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One day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee.
Though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me.
Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid.
For Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also has become my salvation.
Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
And in that day shall ye say,
Praise the Lord, call upon His name, declare His doings among the people,
make mention that His name is exalted.
Sing unto the Lord, for ye have done excellent things.
This is known in all the earth.
Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion.
For great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of ye.
Let's pray.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the King James Bible.
Dear Lord, we thank you for this wonderful church.
You have given us your God. We thank you for the pastor you have given us.
Please bless him tonight as he preaches your word.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Amen. Tonight we continue our series, our Bible study with the book of Isaiah.
Let me just go give a little bit of review from last week regarding chapter 11.
And then I'm also going to finish up just the last six verses of the chapter that I didn't get a chance to cover last week.
In chapter 11, chapter 11 spends a considerable amount of time just talking about some of the elements of the Millennial reign.
And what it spends time talking about the most is essentially the fact that God is changing the animal kingdom.
And we compare that with Romans chapter 8, how the Bible tells us that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth
in the sense that they're waiting for the adoption of the sons of God.
Essentially saying that, you know, the animal kingdom, nature, the world is actually waiting for that resurrection.
It's waiting for Jesus Christ to transform this world.
And we see a couple examples of that in chapter 11 where we see that God basically changes the metabolic condition of each animal.
They're no longer predators. They're not eating each other.
There will be no nature is metal or discovery channel where the lion is chasing after the gazelle.
Everything is just going to dwell in unity and in peace.
And of course, the reason God is expressing that in chapter 11 is just to kind of give us a picture, a glimpse of the extent of peace that we're going to experience in this world.
To the point where even the animals are not going to be killing each other.
And it even says that a child shall lead about some of these animals that were previously carnivorous,
that the child can reach into the pit of serpents and asps and nothing's going to happen to them.
And so obviously there's a great transformation that takes place when Jesus Christ comes to rule and reign during the millennial reign.
Now let's go and pick up in chapter 11 in verse number 10.
I'm just going to cover these last couple of verses briefly.
It says here in verse number 10 of chapter 11 in that day, there shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the people to which shall the Gentiles seek and his rest shall be glorious.
And what this basically is saying is that because Jesus Christ is ruling and reigning on this earth, he is essentially the dictator of the world at this point.
He is the king of kings, Lord of lords, ruling physically in this land.
The Bible compares them to an ensign. Now what is an ensign? Well it's basically another way of saying a banner or a standard.
And if you think of a banner or a standard in context of war, it's essentially a sign that declares to the enemy or anybody else who that side you're particularly on.
And so it's saying here that when Jesus Christ rules, referring to the root of Jesse, there will be no obstruction to the truth.
Everyone's going to know that Jesus Christ is in charge. And the reason for that is because the enemy is temporarily removed.
Temporarily as in a thousand years. Satan is cast into the bottomless pit.
And because he's essentially removed from the picture for these thousand years, false religion is not a thing.
And of course the truth has always been available. It will always be available to all people.
But of course there's obstacles of deception. There's obstacles of false religion. There are obstacles of philosophies, vain deceit, and rudiments of this world that obstruct people's vision from the truth.
But in the millennial reign, none of that stuff is going to exist. There will be no false religion. There's not going to be any promotion of philosophies and vain deceit.
The end sign, the banner of Jesus Christ will be clearly seen so that Gentiles can go to Jesus Christ and not have to overcome false doctrine, false religion, things of that nature.
And so that's what it means when it says that Jesus Christ will stand as an end sign. He will be the standard king.
He will be the standard ruler. This will be the standard religion for all the world is the religion of Christ.
Look at verse 11, it says, it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people,
which shall be left from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the isles of the sea.
And he shall set up an end sign for the nations and shall assemble the outcast of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
The envy also of Ephraim shall depart and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not envy Judah and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
Now, what is this referring to? Well, obviously, there is more of an immediate fulfillment of this regarding the Judah of Isaiah's day.
But this is also prophetic of the millennial reign because if you think about it, when you look at end times Bible prophecy, at the end of Daniel 70th week, you have the Battle of Armageddon.
And once that's done with and complete, you have the inauguration of the millennial reign, which is also when the believing Israelites saved people from Judah and all the tribes of times past,
inherit the land once again. So God essentially collects the dispersed of Israel, saved Israel, and brings them back into the land.
This is what that's referring to. Look at verse 14, it says, but they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west and they shall spoil them of the east together.
They shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
Now, the next couple of verses is essentially reiterating what verse 14 is saying, which is that God's going to bring salvation to Judah and Israel by getting rid of their enemies.
Now this is still in context of the millennial reign. And if you know anything about what takes place at the millennial reign, you know that this is in conjunction with all Israel being saved.
Now hold your place there in Isaiah, go to Romans chapter 11 briefly. We're going to just touch on this particular subject, this topic, because it is important.
And if you think about it, chapter 11, even chapter 12, as we're going to see tonight in chapter 13, it's in chronological order when dealing with end times Bible prophecy.
Because look at Romans 11 verse 25 in context of what we just read regarding the victory over the enemies of the Lord here, the enemies of God's people.
It says in verse 25, for I would not brethren that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.
Now what is this referring to? Well it's referring to the fact that when you look at Israel collectively, you have to be able to separate them between two people groups.
One being saved Israelites, which the vast majority of them just don't exist today. But if you were to look at all of history, we can conclude that there's a lot of saved people in Israel, in Judah, throughout the centuries.
People who believed on the Lord, end times past, in the Old Testament, and of course even in the New Testament.
Now the other Israel are the Israel according to the flesh that are not saved.
So when it says blindness in part is happening to Israel, it's referring to the fact that that section of Israel that has not believed on the Lord, they're blinded.
And it says that as a whole collectively Israel, it will remain that way until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.
Now the fullness of the Gentiles, another way of saying that is, or the way the Bible would put it is, the times of the Gentiles.
And what that's referring to is actually the end of a 42 month period, three and a half year period.
Which actually takes place in end times Bible prophecy at the abomination of desolation.
Three and a half years thereafter, you have the battle of Armageddon, then you have the inauguration of the millennial reign, and that is essentially the completion of the fullness of the Gentiles.
You can compare that to Luke 21, you can compare it to Revelation chapter 11, where the Bible talks about the Gentiles trotting Jerusalem underfoot, and it gives us that time frame that says for 42 months.
So Israel collectively will remain blind until that time period, and then look what it says in verse 26, and so all Israel shall be saved.
Now a lot of dispensationalists, pre-tribbers will interpret that to mean that at the battle of Armageddon, the Jews are going to see Jesus coming on a white horse, and that's when they get saved by looking upon him.
But obviously that's nonsense, it's been refuted many times, it's stupid to even think that that's how people get saved.
Because Jesus came humbly in the first century AD, and they crucified him.
So it makes you think that anything is going to change 2,000 years later.
What is this referring to? When it says all Israel shall be saved, it goes on to say,
And if you look at the theme of the book of Isaiah and other major prophets, you'll often hear this phrase of the remnant of Judah, or the remnant of Israel.
Referring to the fact that there is a small group of people that will be delivered from God's wrath.
Implying that the rest of Israelites, the rest of Judah, will suffer God's punishment.
So they will be removed from Jacob, and then the remaining Israelites, the remaining those of Judah, will be saved.
You understand?
Now how does this fit end times of Bible prophecy?
Well after the battle of Armageddon, at the inauguration of the millennial reign, you have saved Israelites from all of time, all the eras,
inherit the land, but at that point, ungodliness is removed from Jacob.
What is the ungodliness?
Unsaved Israelites.
So unsaved Israelites will no longer occupy Israel.
So why is that important?
Because only unsaved Israelites occupy Israel at this time.
They're not God's people, they're not God-fearing people.
They don't worship the God of the Bible, because the God of the Bible is Jesus Christ.
And so right now, it's infested with God-hating, anti-Christ individuals, and according to the Bible, that is the ungodliness of Jacob.
But in the end times, when believing Israelites are resurrected, and they stand in their time,
ungodliness or the unsaved Israelites are removed, and at that point you only have saved Israelites inheriting the land.
How do we know that?
Because you've got to look at the timeline that it says that that happens at the fullness of the Gentiles.
And when you compare Luke 21, Revelation 11, you understand that that happens after the battle of Armageddon.
It's very simple.
And it says in verse 27,
For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins, as concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes.
But as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father's sake.
Now what's funny is that you have Zionists who often point out this scripture and say,
Yeah, they're enemies for the gospel's sake, or excuse me, they're enemies for your sake, but they're also beloved for the Father's sake.
Well, what they don't understand is that these are two different groups of people.
The enemies are those who are not the elect.
The elect are those who are actually saved.
So when it says that, as concerning the gospels, they are enemies for your sakes, it's referring to unsaved Israelites,
unsaved Jews, who are persecuting God's people, hindering them from propagating the gospel, as we see throughout the New Testament.
But as touching the election, now who are the election according to the New Testament?
Saved people.
And if we're talking in context of Jews, Israelites, it's saved Jews.
Like who? Like the apostle Paul.
Peter, right?
He said, well that term is only designated for Israelites, though, and Jews.
No, because when Peter, who is a Jew according to the flesh, is writing to Gentiles in Cappadocia, Bithynia, Pontius, Galatia, which are Gentile nations, he calls them the elect.
So there you have it.
They are beloved for the Father's sake.
And the they there is not only referring to Israelites who are saved, it's referring to us as well.
Because we are the elect according to the foreknowledge of God, the fact that we're saved.
Now go back to Isaiah, if you would.
So that is essentially what the latter end of Isaiah chapter 11 is referring to.
Of course it spends a considerable amount of time explaining to us what the millennial reign is.
But then it kind of goes into the salvation of Israel, the fact that their enemies are going to be removed out of the picture.
God's salvation would come to them.
Now tonight, because of the brevity of chapter 12, I'm actually not going to cover chapter 12 at all.
And the reason for that is because it's pretty self-explanatory.
It's essentially an interlude of worship.
And I think the reason that chapter 12 or the content of chapter 12 is included here,
is because of the fact that chronologically, once Israel or Judah, saved Israel and Judah,
inherit the millennial reign, what do they do?
They praise God.
They're thankful for the salvation of Jesus Christ.
They're thankful for the salvation of God that came upon them.
And this is why it says in verse 1,
And in that day, thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee.
Though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me.
Now obviously, this is speaking generally as though the nation is one person, right?
It's as if a person is speaking, but it's referring to the entire nation.
And God was angry with Israel.
He's angry with Judah.
But his anger is turned away.
Why? Because ungodliness is removed from Jacob.
And of course, they receive the comfort of the Lord.
They are praising God and worshiping him because of his fulfillment of his promises
that we see throughout the Bible being fulfilled in the millennial reign.
Now tonight, we're going to spend the remainder of the sermon in chapter 13.
Now chapter 13 is about the burden of Babylon, which is ironic that we're kind of covering Babylon tonight,
being that tomorrow is the Fourth of July, amen?
But for the next couple of chapters, really, you have this malediction against all of these nations.
So it's just preaching sermon, sermon after sermon against the other nations.
Now if you've paid attention, up until this point, God is just ripping on Judah, right?
He's ripping on Israel, he's getting on Israel, he's getting on Judah.
But now he's going to turn his attention to the surrounding nations.
And it's a series of judgments against these nations, Babylon, Moab, Damascus, Egypt, Tyre.
These are nations that have persecuted God's people, and therefore, they're going to get it next.
And it reminds me of 1 Peter, chapter 4, you don't have to turn there, where it says in verse 17,
For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God.
Kind of like what we see in Isaiah, right?
The judgments were first towards Israel, towards Judah.
And if it first began at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
Essentially saying that, you know, even though God is judging his people,
I mean, if he's judging them this harshly, what do you think he's going to do to the people who are not saved?
What do you think he's going to do to the people who have persecuted God's people, right?
That's essentially what it's talking about here.
Now tonight, we're going to look at the judgments, the indictments against Babylon.
Now what's interesting about this is that at this time, Babylon is actually not a superpower.
And some would say that this particular chapter or this curse that's coming upon Babylon
takes place a hundred years prior to it even being destroyed, okay?
And this kind of fits any time you see judgments in the Bible,
because, you know, God will often allow a certain period of time before he actually judges a nation or judges a person,
because he's long suffering, right?
And so, you know, on a practical level, when you find someone who's backslidden,
they're away from God, they're involved in sin, you're like, why aren't they being judged?
Well, here's the thing, maybe God is just being merciful to them,
and that judgment is coming one day, okay?
And so I'm sure the Israelites, you know, sometime during those hundred years,
are probably thinking like, why is God allowing the Babylonians to do this?
And it's like, yeah, but they're going to get theirs one day, okay?
You know, he's not going to forget their deeds, he's not going to just let it go,
he's going to speedily punish them in his time.
Now look at verse number 1 of chapter 13 here,
we're going to look at the day of the Lord upon Babylon,
it says in verse number 1, the burden of Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
Now if you've read the Bible a couple times, or just at least once,
I'm sure you've noticed that phrase, the burden of, and then it gives you like a nation, right?
And what is that referring to? Why does he call it the burden of Damascus,
the burden of Tyre, the burden of Babylon?
Well, burden is something that's heavy,
and what Isaiah is referring to here is like the heavy message that's going to come upon Babylon.
The burden is the message that Isaiah is carrying to Babylon.
He says in verse number 2,
Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain,
exalt the voice unto them,
shake the hand that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
I have commanded my sanctified ones,
I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger,
even them that rejoice in my highness.
So what this is referring to is that,
just as God used the Babylonians to punish his people,
now he's going to use another nation to punish the people that he used to punish his people.
It's interesting that he's raising up even the evil for the day of evil.
And so he is raising up another nation
to punish even the Babylonians,
and when you look at the context of the chapter,
you can conclude that this is referring to the Medo-Persian Empire.
As for a few reasons, one, it literally says later on,
it talks about the Medes,
but also we know based upon the succession of world powers,
that the nation or the superpower that takes over after the Babylonians
is the Medo-Persian Empire, Cyrus the Persian,
and it also, the king of Persia,
and it also calls him the mighty one,
and it even says the person who rejoices in his highness.
And it's said that Cyrus was a man who actually knew the Lord,
or he feared the Lord to a certain capacity,
and so this is referring to that person.
And if you've read, for example, the book of Daniel,
in Daniel chapter 7, you have Daniel having a dream,
and he has this dream of a succession of animals.
The first being a lion, the second a bear,
the third a leopard, and the fourth is unnamed,
but the first one that's a lion is referring to that Babylonian empire.
The bear is the Medo-Persian Empire because it's lopsided.
The reason it's lopsided is because it's a dual kingdom
with one kingdom being stronger than the other.
So this is how we know we can conclude that
the nation that's going to be used to punish Babylon
is the Medo-Persian Empire, Cyrus, king of Persia.
He says in verse number 4,
The noise of a multitude in the mountains,
like as of a great people,
a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together.
The Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
They come from a far country, from the end of heaven,
even the Lord, at the weapons of a signified nation,
to destroy the whole land.
Now let me just interrupt myself real quick
and just quickly mention that even though this is a literal judgment
that's going to come upon Babylon,
this is also prophetic of end times Babylon.
And it's important that when you study passages
regarding Babylon and end times Bible prophecy in the Old Testament,
you can't necessarily extrapolate every single thing
from that particular chapter
and say that it all applies to end times Babylon.
A lot of people make that mistake
and think that everything that it says in the Old Testament
regarding end times prophecy, or if it signifies or has a hint,
a tone of end times prophecy,
that it all has to do with Daniel's 70th week
or what takes place in end times.
But you have to understand that you've got to leave some
for what's going on in his day.
And in fact, the majority of it has to do with their day.
And this is how people can get mixed up
because they read this and they're like,
well, where is that in Revelation? It's not.
There's some elements that are not.
When it talks about these other nations that he's going to punish,
those nations don't even exist.
And so you never want to walk into the danger
of applying every single verse that seems to have a hint
or a tone of end times to end times.
Obviously there are sections of it that definitely deal with end times
and the way we can distinguish which one does and which one doesn't
is it repeated in the New Testament?
If it's repeated, that's on purpose
because God wants you to make that connection
and to further reinforce whatever he's trying to teach for end times.
Does that make sense to everyone?
And so the same goes with Babylon.
And so we're going to look at all the end times Bible prophecy statements here.
But obviously there's some verses that don't match up with end times
and that's okay because it still happened during this particular time.
So we see Cyrus, king of Persia, being the instrument that God uses to destroy Babylon.
And now we're going to look at the morning for the day of the Lord.
Now look at verse 6. It says,
How ye? For the day of the Lord is at hand.
What does it mean to howl?
Well another way of saying it is to mourn.
It's to weep, right?
It's to make a sound of lamentation because of pain.
It says, How ye? For the day of the Lord is at hand.
It shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Therefore shall all hands be faint,
and every man's heart shall melt,
and they shall be afraid.
Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them.
They shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth.
They shall be amazed one at another.
Their faces shall be as flames.
Now turn with me if you would to Luke 21.
Hold your place there in Isaiah and go to Luke 21.
And if you have a paper or a pen, just put it in the book of Revelation
because we're going to be referencing that as well throughout the Bible study tonight.
Now let me just say this is that the day of the Lord,
when you study in the Old Testament,
100% of the time, it's synonymous with God's judgment.
And God drives that in constantly that the day of the Lord
is essentially describing when God pours out his wrath upon a nation, a person.
That's what he calls it.
And all the elements that surround the day of the Lord in the Old Testament
all have God's judgment upon them.
There's nothing positive in the Old Testament about the day of the Lord.
But here's the thing is that it's also synonymous with the rapture in the New Testament.
And here's where our preacher brethren, our beloved preacher brethren,
they err on when it comes to end times Bible prophecy.
Because they believe that the day of the Lord has to do with the battle of Armageddon.
So when they read into the phrase the day of the Lord in the New Testament,
they automatically interpret that as taking place at the battle of Armageddon.
And quite honestly, I sympathize with that.
And I could understand why.
Because the battle of Armageddon is God's judgment.
And you can basically call it the day of the Lord as well
because of the fact that it's God's wrath being poured upon the Antichrist,
the false prophet, and his armies.
However, when you look at the elements that surround the day of the Lord
and compare it to the elements that surround the rapture,
they're one and the same.
So when the day of the Lord takes place, it's wrath upon the unsaved,
but it's salvation for the saved.
It's the redemption of the body.
So the same elements found describing the day of the Lord
is what we find prior to the rapture as well.
And it's virtually indisputable that that's the case.
You can compare every single passage of the Old Testament of the day of the Lord
and compare it to the New Testament description of the rapture
in Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, and 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5,
and Revelation chapter 6 and say, oh, this is the rapture.
And to say that it's the rapture is not taking away the fact that it's judgment upon the unsaved.
And this is one of the reasons why we are post-trib pre-wrath.
And it fits like a glove because of the fact that the rapture takes place
a little after the midpoint of Daniel's 70th week.
So everything prior to that is considered tribulation, according to the Bible,
but everything after that, because it's the day of the Lord, is the wrath of God.
So when you look at the timetable, after the day of the Lord, you have what?
The seven trumpets, seven vials, the three woes,
all of them essentially describing God's wrath being poured upon this world
for three and a half years.
Very important.
Now look at Luke 21 in light of what we just read in Isaiah.
In verse 23 it says,
But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days.
For there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations.
And Jerusalem shall be trotted down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars,
upon the earth, distressed of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring,
men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth,
for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
So that's synonymous with what we see in Isaiah,
where it says these people are going to be howling at the day of the Lord.
Okay?
Mourning.
And in fact it says that their hands shall be faint.
Every man's heart shall melt.
That's what we see in Luke 21.
Men's hearts failing them for fear.
Because when the rapture takes place for us it's like,
beam me up!
But the world, when they see the Lamb,
all these God-hating atheists,
and agnostics, and people who have mocked Christianity,
you know they're thinking,
I'm screwed!
They're thinking,
crap!
Because you're not going to be able to hide from him.
Where is thy mouth now?
And we're just going to be like,
I told you.
For us it's great.
Lift up your head for your redemption draws nigh.
But for the unsaved,
it's one of the most terrifying days.
To see someone just pierce through, you know,
the spiritual realm to the physical realm on a cloud,
and everything is just dark, and just like a flash of lightning.
And he's not coming, you know, like he came the first time.
He's coming to make war.
In fact, go to Revelation now.
Hopefully you put a pen there, or a piece of paper.
Look at Revelation chapter 1.
We're going to visit a couple different chapters in just a bit.
But let's just go to Revelation 1 first.
It says,
Even so, amen.
So Matthew 24 says that they mourn.
Revelation 1 says that they wail.
And Isaiah chapter 13 says that they howl.
It's just different ways of saying,
AHHH!
Which that was probably just very minimal compared to how they're actually going to scream.
Okay.
Now why are they doing that?
For fear?
And in fact, the latter end of chapter 6,
having mountains fall on you sounds better
than what Christ is going to do to them.
Because they say to the rocks,
Fall on us and hide us.
So it's like, which one would you rather have?
Fall into the hands of God,
or having God fall on you?
Right?
Or sorry, no, fall into the hands of God or having mountains fall on you?
They're just like,
Tell the mountains to just fall on us and hide us.
It's like, just have that crush us.
Because Jesus Christ, who's the rock,
is going to crush them no matter what.
So this is like,
they're terrified, they're fearful,
this is what the day of the Lord is being described as,
it's a terrible day
for the unsaved.
Okay.
Because it's payday.
It's the day of vengeance.
It's where God gets back at the world for all the blood that they've shed,
all the mockery of Christianity,
and so on.
Go back to Isaiah, hold your place here in Revelation.
We're going to look at the elements of the day of the Lord,
regarding the heavenly bodies.
Look at verse 9, it says,
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel!
Wow.
Both with wrath and fierce anger,
to lay the land desolate,
and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
No, he loves sinners, yeah,
but here it says he's coming to destroy the sinners.
He says in verse 10,
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof
shall not give their light,
the sun shall be darkened in his going forth,
and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
Now,
study all the times that the day of the Lord is mentioned in the Old Testament,
you'll have those elements,
maybe not perfectly stated exactly the same,
but it's always involving
the sun and the moon being darkened,
the stars of heaven not shining forth their light,
or falling from the sky.
And in fact, Matthew 24, you don't have to turn there,
and verse 29 says,
Immediately after the tribulation of those days
shall the sun be darkened,
and the moon shall not give her light,
and the stars shall fall from heaven,
and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
Revelation chapter 6,
verse 12 says,
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal,
and lo, there was a great earthquake,
and a sackcloth of hair,
and the moon became as blood,
and the stars of heaven fell into the earth,
even as a fig tree casteth her on timely figs,
when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
So we see those parallels there
between what the New Testament
describes as the rapture,
the day of the Lord,
and the day of the Lord in Isaiah 13.
Look at verse 11 of Isaiah 13.
It says,
And I will punish the world for their evil.
Now,
really, in context, who is he punishing?
Babylon.
But here he says he's punishing the world.
So you see that dual fulfillment there.
Even though he's addressing Babylon,
which is a particular nation,
he's actually also referring to the world.
Okay?
I will punish the world for their evil,
and the wicked for their iniquity,
and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease,
and I will lay low the hideness of the terrible.
Now, you say, well, why is that important to even say
that he's referring to the world there?
There's a doctrine called Preterism
that believes that there's only
one fulfillment of these Bible prophecies,
but, hold on a second,
the world was not punished for their evil
in that day.
There's other people who were not punished
during the punishment of Babylon all around the world
that did not suffer the wrath of God,
meaning that that still has to be fulfilled.
And this is why it's important that when you read the Bible,
you read it knowing full well
that God has layers of prophecy
that have to be fulfilled.
Sometimes they are completely fulfilled,
like the coming of Christ
in the first century A.D.,
but there's other instances like this
where the triangle does not fit
into the round hole,
because the world was not punished
for their evil in the judgment of the Babylonians,
so therefore,
your mind has to shift towards the future
and realize,
oh, this is a prophetic statement
about the entire world.
The Bible is beautifully written, folks,
where he can just judge Babylon
and just make application
to thousands of years into the future.
It's like, awesome!
I will punish the world for their evil.
Look at verse 12, it says,
I will make a man more precious than fine gold.
Now that doesn't mean that he's going to be valuable.
Precious means scarce,
meaning there's not going to be a whole lot of men there
because they're going to be killed and destroyed.
That's good poetry right there, amen?
I just hope, like, you know,
Hobby Lobby uses that one day,
thinking that it's actually something really nice,
but it's just like, no, it means
that he's going to kill so many people,
you know, men are going to be scarce in the land
is what it's referring to.
Even a man than a golden wedge of Ophir
therefore I will shake the heavens
and the earth shall remove out of her place
in the wrath of the Lord of hosts
and in the day of his fierce anger.
And it shall be as the chaste row
and as the sheep that no man taketh up
they shall every man turn to his own people
and flee everyone into his own land.
Everyone that is found shall be thrust through
and everyone that is joined into them
shall fall by the sword
their children also shall be dashed to pieces
before their eyes
their houses shall be spoiled
and their wives ravished.
So when you look at verses 13 through 16
and you compare that to
end times Bible prophecy, that's not necessarily
the element that's specifically highlighted
in the book of Revelation.
Okay, now we're coming back to the actual
judgment of Babylon
excuse me, the judgment of Cyrus
the Persian to Babylon
and that's why it's talking about the children
being dashed to pieces before their eyes
this is now addressing the fact that this is
what Cyrus is going to do to Babylon.
Now go to Revelation chapter 9
if you would, Revelation chapter 9
because I want to address
the first couple of verses
verses 11 and 12
where he says I will make a man more precious than fine gold
referring to the fact that a lot of dudes
are going to die
okay, people in mass numbers
will be killed by God's wrath
look at Revelation 9
and verse number 15
it says
and the four angels were loose, this is already by the way
into God's wrath
so if you read the book of Revelation
God's wrath begins in chapter 8
okay, those were the trumpets
are first sounded, that's when
God's judgment and wrath is poured
upon the world
chapter 9 begins with
you know, the judgment of the
locust and then it gets into
200 million horsemen
supernatural animals that are sent forth
to asphyxiate the population
burn them with brimstone and fire
etc. look at verse 15
the four angels were loose, which were prepared for an hour
and a day and a month and a year
for to slay the third part of men
for into the world
and the number of the army of the horsemen were
1000,000 and I heard the number of them
and thus I saw the horses in the vision
and then I sat on them
having breast plates of fire and of jacinth
and brimstone in the heads of the horses
whereas the heads of lions
and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke
and brimstone
by these three were the third part of men killed
by the fire and by the smoke
and by the brimstone which issued out of their mouths
for their powers in their mouth
and in their tails
for their tails were like unto serpents and at heads
and with them they do hurt
and the rest of the men which were not killed
by these plagues yet repented not
of the works of their hands that they should not
worship devils, idols of gold and silver and
brass and stone and of wood
which neither can see nor hear nor walk
neither repented they of their
murders nor of their sorceries
nor of their fornications
nor of their thefts. Well you say
well how is that parallel to what we see in Isaiah 13?
He's punishing them for their evil
and the evil
that we see here is the fact that
there are murderers, sorcerers
fornicators and thieves
what about
the scarcity? Well how about the fact
that he's you know just
toasting what is it one third
of them? That's
a lot of dead bodies everywhere
and so this
literally happened to Babylon
but it's a microcosm
of what will happen
on a grander scale globally
in the end times. Go back to
Isaiah if you would
chapter 13 we're going to look at the
desolation of Babylon
look at verse 17
it says in verse 17
behold I will stir up the meads against them
which shall not regard silver
and as for gold
they shall not delight in it
their bows also shall dash the young men
to pieces and they shall have no pity
on the fruit of the womb their eyes
shall not spare children
so again now what is it doing?
It's going into the future but then it's coming right back
once again to address the actual
judgment that's going to come upon the Babylon
of what Isaiah
is preaching against here and this
is another indication that it is referring to the
Medo-Persian empire because he clearly spells
it out that the meads are going to do this
now this is kind of showing us that God is turning
the heart of the king
against Babylon in such a way
that they're not satisfied with gold
they're not satisfied with silver
they're not satisfied with gold
in other words they can't be bribed
that are not being punished
God has set forth in their heart
to just destroy them no matter what
the bribery is
and they're going to be
very violent and of course
they're not even going to pity
the children, the young men
and the fruit of the womb it says
look at verse 19
and Babylon the glory of kingdoms
the beauty of the Chaldees
excellency shall be as
when God overthrew Sodom
and Gomorrah now that's really important because
of the fact that when you look at the way
Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed
it was destroyed with fire
and brimstone
now when you look at Babylon
and how it was destroyed
in this particular instance
I don't believe literal fire and brimstone
is going to come down and rain upon them
because obviously what's raining
upon them spiritually is God's wrath
through the Medes and the Persians
right?
and the picture that's being put forth
here is that they're going to be made
desolate the way Sodom and Gomorrah was just
completely desolate
however you can also make the
application to end times because in the
end times during God's wrath
fire and brimstone will literally come down
from heaven and in fact
the first instances of judgment
in chapter 8 all have to do with fire
God's just burning up
all the trees
you know destroying the marine life
turning the water into blood
I mean think about that
that is utter chaos
you're burning up tons of trees
making the air
arid and just you know
very difficult to breathe
and then you add on top of that
you have all this marine life
that's being destroyed and killed
fish stink
you add fish mingled with blood
it smells even more
you add whatever percentage it is
in chapter 8
of the oceans being turned to blood and all this
marine life dying
I mean the world is just going to smell
horribly
it's just going to be a horrible place to be at that time
and so
God is overthrowing the world during
that time and that's why the Bible talks about
the fact that
Sodom is destroyed with fire and brimstone
chapter 8 of Revelation talks about
the fire coming down from heaven
destroying them
people are asphyxiating through the 200 million
horsemen it says in verse 20
it shall never be inhabited
neither shall it be dwelt in
from generation to generation
neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there
neither shall the shepherds make
their fold there now I do want to mention this
that obviously when you look at
the day of the Lord
in end times you know
that it's referring generally
to the entire world like the whole world
suffers at the hand of God's wrath
right?
but you also have to take into account that God is
specifically talking about Babylon
too and even though there is a literal
Babylon in the Old Testament
that existed at one point there's also
a spiritual Babylon in the
New
and the
Babylon the mystery the great
mystery of Babylon the whore
harlot mother of harlots
in the book of Revelation
is referring to a system
it's referring
to a nation okay
and so
even though here we see it kind of mingled
in with God's wrath
being poured upon that specific nation
well in the end times end times
Babylon that's a specific nation is going to be
punished yes but it also
applies to just all of the world as well
okay now in
Daniel 70th week when you look at the timeline
of that Babylon
the nation
is going to be destroyed
that doesn't happen until like the
very end of Daniel 70th week
but it's basically the end of the
third woe which is the end
of the seven trumpets and seven vials
the point that I'm making here is that
you kind of have a mixture of God's judgment
upon Babylon but also on
all the world here in this chapter
and the end times God is judging all the
world through the seven trumpets and seven vials
but he does hone in
and specifically focus on
Babylon as well
now not to be mixed up with
the literal nation of Babylon that we see here
though because this literal nation
you know Nebuchadnezzar
and all that you know that doesn't exist
it's a spiritual Babylon
okay now go to
Revelation chapter 18 if
you want to do an in depth study on this you study
Revelation 17 and
18 Revelation chapter
17 gives you an introduction
to Babylon
and gives you some of the
descriptions of Babylon and
you know a lot of times fundamental
Baptists have often interpreted
that to mean that it's referring to the Roman
Catholic Church and you can definitely
see why because the Roman Catholic
Church is a whore of an institution right
and it's great that
you can just make all kinds of application you know
the Bible is so expansive
and applicable to
many different types of things
and so you know I preach
at the Red Hot Preaching Conference against the Roman Catholic
Church and I talked about Babylon
how the Roman Catholic Church is a whore of an
institution and a lot of the elements of Babylon
end times Babylon applies to the
Roman Catholic Church
however the immediate interpretation
the main interpretation I don't believe it's literally
the Roman Catholic Church not that they're not going to play a
role in the success
of Babylon
because ultimately all of the false
religions of this world will come together united
but
it is of my opinion
my interpretation in my
lifetime in my generation I believe it to be
the United States of America
because when you look at the
the characteristics
of Babylon throughout the
Bible you come to the conclusion
that it's referring to a one world super
power that is
superior to all nations
and in the end times the reason that's
important is because the Antichrist needs
that one super power to get
into power and use
the whore and to discard the whore
so just as
God you know uses one
nation to punish another nation
in like manner
you know he's going to use the Antichrist
to punish Babylon
and the kings of the earth to punish
Babylon for its
wickedness its deeds now obviously
there's nothing in the Bible that
spells out United States of America as
being Babylon
but obviously you know in the
day and age in which we live when we look at the attributes
of end times Babylon you compare it
to the United States of America
if it were to happen in our lifetime
the United States of America will fall
into place into being end
times Babylon now we know that
if it doesn't happen in our lifetime maybe another
super power can come up a hundred
years two hundred years from now
but you know we're living in this generation
so we're to interpret the Bible
in this generation okay
and so if it were to happen
there's no other nation that we can point to other
than the United States of America okay
now look at
Revelation 18 verse 7
referring to Babylon it says
how much she had glorified herself
and lived deliciously
so much torment and sorrow give
her for she saith in
her heart I sit a queen
and am no widow and shall see no sorrow
this is referring to the pride of
Babylon and
so when you look at the pride of Babylon
compared to the pride of the United States of America
you know Americans are
extremely proud
of their nation and I don't mean
like I'm proud to be an American I'm talking about
prideful in its power
and the fact that nothing
can take us
you know and
we have
the greatest military
we have the greatest power and
and the reality is this is that the world is
always looking at what America is doing
the world is always concerned with what America
is doing right
which puffs up America even that much the more
it says in verse 8 therefore shall her place
come in one day
death and mourning and famine
and she shall be utterly
burned with fire you know
like Sodom and Gomorrah
for strong is the Lord
God who judgeth her
and the kings of the earth who have
committed fornication and live
deliciously with her shall
bewail her and lament
for her when they shall see the smoke
of her burning standing
afar off for the fear of her torment saying
alas alas that great city
Babylon that mighty city
for in one hour is thy
judgment come obviously there's different
theories of how end times
Babylon will be destroyed
if we were to interpret it through our
generation we would say it's probably like a
nuclear bomb of some sort because it talks
about the burning the destruction
the smoke of her burning and the
fact that she's destroyed
in one hour and I would say it probably would
take an hour or less
right or actually I don't even know how long
it takes for an atomic bomb to just destroy everything
I'm sure it just happens in a matter of seconds
but you know you have
this utter destruction that comes
upon her and when you look at
end times prophecy you see that there's ten
kings that are
responsible for turning
on Babylon now
you say why do you think what's another reason
why you think it's the United States of America
well because America's
a major major supporter
of the state of Israel
and if you know
anything about end times prophecy
and the antichrist
you know the antichrist is going to be a Jew
and if you don't believe that
you know you need to stop reading your
Left Behind series and start
reading the Bible
I always thought it was going to be a
Muslim
Islam is the enemy
of Christianity yeah it is but
you know what there's a greater enemy than
Islam and it's called Judaism
and the last time I checked on the
New Testament
Islam was not the
number one adversary of the
Bible believer in the New Testament
and you know
all you have to do
is look at what mainstream Christianity is
promoting and that's how you know who's the enemy
like
let's say you haven't read the Bible
and you want to just kind of streamline
your understanding and knowledge of the Bible
and who's the enemy just look at what mainstream
Christianity is doing and be like okay
that's the enemy right there
that's the devil
and you know what Zionism is a
major factor in mainstream Christianity
they believe
in the Jews being God's chosen people
and pray for Israel in
spite of the clear passages of Scripture
in the New Testament and in fact
the New Testament is like
is like garlic to the vampire
of mainstream Christianity
you quote the Bible they're like ahhh you know
they just can't take it
because Fox News and Ben
Shapiro and the Daily Wire
are always telling them to support Israel
and the Jews are God's chosen people
and they're the apple of his eye
and blah blah blah this
so when you look at that you read the
Bible and you look at that like
oh yeah the Antichrist
is going to be a Jew
has to be
you know and if you're anything like us
every new famous Jew that pops up
is like man is that the guy
it's like Jared Kushner like I don't know you know
you could pass for an Antichrist
you know the Antichrist I know you are an Antichrist
but you know
I kind of wonder if you're the Antichrist
you say well that still doesn't
really explain why you
think America would be Babylon
well
you know Babylon is a whore
that is used by
the Antichrist
because you know a whore
according to
biblical division is someone that you use
and you abuse and you discard
you don't love the whore
you use the whore
and you know what America
is used
by Israel
fact
and you know my
favorite story to tell is when I witnessed to a Jew
he was an Orthodox
Jew
Jerry Curl and all and he
even said like you know because I was trying to witness to him
and then he sympathized for me
he felt like sorry for me
he's like look look look we like Christians
because you're helping us
I mean
the greatest insult you could ever like
and I'm thinking to myself like I don't
support the Antichrist
but he's speaking for all Israel
he's speaking for all Jews in Judaism
and Israel when he says that you know
what he's right
because America aside
from its political you know
support of Israel
and that's the only thing we agree with the liberals on
I guess nowadays
and if you ever want an icebreaker for the liberals to talk about
hey I'm against the Jews too you know
because you know they're against Israelites
or not Israel but they're against the state of Israel
and they don't even know why they're just kind of going
along with whatever narrative is being pushed by
their you know
rulers or whatever
but you know aside from the fact that
America supports them politically
then you have
this sub category of Christians
who are conservatives who are involved in politics
who are supporting them spiritually
so when you have
politics just you know
supporting Israel
and you know send them money
and you know being a whore
to them kind of words
that I want to use but I can't because you know
this is the sacred desk here
but you know what I mean
you know what I mean
aside
from that then you have
Christians
who are promoting Zionism behind their
pulpits pushing
this narrative that they're God's chosen people
and just in tandem
with that Zionist
propaganda political
propaganda those two
is proof the fact that it's happening
in the United States of America that America
is Israel's
whore
I think that's the best way to put it
America is Israel's whore
and Israel
is going to milk
America as much as
she's worth
but you know once
once they consummate the marriage
which he's not going to marry her
once they come together
you know he's not going to marry her what is he going to do he's going to discard her
the ten kings are going to discard her
and so
you know obviously I could be wrong
but you know when you compare
a lot of what's taking place
I think it's pretty legitimate
unless there's another nation that rises up
that's more of a valuable whore than
the United States of America is to Israel
can you think of one?
and by the way
I know I live here
okay this isn't treason
because I love the people here in America
and here's the thing
I apologize
for what other Christians preach
in support of Israel
you know
because that's not the Christian message
look at verse 21
so the destruction shall come upon them
upon Babylon
and we see that in end times
that Babylon is the last thing to be destroyed
prior to the battle of Armageddon
because God like destroys
everything and in fact
he even judges Jerusalem
he judges
Jerusalem and then
Babylon comes into his remembrance
you know
which is by the way proof that Jerusalem can't be Babylon
amen because he judges Jerusalem
and then he's like oh yeah
by the way you little whore
and then he burns her with fire
that's what he does
and so once that's accomplished
then you have the battle of Armageddon
okay so the destruction of Babylon
is like towards the very end
of Daniel's 70th week
now here's the last thing I'm going to cover
and this is very interesting
and so just
hang with me for a couple more minutes
verse 21
but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there
and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures
and owls shall dwell there
and satyrs shall dance there
and the wild beasts of the islands
shall cry in their desolate houses
and dragons in their pleasant places
palaces excuse me
and her time is near to come
and her days shall not be prolonged
so basically what it's saying is that
once Babylon of what Isaiah's talking about here
once it's destroyed
it shall not be inhabited by people
and one of the indicators
that it's just completely destroyed
is the fact that animals begin to take over
because any time a particular area
is void of humans
animals always take over
okay
it becomes a habitation of animals
and this is why
you know for example
you know God when the children of Israel
are going into the promised land
he's like I'm not going to remove all these people
in one year
because if I do then the animal
the beasts of the field are going to take over
because it's always a blessing
when humans
inhabit and populate a specific area
you know you don't want to be like
Florida
where you just
the alligators are just like
using your pool and
you know they're just crazy
animals you guys need to get some
dominion over those animals over there
just you know
and they got rats they got rodents
they got all kinds of things like it's
Florida
they got no control
they got no dominion over there
that's not a sign of God's blessing
and I'm being serious about that
you know people are like oh you know
you can't you know take over this area
where animals live knock down
all the trees
kick the birds out
they're not producing some sort of food
just kick them out
and in fact you know in 2020 when COVID happened
you know
a lot of these national parks closed down
like people weren't allowed to go there because of COVID
and a lot of these animals
began to become bold and they started like
inhabiting the areas where people would go
and visit
because there aren't people there
so that's just a natural byproduct of a desolate area
when humans are not taking
over then the animals come take over
so that's what it's saying here
now go to Revelation chapter 18
and I want you to look at verse number 1
so you say well is that applicable
to Babylon of what Isaiah
is talking about or is this having
to do with end times Babylon? Both
because he destroys Babylon
it's desolate and then
the animals take over and then
in end times Babylon he destroys
that Babylon and
devils take over
look what it says in verse 1
become the habitation of devils
and the hold of
every foul spirit
and the cage of every unclean
and hateful bird
so this is basically what we see
in Isaiah chapter 13 right
where it's made desolate
and in Isaiah chapter 13
it says that it shall be
houses full of doleful creatures
owls and satyrs
now satyrs
is not you know narnia or whatever
like you know some goat on two feet
playing a flute
referring to just a goat of some sort
that's what a satyr is
but it's not there on accident though
because of the fact that you know
Satan is often portrayed as a goat
Baphomet right
so what I believe this is saying here in Revelation chapter 18
is the fact that
when Babylon is destroyed
which potentially could be America
it'll be made desolate
animals take over
and it specifically says
that it becomes a habitation of
devils
now what I believe that's referring to is the fact that
devils will possess those animals
in end times Babylon
so how do you know that?
well if you remember back in Matthew chapter 8
when God cast out
the legion of
devils out of the maniac
not the legion but he cast out the devils
out of the maniac of Gadara I think it was a legion
the legion of devils out of
the maniac of Gadara they plead for him
to allow them to go into the swine
right and then they
run off and then they drown themselves
well here's my answer
to where do all the devils
go in end
times because we see in Revelation
chapter 20 that Satan is cast into the
bottomless pit but it doesn't really make mention
of what happens to the other devils and demons
except for what we see here in Revelation
18 that Babylon becomes a
habitation of devils
and it's almost as if it becomes a hold for all
those devils for that thousand year
period until the day
of judgment where they're permanently cast into the lake
of fire so when you compare
Isaiah 13 to
Revelation 18 you see the
desolation of Babylon which results
in animals taking over
and more specifically in Revelation 18
it's just the animals that get possessed
by these devils
in that area or whatever it may be
and so that's what I believe
it's referring to there
and so we're going to conclude that right there
the judgment of Babylon continues on to
chapter 14 and we'll cover that next week
let's pray, Father we thank you so much for your word
and thank you for
the fact that we know that no matter
how much time passes
whether it's a lifetime whether we don't see it in our
lifetime we know that vengeance belongs
unto you and that you will
right every wrong
and you don't forget things Lord
judgment will come upon the evil of this
world and may it grieve us
Lord and may we pray unto you
daily
for your justice to be carried out but even if we don't
see it in our lifetime may we pray in
faith knowing full well that
you will equal out the balances
Lord and bring judgment and
justice upon this earth we love you we thank you pray these things
in Jesus name Amen