And if you look at Isaiah 13, look at verse 1, it says the burden of Babylon which Isaiah, the son of Amos, did see.
So what we see here is, you know, in the previous chapters of Isaiah, I've been showing you how the southern kingdom has been concerned about the Assyrian empire
and they did sort of come through the land of Judah, but then with God's help they were turned away and, you know, the kingdom of the southern kingdom was delivered.
And what we saw here in chapter 13 is a brand new vision or a brand new prophecy of Isaiah.
So we've looked at that topic for the last few weeks, but now we see that it's a completely different topic, the burden of Babylon.
So, you know, when we talk about the, if you want to use the words the burden, if we were to use the southern kingdom of Judah as, you know,
Isaiah preaching to them a burden, what was the burden of the southern kingdom?
Well, initially it was the Assyrian empire and then eventually it would become the Babylonian empire.
But what we see here is the introduction of the burden of Babylon.
So once Babylon has had their time to shine, once they've conquered the lands, they've conquered many nations,
then Babylon themselves will have a burden that would fall upon them and that Babylon was a new empire which was the Medo-Persian empire, if you know a bit of history.
And so this is about that.
Now, it's not just about that, though, because what you see here, and I explained to this to you many times when we were going through Isaiah,
and I shared to you how Isaiah may many times overwhelm a reader because there's just so much depth and there's so many points of history that it's referring to.
And so, you know, there are times when Isaiah is speaking of the northern kingdom in Assyria, sometimes he's talking about the southern kingdom of Judah and Assyria,
or the southern kingdom with Babylon, and then he might be talking about the end times when we see that he's talking about the millennium.
But now we're also talking about another time in history when Babylon would be overrun by the Medo-Persian empire.
And not only that, but then in this same chapter, he uses Babylon of that day as a type, as a picture of the Babylon in the book of Revelation in future events to come.
And so, in some ways, like, as I go through Isaiah carefully and study and prepare to do a sermon, I look at it and it seems very orderly, it makes a lot of sense,
but I can understand, I had this experience when I would read through Isaiah the first few times, I just felt overwhelmed, just too much information,
I don't know what's going on, I don't know what it's talking about, but again, tackling a book like Isaiah requires you to understand the New Testament.
Like, if you can really grasp the New Testament and grasp the book of Revelation, you're going to have a better time understanding the book of Isaiah.
Now, if you read through Isaiah and say, Pastor, I just can't grasp it, don't feel bad, and the example I've given before is, remember when Christ came the first time,
like, they didn't have the New Testament writings just yet, okay, because they were written after Christ ascended to heaven,
and before Christ ascended to heaven, the question was asked to Christ, you know, are you going to establish a kingdom now?
And these were believers, these were people that trusted Christ, that were saved, and they were asking Christ, is your kingdom coming now?
And Christ says, of course, it is not for you to know the day or the hour, you know, and so that kind of confusion that some of the early believers had
is because they didn't have the writings and a lot of the New Testament to shine light on the scriptures of the Old Testament.
So I hope that kind of makes sense, so as we go through this year, we are going to be bouncing around at different points of history,
and even future events to come. But let's start there in verse number two, let's continue there in verse number two, I should say.
It says, 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.
So when it says lift up a banner upon the high mountain, the high mountain represents the Medes and the Persians, the Medo-Persian Empire.
So God is preparing them to bring judgment on Babylon, okay, because it continues in verse number three,
I have commanded, now this might trick you, this might confuse you, but it says here, I have commanded my sanctified ones,
I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.
So when it says the sanctified ones, your mind probably automatically goes to believers, because believers have been sanctified.
We're in the process of sanctification when it comes to our walk of the Lord, you know, we've been made holy by the righteous of Christ.
But don't forget that the word sanctified simply means set apart. That's what it means, right?
If you remove it just from the theological realm, it just means to be set apart.
And so what God is saying here is that I'm setting apart the Medo-Persian Empire for them to become the burden of Babylon,
for them to take over that kingdom and set themselves up as a new empire.
Let's keep going there, verse number four,
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 Medes and the Persians, they've come together to form one great empire.
The Lord of hosts must serve the hosts of the battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven,
even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation to destroy the whole land.
So God says, look, they're coming from a far country, okay?
But they're also, in a sense, coming even from the Lord, even coming from heaven,
because they're God's handiwork, they're God's vehicle of anger and destruction and judgment
that is going to bring upon the Babylon Empire.
Verse number six. Now this is where it starts to become, you know, not so much questionable.
I know what's happening here, but God now begins to use, you know, former Babylon
as a type of the future Babylon to come, okay, that we read about in the book of Revelation.
Because it says this in verse number six,
Notice that it refers to the day of the Lord.
Now, you may recall when we went through the book of Jeremiah, this was a couple of years ago now,
with this church, the day of the Lord was mentioned a few times there,
and many times, when you talk about the context of the current day of Judah,
the day of the Lord for them was the destruction of Jerusalem.
When the Babylonians would be able to come, not just besiege the city,
but come through, destroy it, burn it with fire,
that was a day of the Lord, a day of God's wrath upon that wicked seven kingdom of Judah.
But we know that there is still a day of the Lord to come,
because even, you know, the New Testament writers write about the day of the Lord, okay?
And that day of the Lord is a day of God's wrath,
and of course the full fulfillment or the full expression of His wrath will come
in that future time after the rapture when God begins to pour out His wrath on the earth, okay?
So this is what I want you to understand as you go through chapter 13.
Yes, it's about current day Babylon for Isaiah and the people of Judah,
but it's also a type, a picture of the Babylon of the future, okay?
Now, let me show you this. Keep your finger there.
Come with me to Revelation 14. Come with me to Revelation 14, please.
Revelation 14 and verse number 6. Revelation 14, verse number 6.
So again, as you turn there, back to Isaiah 13.
How are you for the day of the Lord is at hand?
Again, the day of the Lord was for Judah. It wasn't so much for Babylon,
but we know that in the book of Revelation, Babylon,
the future Babylon is destroyed during God's wrath which is the day of the Lord, okay?
So in Revelation 14, verse number 6, Revelation 14, verse number 6,
remember this is about future times now, okay?
We're talking about future times that we've not yet experienced.
We're still waiting for this to happen.
Verse number 6 says,
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven,
having the everlasting gospel, to preach unto them that dwell on the earth,
and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to Him,
for the hour of His judgment is come,
and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
And look at verse number 8.
And there followed another angel, saying,
Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city,
because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
And so you can see here that Babylon is fallen,
and this is a result of the wrath of her fornication.
Babylon here represents a power base,
and I believe Babylon here is a reference to a global power in the end times.
Like Babylon has been throughout history, a global power,
the might of the nations, whatever that might be,
whether it was Babylon itself, or whether it was the Medo-Persian Empire,
or whether it was the Grecian Empire, and the Alexander the Great,
and even the Roman Empire, you know, whatever great empire is upon the earth
at the specific time is a type, a picture,
or a fulfillment of what Babylon is in the Book of Isaiah.
And there are some that teach that Babylon,
the future Babylon to come is Jerusalem,
and I'm going to show you that as we go through this chapter,
it cannot be Jerusalem.
It makes no sense for mystery Babylon to be Jerusalem,
and I'll show you in a moment why that is, okay?
But if we come, what I wanted to show you there in the Book of Revelation
is that God's wrath is going to fall upon Babylon.
It's going to be destroyed, this final Babylon in future times.
And what we saw in Isaiah 13 is that the Lord describes this whole process,
this whole time of his wrath as a day of the Lord.
And, you know, I can't unpackage this entire, you know, end times.
I know as we keep going through this,
some of this stuff is going to go over your head,
but the end times is such a deep topic.
It's so thorough.
There's just so much detail that I just can't cover this.
I'm hoping that you've got a decent grasp of the end times,
so as I talk about certain times and certain events,
you're like, oh, yeah, that happens during this time.
It's difficult to be able to just go through it all right now,
otherwise that's going to require an entire sermon
to be able to better understand Isaiah 13.
But what I mainly want you to notice is that God begins to use
current-day Babylon for Isaiah as a type or a picture
of future Babylon to come.
So you might want to keep a finger in Revelation if you want.
I mean, it's the last book of the Bible. It's not hard to get to.
But we are going to come back there.
Come now back with Isaiah 13.
Come back with me to Isaiah 13.
I want to show you something else here.
Isaiah 13 in verse number 8.
Now, again, this is about Babylon, okay?
It says in verse number 8.
And they shall be afraid.
So that's Babylon.
The people that dwell in Babylon, they will 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.
This is quite interesting.
It's talking about the destruction of Babylon here
will be as a woman going through pain like childbearing pain,
going through labor pains.
It's so excruciating, so painful for a woman to give birth.
It's, you know, the destruction of Babylon is going to be
of some level of, you know, of that pain that comes upon a woman.
Now, when you think of that, pangs and sorrows,
a woman travaileth, that should jog some of your memory,
again, back to Jeremiah.
And I want to show you just how God uses this language multiple times
to describe his judgment, okay?
So come with me to Isaiah chapter 30.
Sorry, Jeremiah chapter 30.
Jeremiah chapter 30, please.
Jeremiah chapter 30.
Jeremiah chapter 30, please, and verse number 6.
Jeremiah chapter 30 and verse number 6.
So again, a reminder, it's Babylon that's going to suffer
like a woman that travaileth, okay?
A woman that is in pain, all right?
Now, in Jeremiah 30, verse number 6, this is not about, now, Babylon,
this is about Judah.
When they're prophesied, you know, God is prophesied
of their destruction by Babylon,
God says in Jeremiah chapter 30, verse number 6,
Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child,
wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins,
as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness.
Alas, for that day is great, so that none is like it,
it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.
And so what we see, this was when the southern kingdom of Judah
was overrun by Babylon, okay?
And that was a time for them, as a woman in travail suffering,
going through hardships, and God says that day is great,
and that's the time of Jacob's trouble,
when they were taken into captivity by the Babylonian empire.
Now, that is a term, if you go through the book of Jeremiah,
God uses that phrase, a woman in travail, again and again,
or with pangs, the pangs, the pains, over and over again
to describe Babylonians, Babylon's judgment on Judah, okay?
But not only does God use that language for Judah,
He uses it for other nations as well.
You're there in Jeremiah, I want to show you Jeremiah 22,
coming into Jeremiah 22, we've got a few references in Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 22 verse number 23, Jeremiah 22 and verse number 23,
Jeremiah 22 and verse number 23,
the Bible reads, O inhabitants of Lebanon,
that makest thy nest in the cedars,
how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee,
the pain as a woman in travail.
So you can see now, Lebanon is having the same labor pains,
a woman in travail, because they too will be overrun by Babylon, okay?
Come with me to Jeremiah 48, Jeremiah 48 verse number 41,
Jeremiah 48 and verse number 41,
Jeremiah 48, 41, the Bible reads,
carry off is taken, and the strongholds are surprised,
and the mighty men's hearts in, where? In Moab,
at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
So Moab, or the Moabites, they too are going to suffer the conquest of Babylon.
Okay, they're going to suffer that,
and God again uses that description as a woman in her pangs or a woman in travail.
Come with me to Jeremiah 49, Jeremiah 49 verse number 22,
Jeremiah 49 and verse number 22,
Jeremiah 49 and 22, the Bible reads,
behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle,
and spread his wings over Bozrah,
and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Eden
be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
So now we're talking about the Edomites,
they too are going to suffer under Babylon.
And I'm showing you these things because now we need to turn to Jeremiah 50.
Come with me to Jeremiah chapter 50 please and verse number 43,
Jeremiah chapter 50 and verse number 43.
And so throughout the book of Jeremiah we see, you know,
not just Judah but all these other nations,
Lebanon, you know, the Edomites, the Moabites,
they're all going to be like a woman travail,
a woman with her pangs,
that suffering, that pain, that labour
when Babylon comes and overruns these places.
But then he says this in Jeremiah 50 verse 43,
the king of Babylon have heard the report of them,
and his hands waxed feeble.
Anguish took hold of him,
and pangs as a woman in travail.
Now Babylon is going to suffer this pain.
They're going to suffer these labour pains.
And the king of Babylon, he himself is afraid
because of eventually what would be King Cyrus
and the Medo-Persian Empire coming through and taking over Babylon
and Babylon eventually became part of that new kingdom of the Medo-Persian Empire.
And so the reason I'm showing you all that
is just to show you how God uses that language
again and again and again
for different nations
when God is bringing their judgement upon them.
But even Babylon,
God uses Babylon to bring judgement on Judah
but then God will decide now it's time for Babylon
to face judgement and he chooses the Medo-Persian Empire
to bring judgement upon them.
Now again, there's a Babylon to come in the future.
And God's going to bring judgement upon that Babylon too.
We're going to have a look at that shortly.
But come back with me to Isaiah 13.
Isaiah 13.
And look at the end of verse number 8.
It says,
Now again, we're going to look at this in a moment but
when you read the book of Revelation
that end times Babylon is destroyed by fire.
The Bible says in one hour.
This might very well be like a nuclear strike on the city of Babylon.
Something where people just literally just start bursting into flames.
And so God has given us this description all the way from Isaiah
again using current day Babylon as a type, a picture
of what's going to happen in the future.
But if we continue then, verse number 9.
Again, the day of the Lord being a reference there of the end times to come.
Again, in conjunction with God's wrath and fierce anger.
Now one of the hard things to preach through when you're preaching through
the prophets of old, especially prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah
is that we see the anger of the Lord on display again and again.
God's wrath.
And it's important that we study these books.
Because there are people that think that God has no anger.
Or they think anger is a sin.
And you shouldn't get angry about things.
But look, we see very clearly that God's got cruel wrath and fierce anger.
Against wicked nations, against wicked people.
People that have turned their backs against God.
God has such an anger that sometimes in His righteous wisdom
He decides it's time to destroy a nation.
Or it's time to destroy a kingdom.
And look, that's one thing.
We look at God's anger sometimes from a high perspective
of nations and kingdoms.
But don't forget that God is angry the wicked every day
the Bible says in the book of Psalms.
We've all done wrong in the sight of God.
And if you're just constantly told God loves you, God loves you, God loves you
and you don't understand God's anger
you're going to have no desire to ever get saved.
Because when you understand that God is angry at the wicked every day
that He's got a place of eternal torment
torture and torment in hellfire for all eternity
for those that have rejected Christ
until you understand that
and you understand, well, I might not be right with the Lord
I haven't trusted on Jesus Christ
I'm trusting on anything else
I'm trusting on my good works
I'm trusting on my church attendance
I'm trusting on whatever it is that you think you're trusting on.
You need to understand that God is angry at the wicked
you can't be saved out of your own righteousness
you need to put your trust on Jesus Christ.
We saw last week that God is our salvation.
It's His righteousness.
It's our trust on Jesus Christ
death, burial and resurrection
that saves us.
But it's important that we understand
that God is an angry God
because most churches aren't going to tell you that.
And I'm not, I don't like
oh man, I can't wait to come to Sydney on Thursday
to tell my church about an angry God
that's not really my desire
I'd much rather preach a sermon that's going to make everyone feel
warm and fuzzy at the end of the day
My job as a pastor is to just show you
this is what God's word says
this is a Bible preaching church
and we need to understand that
God is a God of wrath and anger
and His wrath burns for eternity in hell
for those that reject Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
Because look how it says at the end of verse number 9
and He shall destroy the sinners
thereof out of it.
Now aren't we all sinners?
Aren't you glad that we got saved?
We don't have to face God's wrath.
Praise Jesus Christ because He
faced God's wrath for us.
He took our sins, He took God's punishment
God's wrath upon Himself
as our substitute
and we go to heaven because of what Christ has done for us
not what we've done.
But
it's important that you understand this word
desolate, it's something that I've also brought to attention
because I'm going through the book of Revelation
and we can see that
when God decides to destroy Babylon
in verse number 9 it says
to lay the land desolate.
The word desolate means
complete destruction
complete emptiness
there's nothing left.
Now when we think of Babylon today
does anyone know where Babylon is today?
Like historical Babylon
it's in Iraq.
Does anyone live in Babylon brother?
Used to.
But Babylon today
if you went to Babylon today
if you travelled to Babylon
it's empty.
It's a wasteland.
There's nothing there.
No one lives there.
It's empty.
It's been completely wiped out.
It's completely desolate.
There have been attempts to rebuild certain things
during Saddam Hussein's time
he tried to rebuild
Babylon but his projects failed for whatever reason
but it's just
complete ruins.
And whatever might look nice
they tried to rebuild it to some extent
but it's still desolate
and there's literally nobody there.
But again this is a
type, this is a picture
of the Babylon of the end time.
So come with me to Revelation 18
come back with me to Revelation 18, I want to show you this.
Revelation 18
So again
Babylon today
as we know it is desolate.
And now we're looking at the Babylon
of the end times here in Revelation 18
Revelation 18 verse
17
Revelation 18 verse 17
tells us or gives us
a description of how this
end times Babylon is destroyed.
In Revelation 18 verse 17 it
says, for in one
hour so great
riches is come to naught
and every ship master
and all the company in ships
and sailors and as many as
trade by sea stood
afar off and cried
when they saw the smoke of
her burning saying what
city is like unto this great city.
So you can see that Babylon was destroyed
in how long? Within one hour.
Completely wiped out. Look at verse 19
and they cast dust on
their heads and cried
weeping and wailing saying
alas alas that great city
wherein we're made rich all
that had ships in the sea
by reason of her costliness.
For in one hour
is she made desolate.
What does desolate mean again?
Completely destroyed.
Completely empty.
Okay.
Now this is why Babylon is not
Jerusalem in the end times.
Because shortly after this Christ comes back
and rules where?
In Jerusalem.
Okay. So it's
like as we keep going through Isaiah 13
you'll understand because as we get
toward the end of Isaiah 13 God makes it
very clear that nobody will ever
live on Babylon again.
Like it's a complete wasteland.
It's never going to be inhabited ever again by a human being.
And so if
end times Babylon is Jerusalem
well that makes no sense because
days later Christ is ruling there
at least within a month
Christ is ruling there
we already saw in previous chapters
that there's going to be 12 tribes of Israel
on that land
that's where his kingdom's going to be
so it makes no sense to say
that this is Israel
a place of desolation where nobody's
ever going to reside on that ever again.
So come back with me to Isaiah 13
verse number 10.
Isaiah 13 verse number 10.
And again verse number 10 just
solidifies
that we're talking of end times
and present time and then end times
and then present time and it's all kind of like
this type this typology of
what's to come because in verse number 10 it says
for the stars of heaven and the
constellations thereof shall not
give her light.
The sun shall be darkened in his going forth
and the moon shall not cause
her light to shine.
Now look
could this be verse number 10
could this be a reference of
current day Babylon
of that time
and could it be as a type
where maybe Babylon's been burnt
down maybe there's smoke in the
air and it's clouded the vision
of the stars and the sun you know
yeah I guess that's possible
okay but what we see in verse number 10 is
very clear that these
constellations these heavenly
hosts are not giving their
light like God has done
a miracle and shut off the light
in heaven the sun's not
giving the light the moon's not giving
its light the stars are not giving its
light it's complete darkness
and of course for those of you that know
this is a topic that's referred to
in the book of Revelation we're going to have a look
at that in a moment let's continue in verse number 11
it says
and this is again why I believe this is about the
end times because it says and I will punish
the world
for their evil
you see
when God brought judgment on Babylon
historically
it was on that kingdom
like it was on that place
of the earth okay
and the rest of the world
you know if you want to live in that area
you probably have no idea what's going on
it's still a very
localized kingdom even though it's the most powerful
kingdom on the earth at the time but if you don't know about
that like it's you're not affected
but this Babylon
when God punishes this Babylon
the entire world's going to be punished
for the evil of Babylon
it says and the wicked for their iniquity
and I will cause the arrogance
of the proud to cease
and will lay low the haughtiness of the
terrible keep your finger there
come back with me to Revelation and Revelation
chapter 6 and verse number 12
Revelation chapter 6
and verse number 12 and I know you guys know these
passages here
but we spoke about how the stars of heaven
will not give their light we spoke about how the
sun will be darkened the moon will not
cause her light to shine
and we see this play out here in Revelation chapter 6
and verse number 12
and I beheld when he had opened
the sixth seal
and lo there was a great earthquake
and the sun became black as
sackcloth of hair and the moon became
as blood and the stars of heaven
fell unto the earth even as a fig tree
cast off her untimely figs
when she is shaken of a mighty wind
and the heaven departed as
a scroll when it is rolled together
and every mountain and island were moved
out of their places
remember before I keep reading remember it said
in Isaiah 13 I will cause the arrogance
of the proud to cease
and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible
look how the people
respond in verse number 15
and the kings of the earth and the great men
and the rich men and the chief captains
and the mighty men and every bond man
and every free man hid themselves
in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains
and said to the mountains and rocks
fall on us and hide us
from the face of him that sitteth
on the throne and from the wrath
of the lamb
for the great day of his wrath
is come and
who shall be able to stand
man they've been brought low
these what chief
kings of the earth chief captains
mighty men
they can't stand before God's judgment
before God's wrath
they try to hide inside the earth
protect us from God's wrath
so their pride, they've been humbled
in their arrogance
they've been humbled in their pride
and we can see that this takes place in the book of Revelation
at the opening of the sixth seal
where God literally turns off the sun
the moon, the stars
and back
to Isaiah 13 verse number 12
Isaiah 13 verse number 12
As we keep going
I hope you can see the challenge
of studying the book of Isaiah
Again, I don't think it's
because I've been safe
for a long time, I've read the Bible
cover to cover so many times I don't even know
I've lost count
and I feel I know the end times pretty well
I can look at Isaiah and I'm able to separate
what is of that time
what is still to come
but if you're
newer to the faith, you haven't read the Bible
cover to cover, you're not really familiar
with the historical aspects
you're not really familiar with future events
I can understand how Isaiah
is a really tough book to go through
it is tough
because it just goes from one issue to another
issue suddenly
and that's what's beautiful about the Bible
you might read it through once and you're like
okay, I read through the Bible
but next time you go through Isaiah
and you've read Revelation
you're going to better understand what God is speaking about
in that book
never get tired of reading the Bible cover to cover
once you've read it cover to cover
great, well done
then decide okay, I've got to go through it a second time
and then go through it a third time
and then go through it a fourth time
and I promise you, you'll always find something new
it never ends
it just doesn't end
and there are things when I prepare
to do a sermon, I'm like man, I didn't see that last time
I didn't see that before
and it's just God's word is just so deep
it's so layered
but what's amazing about God's word
it's always consistent
like there are no contradictions
it's not like I read something
about the end times in Isaiah and I can't find that
in the book of Revelation
it's all connected
but again, the advantage of the book of Revelation
it gives us the chronology
it's the book of Revelation, God reveals the end times
and so we can better understand the scriptures of old
when they speak of these events
look at verse number 12
the Bible says
I will make man more precious
than fine gold
even a man
than the golden wedge of Ophir
now obviously gold
is speaking of wealth and money
and gold is rare
it's very rare
obviously when we think of the population today of the earth
there's more people than there is gold
if you want to put it that way
if you got everybody together
and you put
I don't know if this is correct
but I remember hearing somewhere that if you got all the gold
on the earth and melted it down
you'd be able to fill maybe like one Olympic swimming pool
with all the gold on the earth
once it's all been melted down
gold is rare
but what it's saying here is now
that man is more precious than fine gold
it's because if you understand the end times
man has been wiped out
like in the billions
and the billions and billions
and look you might work hard
and labour hard for a paycheck today
but when God is pouring out his wrath
and your life is on the line
you're not going to care about money
like what's more precious than money at that point in time
your life
like your survival
at this point man forget about money
forget about saving up and having a big bank account
and a good superannuation
and all your investments
it doesn't matter when God begins to pour out his wrath
your life is more precious
than anything you've accumulated on the earth
verse 13
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 just a reminder
we're not going to be here for that
if we're that last generation of believers
we've been raptured
at the sixth seal when the sun and moon are darkened
we also know that the Bible says
lift up your heads for your redemption
and so we know the coming of Christ will be there
we are not appointed to God's wrath
we're not going to be on the earth
when God begins to pour out his wrath
so this is not an issue for us
but this is something for those that remain on the land
that they're going to be so fearful
of God's anger
and they're going to try to do whatever they have to do
in order to survive that time period
now if you can
the Bible just referenced there
it said the earth shall remove
out of her place
therefore will I shake the heavens
and the earth shall remove out of her place
and come with me now to Revelation 16
I believe this is what it's referring to here
in the book of Revelation
Revelation 16 verse 17
Revelation 16
17 we come
toward the end of God pouring out his wrath
on the earth
and we have the seventh angel pouring out
the seventh vial of God's wrath
and it says in Revelation 16 17
Revelation 16 17
and the seventh angel
poured out his vial
into the air and there came
a great voice out of the temple of heaven
from the throne saying
it is done
and there were voices and thunders
and lightnings
and there was a great earthquake
such as was not
since men were upon the earth
so mighty an earthquake
and so great
look at this
and the great city
was divided into three parts
and the cities of the nations fell
and great Babylon
came in remembrance
before God
to give unto her the cup
of the wine of the fierceness
of his wrath
so
right at the end of God's wrath
there's going to be such a powerful earthquake
and the book of Isaiah
says that the heavens are going to shake
the idea that I get
from this is that earth
might even just
be slightly altered
in its orbit
it's so powerful
that it doesn't just affect the earth
obviously the waves but even the heaven above it
it's so great
this earthquake
where it mentions
the cities of the nations fell
can you imagine just looking at Sydney city
and all of a sudden it just all collapses
you know I remember
9-11 my dad woke me up one day
when 9-11 happened, was that 2001?
the twin towers
in New York City
and I'm just looking at it going what happened
my dad said a plane crashed into one of the buildings
and I was looking at that
and I was like man that's amazing
I kind of lost interest a little bit
but I remember going back to the TV and I was just watching
it collapse
and I was thinking that's crazy
and then shortly after the next building starts to collapse
I'm like woah
that was all over the news
that gave me a bit of fear as a child
but what about if all of Sydney
a whole city just
falls like 9-11
just out of a great earthquake
just collapses
and this is not just one city
this is all the cities that are still left standing
on the earth
they're just falling apart
that's how great the earthquake of the Lord will be
and it also says there we saw that
the great Babylon came in remembrance of God
God says now I'm going to wipe out that city
I'm going to wipe out that end times Babylon
okay
come back with me to Isaiah 13-14
Isaiah 13 verse number 14
now as I look at these verses
I believe you can apply them to
current Babylon
in Isaiah's day
as well as end times Babylon
but verse number 14 says
and it shall be as a chaste row
so
a row is a deer
Babylon is like
there's a predator after Babylon
and that predator of course
is the Medo-Persian empire
but end times Babylon also has a predator
after it which I'll show you in a moment
it says and as a sheep
that no man taketh up
they shall every man
turn to his own people
and flee everyone
into his own land
you know what that
last part reminds me of?
and flee everyone into his own land
so as the news of the new empire
coming through and Babylon's being overrun
it's saying that the people of the foreign
nations they're going to try to flee
and go back to their homeland
this reminds me a lot of
the COVID
plandemic whatever you want to call it
like when
borders started to shut down
and there were restrictions and people were fearful
of catching the virus
didn't pretty much
everyone leave?
like
we had no migrants
no immigration for a long time
like if you were visiting
a nation you were very quickly trying to
get on a flight back to your homeland
like my parents they were in
Chile when things started
to close down in Australia
and my parents thankfully
with God's will they were able to get the last flight out of
Chile back to Australia
but you know there was this mass
migration back to
everyone's homeland
where they felt comfortable and safe
during a time of
uncertainty and distress
and so I think that's what's taking place as well
as they're saying man Babylon's being overrun
they're beginning to flee out of the city
now I don't know how much time
this end times Babylon people are going to have to flee
because it gets destroyed in one hour
like you know I don't know how much
time people truly have to get out of there
and so this might be just a reference
to current day
but I can also see some similarities
with the end times Babylon as well
and the people that are
fleeing it says in verse 15
everyone that is found
shall be thrust through
and everyone that is joined
unto them shall fall
by the sword
when it says everyone that is joined unto them
everyone that is joined unto the king of Babylon
or the Babylon empire
so as the Medes and the Persians come through
essentially people are beginning to surrender
but if people try to stand up and fight
and go no we're going to fight for Babylon
they're going to be wiped out
and again what we see as well
in the end times there is a predator
seeking to destroy Babylon
and like God used
the Medo-Persian empire to destroy Babylon
God will use a power base
in the end times to destroy Babylon
as well which I'll show you in a moment
it says in verse 16
their children also shall be dashed to pieces
before their eyes
their houses shall be spoiled and their wives
ravished
okay so I mean I'm not going to expand
that any further than what it says
but obviously it's going to be a disaster for the people
on that land as they're being overrun
overrun by the Medo-Persian empire
now let me show you Revelation 17
keep your finger there, come with me to Revelation 17
verse number 12
what I'm going to show you here
I'm pretty sure I've taught it before here at
Blessed Up Atlas Church
but in the conversations that I have with my brother
sisters and the Lord about the end times
I feel like this is one bit of information
that people somehow miss
in the book of Revelation
so Revelation 17 verse number 12
Revelation 17 verse number 12
now it says here in verse number 12
and the ten horns
which thou sawest
are ten kings
which have received no
kingdom as yet
but receive power as kings
one hour
with the beast
that beast is the antichrist
often referred to as the antichrist
so you see that these ten kings
they're working together with the antichrist
they're given power
they're one power
base working together
it says in verse number 13
these have one mind
so they're working together
and shall give their power
and strength unto the beast
so these ten kings
whatever power they've got over the nations
they say okay to the antichrist
we're giving them all over to you
you command us, you instruct us
we're of one mind
we're happy to be used by you
drop down to verse number 16
it says
and the ten horns which thou sawest
upon the beast
these shall hate
the whore
if you know the book of Revelation chapter 17
the whore is Babylon
and it shall make her desolate
and naked
this is the word desolate again
and shall eat her flesh
and burn her with fire
look at this verse number 17
have put in their hearts
to fulfil his will
and to agree
and give their kingdom
unto the beast
until the words of God shall be fulfilled
and the woman
which thou sawest is that
great city which reigneth
over the kings of the earth
notice how God
used the Persian empire to destroy Babylon
what's going to happen in the end times?
God's going to use the antichrist
and his
ten kings
and his power
to destroy Babylon
they're going to burn Babylon with fire
the antichrist nukes Babylon
whatever weapon he uses
completely wipes
Babylon as the power base
why would he do that?
I just personally believe
he wants full power
he wants to be the single
power on the earth
he's used Babylon
Babylon is described as a great whore
he's used Babylon for his purposes
but he's done with Babylon
now he wants no one to take any credit
for his advancement and power
but look, at the end of the day, the antichrist never gets what he wants
he never really achieves what he wants
because God begins to just wipe out
God's wrath is fallen on the earth
and then Christ comes
and sets up his millennial kingdom
and the armies of the antichrist
are going to be completely wiped out
like on the white horse
even though God utilizes the antichrist
to fill his judgment of Babylon
the antichrist never gets really
he never gets what he wants
which is good news
but I wanted to show you that
because some people
conflate Babylon
with the antichrist
but they're different power bases
it's a whore that he uses
but then he chooses to destroy her
because he wants to be the power on the earth
in that time
but back to historic Babylon
come with me back to Isaiah 13 verse 17
Isaiah 13 verse 17
back to historic Babylon
it says, behold
I will stir up the mead against them
which shall not regard silver
and as for gold
they shall not delight in it
so it tells me here that
it seems like the Babylonians
try to appease
the meads and the Persians
with gold and silver
let us go free
don't overrun us, we'll give you our gold
we'll give you our riches
but it's not what they want, they want power
verse 18
their bows shall also 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 as the meads come through
destroying all things
they don't care if a woman's pregnant
they don't care if they see the little kids
they're just wiping out the people of the land
which is really, really sad
verse 19
and Babylon, the glory of kingdoms
the beauty of the Chaldees, Excellency
shall be as when God overthrew
Sodom and Gomorrah
so think of Sodom and Gomorrah
God destroyed it with
fire and brimstone from heaven
now some people believe they found Sodom
today, and it's just completely wiped out
and you find sofa balls
on the land that can still be burnt today
taken and burnt
it may very well be Sodom
again, what do we notice?
it's completely wiped out, completely desolate
nobody's ever going to live there ever again
and same thing with
historical modern day Babylon
no one's living there
there's no city
there's no community there today
that it happens to land
but of course when Babylon is destroyed
in the end times, once again
it's going to be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah
never to be utilized ever again
so again this is why
future Babylon cannot be Israel
cannot be Jerusalem
because we know that Christ is going to rule from Jerusalem
for that thousand years
if we continue there in verse 19
and Babylon, the glory of kingdoms
I read that, sorry
verse 120
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
it's not even going to be used for sheep
it's just completely destroyed
again, if this is a
type of end times Babylon
you can see that it can't be Jerusalem
because it says generation after generation
will not dwell in that city
but if you know the scriptures
it makes no sense
because Christ is ruling from Jerusalem
so it cannot be Jerusalem
verse number 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 satires shall dance there
I believe that's just wild goats
and so it's just a place of
wild animals can come through
verse number 22
the wild beasts of the island shall cry
in their desolate houses and dragons
that's just reptiles
in their pleasant palaces
and her time is near to come
and her days
shall not be prolonged
now
can you see very clearly
from the end of
the last verses of
chapter 13
it says it will never be inhabited ever again
like I hope you can see that
it's uninhabited for a period
but then it will get re-inhabited
like once again
can we read quickly to Isaiah 12
Isaiah 12
and you may recall in Isaiah 12
this was about the millennial reign of Christ
and it says in Isaiah 12 verse number 4
and in that day shall you 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 he has done excellent things
this is known in all the earth
the fact that again, this is something
that the whole earth is going to be doing
cry out and shout
thou inhabitant of
Zion
for great is the Holy One of Israel
in the midst of thee
I showed you how that's a reference
to the millennial reign of Christ
that Christ is going to be ruling from Zion
or from Jerusalem
that he is going to be in the midst
Christ is going to be in the midst of that city
that's where he's going to be ruling for that thousand years
so again, can Babylon be Jerusalem?
I just can't see it
just by those scriptures
God used the word desolate
it makes it so clear
that generation after generation after generation
will not abide in those places
again that would make no sense
if like a month later
Christ is ruling from there
and people are praising God
because he's in Zion
and again, this isn't a reference to heaven
it's not a reference to the new heavens and the new earth
it was clearly a reference to the millennial reign of Jesus Christ
you may recall that
alright, before we end
Isaiah 13
what's the 13th book
of the New Testament?
1 Chronicles
so let me show you some interesting
similarities
or opposites
between 1 Chronicles
and Isaiah 13
so come with me
keep your finger there in Isaiah 13
come with me to 1 Chronicles 23
1 Chronicles 29
1 Chronicles 29 is
King David
telling the nation
he's gathered gold and silver
and resources to build the temple of God
to build the house of God
but it would not be him that builds it
it would be Solomon that builds it
and this is said here in 1 Chronicles 29 verse 3
Moreover
because I have set my affection
to the house of my God
I have of mine own
proper good of gold and silver
which I have given to the house of my God
over and above all
that I have prepared for
the holy house
so it says look I've got more than we need
to build the house of God
like David's saying look
this money's coming out of my own pocket even
I want us to build this great temple
and look what it says in verse number 4
even three thousand talents
of gold
of the gold of Ophir
does that sound familiar?
the seven thousand talents of refined silver
to overlay the walls of the houses
withal
look when we read this what's really interesting
when we have a nation praising God
gold has value
right?
he said look this is going to be used to serve
in the house of the Lord
and so look this gold
of Ophir is going for a
godly purpose
it's got value
but what do we see?
when people have turned against the Lord
what do we read in verse number 13 of Isaiah 13
it says therefore I shake the heavens
which I will remove out of your place
and the wrath of the Lord
I'm reading the wrong passage sorry verse number 12
I will make a man more precious than fine gold
even a man
than the golden wedge of Ophir
and so what we saw there the gold of Ophir
is just worthless
like in the sight of man
when God is pouring out his wrath
when there's a wicked nation when there's a wicked
world that's being judged by God
that gold has no value
but when we see that a people
or a nation love the Lord
and want to serve him in the house of the Lord
that God is able to make that same
gold of value
the same gold to be productive for his
purposes
and so what we're seeing with 1 Chronicles
and Isaiah 13 is like the opposite
it's like either we serve God and God
will enrich what we've been given our possessions
and our wealth or
if we turn our backs against God
our wealth and possessions just mean nothing
like there's no point you know of having
such things
come with me to 1 Chronicles 16 now
1 Chronicles 16
what did we see about the day of the Lord
I'll quickly read to you back from Isaiah 13
God says therefore I will shake the heavens
and the earth shall remove out of a place
in the wrath of the Lord of hosts
in the day of his fierce anger
God says that the earth shall remove out of a place
he will shake the heavens
again speaking about a people who have
turned away from the Lord
God prononates wrath
there's no stability there's only destruction
but look at 1 Chronicles 16
29
give unto the Lord the glory
due unto his name
bring an offering and come before him
worship the Lord in the beauty of
holiness
fear before him all the earth
the world also
shall be stable
and be not moved
what else did we learn
man when you're praising the Lord you're
serving him right
he says look I'm going to give you stability
I'm going to give in fact
the whole earth stability
it will not be moved
now apply that for your own personal life
look there are
we go through all kinds of tribulations and difficulties
and stresses in life
but what's going to keep you unmovable
is if you're praising the Lord
at all times
what do we learn
that if you turn from the Lord
if you walk in ways of darkness
if you don't walk in his ways
if you live a filthy disgusting life
that does not please the Lord
your world is going to be turned upside down
God can shake the very foundations
of your world as it were
and you won't have the stability
you're not going to have the joy of the Lord in your life
so what we see when we compare
Isaiah 13 and 1 Chronicles
like the same topics
but
in opposite ways
like you know
either we praise the Lord
and he can use your wealth
and he can bless your income
and he can keep you stable in life
even when you're facing difficulties
or he can just walk against the Lord
and like if you've been saved a long time
you know you've experienced this
well you've not been walking in God's ways
and things have turned upside down in your life
and like
you know you just don't have enough to pay the bills
you don't have enough to make ends meet
like it just seems like there's nothing that I'm doing
that's succeeding
it's because you're not walking in the ways of the Lord
look
you want stability in life
you need to just do what God says
look you're not going to face the wrath of Babylon
or the end times
so we're going to be raptured before all that
but we see the nature of God through this
we can see God's blessings
that comes by blessing the Lord serving him
you know prioritizing his house
like King David wanted to prioritize
the house of the Lord, build us a temple
hey we need to prioritize, bless it up Baptist Church
you know what, you prioritize God's house
you prioritize his word
you prioritize his ways and his fellowship
God's going to give you stability
he's going to bless you, your possessions
not for selfish reasons
but he's going to bless your possessions
so you can be a blessing to others
you can be a blessing to God's house
I hope that's something I can just show you
we can see how God was so angry at Babylon
but we don't want God's anger to fall upon us
we're saved, praise God
but we know full well that if we turn against him
that he will be angry toward us
we know he is long suffering
but his chastisement does fall upon us
and boy I don't want that anymore in my life
I've had his chastisement in my life
I don't want that over and over and over again
let me just stay walking with you Lord at all times
so I just would not be moved
that I would be productive for your service and use
okay let's pray