Series: Isaiah
Title: Vengeance Belongs to God
Text: Isaiah 34: 1-17; 35: 1-10; (New Testament Sermon read Hebrews 12)
Date: 1-9-2011
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Vengeance belongs to our God. He does not re-venge, as in getting even, as the passions of the flesh lead men to do--but God justly recompenses.
Isaiah 35: 3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. 4 Say to them [that are] of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come [with] vengeance, [even] God [with] a recompence; he will come and save you.
GOD HAS A HOLY NATION
You who have been born into God's holy nation by the Spirit of God in the new birth have been called by LORD himself and are citizens of the holy nation of the thrice Holy God. It is the holy nation God has made up of those he has chosen, redeemed, called, filled, kept, preserved, protected out of every nation, kindred, tongue and tribe under heaven.
Revelation 5: 9:…Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
1 Peter 2:9: But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Isaiah 26: 2: Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
YET MANY NATIONS ON EARTH WHO WOULD TURN US FROM OUR GOD
Isaiah has declared "Woe" to all the nations of the earth--to all people seeking refuge elsewhere but in Christ. The enemy stands without the walls, boasting and trying to turn the believer.
The LORD Sends His Message of Comfort
Isaiah 33: 10: Now will I rise, saith the LORD, not will I be exalted, now will I lift up myself.
OH, how these weak hands and feeble knees, these fearful hearts, need our LORD to exalt himself in our hearts and thus "lift us up" himself. He lifts us up in the midst of our weakness by turning us and making us to despise the enemies' deceitful gains, to shake our hands of the enemies' bribes, to stop our ears from his boasts of shedding innocent blood, to shut our eyes from beholding his evil.
Our LORD lifts us up by turning our eyes upon Zion.
Isaiah 33: 17: Thine eyes shall the see king in his beauty, they shall behold the land that is very far off…..20: Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities:
We behold that we are compassed about with a great cloud of witnesses--the spirits of just men made perfect--not one has ever been lost. We behold the King in his beauty--Jesus the Author and Finisher of faith, --who despised the shame and is set down on the right hand of the throne of God--the Meditor of the everlasting covenant--whose blood demands our eternal salvation. We behold "the LORD [is] our judge, the LORD [is] our lawgiver, the LORD [is] our king; he will save us." Our Lord promises us who are lame children that we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Though our iniquities be many, our gracious Lord says in Christ, thy sins are forgiven!
Proposition: But what about the nations round about that yet boast and roar and desire to destroy US this holy, heavenly, spiritual nation into which God has placed us? Just as he has told us to look to Christ and away from this world, also, he says, to you and I this day, to remember: Vengeance belongs to our God!
Now, that the LORD has settled us to behold him, we stand behind our God, we stand in the Cleft of the Rock, under the Shadow of his Wings and now we listen as he speaks to the nations round about us.
Listen to me dear sinner, if today you have yet to cast all your care into the hands of Christ by faith I urge you to do so. Here the terror of this judgment and flee to Christ.
In verses 1-7 God announces his ultimate, final judgment of the whole world
Isaiah 34: 1: Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. 2 For the indignation of the LORD [is] upon all nations, and [his] fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. 3: Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. 4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling [fig] from the fig tree. 5: For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
A. Idumea is Edom--the descendents of Esau. Let us not be found as Esau.
Edom represents all who call themselves the people of God, but in heart despise and oppose salvation by God's sovereign grace. Esau wore the name of his father but despised his "birthright"--sold it to satisfy his belly. He despised:
· Christ the Elect of God, THE FIRSTBORN--in whom God chose, justified, makes righteous and holy each of his children all by himself
· He despised the Spirit of Adoption whereby God receives all the glory for creating his children anew, for making his children to cast all their care into his hand.
· He despised the Inheritance reserved and given freely by God the Father for his children in God's time
· Esau's of this world choose instead to sell all--to live for their belly--their will, their choices, to a form of godliness but to deny the power thereof--to live for this world--
· They oppose God's prophets and his people, even as Esau sought to kill his brother (Heb. 12:14-17; Isa. 63:1-6).
It is true that all the world shall be judged in righteousness by Christ Jesus. But the greatest wrath will be for those like Esau, who willfully despise God's grace and truth, choosing instead their own ways (Deut. 29:18-27).
Isaiah 34: 6: The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, [and] with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
The strongest, most mighty, most fierce shall not stand against our King.
Isaiah 34: 7: And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. 8: For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
May this settle our hearts as it did Isaiah. Everything our LORD has, is and shall do in this earth--even the judgment of the nations--is FOR ZION!
· All Judgment has been committed to the Son--our Lord and our Savior.
· He fulfilled all righteousness for his children by his life, being obedient even unto the death of the cross.
· He satisfied the wrath of God for his people at Calvary.
Christ our King will again appear for the cause of Zion--the church of God which he purchased with his own blood.
· He will recompense her enemies for all the injuries they have done to his bride;
· They that have led into captivity shall go into captivity
· They that have killed with the sword shall be killed with the sword
In verses 8-15 the details of God's judgment are given by use of many metaphors and symbols. But this is the point: This present earth and heaven shall pass away, like Sodom and Gomorrah, under the fire of God’s wrath--nothing shall remain but desolation and the unclean--owls, bats, and beasts. Note: Someone said that this is not only the desolation of what shall come to this present earth, but a description of the unregenerate heart even now.
Isaiah 34: 9: And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. 10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. 11 But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. 12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none [shall be] there, and all her princes shall be nothing. 13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, [and] a court for owls. 14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. 15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.
Verses 16-17 we are told to read the Book of God and know that God shall bring this judgment to pass exactly has he has written in his word.
Isaiah 34: 16: Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. 17: And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.
God is Jehovah ALOHEIM (God in covenant) faithful to his promises as well as his judgments.
· We have an example in the word of God--God fulfilled this word to Edom--he made it a desolate place.
· Likewise, he will fulfill this word upon the whole earth.
· The apostle Paul said, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (II Cor. 5-11).
YET, THE LORD'S CHURCH SHALL BE SAVED AND SHALL FLOURSIH FOREVER WITH OUR GOD ACCORDING TO HIS EVELASTING COVENANT.
Isaiah 35: 1: The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. 2: It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, [and] the excellency of our God.
A. First, this is a description of the heart made new by the Spirit of God right now.
1. In the midst of this wilderness we are glad for the promises of our Lord to us.
2. Having been grafted into Christ the Vine--our once dry hearts--blossom as the rose, blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing.
3. The Glory of Lebanon is in our heart--the Tree of Righteousness, the Migthy Cedar of Lebannon
4. The Excellency--the Fruit of Carmel and Sharon--Christ in you has made you a Firstfruit, a Choice Fruit unto our God.
5. By faith we see the glory of the LORD in the face of Christ Jesus, the Excellency of our God
B. Secondly, we see this coming to pass as our King has accomplished the work of the Father and is seated in glory
· He is calling out his children from the four corners of the earth--
· Making desolate places flourish in Christ the Vine.
C. Thirdly, look upon Zion--that land afar off--the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. It shall only become better and better for you, child of God!
Application:
Isaiah 53: 3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
Flee, this day, into Christ the Sanctuary. Are you sins red like crimson?
Isaiah: 1:18-20: Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool...
Isaiah 2: 22: Cease ye from man, whose breath [is] in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
Believe on Christ Jesus--the child born, the Son given--the glorious LORD, the King seated upon the throne of David in heavenly Jerusalem--
- who is the righteousness of all who trust in Him--
- to whom all power belongs,
- to whom all powers and principalities are in subjection--
and find sweet rest for your weary souls--for the government of his holy nation is upon his shoulder
Isa 8: 12: Say ye not, A confederacy, to all [them to] whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and [let] him [be] your fear, and [let] him [be] your dread. 14 And he shall be for a sanctuary;….
Believer, is your heart fearful this morning?
· Christ Jesus is the King who reigns in righteousness.
· Our Hiding Place and Covert from the wind and tempest
· Christ is our Rivers of Water in dry place
· The Shadow of a Great Rock in a weary land.
Isaiah 34: 4 Say to them [that are] of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come [with] vengeance, [even] God [with] a recompence; he will come and save you.
AMEN!