“Pay Attention: Flee Babylon!”

This is what the LORD says-your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.”

Isaiah 48:17-18

It is a good idea to pay attention to the road signs when we drive-it may keep us from sudden death. Similarly, it is of utmost importance to pay attention to the word of God as we go through life.

In Isaiah 48 we find the Hebrew word shema, which means “to pay attention,” “to hear,” used ten times in the first sixteen verses. Shema is found throughout the Bible, but the classic “Shema passage” is Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Here the chosen people of God are told to listen and obey the word of God. Such hearing brings about great blessing, but failure results in disaster.

In like manner, God’s people are told repeatedly in Isaiah 48 to pay attention to divine revelation: “Listen to this, O house of Jacob. . .” (v. 1); “Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called. . .” (v. 12); “Come together, all of you, and listen. . .” (v. 14); “Come near me and listen to this. . .” (v. 16). I pray that today the Spirit of the living God will cause us to hear and obey his word that leads us to eternal life.

The Complaint of God

In this passage we find that God had a complaint, not against the Babylonians, but against his own people, Israel. In fact, God’s complaint had many facets:

1. Israel made false claims. The chapter begins: “Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the Lord and invoke the God of Israel-but not in truth or righteousness-you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and rely on the God of Israel-the Lord Almighty is his name. . . .”

   God’s first complaint was about the false claims his people were making. They claimed to worship him, the true God-the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the God who revealed himself to them. They claimed to be citizens of the holy city, Jerusalem. They claimed to trust in the God of Israel and not rely on themselves or on the idols of the Babylonians. But these claims were not true.

   God sees our heart and weighs our motivations; thus, he is not impressed with our claims and professions. What he desires is truth in the inward parts. He is interested in what we do, not just what we say.

   In 1 John, the apostle makes reference to those who make such false claims: “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth” (v. 6); “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (v. 8); “If we claim we have not sinned, we make [God] out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives” (v. 10). Jesus himself says in Luke 6:46, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” But God is not deceived by false claims.

2. Israel became stubborn. In verse 4 God says, “For I knew how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze.” God’s next complaint is that Israel had become stubborn, cantankerous, argumentative and opinionated, incapable of obedience, incapable of submission to her Lord and Master. But by her refusal to keep God’s covenant, she was now subject to divine judgment.
3. Israel became idolatrous. God says in verse 5, “Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, ‘My idols did them; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.'” The people of Israel were provoking the true and living God and conforming to the nations around them by rejecting him and worshiping their lifeless, impotent idols.
4. They closed their ears. Verse 8 says, “You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ear has not been open.” God sent prophet after prophet to Israel and also gave them the inscripturated word. Yet Israel refused to hear or understand the word of God. They became impervious to his revealed truth by deliberately refusing to hear and obey the life-giving word of God. “Hearing, they did not hear; seeing, they did not see.”
5. Israel became treacherous. Verse 8 continues, “Well do I know how treacherous you are.” The people of Israel became covenant-breakers, easily agreeing to their covenant obligations, only to renege on them later. This type of treachery is practiced all the time. People take upon themselves sacred obligations, only to reject them when they are no longer convenient. A classic example is marriage. When we marry, we make a lifelong commitment; to renege on that commitment is treachery. We find another example in the modern view of some Christians to whom Jesus is Savior, but not Lord. They may say, “Lord, Lord,” but, in truth, they are evildoers, not Christians at all. Such people are treacherous.
6. Israel was rebellious. Verse 8 concludes, “You were called a rebel from birth.” Is not this the truth about all of us! Our problem is not an acquired one, nor is it environmental. We are innately rebellious, coming from the womb as rebels, as David said in Psalm 51: “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”
7. Israel became unteachable. In verse 17 we read, “This is what the Lord says-your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands. . . .” Through his prophets, the Lord was trying to teach Israel what was profitable and beneficial to them. But his people refused to be taught.

   Isaiah 44:9-10 speaks about the unprofitability of idolatry: “All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame. Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit him nothing?” The same warning is posed by Jesus: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Serving God alone is profitable.

8. They became wicked. The last verse in both chapter 48 and chapter 57 reads: “‘There is no peace,’ says the Lord, ‘for the wicked.'” God is speaking about his own people, who have become wicked. They were supposed to be righteous, but they became wicked, twisted. The word actually means “out of joint.” In Matthew 23, Jesus calls such people hypocrites, blind guides, blind fools, whitewashed tombs, and snakes-wicked!

These eight points formed the basis of God’s complaint against his people. I hope we will pay attention to this warning. Do not say, “It is for the Babylonians,” or, “It is for my neighbor.” God is speaking to you and to me. Pay attention!

The Cry and Compassion of God

Amazingly, though the people of Israel became wicked covenant-breakers, God refused to cut them off completely. In verse 9 God says, “For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to cut you off.” He refuses to destroy these “rebels from birth,” these congenital sinners. Why? Because he chose them and called them, and the Bible tells us God’s gifts and calling are irrevocable. In spite of Israel’s wickedness, God’s choice stands, and he will be compassionate toward Israel, his elect.

Notice, though, God says he will save Israel “for my own name’s sake.” It has nothing to do with Israel’s merit. The basis for salvation is God’s own character and grace-nothing else! Notice also verse 11, where God says, “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.”

God would not totally destroy Israel. He would be true to his covenant with Abraham and would save his people. Even so, there would be suffering and serious loss for Israel. There would be judgment, destruction and dispersion, as foretold by the prophets. Rebellion always results in loss, defeat, wasted lives, suffering, diseases, economic deprivation, a defiled conscience, and deep depression. Sin is not profitable.

God teaches us through his word what is profitable for us. Second Timothy 3:16 tells us, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” It is the word of God that makes us wise unto salvation and directs us in the way we should go, as opposed to the way we want to go: “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is the way of death.” Our way is the way of death; God’s way alone is life.

If you are interested in pursuing the way of the rebel, I want to warn you: you shall be chastened, tested, and refined, as in a furnace. In verse 10 God says, “See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.” Do not ever dare to pursue the way of evil. Sin only brings about suffering and great loss.

The word declares:

I will heap calamities upon them and spend my arrows against them. I will send wasting famine against them, consuming pestilence and deadly plague; I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts, the venom of vipers that glide in the dust. In the street the sword will make them childless; in their homes terror will reign. Young men and young women will perish, infants and gray-haired men. I said I would scatter them and blot out their memory from mankind, but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest the adversary misunderstand and say, “Our hand has triumphed; the Lord has not done all this.” They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them. If only they were wise and would understand this, and discern what their end will be!

(Deuteronomy 32:23-29)

This weeping and pathos of God are particularly revealed in verse 29: “If only they were wise and would understand this, and discern what their end will be!” It is the same pathos and grief that rises in the hearts of parents when their children go the wrong way. It is like the cry of Jesus as recorded in Luke 19:41-44:

As [Jesus] approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace-but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

God taught Israel what was profitable and guided them in the way they should go, but they refused to listen. So God cried out in sorrow: “If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea” (v. 18).

Children, teenagers, listen to this! Your parents have been telling you how to live and how to attain peace and righteousness. You could have experienced it, but you did not. You could have been a winner, but you are loser. You could have been a success, but you are a failure because you did not pay attention to them. Israel also did not pay attention to her heavenly Father. She closed her ears and refused to hear, sleeping through the sermon. Distracted by idolatry, she became treacherous. Through her rebellion, she suffered great loss because she had chosen death, not life. Now God was grieving at her miserable condition.

The question is: Is there any hope for Israel? Is there any hope for us? Will God grant another opportunity to hear and respond? The wonderful answer is “Yes!” Jonah 3:1 says, “The word of the Lord came to him a second time.” The word of the Lord is coming to you a second time also. If you pay attention as the word is preached, you will be regenerated, you will be healed, your depression will go, and you will be encouraged and built up.

The Command of God

The Bible says, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” The changeless God cannot deny himself, though the sin of Israel is no surprise to him. He knew the pervasiveness of our sin before he chose us. We all are born enemies of God, dead in trespasses and sins, without strength to save ourselves. But he has the power to deal with our congenital problem of sin. God loves Israel and will save Israel from her sins.

As divine judgment came upon Israel, she went into exile to Babylon. But God would bring about a second exodus, this time not from Egypt, but from Babylon. Jerusalem, the holy city, lay in ruins from 586 B.C. onward-the temple was destroyed by fire and there was nothing left. But Jerusalem and the temple would be rebuilt, and the captive Israelites would be set free by Cyrus, whom God would raise up for this very purpose, and whose rise to power was revealed through Isaiah one hundred and fifty years earlier.

Our God is mighty to save-not the righteous, for there are none, but miserable sinners like us. He is the Lord who appeared to Moses in the burning bush. He is the self-existing, self-consistent, self-dependent God, who has no need. He is the Lord of history, who makes predictions and fulfills what he predicts. He calls Cyrus, and he comes to exist. He defeats Babylon and sets Israel free, according to divine plan and order. He rebuilds Jerusalem and the temple. God’s purpose stands. He does all he pleases.

All things are under our God’s total control. Having determined to save us from our sins, he does save us, defeating and binding all his challengers-Pharoah, the King of Babylon, Satan-and sets his people free.

Who is this God who commands us and demands that we pay attention? In verse 17 he is called by four names. (PGM) First, he is the Lord, the Sovereign Lord of the universe. Second, he is our Redeemer, our nearest kinsman, who is able, willing, and ready to redeem us and to pay the total cost of our redemption. That is the reason the Lord Jesus Christ took upon himself human nature and became our kinsman. Third, he is the Holy One, which means he hates sin, and, not only that, he makes saints out of sinners by dealing with our sin on the cross. Finally, he is God, the true and living God, not like idols, who are figments of human imagination. This is who commands us.

What is it we are commanded to do? To flee Babylon, the sphere of evil, and go to the holy city of Zion. We are able to flee because God has defeated Babylon. Revelation 18 proclaims, “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!” Babylon has been defeated once and for all because One who is greater than Cyrus has come. Isaiah prophesied about him: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (7:14). The Word became flesh. Jesus Christ, our Immanuel, has come and has defeated the evil Babylon on the cross of Calvary and dealt with our sin and guilt once and for all.

Isaiah 48 is an emancipation proclamation. Jesus said he “must suffer and be raised from the dead, that repentance and forgiveness of sins may be proclaimed to all nations.” Now listen to Isaiah 48:20: “Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians! Announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it. Send it out to the ends of the earth; say, ‘The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.'” That is the gospel.

This emancipation was accomplished, not by Cyrus, but by Christ. Hear this emancipation proclamation! Pay attention to it! It is speaking about your deliverance, accomplished by Christ on the cross. God is setting his elect sinners free. He has redeemed us. When you cry out, “What must I do to be saved?” heaven answers, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.”

Even now God is calling us effectually, telling us, “Flee Babylon! Flee sin! Flee the realm of death!” It is God who makes us free and enables us to flee from the kingdom of Satan, the sphere of darkness and death, into the kingdom of his Son, the sphere of light and eternal life. No person or thing, no Satan or Babylon, can keep us bound anymore. Our chains have been broken! Because of his great love and electing grace, God, who is rich in mercy, is making us alive with Christ. Even now he is raising us up with Christ and seating us with him in the heavenly places. We are God’s new creation, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.

No longer are we stubborn, wicked, unteachable rebels. Now we are children of God, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Now we can shout with joy and declare this gospel even to the ends of the earth: “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob”!

In Isaiah 52:11 God admonishes Israel, “Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure. . . .” God is setting us free, and he exhorts us, “Come out! Depart! Flee! Get up! Go!” But look at verse 12: “But you will not leave in haste or go in flight.” What is the reason? “for the Lord will go before you.” What happened in Exodus is happening again. Having broken our chains, defeated our enemies, set us free, our God is now leading us out. The Lord himself goes before us! Who is behind us? “The God of Israel will be your rear guard.”

Once again, God is teaching his people what profits them and guiding us in the way we should go. We must pay attention: this is the way of life! Forget about previous losses and failures. God has done a new thing for us. We are no longer losers and idolaters; now we worship and serve the living God of Israel. What we lost in Adam has been gained for us in greater measure by the last Adam, Jesus Christ.

If we have paid attention, we can change verse 18 slightly to become a promise for us, saying, “Your peace is like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” Notice the enormity of this promise-our salvation is massive, our righteousness immense, our peace plenteous and joy abounding! It is not a little trickle; it is like an overflowing river, like the mighty waves of the sea. Thus are we blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

This peace is perpetual; it never dries up, and it has nothing to do with our circumstances. It is Christ-dependent, not circumstance dependent. It enables us to say with Paul, “I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengtheneth me.” Having been justified by faith in Jesus Christ, we have peace with God, a peace that transcends all human understanding; righteousness-Christ’s divine, unimpeachable righteousness; and abounding joy. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. So, with Paul, we can rejoice even in tribulations, because neither death nor life, nor anything in all creation, is able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Care and Cure of God

A final question must now be raised: Is God going to take care of those who have fled Babylon? That question is answered in verse 21: “They did not thirst when he led them through the desert; he made water flow for them from the rock.” The prophet is speaking in terms of Exodus imagery, but it is applicable to the new exodus in Jesus Christ. The Lord, our great Shepherd, will lead us, going before and behind us. We are not going to thirst!

What about bread? Remember, he taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” He also taught us, “Ask, and you shall receive.” Our God will give us bread. He will give us water and protection. He is the pillar of fire at night and the pillar of cloud by day. We can fully trust our Lord Jesus Christ to take care of us.

Notice the warning in the last verse of Isaiah 48: “There is no peace for the wicked.” Remember, this is speaking about Israel, God’s people. But, more specifically, it refers to those who are still arrogant, unreachable, unbelieving, idol-worshiping rebels. God guarantees one thing: Such people will have no peace. But God shows us the way out: “Believe in Jesus Christ, that you may have peace.” God is saying, “Stop being a rebel. Repent, and believe the gospel. Flee Babylon, go to Zion, and everything will be well. Take the only cure for our wicked condition. The only way out is through Jesus Christ.”

God’s plan for his people is not to harm them but to prosper them. That is why we see him weeping over Jerusalem. That is why he is weeping over you. He sees what you are about to experience throughout your life if you do not serve him. Deuteronomy 30:19 say, “I set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life.” Don’t be fooled by Satan. He comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. But Jesus Christ said, “I have come that you may have life, and have it more abundantly.” God does not want anyone to perish; therefore, choose life!

Children and teenagers, don’t waste your life by doing what is wicked and evil. The most successful life is lived for God from infancy to old age. I plead with you to serve Christ, beginning this very day. I guarantee that if you trust in Jesus Christ, your peace and joy and righteousness will be like a river.

“Pay attention! Flee Babylon!” This is the command of the great God. It is explicit, it is urgent, and it is for our good. The Holy Spirit, working within us, gives us the ability to flee from Babylon into Zion, from death to life, from darkness to light. Once we were darkness, but now we are light in the Lord.

God is doing his marvelous work. He understands our sin and our misery, but he is a mighty Savior whose business is to save sinners. If you are a sinner, then you qualify to be saved by this mighty Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord. I pray that you will trust in him today and be saved. Amen.