" The Day of the LORD ! "

 

Isaiah 13:1-15 "The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. I have commanded MY sanctified ones, I have also called MY mighty ones for MINE anger, even them that rejoice in MY highness. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of Hosts mustereth the host of the battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of HIS indignation, to destroy the whole land.

Howl ye; for the Day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the ALMIGHTY. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: and they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the Day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and HE shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in HIS going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the Earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of Hosts, and in the Day of HIS fierce anger. And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee everyone into his own land. Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword."

     We live in a world in which justice and judgment seem to be in short supply. The wicked are flourishing, and the righteous are suffering. Even though mankind feels a growing sense of impending doom, few care to listen to the LORD's warning concerning HIS future righteous judgment upon this CHRIST-rejecting world.

     Our text clearly speaks of a future period of divine judgment called "the Day of the LORD" (v.6) -- a season when GOD "will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity," a time when GOD will permanently halt "the arrogancy of the proud" and "the haughtiness of the terrible" (v.11). This is the prophesied period of time following the rapture that is also known as the "Great Tribulation" when GOD's judgment will fall upon an unbelieving world. At this time "shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt" (v.7). The catastrophic events that cause this fear are from the hand of "the ALMIGHTY" (v.6), and though they involve the so-called "forces of nature," man cannot explain them away as "natural disasters." GOD is behind these supernatural, cataclysmic events, and all the world will recognize that fact. The Day of the LORD encompasses GOD's judgment (vv.9-13; Revelation 6:15-17 pictured above); but praise the LORD, it extends to HIS subsequent millennial reign in righteousness upon the Earth as well.

     Meanwhile, believers must remember that GOD says, "Vengeance is MINE; I will repay" (v.15 cf. Romans 12:19 pictured above). We should not try to "get even" with those who oppress us; rather, we must preach the WORD of GOD to them in a spirit of gentleness, recognizing the fact that they are dead in sin and in desperate need of the SAVIOR. MHR

Your servant in CHRIST,

Julie

Copyright, FEATURE: A Daily Bible Study Guide.

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