Do you struggle with anxious feelings? Are you pleased with the level of trust you have in God? Do you long for greater trust and confidence in Him, the kind that would calm your anxious heart? How have you reconciled God’s love and mercy with His justice and righteousness? Do you see a different God in the Old Testament from that in the New Testament? I’ve come to the conclusion that such confusions are a reflection of the distorted image we have painted in our minds of who God is.
As I have reflected my way through Scripture in recent years I’ve been awestruck with God’s sovereignty! That revelation to me has resulted in my love and trust of God striding to higher levels. I find myself with less anxiety and need to control as well as significantly greater confidence in my daily experiences.
In Isaiah 13 God is saying what He is going to do to Babylon, the city that He once used as His servant to discipline His children, Judah. He had allowed the Babylonians to brutally kill many of the Hebrews but also marched many back to Babylon. With that painful action now accomplished, He “calls up an army against Babylon.” It is noteworthy that God does not judge them for their brutal treatment of His children (Judah) but rather, He almost annihilates them for their PRIDE!! It wasn’t about their deeds but their prideful, arrogant heart and attitude! We typically think God is more upset with our bad deeds: adultery, killing or abusing others, theft, etc. when in reality, while those are definitely wrong He is far more concerned with what is within us, our prideful hearts! It is sobering to think of how that intangible comes out in various ways in saints and sinners alike!!
What intrigued me the most about this part of the prophecy was how God brought about this judgment on Babylon. It was similar to how He managed to get the animals into Noah’s ark. He somehow put an intuitive GPS in each selected animal. Each animal then simply followed His guidance system. In this case, God put the thought in the mind of otherwise contentious leaders of various nations, to attack Babylon. The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. Proverbs 21:1 (ESV) These nations were anything but God-followers, yet they were unknowingly drawn together by God’s Spirit to fulfill His purpose. This explains why God called them “my sanctified ones”. In light of how impossible it has been to get a coalition army to wipe out ISIS or Al Qaida, what God did here in gathering men who didn’t even know Him to fulfill His purpose is absolutely awe inspiring to me!!! When this dawned on me, I was overcome with stunning amazement and reverence!!!
If God can do something this complex and impossible, when I question God’s ability to work ANY miracle and consider what He did here, I find myself humbly silenced. Perhaps that is how Job felt when God revealed Himself in Job 42:8. I now feel more like I felt as a boy handing my dad tools he requested or sanding a few spots as my dad restored antique cars. I didn’t have to know what or how my dad may be doing things. In the same way, I don’t have to know God’s reasoning or methods. I only need to do what relatively small tasks He asks me to do as He works. I have voluntarily surrendered my will and am trusting in His Sovereignty.