The previous chapter was about the idols of Babylon; Isaiah 47 is about the destruction of Babylon. The prophet wants us to see, idolatry and destruction go together. If Babylon had turned to the LORD, she would have lived, happily carried along by His sustaining grace. But instead, she clung to her idols, choosing to carry these gods until they weighed her down into the dust. When Isaiah addresses the “virgin daughter of Babylon” and the “daughter of the Chaldeans,” he isn’t thinking of one or two individuals, but of the whole city of Babylon. He sees her as a pampered, self-indulgent queen, who has always gotten her own way. She represents all corrupt, arrogant, idolatrous cultures throughout history. And she is doomed to fall. Babylon’s kingdom will be invaded, and she will suffer the shock of exile, slavery and abuse. Our Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel, will bring this judgment upon her. He may not have seemed important to this great queen, but she is about to learn that in any contest for greatness, Babylon does not compare to Him (v 1-4). The mighty Babylonians thought they could do whatever they wanted to the peoples they had captured; they treated the Jewish exiles with terrible cruelty and injustice. It never occurred to them that it was their God who had sent them to discipline His people, and that they themselves would answer to Him. But this was a fatal oversight. With an attitude of complacent superiority, she imagined herself to have the prerogatives of God Himself: “I am, and there is no one besides Me” (see 45:5-6; 46:9). But her pride was delusional. In but “a moment, in one day” her autonomy will come crashing down (v 5-15). Idolaters may be brilliant, highly credentialed people. The Babylonians were proud of their intelligence, devoting vast energy to magical arts. In their attempt to control the spirit world through their “many sorceries” and “enchantments” (v 9, 12), they were sure they could ward off any calamity. But they did not reckon with a God who was beyond all magical manipulation. Just as they devoted themselves to astrological studies, searching for answers about the future (v 13), our own culture still seeks meaning in life through horoscopes. Others apply human intelligence to the development of scientific technology aimed to make ourselves self-existent and self-perpetuating. We are easily “led astray” by human wisdom and knowledge (v 10). Isaiah’s last line puts it bluntly: “there is no one to save you” (v 15). It could be translated, “Your Savior does not exist.” Everyone needs to be saved, and everyone is trusting in some savior. The question is, does yours even exist? For further meditation: