Isaiah Chapter 47
Isaiah 47, Babylon Brought Low
Isaiah 47 announces the humiliation of Babylon. The empire that would conquer Judah, carry away the treasures of Jerusalem, and take God’s people into exile would itself be brought down by the Lord. Babylon is pictured as a proud, delicate woman stripped of her throne, dignity, security, and false confidence. The chapter exposes Babylon’s cruelty, arrogance, occult dependence, and self deifying pride. She says in her heart, “I am, and none else beside me,” language that belongs only to the Lord. Therefore judgment would come suddenly, and none of her sorcerers, astrologers, stargazers, or merchants would save her. The notes provided cover Isaiah 47:1-15, including Babylon’s humiliation, the Lord as Redeemer, Babylon’s lack of mercy toward Judah, her pride as the “lady of kingdoms,” her sorceries and enchantments, her false security, and the final declaration that no one shall save her.
Isaiah 47:1-3
Isaiah 47:1-3, KJV, “Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more called tender and delicate. Take millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare leg, uncover thigh, pass over rivers. Thy nakedness shall uncovered, yea, thy shame shall seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as man.”
The Lord commands Babylon, “Come down, and sit in the dust.” Babylon had exalted herself as queen among the nations, but God brings her down to the lowest place. To sit in the dust is the posture of humiliation, grief, defeat, and disgrace. The empire that viewed itself as secure and untouchable is ordered to descend from glory to shame.
Babylon is called “O virgin daughter of Babylon.” The title pictures her as a proud young woman who had not known defeat. She considered herself protected, desirable, privileged, and beyond violation. Yet the Lord says she will sit on the ground with no throne. Her royal dignity will be removed.
She is also called “daughter of the Chaldeans.” The Chaldeans were associated with Babylon’s power, learning, and occult wisdom. Yet neither political power nor religious magic could prevent God’s judgment.
The Lord says, “thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.” Babylon had enjoyed luxury and refinement, but that season would end. The delicate woman would become a slave woman. The one who lived in ease would be forced into humiliating labor, “Take the millstones, and grind meal.” Grinding grain was servant labor. The proud city would be reduced to the work of captivity.
The commands “uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers” picture forced relocation and public shame. Babylon had humiliated conquered peoples, including Judah. Now Babylon would experience humiliation. The one who had stripped others would be stripped. The one who had marched others into exile would herself pass through waters in shame.
The Lord says, “Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen.” Babylon’s hidden corruption would be exposed. Her glory would be revealed as shame. Sin may hide for a season, but God can uncover what men conceal.
Numbers 32:23, KJV, “But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.”
Babylon’s sin would find her out.
The Lord declares, “I will take vengeance.” This is not personal pettiness. This is divine justice. Babylon had been cruel, proud, idolatrous, and arrogant. God had used Babylon as an instrument of chastening against Judah, but Babylon acted with sinful excess and pride. Therefore the Lord would repay her.
Romans 12:19, KJV, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but give place unto wrath: for written, Vengeance mine; I will repay, saith Lord.”
Vengeance belongs to the Lord because only He judges with perfect righteousness.
The final phrase, “I will not meet thee as a man,” means Babylon will not be able to negotiate, bribe, resist, or reason her way out of judgment as though she were dealing with a human opponent. She is dealing with God. No man can mediate her escape once the Lord rises in vengeance.
Isaiah 47:4
Isaiah 47:4, KJV, “As for our redeemer, LORD of hosts his name, Holy One of Israel.”
Isaiah interrupts the judgment oracle with praise. As he sees Babylon brought low, he cannot help but confess the glory of Israel’s Redeemer. The fall of Babylon is not merely political justice. It is the action of the Lord on behalf of His people.
The title “our redeemer” is deeply significant. The Hebrew idea is that of the kinsman redeemer, the close relative who takes up the cause of the family member in need. The redeemer could buy back land, free a relative from bondage, preserve inheritance, and avenge blood. The Lord is Israel’s Redeemer because He takes their cause as His own.
Leviticus 25:25, KJV, “If thy brother waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.”
The kinsman redeemer acts for the helpless relative. The Lord does this perfectly for Israel.
He is also “the LORD of hosts.” This means He commands the armies of heaven. Babylon had armies, but Israel’s Redeemer is Lord of hosts. Babylon had kings, but Israel’s Redeemer rules all heavenly powers.
He is “the Holy One of Israel.” His redemption is holy redemption. His vengeance is holy vengeance. His covenant love does not compromise His righteousness. He saves His people and judges their enemies according to His holiness.
This title also points forward to Christ. Jesus became truly man, taking on flesh from Israel, so that He could be the Redeemer of His people.
Hebrews 2:14-15, KJV, “Forasmuch then as children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of same; that through death he might destroy him that had power of death, that is, devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
Christ is the greater Kinsman Redeemer. He took flesh and blood, paid the ransom with His own blood, defeated the enemy, and delivers His people from bondage.
Isaiah 47:5-7
Isaiah 47:5-7, KJV, “Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more called, Lady of kingdoms. I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. And thou saidst, I shall lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember latter end of it.”
The Lord commands Babylon, “Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness.” The proud city that once made noise among the nations is silenced. The city that enjoyed splendor is sent into darkness. Her titles are removed. She will no longer be called “Lady of kingdoms.”
Babylon had held a place of dominance. She ruled kingdoms and considered herself supreme. But the Lord strips away the title. No earthly empire holds its glory permanently. God gives power, and God removes it.
Daniel 4:35, KJV, “And all inhabitants of earth reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in army of heaven, and among inhabitants of earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?”
No kingdom can stay God’s hand.
The Lord explains that Babylon’s conquest of Judah was not ultimately because of Babylon’s greatness. “I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand.” God was angry with His people because of their sin, and He gave them into Babylon’s hand as discipline.
This is important theology. Babylon did not defeat Judah because Babylon’s gods were stronger than the Lord. Babylon conquered because the Lord used Babylon as an instrument of chastening. God remained sovereign even in Judah’s humiliation.
Yet Babylon was guilty because she showed no mercy. “Thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.” The elderly, who should have been treated with restraint and compassion, were oppressed heavily. Babylon exceeded the bounds of justice and acted with cruelty.
God may use a nation as an instrument of judgment, but that does not excuse that nation’s wicked motives, cruelty, or pride. Assyria had already been judged for the same kind of arrogance.
Isaiah 10:5-7, KJV, “O Assyrian, rod of mine anger, and staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against hypocritical nation, and against people of my wrath will I give him charge, to take spoil, and to take prey, and to tread them down like mire of streets. Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.”
God used Assyria, but Assyria’s heart was wicked. The same principle applies to Babylon.
Babylon also said, “I shall be a lady for ever.” This is presumption. She assumed her status would never end. Pride blinds men and nations to their latter end. Babylon did not lay these things to heart. She did not consider where pride, cruelty, and idolatry would lead.
Proverbs 16:18, KJV, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before fall.”
Babylon’s pride guaranteed her fall.
Isaiah 47:8-9
Isaiah 47:8-9, KJV, “Therefore hear now this, thou that given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as widow, neither shall I know loss of children: But these two things shall come to thee in moment in one day, loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for multitude of thy sorceries, and for great abundance of thine enchantments.”
The Lord now addresses Babylon as one “given to pleasures.” Babylon lived for luxury, sensuality, indulgence, and ease. Pleasure itself, when received lawfully under God, is not sin. But to be given to pleasures is to be ruled by them. Babylon’s pleasures made her careless.
She “dwellest carelessly,” meaning securely, complacently, and without fear of judgment. She assumed nothing could touch her. Her walls, wealth, occult systems, political power, and reputation made her feel safe. But false security is dangerous when God has declared judgment.
Babylon says in her heart, “I am, and none else beside me.” This is blasphemous self exaltation. The Lord alone says, “I am,” and the Lord alone says there is none beside Him. Babylon takes divine language for herself. She speaks as though she is ultimate, self sufficient, and unrivaled.
Isaiah 45:5, KJV, “I LORD, and none else, there no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me.”
The words that belong to God are stolen by Babylon’s pride. This is the heart of idolatrous empire, self deification.
Babylon also says, “I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children.” She believes she will never lose protection, power, future, or prosperity. But the Lord says both will come in a moment, in one day, “the loss of children, and widowhood.” Sudden judgment would overturn her confidence.
This was fulfilled in the fall of Babylon, described in Daniel 5. While Belshazzar feasted, judgment came suddenly.
Daniel 5:1-4, KJV, “Belshazzar king made great feast to thousand of his lords, and drank wine before thousand. Belshazzar, whiles he tasted wine, commanded to bring golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of temple which in Jerusalem; that king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. Then they brought golden vessels that were taken out of temple of house of God which at Jerusalem; and king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine, and praised gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.”
That same night Babylon fell.
Daniel 5:30-31, KJV, “In that night was Belshazzar king of Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.”
The Lord says this judgment comes “for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.” Babylon was deeply associated with occult practices, astrology, magic, omens, and enchantments. Instead of seeking the living God, she sought control through forbidden spiritual powers.
Deuteronomy 18:10-12, KJV, “There shall not found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through fire, or that useth divination, or observer of times, or enchanter, or witch, Or charmer, or consulter with familiar spirits, or wizard, or necromancer. For all that do these things abomination unto LORD: and because of these abominations LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.”
Sorcery and enchantment are abominations because they reject God’s rule and seek power apart from Him.
Isaiah 47:10-11
Isaiah 47:10-11, KJV, “For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I, and none else beside me. Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.”
The Lord exposes Babylon’s heart, “thou hast trusted in thy wickedness.” This is a searching statement. The wicked often trust their wickedness to protect them. They trust deceit to cover previous deceit. They trust manipulation to maintain control. They trust violence, wealth, sorcery, secrecy, political power, and corruption to shield them from consequences.
Babylon said, “None seeth me.” This is the arrogance of secret sin. She believed her wickedness was hidden. But nothing is hidden from the Lord.
Hebrews 4:13, KJV, “Neither there any creature that not manifest in his sight: but all things naked and opened unto eyes of him with whom we have to do.”
God sees all.
The Lord says, “Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee.” Babylon was known for learning, calculation, astronomy, administration, and occult knowledge. Yet knowledge without submission to God becomes perversion. Wisdom divorced from the fear of the Lord becomes corruption.
Proverbs 9:10, KJV, “Fear of LORD beginning of wisdom: and knowledge of holy understanding.”
Babylon had knowledge, but not the fear of the Lord. Therefore her wisdom was warped.
Again Babylon says, “I am, and none else beside me.” The repetition shows that self deifying pride stands at the center of her sin. She does not merely enjoy power. She claims ultimate status.
Because of this, evil, mischief, and desolation will come. The judgment will be sudden, unexpected, and unavoidable. She will not know where it comes from. She will not be able to put it off. She will not understand it in advance through sorcery or astrology.
This is the principle Scripture repeats.
James 4:6, KJV, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth proud, but giveth grace unto humble.”
1 Peter 5:5, KJV, “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto elder. Yea, all of you subject one to another, and clothed with humility: for God resisteth proud, and giveth grace to humble.”
God resists the proud. Babylon’s pride brought her under direct divine opposition.
Isaiah 47:12-13
Isaiah 47:12-13, KJV, “Stand now with thine enchantments, and with multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in multitude of thy counsels. Let now astrologers, stargazers, monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.”
The Lord challenges Babylon sarcastically. “Stand now with thine enchantments.” Babylon had labored in sorcery from her youth. She had built a religious and intellectual system that mixed occult practice with political confidence. Now God tells her to stand with it and see if it can help.
The phrases “if so be thou shalt be able to profit,” and “if so be thou mayest prevail,” expose the weakness of occult confidence. If sorcery has power, let it profit now. If enchantments can prevail, let them prevail against God’s judgment. But they cannot.
Babylon is “wearied in the multitude of thy counsels.” False religion and false wisdom exhaust the soul. Men chase counsel after counsel, sign after sign, prediction after prediction, technique after technique, and still have no peace. Babylon had many counselors, but no Savior.
The Lord specifically names “astrologers, stargazers, monthly prognosticators.” These were those who claimed to read the heavens, predict events, interpret omens, and guide decisions by the stars and months. God challenges them, “stand up, and save thee.”
This is the great test of false religion, can it save? Can it deliver from sin? Can it rescue from judgment? Can it stand in the day of the Lord? Babylon’s occult system could not.
Daniel had already shown the superiority of God’s revelation over Babylonian occult wisdom.
Daniel 2:27-28, KJV, “Daniel answered in presence of king, and said, Secret which king hath demanded cannot wise men, astrologers, magicians, soothsayers, shew unto king; But there God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to king Nebuchadnezzar what shall in latter days. Thy dream, and visions of thy head upon thy bed, these.”
The astrologers and magicians could not reveal what God alone revealed. The God of heaven reveals secrets. Babylon’s occult wisdom fails before Him.
Isaiah 47:14-15
Isaiah 47:14-15, KJV, “Behold, they shall as stubble; fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from power of flame: there shall not coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. Thus shall they unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.”
The Lord gives the verdict. The sorcerers, astrologers, and false counselors “shall be as stubble.” The fire of judgment will burn them. They cannot deliver Babylon, and they cannot deliver themselves.
This fire is not comforting fire. It is not a coal to warm oneself by or a pleasant fire to sit before. It is destructive judgment. False religion may appear to give warmth, comfort, mystery, and guidance, but in the end it becomes fire that burns.
This is a sober warning. Men often mock the idea of judgment, imagining they can endure it, joke about it, or share it with friends. But divine judgment is not a campfire. It is not warmth. It is wrath.
Matthew 13:40-42, KJV, “As therefore tares gathered and burned in fire; so shall it in end of this world. Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into furnace of fire: there shall wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
The fire of judgment is dreadful, not useful.
Babylon’s merchants and companions will scatter, “they shall wander every one to his quarter.” Those who profited from Babylon will abandon her when judgment comes. Her networks, counselors, traders, magicians, and allies will not stand with her.
The final sentence is devastating, “none shall save thee.” This is the end of every person, nation, religion, and system that refuses the Lord. If the Lord does not save, no one can save. If a man will not look to the Lord and be saved, then no idol, sorcerer, astrologer, wealth, empire, or human counsel can deliver him.
This directly contrasts Isaiah 45:22.
Isaiah 45:22, KJV, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all ends of earth: for I God, and none else.”
Those who look to the Lord are saved. Those who trust Babylon’s pride, pleasure, sorcery, and false wisdom hear the final word, “none shall save thee.”
Isaiah 47 therefore warns every generation. Babylon is more than an ancient city. Babylon represents proud human civilization organized against God, intoxicated with pleasure, trusting wickedness, boasting in self sufficiency, relying on occult and false wisdom, and assuming judgment will never come. But the Lord brings Babylon down. The only safe place is not in Babylon’s throne, wealth, pleasure, or knowledge. The only safe place is in the Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, the Holy One of Israel.
