Judgment

March 28 - Judgment - Isaiah 34:1-17

I can not imagine being Isaiah. He was being told over and over by the Lord what terrible things were going to befall the children of Israel and they simply weren't listening. Now, if God's own children refused to listen to Him, I suspect it was difficult for anyone else to hear God speaking of their destruction.

When the Day of the Lord comes, it isn't going to be good ... for anyone. The Lord sees the death of the wicked as a sacrifice ... lambs, goats, oxen, calves, bulls ... as the blood of the sacrifices drenches the altar of the Lord in the Temple, so the sacrifice will drench the land. (Isaiah 34:1-7)

The picture that we see in Isaiah 8-10 is reminiscent of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18-19). Jesus tells us in Luke 17:28 that just before the end of the world, society will be much like the days of Lot.

Isaiah 34:11-15 describe the wilderness that will follow the Lord's vengeance being taken out on Edom - signifying the Gentile nations that refuse to come before Him. The birds of prey will be given everything they need and no man can take it from them (Isaiah 34:16-17)

This is a rough chapter. Isaiah foresees so much of the destruction that John also sees in the Revelation. The world is going to be a desolate place, stars in the heaven will be gone, the moon and the sun will be nearly destroyed. Every moment on the earth will be painful for those who remain. Can you imagine having the hand of God lifted from this earth so that it spins into oblivion?

The Day of the Lord is coming ... the warnings have been in place for millennia ... but no one listens.