“The Glory of the Wrath of the Lord”
[Isaiah 24:1-23]
February 24, 2019, Second Reformed Church
“But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness” (Isaiah 5:16, ESV).
“Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him” (Isaiah 30:18, ESV).
Our God is the God of Justice. Since God is Holy, He is Just. God is incapable of allowing evil to exist unpunished. God is incapable of allowing sin to exist unpunished. If God is Holy, God must also be wrathful against sin and evil. And we, as His people, ought to rejoice and praise Him for being wrathful against sin and evil.
Notice I did not say that we ought to rejoice and praise Him for being wrathful against any specific person – we do not have the knowledge to know what is happening and make that sort of judgment. Only God knows the heart.
However, at the end of the age, when God’s Wrath is let loose – and even as we see things in God’s Word being told to us as God’s Wrath by God – in which case we do know what is happening – in those cases – at that time, we ought to rejoice and praise Him for being wrathful against sin and evil.
Chapter 24 of the book of Isaiah takes place at least 2,700 years after Isaiah speaks – and we know that because it hasn’t happened yet. This is a view of the end of the age – when Jesus returns to judge the world.
Verses one through three open up with God coming to judge the whole earth – and what we see here is the judgment of the wicked – the earth becoming desolate – twisting the earth, scattering the people.
And we see that the damned come from every station in life: laity, priests, slaves, masters, maids, mistresses, buyers, sellers, lenders, borrows, creditors, and debtors – under the Wrath of God – for the unrepentant and unbelieving, all are equal – and none will escape – for thus says the Lord.
In verses four through six, we have an explanation of why God’s Wrath has come against the world and its people – three reasons:
They have transgressed the laws of God. They have heard the Law of God and said, “I don’t care – I’m going to do it my way – I don’t care what God has said – I am the captain of my fate and I will do as I please.”
They have violated – or changed – the statues of God. God says that it is a sin to murder, and they say it is not. God says it is a sin to have sexual relations outside of the marriage of one man and one woman, and they say it is not. God says there is to be no work done on the Sabbath, but it is a day set aside for worship, and they say – do what you want.
They have broken the everlasting covenant of God. God says they are to do and not do certain things, and, in exchange for that, they will have everything, and they say that they were born breathing so they are entitled to whatever they want.
For these three sins against God, God has a curse devour the earth, and they suffer for their guilt.
And, so, in verses seven through twelve, we see that joy and security is lost:
Wine doesn’t bring joy any more. Music is gone – silenced – no one dances. No one sings, and when they drink, the wine seems bitter because they have nothing left to be joyful about.
The city walls are broken down and people barricade themselves in their homes for fear, because they know Who is coming. They cry out, joy is dead, gladness is banished.
The city is desolate and the gates are in ruins. The unrepentant sin of the people has led to their righteous destruction.
And we notice that the earth – the Creation – is scorched – as well – as Paul reminds us, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21, ESV). The Creation suffers due to our sin – not its sin.
Then, in verses thirteen through sixteen, the tone totally changes:
That day will be like the harvest of ripe olives or grapes – a day of feasting and joy and merriment.
The people will lift up their voices and sing for joy at the majesty of the Lord God – and they will glorify the Lord God, the God of Israel. From one end of the earth to another, praises will go up to the glory of God, the Righteous One.
What’s going on?
One commentator writes, “The entire world thus is called upon to praise the Lord. It will honor the Lord in that it will ascribe to Him the weight of glory that is His due. There is but one true God, and the One is Israel’s God. All such men are to praise Him and Him alone. The result of judgement will be the universal praise of the true God” (E. J. Young, The Book of Isaiah, volume 2, 170).
I have been asked how we can be joyful “in Heaven” knowing that there are people suffering in Hell. My answer to that is that our joy is not to be found in the Wrath of God, per se, but in the Justice of God – that God is Just. We will not be focused on the Wrath of God on unbelievers in Hell, but on the glorious perfection of God’s Justice. We will be amazed and thankful that we did not bear God’s Justice, but Jesus did on our behalf.
Listen to the songs of praise:
“saying, ‘We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth” (Revelation 11:17-18, ESV).
“And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, ‘Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!” (Revelation 11:17-18. ESV).
And then the tone changes again in the rest of verse sixteen:
“But I say, ‘I waste away, I waste away. Woe is me! For the traitors have betrayed, with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”
Now what’s going on?
Isaiah is reacting to the death and destruction to come and the vision of God’s Wrath against the impenitent.
We understand this because we are to mourn those who die in their sin. We are to be wracked with pain over those who reject Jesus again and again and use His Name as a by-word. We are never to desire someone to suffer God’s Wrath – we are not to delight in anyone going to Hell to suffer for all of eternity – which is what sin against God merits. We are to mourn for sin. We are to mourn for the unbeliever. We are to cry out and plead with God to send God the Holy Spirit to change their hearts and bring them to faith and repentance.
Twice God speaks this in the book of Ezekiel:
“Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23, ESV).
“Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11, ESV).
God is not a sadist – He does not enjoy the suffering of the wicked – yet He is glorified in being just. Likewise, we should take no pleasure in the suffering or death of any specific person – it should cause us to mourn, and we are to pray for all people – even our enemies – that they should turn and repent and believe in Jesus Alone for salvation.
And still, some never will. Some will die in their sin and suffer the Wrath and the Justice of God until all of their debt to the Infinite God is paid.
When that day comes, it will be a day of terror for those who never believe. Pits and snares will be set out for the wicked, and they will flee from the terror, but will be caught in the pits and the snares. The windows of heaven will be opened and the foundations of the earth will tremble.
The earth will be broken, split apart, violently shaken, so it staggers like a drunk and sways like a hut in the wind.
The sins of the wicked are so heavy that when they fall under the weight of them, they will not get up again. The end will have come.
The chapter ends as Isaiah explains that the punishment of the damned by God on the last day will reveal the Glory of God:
On the last day, God will punish all the human authorities – all will fall. They will be gathered with all the others and throw as prisoners in a pit for many days and then they will receive their punishment. And there will be utter confusion on their part as to why they are suffering – but the Lord of Hosts “reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and his glory will be before his elders.” They will see the Glory of God in His Wrath, the Justice of the Lord carried out on all of Creation.
How do we respond to this chapter?
One author notes three things that we should remember:
God’s Judgment is in Christ’s hands, so we can trust Him and what He is doing.
The One Who loves us and gave His life for us says, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord’” (Romans 12:19, ESV).
Second, God’s Judgement means that God’s standards are upheld – God does not wink at or excuse sin.
Paul writes, “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:18-21, ESV).
Paul explains that sin and eternal death came into the world through our first parents in the Garden and passes on to every mere human. But God the Son came to earth in the Person of Jesus and lived and died – righteously taking on the sin and the Wrath of God for the sin of everyone who will ever believe savingly in Jesus Alone. So the Just Wrath of God is still coming against those who never believe, but we are forgiven and welcome into the Kingdom. That means – on this earth, we mourn for the wicked, but in the Kingdom, we rejoice in the Justice of God.
Third, God’s Judgement destroys evil, which is good!
John assures believers:
“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away’” (Revelation 20:11-21:4, ESV).
All evil and sin will be thrown into the lake of fire with the devil and his angels, and they will all suffer the fullness of God’s Wrath eternally. But those who have believed, by the grace of Jesus, will be received into the Kingdom, knowing that God is Just, and all evil and sin has been put away.
Come, Lord, Jesus.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, when we think of people suffering under Your Wrath forever, we are uncomfortable and want to find a way around this truth, but to do so would be to call You a liar and unjust. Help us to see the joy in Your Justice, even while we plead with those about to fall into a pit. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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