A bit of judgement and destruction…
The next few chapters of the Book of Isaiah, from chapter 13 onwards, describe what God intends to do to the enemies of Israel. To those who have stood against His people. This is the God of wrath and judgement and destruction that people really struggle to reconcile with the image of a God of love.
God will gather an army. And everyone will be terrified. No one will be spared.
Wail, for the day of the Lord is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
Because of this, all hands will go limp,
every heart will melt with fear.
Terror will seize them,
pain and anguish will grip them;
they will writhe like a woman in labour.
They will look aghast at each other,
their faces aflame. Isaiah 13:6-8
And in stark comparison –
The Lord will have compassion on Jacob;
once again he will choose Israel
and will settle them in their own land. Isaiah 14:1
God’s rightful order will be restored. Those who have become proud and have believed in their own strength and have tried to make themselves more powerful than God will be brought low. Those who have humbly trusted and obeyed the one true God will be lifted up.
God has spoken. There is no doubt that what He has described will come to pass –
Surely, as I have planned, so it will be,
and as I have purposed, so it will happen. Isaiah 14:24
Babylonians, Philistines, Moabites – beware! And yet-
In love a throne will be established;
in faithfulness a man will sit on it –
one from the house of David –
one who in judging seeks justice
and speeds the cause of righteousness. Isaiah 16:5
When Damascus is destroyed, there will be a remnant of people faithful to God who will turn back to Him –
In that day people will look to their Maker
and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
They will not look to the altars,
the work of their hands,
and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles
and the incense altars their fingers have made. Isaiah 17:7-8
Everything else pales into insignificance when we are terrified and desperate. That’s why people who say they don’t believe in God find themselves praying in times of dire need. It’s a natural human response to the God who made us all. What else can help us now?
It’s the turn of Egypt now. Pharaoh will turn to his idols and the spirits of the dead and his wise men for advice – but who can advise against the one true God?
The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken. Isaiah 21:17
Who knows what God has in store for the nations of the world right now? None of us know, that’s for sure. Only God can know. But we can be sure that He intends to restore His rightful order. Those who have become proud and have believed in their own strength and have tried to make themselves more powerful than God will be brought low. Those who have humbly trusted and obeyed the one true God will be lifted up.
And where does that leave us? When we think ahead five years, ten years, fifty years, what will become of our world? Look at the mess it is already in! As a country, we think we are strong. We think we can go it alone. We think we can defend our borders. We think we are wise enough to forge our own alliances. We think we can manage our own resources. It is a scary, turbulent time in our land. People are genuinely anxious for their future.
This is the time for us as Christians to stand up and speak out. To speak out for God and His righteousness and justice. To trust Him. To obey Him.
To trust Him for our future.
Because nothing can separate us from the love of God. That is what people need to hear.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
