Isaiah 13:6
God’s Day of Wrath
We continue studying the End Times, in survey style. I told you at
the beginning of this study that one of there is a lot of information
tucked into many Bible books, in all enough information to fill many
encyclopedias with future truths.
Our study is made more difficult in that many people are divided over
whether God actually means what He says in the Bible or not. Some
dismiss what God says by calling it an allegory or “just a story” or
“just a picture.” By doing so, some attempt to take Israel out of the
equation and replace her with the church. Others want to make the
horrors of the future less horrific, more explainable by natural
occurrences.
I will not say these people are not Christians, but I will say that
some of them are not Bible believers. They would not like me saying
that, but if you are going to add to, take away from, or alter the
Bible, then you are not getting your doctrine from the Bible but from
your head. That is not Bible believing.
Theologically, we are referred to as Dispensationalists. That means
we believe what God promised to the Jews, God will fulfill to the
Jews; and what God promised to the church, God will fulfill to the
church. In my youth, I did not object to such terms, but I am liking
them less and less.
Of course we believe that, but the reason we believe that is not
because we are dispensationalists but because we are Bible believers.
To be honest, I don’t know what they call those who do not believe
God keeps His promises, but what I am going to call them is Bible
doubters, nonbelievers, and bad Bible students.
Let’s outline some rules for reading the Bible, especially the
sections that relate to the future.
1. God means what He says and says what He means.
a. If God promised the Jews something, He will do it.
b. If God promised the church something, He will do it.
c. God does not get confused concerning to whom He is
speaking.
2. God does speak cryptically.
a. He purposely speaks in parables, in pictures, and
riddles.
b. He does that to hide some truths from unbelievers
\\#Matt 13:11\\; as well as to better illustrate to the
believers the different effects that will be happening.
c. When God is speaking cryptically, it is not to diminish
the event but to further explain it.
d. For example:
(1) Satan is the great, red dragon. \\#Rev 12:3\\
(a) Satan will be great in the sense his authority
will stretch across the globe.
(b) He is portrayed as an animal because he has the
conscience of a wild animal.
(c) He will produce fear like a dragon.
(d) He will shed more than enough blood to color
himself red.
(2) The fact that he is a red dragon doesn’t make him
fictious. It makes him fatal, fierce, and
ferocious.
3. Don’t add to the Bible and call it the Bible.
a. I understand that my beliefs of being a PRE are not
clearly stated in the Bible, but I have done my best to
tell you that this is what I believe and WHY.
b. There is a difference in sharing an opinion and calling a
possibility doctrine.
4. Read and study the whole Bible.
a. To study and understand the last book of the Bible, the
first book of the Bible must be studied and understood.
b. It was all written by one God with one plan, and it
reveals truth one precept upon another precept, one line
upon another line, here a little and there a little
\\#Is 28:10\\.
5. Do not let your theology create contradictions.
a. It does not matter what we think the text says, if it
creates a contradiction with another plain, easy-to-
understand text, we are wrong.
b. The Bible does not have contradictions.
These five truths will help us no matter what section or truth of the
Bible we are studying, but especially when we seek to understand
prophecy.
We have talked about the rapture, which I believe is the next major
event on God’s calendar of events. Now, let’s look some at what I
believe will happen afterwards, a period of Tribulation.
I. A world-wide, catastrophic judgment is coming to this planet from
God Almighty.
Isa 13:6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at
hand; it shall come as a destruction from the
Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every
man’s heart shall melt:
8 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.
9 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.
10 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.
11 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.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine
gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 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.
14 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 every one
into his own land.
A. \\#Is 13:6\\ This judgment is from God.
1. God is not saying the gears of nature will jam, that man
will destroy his own planet, or that demons will cause
devastation, although God may well use all three of those
means to accomplish His will.
2. God is saying that HE WILL SEND THE DESTRUCTION.
B. \\#Is 13:9\\ It will be exceptionally "cruel" as God pours out
His wrath and anger.
1. Some want a "Santa Claus" god.
2. You have a free will and if you want to, go ahead; but
that is not the God of the Bible.
3. I remember hearing the radio preacher say that he did not
believe the lost would live forever in hell. He stated
somethings in the Bible, but then acknowledged the truth,
(i.e. he could not see God being so cruel.) So he made
up a doctrine. He preached the souls of the lost are
just burnt up in hell. That is a dangerous thing to do.
4. God tells us point blank that He is the God of justice and
even vengeance.
5. Deny it if you want, but you will have to amputate parts
of the Bible if you do.
C. God’s stated intentions are:
1. To give pain \\#Is 13:8\\.
2. To make the planet desolate \\#Is 13:9\\.
3. And to punish the world \\#Is 13:11\\.
D. God’s judgments will move the earth \\#Is 13:13\\ and will
even affect the heavens \\#13:10, 13\\.
E. There is no way to make that sound nicer.
1. Some would say this is historic, fulfilled by Israel’s
defeats at the hands of the Assyrians or the Babylonians.
2. No. It wasn’t.
3. Nothing like this has ever happened, but it will.
4. How do I know? Because God says what He means, and God
means what He says.
F. There are many other Bible passages which back up this most
basic view of the Tribulation:
Isa 2:12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall
be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and
upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall
be brought low:
Isa 2:17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed
down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made
low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that
day.
18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish.
19 And they shall go into the holes of the
rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear
of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty,
when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of
silver, and his idols of gold, which they made
each one for himself to worship, to the moles and
to the bats;
21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into
the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the
LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he
ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
Eze 30:2 Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus
saith the Lord GOD; Howl ye, Woe worth the day!
3 For the day is near, even the day of the LORD
is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of
the heathen.
Joel 1:15 Alas for the day! for the day of the
LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the
Almighty shall it come.
Obad 15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all
the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done
unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own
head.
Zep 1:14 The great day of the LORD is near, it
is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of
the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry
there bitterly.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble
and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation,
a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds
and thick darkness,
16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the
fenced cities, and against the high towers.
17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they
shall walk like blind men, because they have
sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be
poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be
able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S
wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by
the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even
a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the
land.
G. I see at least five purposes in God bringing the Tribulation:
1. As the verses show, the Tribulation is a judgment against
the entire world for sins against God—and not for
redemption, just for judgment.
2. Through the Tribulation God will redeem Israel to Himself.
3. Through this Tribulation God will defeat Satan—not yet for
good, but He will defeat him. God will allow Satan one
more attempt to overthrow God and lead mankind astray;
but God will most certainly demonstrate to the world that
Satan is a puny enemy.
4. Through the Tribulation, God will give man and the devil
what they both seem to want—each other. Much like
Israel wanted a king like other nations, so this world
has wanted Satan for their god.
5. Through this Tribulation God will bring honor and glory to
Himself.
H. Although all of these purposes are intertwined, most of our
attention focuses on the fourth purpose, i.e. Satan and
mankind joining together. Satan being man’s god and mankind
worshipping him.
1. I suppose we are most interested in that because we can
see or think we can see that unfolding.
2. So let’s look at the political scene that will unfold
during the Tribulation.
There is much more to see about this Tribulation, but I can tell you
one thing for sure. If I am right about the rapture, you don’t want
to miss it. Trust Jesus today!
<OutlineIndex> <Close Window>
