No Nation is Indestructible

 

 

Isaiah 47:1 (NKJV)

¹           “Come down and sit in the dust,

     O virgin daughter of Babylon;

     Sit on the ground without a throne,

     O daughter of the Chaldeans!

     For you shall no more be called

     Tender and delicate.

 

Isaiah 47:7 (NKJV)

⁷           And you said, ‘I shall be a lady forever,’

            So that you did not take these things to heart,

            Nor remember the latter end of them.

 

Isaiah 47:8 (NKJV)

⁸           “Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures,

     Who dwell securely,

     Who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me;

     I shall not sit as a widow,

     Nor shall I know the loss of children’

 

Isaiah 47:9 (NKJV)

⁹           But these two things shall come to you

            In a moment, in one day:

            The loss of children, and widowhood.

            They shall come upon you in their fullness

            Because of the multitude of your sorceries,

            For the great abundance of your enchantments.

 

(NKJV=New King James Version of the Bible)

Isaiah, in this part of his prophecies, has left behind any negative statements about Israel and spoken about the wonderful destiny still before her.  His negative statements now turn to Babylon, an ascending empire in Isaiah’s lifetime and one that would overthrow Israel and leave her desolate for seven decades.  The empire is symbolized as a lady, confident that her position as the dominant force in the region is permanently secure, she implies that she is divine, and will never suffer loss or defeat, that she will never be a “widow”.  History tells us that the empire of Babylon was overthrown in one night, and that her ruin came suddenly. 

 

In the back of the Bible, the restored Babylon of sorts led by the Antichrist, maintains the same attitude (Revelation 18:7) and will face the same sudden destruction.  Nations, and the forces behind them, can fall to the illusion of infallibility and divinity, but none are indestructible.  The same goes for modern as well as ancient empires, and I find it notable that Revelation, as I read it, mentions the governments of Asian countries, Europe and Russia as significant players in the events depicted in that prophecy, but I find no mention of the United States.  We shall see.