* Babylon in the Bible is a symbol for the system of Satan.
* Every facet of life and society has a “Babylon.”
* EX: In the workplace, Babylon is the satanic system of “hustle till you die, make as much money as you can, sacrifice your relationships to make it happen, and party hard with your earnings.”
* As believers in the workplace, we are to “come out of that!”
* And when we do, God says, “I will now provide for you and protect you!”
* EX: In marriage, Babylon is the satanic system of “My spouse must meet all my needs, if we don’t get along we can easily divorce, I can look at other people if I want, we’re not supposed to feel in love forever.”
* As believers who are married, we are to “come out of that!”
* And as we do, God will provide for us as a couple and protect us from evil.
* Isaiah 52 is looking forward to the time when Israel will be enslaved by Babylon.
* In the 70th year they will be released by Cyrus.
* Isaiah is prophesying how it will happen and giving instructions on what they are to do.
* vs 11-12 - “Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord. For you shall not go out in haste,
* and you shall not go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”
* God’s provision and protection would be granted AS THEY GO OUT FROM BABYLON!
* In every area of life there are two ways to choose - Gods way or Satans way.
* God’s provision and protection are found only when we choose Gods way.
* If you want to do things God’s way so you have His provision and protection, you need to focus on three things:
* 1) Preparation - you can’t leave one place for another if you don’t first prepare for it.
* You gotta pack up.
* You have to know where you’re headed.
* The Israelites in Babylon had the Scriptures of Isaiah and Jeremiah telling them they’d be released in 70 years from Babylonian captivity, so if they had their spiritual eyes open they would know when to get ready.
* 2) Purity - they were not to touch anything unclean.
* vs 11 - “Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves…”
* This meant they were not to carry the customs of Babylon into their new place of habitation.
* They were meant to “leave the old ways behind.”
* To no longer work the way Babylon taught them to work.
* They had to remain separate from thinking and acting like a Babylonian.
* 3) Pace - they needed to pace themselves, to not rush out of their in haste.
* vs 12 - “…For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight…
* They needed to “walk at God’s pace.”
* This is why our faith is called a Christian “walk,” not a run.
* When we walk we can talk.
* When we run we cannot.
* God wants to talk with us, but we won’t hear Him if we outpace Him.
* Our heart rates get elevated and we cannot hear His whisper.
* So we need to walk slowly, looking and listening for God in all things.