I am continuing my reading through the Bible like many others in our church. Yes, I am behind in the schedule, but nonetheless, I am pressing forward. This week I am reading the prophets and today my time was focused on the great and terrible DAY OF THE LORD. Listen to what Isaiah said about this fearful day, “Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible…Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.” (Isaiah 13:9-11, 13)
The Day of the Lord in this instance is a description of what God was about to do to Babylon for its disregard for God. Babylon was God’s instrument of judgement against Israel when it failed to follow God’s direction. Now judgement was coming back on them for the same sins Israel had committed 70 years earlier. Isaiah called the judgement of God on Babylon, “The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see” (Isaiah 13:1). Talking about “What-Goes-Around-Comes-Around.” This is a prime example.
God’s judgement is a recurring theme in scripture. Wherever and whenever people willfully sin and disobey God’s divine will as it is revealed in His word, judgement follows. Do you believe we are living in a period of God’s judgement? What we are seeing take place all around us is stark and catastrophic like what the Bible describes as the Day of the Lord. A pandemic has infected over 7 million people in our country claiming more than 211,000 dead. Even if you disagree with the exact numbers, you must accept the fact that this disease is extraordinary in its scope and severity. The Day of the Lord is anything but, “business as usual.” The size of this illness falls in the catastrophic category like what the Bible describes as covering the light in darkness and shaking the heavens and earth out of their normal steady paths. My goodness, even the President and those around him have been shaken and disrupted by testing positive.
Wildfires, hurricanes, racial unrest, and chaos in the streets this year have been unusually abnormal. The Day of the Lord is a time when what is normal disintegrates into the abnormal. God’s judgement is disruptive. It causes people to wonder about things and question what they see. Can you tell that I believe we are looking at our world today in the light of God’s righteous judgement? I believe He is saying, “Be careful. Things could become a lot worse.” Truly, the Day of the Lord would be worse than anything we have seen so far.
But, don’t quit reading with chapter 13 in Isaiah. Keep on until you get to chapter 14. There, Isaiah says, “For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob” (Isaiah 14:1). God’s judgement is progressive. He judges not to destroy, but to restore. Yes, Israel was judged by the way God used Babylon to attack their arrogance and pride. Now, after repenting and returning to God, the Babylonians themselves would be rescued by God’s restoration of Israel. Out of God’s judgement comes HOPE. God keeps His promises. God is not finished with us. He will restore if we will only repent. Pray for the repentance of America and for our restoration to faithfulness in God’s sovereign rule over our nation. The Bible says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance” (Psalm 33:12). God is not done with us yet. Keep on praying and keep on trusting.
The Day of the Lord in this instance is a description of what God was about to do to Babylon for its disregard for God. Babylon was God’s instrument of judgement against Israel when it failed to follow God’s direction. Now judgement was coming back on them for the same sins Israel had committed 70 years earlier. Isaiah called the judgement of God on Babylon, “The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see” (Isaiah 13:1). Talking about “What-Goes-Around-Comes-Around.” This is a prime example.
God’s judgement is a recurring theme in scripture. Wherever and whenever people willfully sin and disobey God’s divine will as it is revealed in His word, judgement follows. Do you believe we are living in a period of God’s judgement? What we are seeing take place all around us is stark and catastrophic like what the Bible describes as the Day of the Lord. A pandemic has infected over 7 million people in our country claiming more than 211,000 dead. Even if you disagree with the exact numbers, you must accept the fact that this disease is extraordinary in its scope and severity. The Day of the Lord is anything but, “business as usual.” The size of this illness falls in the catastrophic category like what the Bible describes as covering the light in darkness and shaking the heavens and earth out of their normal steady paths. My goodness, even the President and those around him have been shaken and disrupted by testing positive.
Wildfires, hurricanes, racial unrest, and chaos in the streets this year have been unusually abnormal. The Day of the Lord is a time when what is normal disintegrates into the abnormal. God’s judgement is disruptive. It causes people to wonder about things and question what they see. Can you tell that I believe we are looking at our world today in the light of God’s righteous judgement? I believe He is saying, “Be careful. Things could become a lot worse.” Truly, the Day of the Lord would be worse than anything we have seen so far.
But, don’t quit reading with chapter 13 in Isaiah. Keep on until you get to chapter 14. There, Isaiah says, “For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob” (Isaiah 14:1). God’s judgement is progressive. He judges not to destroy, but to restore. Yes, Israel was judged by the way God used Babylon to attack their arrogance and pride. Now, after repenting and returning to God, the Babylonians themselves would be rescued by God’s restoration of Israel. Out of God’s judgement comes HOPE. God keeps His promises. God is not finished with us. He will restore if we will only repent. Pray for the repentance of America and for our restoration to faithfulness in God’s sovereign rule over our nation. The Bible says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance” (Psalm 33:12). God is not done with us yet. Keep on praying and keep on trusting.
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