The Judgment of Babylon and Her Idols
46:1 to 47:15
The business of magic and foretelling was big business in Babylon. There were classes of priests whose business was to read the significance for the future from the shape of a sacrificial animal’s innards. These omens were carefully cataloged and recorded; their official listing ran to more than seventy tablets. When we think of the tremendous effort that went into compiling and categorizing these, we get some idea of what Isaiah is talking about. By comparison, it makes the acquisition of a Ph.D. degree today look pretty easy. At the same time, one would have to gain great skill at covering up all the wrong prognostications.
The same kind of incredible effort went into the study of the horoscope. How much time must have been spent staring into the night sky in order to find some coordination between the placement of the stars and current events. Then they had to answer to the kings and rulers as to whether to undertake certain activities. In some ways, they would have been better off if they did not have so much intelligence. They would not have had the illusion of being in control of the fates that ruled their lives and country. The amazing fact is that the horoscope is still being used today. People who deny that Jesus ever did a miracle will open the newspaper to read it. This is nothing other than a continuation of that failed Babylonian wisdom.
The word mazzaroth is the Hebrew of what we commonly call the zodiac. The word zodiac is actually a transliteration of a Greek word. But the Hebrew word zodi means the Way, which is a euphemism for being a follower of the Messiah (Acts 9:2, 19:9 and 23, 22:4, 24:14 and 22). Therefore, the original story told in the stars was the story of the Messiah, from Virgo, the virgin Mary, to Leo, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Lw – The Witness of the Stars). But the Adversary has turned the truth of the gospel into a lie. Today we have only a corrupted understanding that goes back to the Latin, Romans, and the Greeks.
What is the attraction of the zodiac today? The same attraction that it has had for five thousand years. People think they can get control of their lives by getting a glimpse of what fate dictates will happen today. The life of faith in Messiah is vastly different. He asks us to surrender our lives and our futures into His hands for His direction, multiplication, and blessing. But we humans would rather not surrender. Too much of the time, we would rather apply our vast intelligence to getting control of the world for ourselves, just like the Babylonians.176 The message in these scriptures is that Babylon would be used by ADONAI to judge Judah, but God in turn would destroy her. Her gods, mere idols, would not be able to save her from defeat in Chapter 46 and Babylon would fall in spite of her sorceries and wisdom in Chapter 47.
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