Stand now with thine enchantments and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to turn them to profit, if so be thou mayest cause terror.
Isaiah 47 announces God's judgment on Babylon, the empire that had crushed His people. Verse 12 turns to the one resource the city still trusted — its occult arts — and dares her to bring them out.
The verse sounds like an invitation, but the tone is scornful. Babylon prided herself on her spells. God tells her to stand there with them and try them, holding out two faint hopes: that they might work, and that they might still frighten someone.
Remember too that what made the taunt sharper was Babylon's boast in her sorceries and enchantments. Even so, they could not profit or prevail… They could not truly predict, so still less could they save. He predicts, and He is the Saviour God. We have reason to fear that those who do not believe His prophetic word are strangers to His saving grace… Predicting the future, divine as it is, is a small thing next to the grace that saves righteously.
Babylon's experts could not tell the future. God had told it in advance, and the God who predicts is the God who saves.
"Enchantments" and "sorceries" are not vague terms. Behind them stood trained specialists who read the heavens, the planets and the moon.
ASTROLOGERS: habar shamaym means "dividers of the heavens," for astrological purposes, Isaiah 47:13. Throughout Daniel the word for "astrologers" is a different word, ashshaph. It does not imply any connection with the heavens. It means "sorcerers" or "enchanters," the words used of Babylon in Isaiah 47:9, 12, which speak of a multitude of sorceries and a great abundance of enchantments. Isaiah 47:13 sets star-gazers beside the Babylonian astrologers. They may have predicted events from the changing positions of the planets against the stars. It adds monthly prognosticators, who drew their conclusions from the moon.
The words "labored from your youth" measure the investment. Babylon had poured generations into these arts. The fall of the city settles whether any of it worked.
The overthrow of Babylon exposes the absolute worthlessness of sorceries and enchantments. If there is any profit in sorcery let Babylon turn to the multitude of her sorceries and enchantments, in case she may prevail against her enemies. Let the astrologers and star-gazers, and those who predict according to the new moons, stand up and save Babylon.
Babylon's arts were not harmless superstition. Commentators connect them to real spiritual powers — and to a city that reappears at the end of the Bible.
Babylon trusted in men who practised the dark arts of spiritism. That city was apparently the original home of idolatry, which means the worship of demon powers. All such evil powers collapse when God acts in judgment. This feature, we believe, is why Babylon, rather than any other ancient city, is carried into Revelation with a spiritual application. Of that Babylon we read that it had become "a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit," and again that "all nations were deceived by your sorcery."
Writers here treat the verse as a live warning rather than an antique curiosity. The practice changes its packaging; its character does not.
Witchcraft, or sorcery, is a form of satanic mischief present in every age. It is more widespread in our own age than most people suppose, and it is likely to spread further… It covers a vast range, and its energy is varied and subtle. Sometimes it declares its true character openly, under the name of spiritualism. Far more often it takes forms that raise less suspicion. It is at work wherever people oppose the truth and credit power to anyone other than the living God. It ruined the Chaldean Babylon. It also stands among the chief charges the Spirit of truth brings against the city Scripture calls "mystery."
- Labour. Babylon worked at her enchantments from her youth. A whole civilisation studied the heavens, the planets and the moon.
- Boast. That expertise was her pride, and this verse aims its taunt straight at that boast.
- Test. God tells her to bring it all out and use it. The fall of the city is the experiment that proves the arts worthless.
- Collapse. Sorcery could not predict, so it could not save. When God acts in judgment, all such powers collapse.
- Saviour. The God who announced Babylon's end is the God who saves. The arts He exposes here return under new names, still crediting power to anyone but Him.
Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the interpreters of the heavens, the observers of the stars, who predict according to the new moons what shall come upon thee, stand up, and save thee.
Babylon had built an empire on reading the sky. As her collapse arrives, God turns to those experts with one demand: stand up and save her. The words are a taunt, and they raise a question for every age: who knows what is coming, and who can do anything about it?
The verse names three kinds of specialists. Each one read a different part of the sky.
ASTROLOGERS, habar shamayim, "dividers of the heavens" for astrological purposes. Isaiah 47:13. In Daniel, "astrologers" translates a different word, ashshaph. That word has no link with the heavens. It means rather "sorcerers" or "enchanters," as we read about Babylon in Isaiah 47:9, 12, which speak of a multitude of sorceries and a great abundance of enchantments. With the Babylonian astrologers in Isaiah 47:13 stand the STAR-GAZERS. They may have predicted events from the changing positions of the planets against the stars. Added to these are the MONTHLY PROGNOSTICATORS, the monthly forecasters, who probably drew their conclusions from the moon.
The verse opens with a worn-out city. Advice was plentiful; help was not.
Babylon's many advisers wore it out, and they no doubt often disagreed with one another. But it had no other resource, so it turned to its astrologers, stargazers, and the rest.
Sorcery was not a side interest in Babylon; it was her pride. That is why God aims His summons at it, and why the demand moves from predicting to saving.
Remember too what made the taunt cut deeper: Babylon's boast in her sorceries and enchantments. Even so, these could not profit her or prevail... As they could not really predict, still less could they save; so He predicts, He who is the Saviour God. And it is to be feared that those who do not believe His prophetic word are strangers to His saving grace.
Another writer puts the challenge as a dare: if sorcery works at all, let it work now.
The overthrow of Babylon exposes the complete worthlessness of sorceries and enchantments. Is there any profit in sorcery? Then let Babylon turn to her many sorceries and enchantments, in the hope that she may prevail against her enemies. Let the astrologers and stargazers, and those who predict by the new moons, stand up and save Babylon.
Star-reading was the visible face of something darker. Commentators connect this verse to what Babylon becomes as a symbol later in Scripture.
Verse 13 speaks of the men who practised the dark arts of spiritism. Babylon trusted in them, for that city seems to have been the original home of idolatry, which means the worship of demon powers. All such evil powers collapse when God acts in judgment. But we believe this is why Revelation carries Babylon forward with a spiritual meaning, and not some other ancient city. Of that Babylon we read that it had "become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit," and that by its sorcery "all nations were deceived."
Tablets dug up from Babylon match the picture. They also show the fear behind the trade.
Their astronomy was mixed up with astrology. Many tablets show they held that the stars and signs of the heavens foretold events. That agrees with God's message to Babylon... Many magic and incantation tablets show that they were in great fear of evil spirits. They called on "the spirit of heaven" and "the spirit of earth" to deliver them... These tablets are thousands of years old. They now show how Satan kept the Babylonians completely under his power.
The trade did not die with the city. Where it must stay hidden, it changes its clothes.
In these lands it is necessary for Satan to act less crudely and to adopt plausible disguises. So we have séances, spirit-writing boards, palm reading, hypnotism, mesmerism, astrology, horoscope reading, and so on. Some palmists only trick the public. But I am convinced they often serve as "decoy ducks" for Spiritualism. They thrive in big cities and at seaside and holiday resorts. There they trap the unwary and take money from the foolish.
- Wearied. Babylon's many advisers left her tired, not safe. They disagreed with each other, and still she had nowhere else to turn.
- Summoned. God names her three kinds of sky-readers: those who divide the heavens, those who watch the stars, those who read the new moons. He asks them for one thing — save her.
- Worthless. They could not predict, and still less could they save. Babylon's fall exposed the whole trade as empty.
- Unmasked. Behind the star charts stood the worship of demon powers. That is why Babylon, and no other ancient city, carries forward as the symbol of sorcery that deceives the nations.
- Saviour. The God who tells the future is the God who saves. It is to be feared that those who reject His word about the future are strangers to His saving grace.