We are living in the end times! We are living in biblical times! The exact times that Isaiah prophesied 2700 years ago! We’re in the middle of the Book of Isaiah and today we see him transition from warning the people of his time to warning us. Yet he always adds hope. We have hope because we have a Mighty Savior whom we know, wins in the end! Let’s dig in…
Isaiah 33 – A Message to the Assyrians
What sorrow awaits you Assyrians, who have destroyed others
but have never been destroyed yourselves.
You betray others,
but you have never been betrayed.
When you are done destroying,
you will be destroyed.
When you are done betraying,
you will be betrayed.
2 But Lord, be merciful to us,
for we have waited for you.
Be our strong arm each day
and our salvation in times of trouble.
3 The enemy runs at the sound of your voice.
When you stand up, the nations flee!
4 Just as caterpillars and locusts strip the fields and vines,
so the fallen army of Assyria will be stripped!5 Though the Lord is very great and lives in heaven,
he will make Jerusalem his home of justice and righteousness.
6 In that day he will be your sure foundation,
providing a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
The fear of the Lord will be your treasure.7 But now your brave warriors weep in public.
Your ambassadors of peace cry in bitter disappointment.
8 Your roads are deserted;
no one travels them anymore.
The Assyrians have broken their peace treaty
and care nothing for the promises they made before witnesses.
They have no respect for anyone.
9 The land of Israel wilts in mourning.
Lebanon withers with shame.
The plain of Sharon is now a wilderness.
Bashan and Carmel have been plundered.10 But the Lord says: “Now I will stand up.
Now I will show my power and might.
11 You Assyrians produce nothing but dry grass and stubble.
Your own breath will turn to fire and consume you.
12 Your people will be burned up completely,
like thornbushes cut down and tossed in a fire.
13 Listen to what I have done, you nations far away!
And you that are near, acknowledge my might!”14 The sinners in Jerusalem shake with fear.
Terror seizes the godless.
“Who can live with this devouring fire?” they cry.
“Who can survive this all-consuming fire?”
15 Those who are honest and fair,
who refuse to profit by fraud,
who stay far away from bribes,
who refuse to listen to those who plot murder,
who shut their eyes to all enticement to do wrong—
16 these are the ones who will dwell on high.
The rocks of the mountains will be their fortress.
Food will be supplied to them,
and they will have water in abundance.17 Your eyes will see the king in all his splendor,
and you will see a land that stretches into the distance.
18 You will think back to this time of terror, asking,
“Where are the Assyrian officers
who counted our towers?
Where are the bookkeepers
who recorded the plunder taken from our fallen city?”
19 You will no longer see these fierce, violent people
with their strange, unknown language.20 Instead, you will see Zion as a place of holy festivals.
Isaiah 33 NLT
You will see Jerusalem, a city quiet and secure.
It will be like a tent whose ropes are taut
and whose stakes are firmly fixed.
21 The Lord will be our Mighty One.
He will be like a wide river of protection
that no enemy can cross,
that no enemy ship can sail upon.
22 For the Lord is our judge,
our lawgiver, and our king.
He will care for us and save us.
23 The enemies’ sails hang loose
on broken masts with useless tackle.
Their treasure will be divided by the people of God.
Even the lame will take their share!
24 The people of Israel will no longer say,
“We are sick and helpless,”
for the Lord will forgive their sins.
Points to Ponder
- Sinners should quake with fear! They are condemned. They are doomed to an eternal life in hell.
- The righteous who close their eyes to evil, who are honest and fair, they will be protected and will have enough food and water.
- King Jesus is coming! This is the Glorious Appearing. We born-again believers will see Jesus when He comes for us in the Rapture (which can happen at any moment!). That’s way before the unbelievers who get left behind. (Believe me, you don’t want to be left behind!)
- Jerusalem will be quiet and secure and a place for festivals. That didn’t happen for very long in Isaiah’s time. Though the Assyrians were stopped, the bad kings continued and then the Babylonians came and sacked Jerusalem. (We’ll go back to the historical accounts in 2 Kings in a few days.) The Jerusalem Isaiah describes here is the one that John sees in Revelation.
- King Jesus will be our judge, lawgiver and ruler. Here we see the basis for our government structure in the U.S. Our forefathers based the American design of government on this. We have the judicial branch, the lawmakers (Congress) and the executive branch. Only Jesus could be over all 3 branches of government.
Next, Isaiah becomes the seer of future prophecies.
Isaiah 34 – A Message for the Nations
Come here and listen, O nations of the earth.
Let the world and everything in it hear my words.
2 For the Lord is enraged against the nations.
His fury is against all their armies.
He will completely destroy them,
dooming them to slaughter.
3 Their dead will be left unburied,
and the stench of rotting bodies will fill the land.
The mountains will flow with their blood.
4 The heavens above will melt away
and disappear like a rolled-up scroll.
The stars will fall from the sky
like withered leaves from a grapevine,
or shriveled figs from a fig tree.5 And when my sword has finished its work in the heavens,
it will fall upon Edom,
the nation I have marked for destruction.
6 The sword of the Lord is drenched with blood
and covered with fat—
with the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of rams prepared for sacrifice.
Yes, the Lord will offer a sacrifice in the city of Bozrah.
He will make a mighty slaughter in Edom.
7 Even men as strong as wild oxen will die—
the young men alongside the veterans.
The land will be soaked with blood
and the soil enriched with fat.8 For it is the day of the Lord’s revenge,
the year when Edom will be paid back for all it did to Israel.
9 The streams of Edom will be filled with burning pitch,
and the ground will be covered with fire.
10 This judgment on Edom will never end;
the smoke of its burning will rise forever.
The land will lie deserted from generation to generation.
No one will live there anymore.
11 It will be haunted by the desert owl and the screech owl,
the great owl and the raven.
For God will measure that land carefully;
he will measure it for chaos and destruction.
12 It will be called the Land of Nothing,
and all its nobles will soon be gone.
13 Thorns will overrun its palaces;
nettles and thistles will grow in its forts.
The ruins will become a haunt for jackals
and a home for owls.
14 Desert animals will mingle there with hyenas,
their howls filling the night.
Wild goats will bleat at one another among the ruins,
and night creatures will come there to rest.
15 There the owl will make her nest and lay her eggs.
She will hatch her young and cover them with her wings.
And the buzzards will come,
each one with its mate.16 Search the book of the Lord,
Isaiah 34 NLT
and see what he will do.
Not one of these birds and animals will be missing,
and none will lack a mate,
for the Lord has promised this.
His Spirit will make it all come true.
17 He has surveyed and divided the land
and deeded it over to those creatures.
They will possess it forever,
from generation to generation.
Points to Ponder
- Here Isaiah speaks not to one nation, but ALL nations — today’s world.
- He sees the future Battle of Armageddon in the Valley of Jezreel. (Check out the video at the bottom “Living on the Edge of Armageddon” by Amir Tsarfati who lives right there!)
- Isaiah sees what John wrote about in Revelation 6…
12 I watched as the Lamb broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became as dark as black cloth, and the moon became as red as blood. 13 Then the stars of the sky fell to the earth like green figs falling from a tree shaken by a strong wind. 14 The sky was rolled up like a scroll, and all of the mountains and islands were moved from their places.
15 Then everyone—the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy, the powerful, and every slave and free person—all hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 And they cried to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. 17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to survive?”
Revelation 6:12-17 NLT
Pastor Sandy Adams states…
Notice the Lord is angry at “all nations,” not just Assyria. Again, this points
us to the last days. And apparently, the end times will see a new unity. Globalism will bring “all nations” of the Earth together.God divided the nations at the Tower of Babel, but in the end Satan will rally the nations again in one final revolt, under the sway of his man, the Antichrist. Even today trends are moving toward one world solutions and global coalitions – a new world order.
National sovereignty is viewed as an impediment to progress. The world is getting
Sandy Adams
smaller and we should work together. This is the effect that builds-up to the final revolt. You can visual world peace if you’d like, but it’s this world’s peace that leads to the final battle.
By the way, Jesus wins in the end! We’re blessed and privileged to have the end of the story in the great Book of Revelation!
Continuing…
Isaiah 35 – Hope and Restoration
Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days.
The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses.
2 Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers
and singing and joy!
The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon,
as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon.
There the Lord will display his glory,
the splendor of our God.
3 With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands,
and encourage those who have weak knees.
4 Say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, and do not fear,
for your God is coming to destroy your enemies.
He is coming to save you.”5 And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind
and unplug the ears of the deaf.
6 The lame will leap like a deer,
and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!
Springs will gush forth in the wilderness,
and streams will water the wasteland.
7 The parched ground will become a pool,
and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land.
Marsh grass and reeds and rushes will flourish
where desert jackals once lived.8 And a great road will go through that once deserted land.
Isaiah 35 NLT (bold emphasis mine)
It will be named the Highway of Holiness.
Evil-minded people will never travel on it.
It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways;
fools will never walk there.
9 Lions will not lurk along its course,
nor any other ferocious beasts.
There will be no other dangers.
Only the redeemed will walk on it.
10 Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return.
They will enter Jerusalem singing,
crowned with everlasting joy.
Sorrow and mourning will disappear,
and they will be filled with joy and gladness.
This is the encouragement that the people of Isaiah’s day needed. However, they did not get to see this in their lifetimes. This is for US today. Back in chapter 6, Isaiah saw King Jesus, the Messiah, high and lifted up. We believers will get to see that too!
Imagine seeing the deserts bloom and streams of living water everywhere. Imagine the Highway to Holiness where Jews from all over the world will come back to worship the Messiah in the New Jerusalem.
The message for us today is that we need not fear death. As born-again believers, we will be saved from God’s wrath (the Great Tribulation) by the Rapture. (Related: What does it mean to be God Fearing?)
Exclusive Club
Nevertheless, it’s ONLY for the REDEEMED and the RANSOMED! The benefits of Salvation are for the CHOSEN. It’s an exclusive club. Even so, EVERYONE is invited! You just HAVE TO accept the invitation!
That’s the Good News of the New Testament! Jesus is our REDEEMER who came as RANSOM for many…
Jesus said…
28 “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:28 NLT
Peter wrote…
18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.
1 Peter 1:18-19 NLT
John wrote…
9 And they sang a new song with these words:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
Revelation 5:9 NLT
and break its seals and open it.
For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
Are you part of the REDEEMED?
If you’re not sure if you’re saved or not, if you truly want to be born again and have the assurance of salvation, receive the Holy Spirit, feel His Shalom — a peace that surpasses all understanding, and get a 1-way, non-stop ticket to Heaven after you die, or that you won’t be left behind at the Rapture, which can happen at any moment, this is what you have to do…
Believe. Repent. Be Baptized. Receive the Holy Spirit.
- Believe — have Faith — that Jesus is the Christ and He died taking your sins away forever and that He rose from the dead 3 days later.
- Repent of your sins — stop sinning! Do a complete 180-degree turn in your life and surrender your life to Him. When you ask Jesus to forgive you He will. ALL your sins will be wiped clean — past, present, and future! And All means ALL!
- Be Baptized by water baptism — show the world and yourself that you have died to your old life and are born again in Christ.
- Receive the gift of Holy Spirit in your heart.