Isaiah 14

“For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will choose Israel again.  He will settle them on their own land.  The foreigner (aliens) will join them and be united with the house of Jacob.  The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland.  Then the house of Israel will possess them as male and female slaves in the Lord’s land.  They will make captives of their captors and will rule over their oppressors.” Isaiah 14:1-2 (HCSB)

Years ago, I was on a trans-continental flight sitting next to a teenage girl who was really, really into the rock band Van Halen.  She was playing her Walkman sooooo loud that it was annoying passengers three rows away.  I decided to do what I always do: tune out the world and read my Bible.  Believe it or not, she turned off the Walkman and asked me about what I was reading.  We chatted a bit, and then she blurted, “I’ve always wondered about the UFOs in the Bible.”  “UFOs?” I asked.  “Yeah, the Bible talks about the aliens living among the Israelites…”  True story.

Sorry to disappoint all you Star Trek (or Van Halen) fans, but that’s not the kind of “aliens” the Bible is referring to.  Tucked away in this section of prophecy is a striking allusion to the future of God’s Church.  In the midst of this battle scene, where we can almost hear the command to attack in 13:4-5, leading to the overthrow of Babylon (13:17-22), is today’s passage, a word of promise to God’s people.

What amounts to a wholesale judgment on God’s enemies (represented by Babylon) turns out to be a blessing of deliverance for God’s people (Jacob).  God used Babylon to purge His people of sin and purify to Himself a people who will serve Him.

Once Babylon has served its purpose of purging, it will be destroyed, making a way for the Savior to come.  God’s treatment of these pagan nations, once used as tools in His hand, now rejected, may seem cruel.  But the reality is that they experienced God’s power, provision, and enabling, yet rejected the God Who provided their positions of prominence.

This little section is a cameo sketch of a theme that will occupy twenty-seven chapters (40-66) of Isaiah’s prophecy.  Even now, in the midst of words of terrible doom, God wants His own children to take refuge in Him.  He has not forgotten His promise, no matter how difficult times are or may become.  He has planned compassion for that remnant of Jacob (Israel who turn to Him through Messiah Jesus) and those “aliens,” Gentiles who will come to faith through Jesus as well.

What a glorious future lies in store for God’s children, both Jew and Gentile, who have received His covenant promise of salvation through faith in His Son, the Messiah Jesus!