God’s Word

1 The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. 2 On a bare hill raise a signal; cry aloud to them; wave the hand for them to enter the gates of the nobles (ESV).

Scripture contains all the highs and lows of life in this world. Chapter 12 of Isaiah was full of praise and the victorious language of salvation. Chapter 13 turns to much darker imagery. The prophet Isaiah was called to proclaim God’s judgment upon the people. As we’ve discussed before, the prophets could only say what God had told them. They didn’t know exactly how or when their prophecies would be fulfilled. In many cases there are dual fulfillments—there were immediate consequences that the nation would face, as well as later events centuries or even millennia later. Some aspects will not be completed until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

God’s Anger

3 I Myself have commanded My consecrated ones, and have summoned My mighty men to execute My anger, My proudly exulting ones. 4 The sound of a tumult is on the mountains as of a great multitude! The sound of an uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathering together! The LORD of hosts is mustering a host for battle. 5 They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, the LORD and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole land.

We may sometimes think that anger is always sinful, but that is not true. Man’s anger often erupts for the wrong reasons and may be expressed in sinful ways, but God’s anger is always righteous and just. In this case, God has set apart warriors to execute His justice. Major destruction is coming, and it doesn’t include just one or two nations but has a global impact. God’s weapons are entire nations against one another.

6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! 7 Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt. 8 They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame.

This will be a terrifying and overwhelming time for the people. Imagine what it was like for the Jews in World War II, or for the people in the Ukraine today. Confusion, fear, and sorrow are rampant.

God’s Judgment

9 Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. 11 I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.

This war and tumult is God’s judgment for evil, wickedness, and iniquity. These words have fallen out of common use in our world. We have lost much of the concept of sin. We’re told that tolerance is the rule of the day and that naming sin is being judgmental. But God is the true Judge of sin, and He will have the final word.

• Sin angers God. There is no room for excuses; no “kids will be kids” tolerance; no looking the other way.
• God will punish sin. God’s righteousness demands that wrong will be made right.
• God’s standard is perfection. We are all sinners against God’s perfect law, and judgment in coming.

Some people think that the God of the Old Testament is judging while the God of the New Testament is loving. But the Bible is a unified book. God’s judgment shows up in the New Testament through Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins. The righteous God couldn’t simply erase sin and write it off. It had to be paid for, and the only way that could happen was for the perfect man, Jesus Christ, to take the punishment upon Himself.

God’s judgment is fulfilled one of two ways. It either falls on us or on Jesus Christ. Jesus absorbed God’s wrath against sin—the wrath that was due to us. Anyone who does not trust in Christ as Savior will one day have to face the penalty due for their sin. There is no third option, and there will be no second chances on that coming Judgment Day. Our world makes it easy to participate in sin anonymously, but no sin is hidden from God’s sight. We must take refuge in Jesus Christ for salvation and eternal life.

God’s Sovereignty

12 I will make people more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the LORD of hosts in the day of His fierce anger. 14 And like a hunted gazelle, or like sheep with none to gather them, each will turn to his own people, and each will flee to his own land. 15 Whoever is found will be thrust through, and whoever is caught will fall by the sword. 16 Their infants will be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished.

This is disturbing imagery that we don’t like to contemplate. Note that these verses start with God’s actions—“I will make”—but then moves on to “this will happen.” This is the mystery that connects God’s sovereignty and man’s free will. God doesn’t cause the death of infants and the abuse of women, but these things happen when He allows mankind to act out their natural evil inclinations. Alec Motyer explains it this way in his commentary on Isaiah:

“How is all this to be understood as the day of the Lord (6)? In a word, the answer is that this is what people are like to each other… [We] must not think of human beings as puppets with the Lord as their puppet-master. On the contrary, they are being themselves to the full, with their natural acts fulfilling supernatural purposes. In a very real sense, therefore, what the Bible speaks of as ‘the stretching out of his hand’ (14:26) would be more easily understood if we thought of it as the withdrawing of his hand—to leave sinners to implement all the inhumane savagery of fallen human nature, bereft of the restraining, humanizing efficacy of common grace. The Creator has so constituted humankind that sin progressively makes people less human and, therefore, less humane… The Lord remain sovereign, operating his own rules, directing, restraining, prompting. But the time will come—the day of the Lord—when in a climactic way sin will take the stage as the total destroyer it always is…” (139).

God’s Finale

17 Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold. 18 Their bows will slaughter the young men; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not pity children. 19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them. 20 It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there; no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there. 21 But wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will dwell, and there wild goats will dance. 22 Hyenas will cry in its towers, and jackals in the pleasant palaces; its time is close at hand and its days will not be prolonged.

In the end, there will be total destruction of all that is contrary to God’s perfect will and plan. The Apostle Paul wrote of this same finale in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, and these verses give us specific guidance for today:

1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with Him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Because the day of the Lord is coming and is closer every day, we need to be alert, conscious of how it will end, and living as those who are children of God. The time for laziness and apathy is past. We need to live with the urgency of knowing that people we love are destined for judgment if they do not turn to Christ.

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11-13).

Discussion Questions

1) How do these passages shed light on Jesus’ death for those who believe in Him: Col. 2:13-14; 1 John 4:8-10; Rom. 3:21-26; Gal. 2:15-21?

2) What do these passages say about how we are to live today: 2 Pet. 3:1-13; Titus 2:11-3:11; 1 Pet. 3:8-17, 5:6-11; Eph. 4:11-32?

3) How has belief in God changed your daily life? Do you find you are growing in your desire to live a life that is pleasing to God?