[Show movie trailer for 2012]
By now most of you are probably aware of the movie “2012” which was released this last Friday. Like other end of the world movies such as “Independence Day’, “Armageddon”, and “The Day After Tomorrow” which preceded it, this movie is intended to entertain us, but it really doesn’t require us to take any action in light of what we see in the movie. In fact, most of these movies do just the opposite – they leave us with a feeling of futility as we see how helpless that we are to deal with these catastrophic events.
And if we’re not careful, we can drift into that very same mindset as we continue our journey through the Old Testament prophets, and eventually the Book of Revelation. It is easy to look at these prophecies and the events that they represent and to view them only as a source of information, or even entertainment, but never be called to action as a result of what we are learning.
This morning we’re going to continue our journey by looking at Isaiah 34 and you can go ahead and open your Bibles to that chapter. While there is a great deal of significant and important information in that chapter, perhaps the greatest value of this passage is that it calls us to action as a result of what we learn here. In fact, the chapter begins and ends with action words- with commands to take action regarding the words that Isaiah is going to speak, and then write down, in between those calls to action. So it seems only appropriate for us to cover that material in that same pattern. We’ll begin and end with a call to action, and then view the material in between in light of those commands:
A CALL TO ACTION – HEAR! (v. 1)
Draw near, O nations, to hear,
and give attention, O peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that fills it;
the world, and all that comes from it.
Isaiah 34:1 (ESV)
Isaiah begins this message with a call to hear. That call to hear is so important that Isaiah repeats the command twice. It is also a universal command. It is directed toward all the nations and all the earth and those who fill it and come from it. Therefore it is also a call to us as well.
The Hebrew word for hear that Isaiah uses twice in this verse is the word “shama”, a word that means to hear intelligently. It is not merely the passive accumulation of facts, but a thorough understanding that leads to an appropriate course of action. It is a concept that is embodied in this verse, which is known by the Jewish people as the “Shama”:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Deuteronomy 6:4 (ESV)
When Moses gave the command to hear, it was an admonition to consider the fact that God is one and then to live in light of that truth. And in the passages which follow Moses provides additional information that is intended to help his audience understand in practical terms how to do that.
So Isaiah’s admonition to “hear” calls us to consider very carefully the words he is about to communicate. We need to hear them intelligently so that we might make the proper determination about how to act in response to those revelations.
There is an important application for us to take from this verse before we proceed with the rest of the chapter:
• APPLICATION #1 – The hearing of God’s Word always calls us to the appropriate action.
The information that Isaiah was about to reveal was not intended to be like our current end-of-the world movies that are only intended to entertain, or possibly, in some cases, to make us think. The purpose of Isaiah’s prophecy was that people would adapt their conduct right then and there in response to this information. Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to determine the original source for this quotation, but it is a great summary of this principle:
Information without application leads to fascination. Information with application is the only thing that leads to transformation.
This is a principle that we find throughout the Scriptures. The words of Jesus certainly confirm this concept:
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Matthew 7:24-27 (ESV)
It’s not enough to just have God’s Word or even to understand it. We have to act on it if we want to truly be wise. Perhaps Jesus’ half-brother James had heard Jesus speak those words and he had them in mind when he wrote these words:
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
James 1:22-25 (ESV)
James takes this one step further. He makes it clear that if we just hear God’s Word and don’t put it into practice that we are actually deceiving ourselves into thinking that we are wise, when we are really quite foolish.
That is why TFC is absolutely committed to helping you not to just understand God’s Word, but also to apply it in your day-to-day lives.
So perhaps this is a good time for me to clarify a point that I apparently didn’t communicate too well several weeks ago. When we looked at Amos 8, we saw that Amos described a time when there would be a famine of hearing the words of the Lord – which I believe is certainly a description of our culture today. And, at that time, I addressed this same principle regarding the need to not just hear God’s Word but also to apply it in our lives. And I tried, perhaps not very well in retrospect, to point out that the problem we have is not one of not enough revelation, but rather one of not enough application. I tried to point out the difficulty of making proper application of the Bible when we are inundated with Biblical information from so many sources in our culture today.
I certainly didn’t mean to imply that you shouldn’t get your information about the Bible from any source other than the teaching here at TFC. But what I was cautioning against is getting so overwhelmed with such a volume of often conflicting teaching that you are unable to make application from your learning. Perhaps I could put it this way: proper application requires that we apply a rifle approach to Scripture rather than a shotgun approach. If we are going to build depth into our relationship with Jesus, which I strongly believe is absolutely indispensable, then we must have a more narrow focus on God’s Word that allows us to make sure that we have the ability to apply what we are learning. That’s why Dana and I work so hard to make sure that all of our teaching here at TFC is narrowly focused so that we can help each other to apply that teaching in our lives as a body of Christ followers.
So, keeping in mind that the rest of this chapter is to be viewed in light of the fact that it is presented for the purpose of calling Isaiah’s audience, and us, to action, let’s look at the prophecy itself:
THE RESPONSE TO SIN BY A HOLY GOD (vv. 2-15)
2 For the Lord is enraged against all the nations,
and furious against all their host;
he has devoted them to destruction, has given them over for slaughter.
3 Their slain shall be cast out,
and the stench of their corpses shall rise;
the mountains shall flow with their blood.
4 All the host of heaven shall rot away,
and the skies roll up like a scroll.
All their host shall fall,
as leaves fall from the vine,
like leaves falling from the fig tree.
5 For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;
behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom,
upon the people I have devoted to destruction.
6 The Lord has a sword; it is sated with blood;
it is gorged with fat,
with the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 Wild oxen shall fall with them,
and young steers with the mighty bulls.
Their land shall drink its fill of blood,
and their soil shall be gorged with fat.
8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
9 And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch,
and her soil into sulfur;
her land shall become burning pitch.
10 Night and day it shall not be quenched;
its smoke shall go up forever.
From generation to generation it shall lie waste;
none shall pass through it forever and ever.
11 But the hawk and the porcupine shall possess it,
the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.
He shall stretch the line of confusion over it,
and the plumb line of emptiness.
12 Its nobles—there is no one there to call it a kingdom,
and all its princes shall be nothing.
13 Thorns shall grow over its strongholds,
nettles and thistles in its fortresses.
It shall be the haunt of jackals,
an abode for ostriches.
14 And wild animals shall meet with hyenas;
the wild goat shall cry to his fellow;
indeed, there the night bird settles
and finds for herself a resting place.
15 There the owl nests and lays
and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow;
indeed, there the hawks are gathered,
each one with her mate.
Isaiah 34:2-15 (ESV)
There are a number of details provided by Isaiah here in this passage that are significant. There is a reference here in verse 4 to the signs that will occur in the heavens after the opening of the sixth seal in the Book of Revelation that will precede the return of Jesus. And much of this chapter is most certainly a description of the battle of Armageddon described in Revelation 19. But rather than focus on those details this morning, I’d like for us to take a step back and look at the big picture here because I’m convinced that will be much more helpful in helping us to apply this passage to our lives.
Here are some significant aspects of the “Day of the Lord” judgment that we find in this passage:
• Because He is holy, God directs His anger towards sin
In verse 2, we see that God’s wrath is going to be poured at as a result of his anger. But in this chapter, Isaiah never really reveals the reason for God’s anger and the resulting judgment. He really doesn’t need to, however, since much of the preceding 33 chapters have already chronicled the sin of both Judah and Israel as well as that of their neighbors.
In our culture today, we don’t often like to focus on God’s anger and wrath. In fact, right now there is a well-known Christian pastor who conducts what is called “The Gods Aren’t Angry Tour”. From what I’ve been able to find out about his presentation, he always ends his message with these words: “God is not angry. God is love.” As you can imagine that is a well-received message. I read through a number of blog posts that praised that message. But there is one small problem. It’s just not Biblical.
Certainly we see God’s anger and wrath in our passage here in Isaiah, and not surprisingly, throughout the Bible. And not just in the Old Testament, either. Consider this passage from the Book of Romans:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
Romans 1:18 (ESV)
And the reason for God’s anger as revealed in that verse is exactly what we’ve seen in Isaiah – man’s sin. We really shouldn’t be surprised at that. Since God is a holy God, then it follows that He is going to be angry with the sin that violates His holiness.
Although I don’t always agree with His theology, I think the words of A.W. Pink provide us with some good insight into this principle:
The wrath of God is His eternal detestation of all unrighteousness. It is the displeasure and indignation of Divine equity against evil. It is the holiness of God stirred into activity against sin. It is the moving cause of that just sentence which He passes upon evil-doers. God is angry against sin because it is a rebelling against His authority, a wrong done to His inviolable sovereignty.
Because God is holy, He cannot establish His earthly reign in the midst of sin, and so He is going to carry out His wrath against that sin in order to rid the earth of anything that would violate His holiness prior to the time that he establishes His earthly reign.
This leads us to the second observation that we can make this morning:
• Because sin is so serious, God’s response to sin is serious
The judgment that describes here is consistent with what we’ve observed in the other Old Testament prophets as well. It is going to consist of catastrophic events of a proportion that have never been seen, carried out in a relatively short period of time, which result in total devastation.
In verses 5-7, Isaiah uses several graphic pictures to describe the horror of that time, even using the picture of the sacrificial system as a description of the nature of the bloodshed. Only this time, it will be God Himself making the sacrifices in order to rid the world of sin in preparation for establishing His rule here on the earth.
It is also going to be a universal judgment. Although Isaiah refers specifically to Edom several times in this passage, it is clear from the opening verses of the passage that this prophecy applies to all peoples and nations. Edom will certainly bear the brunt of the judgment to come, but in this passage Edom is also used as a symbol for all the nations that have come against God’s children. That is why in verse 8 that Isaiah describes this judgment as recompense for the cause of Zion.
Verses 9-15 describe the outcome of this judgment. Isaiah begins in verse 9 with a description of a severe judgment that has parallels with the fire and brimstone reigned down in judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. And the final result of that judgment is a land that is completely destroyed to the point that it will remain desolate, home to only the wild animals that will inhabit the land.
• God’s judgment of sin is certain
If you look carefully at this passage, you will note that it is divided into several sections by the word “for” that introduces each of those sections. You’ll see the word “for” at the beginning of verse 2, verse 5, the second part of verse 6 and again in verse 8.
That Hebrew participle actually has a much more profound meaning than just “for”. It could also accurately be translated “certainly” or “surely”. It is used in a similar manner to the way Jesus often introduced his teaching with the words “verily, verily” or “truly”. Isaiah is using that word here to emphasize the certainty of these judgments.
This passage also confirms that once God begins to pour out His wrath that there is nothing that can hold it back or stop it. God is the one who wields the sword. He is the one who is sacrificing those who have refused to repent and turn to Him.
This is certainly consistent with what we’ve seen throughout our journey through the Old Testament prophets. Although it is God’s desire that we repent and turn to Him so that we can experience reconciliation with Him through His Son, Jesus, there is going to come a point where repentance is no longer possible and God’s judgment will be carried out.
• Every person is accountable to God for his or her actions
The fact that this is a universal judgment reinforces the principle that every person is accountable to God for his or her actions. There are actually two levels of accountability:
The first level of accountability is based on what we do with the person of Jesus. When we stand before God some day, either when we die, or when Jesus returns, if we are still alive then, our fate is going to be determined solely based on one thing – whether or not we have placed our faith in Jesus, the Son of God, as the basis for our relationship with God.
For those who have committed their lives to Jesus, there will be a second level of accountability where our actions will be judged. In what is known as the bema seat judgment. We will have to give an account of our lives, but only for the purpose of determining what rewards we will receive in the life to come.
But for those who have not made that commitment, however, the second level of accountability will be much more horrible. They are going to have to give an account of their lives in what is known as the Great White Throne judgment. And there, their lives will be judged for determining whether they are worthy to enter the kingdom of God. And since every person, no matter how good, is a sinner, every one of those people will be destined for a horrible place of everlasting torment and punishment, separated from the presence of God.
A CALL TO ACTION – SEEK AND READ! (vv. 16-17)
Isaiah wraps up this chapter with another call to action. Isaiah commanded his audience to seek and read from the book of the Lord. At a minimum, this means that Isaiah understood that the message in this chapter was indeed the Word of God. As he points out in the second part of verse 16 it is certain that this message is straight from the mouth of God. There is little doubt that this intended to connect this verse back to the command to hear in verse 1.
But there is also certainly a broader call here for the people to seek out God and return to Him and that the main vehicle by which they could do that was through His Word. Now, taken at face value, I could certainly take these verses and merely use them as an encouragement for us to read the Bible. And certainly there would be nothing wrong with that.
But there is something even deeper that we can take from this passage and I’m grateful to pastor Dana for helping me to see this particular aspect of this verse. Let’s think about how the people of Isaiah’s time read from God’s Word. It wasn’t like today when they could just go into their bookshelf at home and choose one of the many translations of the Bible on the shelf and begin to read.
The only way the people could be exposed to God’s Word was when they gathered together in community and someone would read from one of the few available scrolls, which had been copied by hand. We see this practice demonstrated in the ministry of Jesus:
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written…
Luke 4:16, 17 (ESV)
This was the typical way that the people were able to experience the Word of God in both Isaiah’s day and in Jesus’ day and it provides us with our second and final application this morning:
• APPLICATION #2 – We experience the fullest depth of God’s Word in community with other believers
There is obviously nothing wrong with reading and studying God’s Word on our own. In fact, we should do that. But if that is the extent of our exposure to the Bible, we will miss out on the fullness that God wants us to experience.
That’s why I don’t prepare my sermons in a vacuum each week. I spend time with a group of godly men on Tuesday morning discussing the passage. Then Pastor Dana and I often discuss the passage and various aspects of the message. When I’m pretty well finished with the message I send it to Pastor Dana to review. After that, I send out an outline to the teaching team so they can use that information to help prepare their lessons for the “Connections” classes. And then I have the privilege of joining together with many of you in the adult “Connections” class where I can answer your questions and then join you in exploring some further aspects of the passage and discuss how we can apply it to our lives. And it’s only after that entire process is complete that I feel like I’m even beginning to experience the fullness of that passage.
That’s one reason that I’m encouraging all of us to memorize Hebrews 10:24, 25 as a reminder of the importance of experiencing God’s Word together in this community of Christ followers. Let’s close our time by reciting that verse together:
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:24, 25 (ESV)
