epcblog

Devotional thoughts (Monday through Thursday mornings) from the pastor of Exeter Presbyterian Church in Exeter, NH // Sunday Worship 10:30am // 73 Winter Street

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Isaiah 24

The God of Israel is not a God only for the land of Palestine. This is clear from the opening chapter of the Bible. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Throughout the Psalms we extol the one who is in charge of the starry host in the heavens, and who has established the earth on the vast waters of the seas. He created mankind in His image. He is able to give hope to the weak and the weary. He will not be stopped by the strong oppressor of the poor. Kings must answer to Him, and His salvation can reach the most humble sinner.

This is the story of the real God, and the real God is a big god. His day of judgment will be a day of reckoning for the whole earth. He is the one who populates the desolate wilderness, and at the day of His choosing, He will one day bring desolation throughout the earth. This judgment will not be reserved only for one class or category of people. Every kind of person will feel the Lord’s righteous wrath; the leader and the follower, the big man and the low servant. God is no respecter of persons according to the things that impress people. By the Lord’s word, the highest people of the earth will languish, and the territory of all nations will face devastation.

Why will God do this? The answer is given to us in plain words. Men have transgressed the laws of God. This is a very important verse (5). We might have guessed that only the people who have been given God’s law in written form will be judged by God’s commandments. Yet all the lands of the earth know about God and His majesty. All should seek Him and find Him. Everyone has been given a conscience which is more or less informed concerning the ways of God. That conscience sometimes accuses them and sometimes defends them. But all are guilty before the Lord, and everyone is without excuse, for they have broken relationship with the Almighty Father. They have transgressed the everlasting covenant.

The time for partying is over for those who would seriously seek to begin the new life today. Put away the wine and the tambourines. Send the merry-hearted home, and stop the singers and dancers. The judgment of God has come in full force in the Day of His Wrath.

This fullness of God’s retribution is what once came down upon Christ on the cross. What Isaiah speaks of in this chapter as the final event of judgment which will cut off all foolish celebration, this judgment was experienced by the One Man of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has passed through those waters of destruction and defeated sin and death for us. Because of this cross, even Old Testament prophets like Isaiah can speak of something good happening for someone in the day of the Lord’s wrath. Some will be singing for joy because of the majesty of the Lord. This redeemed remnant will shout from the west, and the east too will give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel. From the ends of the earth the true people of God will sing and hear songs of praise, songs of glory to the Righteous One, our Redeemer and King.

Nonetheless the devastation upon those who do not own Christ as Lord, and who do not obey the gospel will be so furious that the very pit of destruction will seem to swallow up all the inhabitants of the earth. There will be terror on all sides, and the earth will be split apart and violently shaken. Its transgression will lie heavy upon it, and it will fall one day, never to rise again. The judgment of God will be known in the heavens and on the earth. Powerful authorities and rulers in high places will be called to account before the judgment seat of Christ. At long last the wicked oppressors of the earth, both of men and of angels, will be shut away for eternity on that Day of the Lord.

For the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem (that is among His holy redeemed church) and the glory of the great and mighty God will be visible before the elders of the community of grace. Saved by the blood of the Lamb, and serving Him without sin forever, the people of the Christ will find their eternal reward in the very day when the judgment of God will destroy the proud boasts of the wicked. The Christ who has saved us for that day is the one who is even now able to protect us by His grace until the future coming of the fearful Day of the Lord, a day of great vindication for the church which is trusting in the Lord’s own unfailing righteousness.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM

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