Isaiah 13 King James Version (KJV)

Isaiah 13 King James Version (KJV)

13 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.

2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.

3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.

4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.

5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.

6 Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:

8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

9 Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

10 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.

11 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.

12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.

13 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.

14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.

15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.

16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.

Here we have a powerful prophecy from Isaiah of the coming of the Lord back to this world. I'm just not sure what a lot of folks in this generation think when they read something like this. We are living in the all time 'Don't judge' generation, and the fear of God and of his 'fierce anger' that we read about here, is almost non-existent. When I say these things are non-existent, understand that I'm talking about in the body of Christ. I've been in the kingdom of God for a good while now, and I just haven't heard much godly fear and judgment coming from many pulpits. It certainly comes from mine because "I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). Too many ministers are just too squeamish about 'scaring' or 'shocking' people with accounts from the scriptures like this one. But the truth is there is a whole lot to be learned from pondering the second coming of Christ to this world, and "the wrath of God, which [he will pour out] without mixture," upon all who have rejected him for his suffering and death for them. If we would think on that enough we would understand the seriousness of allowing sin in our lives, and allowing sin in our congregations. Judging people in congregations for their unrepented sins is by and large non-existent as well. That is for the very same reason that the preaching of God's fiery wrath is left undone for the most part. Nobody believes in or understands the necessity and requirement that God has given us to judge sin among ourselves. It's certain that Jesus didn't teach us to think like that: "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican" (Mat. 18:15-17).

Jesus was very much about the fear of God, and did not spare his disciples from that reality: "And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him" (Lk. 12:4,5). Jesus preached the reality of judging sin and fearing God, for the obvious reason of saving those who believe from his certain wrath that will soon come upon the unbelieving world. The apostle Paul surely didn't teach us the 'Don't judge' mentality: "It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus... But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person" (I Cor. 5:1-5,13). In another place Paul told Timothy to be sure to do the same in the congregations that he presided over: "Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear" (I Tim. 5:20). The same apostle Paul drove this point home with solidity in the following passage: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (II Cor. 5:10,11).

Like Jesus, Paul taught these things because he did not want those to whom he ministered to end up on the wrong side of what we have read above from Isaiah 13, namely the obliterating anger of the Lord that will visit this sin-loving world one day soon. It is a very good thing to read the passages that describe the Lord's coming back to this world, and thoughtfully consider what we are reading. The apostle Paul told us that if we would judge our own selves, we would not have to be visited with judgment by the Lord, now or later either one (I Cor. 11:31). Peter was not squeamish about the stark reality of the fear of the Lord and his judgment either: "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear" (I Pet. 1:15-17). So the aspect of judgment is very real, and it is very required by God for us to learn and to implement; both with our own selves, and for leadership to execute in the congregations as well. As we have read, there will be a final judgment that will determine the eternal lot of every soul who has ever lived; so if we haven't learned to execute righteous judgment by then we're going to be in for a very rude awakening. The wrath of God's judgment against sin and sinners that Jesus will execute at his second coming, is the exact same spirit and mind of God that executed judgment upon Adam for his sin: "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die... [and after Adam sinned...] ...In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Gen. 2:16,17; Gen. 3:19).

As we know, death is a very painful and very serious problem. What we need to consider is that death is the way God feels about sin. Jesus came from heaven to suffer the serious problem of death in our place, so that we could be redeemed from both sin and death; and live with he and the Father forever, by means of his resurrection from the dead, which he has also included us in, along with his death (Rom. 6:3.4; I Cor. 15:22; Col. 2:12). What Jesus did, and what his Father had him to do, was simply the greatest and most magnificent act of love and mercy in the history of existence, both in heaven and earth. Not only so, but the "newness of life" that is in Christ for those who believe, is quite simply the most glorious life and existence in the history of the world; at least since before sin entered into the world. Anyone who rejects that love and that grace will be counted worthy of the fiercest of God's anger that he restrained himself from while his only begotten Son died slowly and painfully on the cross of Calvary. The following passage is from the account of Jesus on the cross, and the way God felt while Jesus was dying: "Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire. Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them" (Psm. 18:7-9,13,14). That wrath was restrained at that time, but when that same beloved Son comes back to this world, he will be delivering all of his Father's wrath about not only his Son's death; but about those who have scoffed at it since then. Yes indeed my friend, judgment against sin, and the fear of the Lord are very good things to learn and believe while we still have the chance to do so. Amen.