Isaiah and the Fall of Babylon – Current Events edition!

There is a part of Isaiah that has been weighing on my mind.

Ch. 2-5 Explain the dire situation of the people, with Ch. 5 having the prophet say, I have done everything I can do! I give up!

Ch. 6-12 Begins with Isaiah’s Vision of the Divine Throne and the Lord, in the Temple, and ends (Ch. 12) with a Testimony of the Righteous Men and Women.

Ch. 13-27 The Fall/Collapse of Babylon

13-20 – Temporal Collapse
21-23 – Spiritual Collapse
24-27 – We see the world bifurcated – the wicked exist in a ruined state, where nothing is working, like they all just ran out of steam. And the righteous live in a strong city, with great blessings and glory

The situation is not merely apocalyptic. It is a collapsed society. Nobody has anything, nobody knows what to do, nothing works. This affects everyone from the top to the bottom. Every idea, philosophy and idol have been tried and found wanting. The people are out of ideas. And repentance… well, they simply are not going to think about that!

One of the things that has really impressed me, studying Isaiah, is that Temporal Salvation is every bit as important as Spiritual Salvation. They are both part of our salvation. The prophet Isaiah has the first 39 chapters of his book focused on Temporal Salvation.

1830-2030 will be 200 years of the Church of focusing on Spiritual Salvation, while mostly being denied temporal autonomy. Perhaps we should measure from the Kirkland Temple dedication, with the keys established, which would be 1836-2036.

The Lord’s work was able to proceed forward, in spite of the loss of political autonomy.

Now, at the moment, the Right is politically ascendent. Yet the prophets and apostles are warning us to be peacemakers, repeatedly. The 5th Sunday lesson this week, will be on Religious Liberty. This feels like a prophetic warning to prepare.

Just a prediction. Just an (educated?) guess.

Things are going to get rocky. The political ascendancy of the Right will be short-lived. The Left appears disorganized for now, but they will return to fight for what they see as their right to power, particularly as the economy struggles. The overall economic pie will shrink and everyone will fight tooth and nail over it.

We, both as a church, and as righteous Christians in Western societies, will not receive a full Temporal Salvation, until we really, really need it. Meaning, I expect persecution both private and government to become severe.

This will involve the Establishment of the New Jerusalem and many other prophecies. (3rd Ne. 20-22, D&C 87, The Davidic Servant/Cyrus, The Council at Adam-ondi-Ahman, etc)

I would point out, that Isaiah 28-29 and 30-35 show a world transformed by the Word of God and Faith in God, respectively. Both of these sections end with the world being turned upside down, everything is backwards from how it used to be. Instead of the wicked prospering, the righteous are.

For now, let’s remember what the prophets have asked us, and prepare for and begin building a greater future.