way, and He knows exactly what you will need to get through them.

This is encouraging, because if you check out the blog from yesterday, God has everything to help you through these things! He is enough. So not only does God know what's going on in your life, but He's able to work through it.

Another question is brought up in this chapter. God is judging a nation for their sin. This prophecy actually has a dual fulfillment. Part of it was fulfilled in 539, when Babylon was overthrown, but some of it refers to at the end of the world, in the Great Tribulation, when God will judge the nations.

"I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless."
-Isaiah 13:11

God promises to judge sin.

There are two responses that we can have to this fact, and they are both hinged on the status of our relationship with God.

If you're a child of God, this should come as a comfort, to know that justice will prevail. God isn't letting anyone "get away with it". He'll meticulously deal with each of their sins, because their sins are against Him and His standard.

It should also give us a sense of urgency, because we know that the only way to escape this judgement is by putting your faith in Jesus, and the work that He did for us on the cross. The world is going to judgement. Anyone who hasn't given their life to Christ will face His wrath on their own for their sin. There is a world full of people that are sprinting towards judgement. We have the answer that they need, which means that we are the ones responsible to bring the news to them.

The gospel is called "Good News". This good news is that we can avoid judgement! Our sin can be paid for another way!

If you're not a Christian, I'm a little surprised that you read this far, honestly. But I'm glad that you did!! This idea of judgement probably seems silly to you. You're laughing to yourself, thinking, "Oh, those Christians! They're off their rocker with this whole "end of the world" "judgement" thing."

Remember what we talked about earlier. God's Word has proven itself. The Babylonians weren't too concerned with this prophecy either... and now they've been hit with it. Because they didn't change, they aren't here anymore.

So judgement is coming. That's a bit scary. I'd love to offer you an alternative. It's the same alternative that God has offered to each one of us.

God knew we were on our way to judgement unless He intervened. So He sent His Son, Jesus, to die in our place. Jesus paid the price that our sin required, so that instead of judgement, we could be brought into God's family by faith.

Picture yourself sitting in a small room waiting to be given a lethal injection. It's a scary thought! You're just waiting for the final paper from the judge that gives them the go ahead to end your life. A man walks in with a piece of paper. You're sweating, guessing what that paper says. The man walks into your room, and shows you the paper. Instead of authorizing a lethal injection, the judge has decided to adopt you as his own child.

That would blow your mind. You'd say, "why me?! I don't deserve that!" And you'd be right. But the judge loves you. Just as God loves you so much that He made a way for you to escape this judgement, through His family. Will you give your life to Him today?