We
have come to the end of a judgement cycle in Isaiah. We have heard lots of judgements over the
summer, but remember that every single one has also come with hope and a
promise of restoration and salvation after the time of judgment and even during
the time of judgment in some cases. This
final judgement is the judgement of the whole earth.
A couple of weeks ago, we heard
about the church in Philadelphia whom Jesus promised to spare from an even
greater “hour of testing” that was to come upon the whole earth, because they
had already faithfully endured much persecution in which many members had lost
their lives. We hear in the text that
there will be those who are unaffected by the coming judgment, but it’s going
to be overall devastating for the world.
It doesn’t matter what one’s social status or class is. Isaiah tells us that the Lord has said that
the earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled.
Why is God going to judge the
earth? For many of the same reasons God
said that He would judge certain nations, but moreso because the evil is so
widespread. In Isaiah 24:5, God gives
the reason, people have “transgressed laws, violated statutes, and broke the
everlasting covenant.”
What will happen when God judges the
earth? Both Isaiah and Revelation talk
about earthquakes. Both talk about the
heavens being shaken and the sun and moon being darkened. Isaiah says that the host of heaven will be
punished along with the earthly rulers.
These are the spiritual forces whom Isaiah says will be confined. We also see this in the book of Revelation,
though not in our passages today. Alcohol
will not bring pleasure but will be sought as a way to escape, but it will not
work. Partying will stop. People will hide and try to escape
suffering. Our Revelation passage speaks
of war, pestilence, famine, and attacks by wild animals. It also talks about food being incredibly
expensive. Death and Hades are given
the authority to take 25% of the human population.
Isaiah mentions a city that will be
destroyed in this prophecy. The word
used to describe is “wasted, confused, chaos.”
It is the exact Hebrew word used to describe the earth in Genesis 1:2.
It is disordered. When we refuse God’s
order, the result is disorder and chaos.
The city is not named as cities in the other judgements were. What is this city? Is it a city that was unknown at the time,
like Beirut, Moscow, or Washington, DC?
Is it Jerusalem? It is a city
that represents the whole world. Whatever
this city is, it will be destroyed never to be rebuilt. So yes, Jerusalem in a sense spiritually,
even if not literally. We have seen Paul
in Galatians b4 talk about the Jerusalem that now is and the Jerusalem that is
above, the heavenly city. He tells us
that the earthly Jerusalem is like Hagar, a city that is in slavery, but that
the heavenly Jerusalem is free like Sarah.
St. Augustine in his great book, The City of God, describes the
same thing. He says that there exists
the City of God and the City of Man.
Both Paul and Augustine say that these cities exist in the present
tense. They are systems. God’s people belong to the City of God, and
if they aren’t living like it, they are called to come out of the City of Man,
the earthly Jerusalem. Whatever our
feelings about even the physically real city of Jerusalem, it is not meant to
stand forever. We hate to think of our
heritage being destroyed, but in the end, it will be completely unnecessary
when the New Jerusalem descends from heaven and replaces it. Until it does, it already exists, and we are
called to live like it exists and that we are its citizens, for indeed we are!
This great judgment that is to come
is referred to as the Tribulation, the great trouble. We see this in our Revelation passage, that
those around the throne of God dressed in white robes and singing praise to the
Lord, a multitude that no one can count from every people group on the planet
are those “who come out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Popular Bible teaching says God’s people aren’t going to have to endure
the tribulation, but that’s not what Revelation 7 says nor is it what any early
church father taught. Tribulation is to
be endured and persevered through with God’s help, not escaped. What the early church father did differ on is
whether the 1000-year reign of Christ is metaphorical or whether there will be
a post tribulation literal reign of Christ on earth between the resurrection of
believers and the resurrection of the condemned. I personally find myself waffling between
those two positions. God warns us about
it, not so that we will be afraid, but so that we will be prepared.
There have been many great
tribulations throughout history. I think
this is one of the reasons that the disciples expected Christ to return. They
always spoke of Jesus’s return during times of intense persecution, but there
is still a great tribulation to come. Are
we on the threshold of it? Maybe. There are many who think so with the collapse
of western civilization, with WWIII about to start and the great threat of
nuclear war and the escalation of violence in the Middle East. We certainly see vast numbers of people
breaking and disregarding God’s laws and even natural law. We see people calling evil good and good
evil. Whether God is going to send a
lesser or the final tribulation upon us soon, only God knows, but after the
final tribulation, Christ will return and reign. We see in Isaiah 24:23, “The Lord of hosts
will reign on Mt. Zion and in Jerusalem and His glory will be before His
elders.”
As he has done in when pronouncing other
judgements, Isaiah weeps over those that do evil. The apostle Paul reminds us that “we wrestle
not with flesh and blood, but with powers, and principalities, and spiritual wickedness
in the high places.” Do we care enough
to mourn over those who do evil and desire to see them set free
spiritually? Do we care enough even
about our neighbors to share the good news of Jesus with them?
Don’t forget that the ending to both
of our passages this morning are positive!
They are full of praise for God’s goodness, power, and triumph and for
the triumph of the people who are faithful to the Lord. In Isaiah’s prophecy, the righteous in the
west shout with joy over the majesty of the LORD. Those in the East sing songs of God’s
glory. Those in the islands praise the
name of the Lord! In our Revelation
passage, before any judgement can even start, the angels are commanded to first
seal up the 144,000. I don’t believe
this is a literal number, but it is the number of completion of Jewish
believers—those who actually come from the 12 tribes named as representatives
of God’s historic people. We should be
praying for the conversion of the Jews.
It’s why the work of organizations like Jews for Jesus is so
important. God will fulfill God’s
promises to them by bringing them into the New Jerusalem. Notice there is no one from the tribe of Dan
or Ephraim. Instead of Ephraim, Joseph is named, and instead of Dan, Manasseh
is named. And then we have the multitude
that no one can count around God’s throne. This multitude will include us and
all believers throughout time, and all who have come out of the Great
Tribulation—that is they survived it, not necessarily by not dying, although therw
will be many who will remain alive, but all who remained faithful to Christ,
enduring to the end. They cry out with a
loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and unto the
Lamb.” The angels join with them, along
with God’s chosen 24 elders (the patriarchs and apostles), worshipping and
saying, “Amen! Blessing, and glory, and
wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor and power and might be to our God forever
and ever. Amen!” Once the great tribulation
is passed, so comes the end of all hunger, thirst, weather disasters, sorrows
and tears!
I’m not foolish enough to say these
are the end times. I don’t know if the
hurricane that happened is God’s judgment, or simply something God allows via
the natural processes God has ordained, or because of the general fallen state
of humanity. I’m not going to try to say
why any particular thing is happening.
Nor will I try to predict what’s going to happen. Only God the Father knows when the end will
come. Only God knows the particulars of
why God does or allows anything. I do
think we should be prepared for hard and trying times, but we can live with hope
because we know that God wins. Even as
God judges the earth, God does so out of love for people and a hatred for
evil. In his book City of God,
St. Augustine wrote, “Do not refuse to regain your youth in Christ, who says to
you, ‘The world is passing away. The
world is losing its grip. The world is
short of breath.’ Do not fear—your youth shall be renewed as an eagle.”
