Thursday Night Study

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"The Ransomed Return" Sermon: Isaiah 35:1-10

“The Ransomed Return”

[Isaiah 35:1-10]

August 25, 2019, Second Reformed Church

            Last week we looked at the holiness and power and justice of the Lord in subjecting all those who never believe in Jesus as God and Savior to judgment.  We saw that God would not hesitate to bring down the full wrath that is deserved by each one who never believes.  And we saw that the Creation will become full of thistles and thorns and the wild animals will take over inhabiting the land.

            In this morning’s text, we turn to look at what will happen on the last day to the redeemed.  Those people who do believe in Jesus savingly – confessing Him with their mouths and hearts as God and Savior – these are the redeemed.  And what does it mean to be “redeemed?”

            Many of us will remember “green stamps” or “trading stamps” and how you would collect them and then once you got enough of them pasted in your book, you would redeemed them for an exciting gift – like a hair drier or a flashlight.  The “green stamps” paid the price to set the blackhead remover free from the store and into your hands.

            Paul explains to the Galatians:  “In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God” (Galatians 4:3-7, ESV).

            And he tells Titus:  “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-14, ESV).

            And we are ransomed – John hears the choir sing:

            “And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God            from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth’” (Revelation 5:9-10, ESV).

            So, all we who believe that Jesus is God the Savior do so because Jesus has redeemed us from lawlessness and impurity and the punishment that goes with it by giving Himself to be sacrificed for us – on our behalf.  He has ransomed us from that future by His Blood.

            We are looking at what will happen with regards to the redeemed – the ransomed of the Lord.

            And we see, the Glory of the Lord transforms the Creation.

“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God.”

Whereas the wicked – who never believe in Jesus savingly – find the Creation curling up and becoming all the more inhospitable to them, those that Jesus has ransomed from the curse of the Law will find the Creation restored – bright and beautiful – ready to meet them and greet them – bubbling over with joy and full of singing.

The initial hope for the people of Judah – who have yet to be conquered and taken into captivity – is that God will bring them back.  After the right time of discipline in exile, the Father Who loves them will bring them back to the land – and the land will welcome them – the glory of the Lord will be seen in the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple and the vegetation and the animals will burst forth in continuous bloom and life and fruitfulness.

Still there is a greater hope for all we who believe. As Peter preaches to the Jews, he says:

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago” (Acts 3:19-21, ESV).

Paul says this as well, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 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. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:19-23, ESV).

Habakkuk say:  “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14, ESV).

When the glory of the Lord fills the earth and the Kingdom has come in its fullness and the Creation is restored – never more to die or fade away – but glorious as the resurrected and changed bodies of we believers, there will be no hint of sin or evil or death or corruption – all will be well.  All will be well.

In marriage and in the moment that the Creation that takes our breath away, in the birth of a baby, we have glimpses of the glorious Kingdom that is coming – the glory of the Lord brighter than the brightest brightness from every direction, casting shadows away.

God said it.  It will be.  The day will come.  The Glory of the Lord will transform the Creation – including us – as the Kingdom comes in all its fullness.

            Second, God will save His people – so don’t fear.

            “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.’”

            Judah would spend seventy years in captivity.

            As different captors came along, their lives would improve in captivity, but they were still captive – they were still separated from the land and worship in the Temple.

            The Psalmist tells us that some of the captors were psychologically and emotionally cruel:

            “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there, we hung up our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’” (Psalm 137:1-3, ESV).

            Have you ever come to a time when you seemed trapped?  When you didn’t know how to recover what you loved?  A time of sorrow – of beating your breasts – perhaps even considering hurting yourself as a way out?

            We may have not suffered in captivity – or, for example, in the Holocaust – but on some level…

            God says to you:  “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”

            God will settle all accounts – through Jesus or on those who never believe.  But if you are a believer, God is bringing grace – He has given you grace.  He has saved you through the Blood of Jesus.  Jesus is preparing a place for you in the Kingdom.  Don’t be afraid – no matter what happens – God has you – you are His.

            And so God prepares the Israelite captives and us, telling us to trust in Him – in all that He has said.  Know the God Who has saved you and understand that He cannot fail you because He is God! 

And then He gives us work to do – He doesn’t say, “believe in Me and My promises, and just lie there on the floor.”  No, He says, “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.”

God says, “with the grace I have given you – with the power I have given you by God the Holy Spirit – with the blessings I have showered down upon you, do everything you can to strengthen yourself in body, mind, spirit, and soul.  Strive after holinesses.  Fight temptation.  Learn and believe and apply everything you can from My Word that you will be strong in the times of suffering.”

The author of Hebrews talks about this as he reflects on the necessity of discipline:  “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed” (Hebrews 12:12-13, ESV).

            And Paul writes, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7, ESV).

            God will save you; don’t fear.

            Third, the coming of Messiah brings restoration.

            One of the sets of laws about worship concerns those who have physical handicaps.  Those who had any type of handicap were not allowed into the Temple.  The blind, the deaf, the lame, the mute, and others, were not allowed to go into the Temple to worship.

            But Isaiah says, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.”

            But Isaiah prophesies that when the ransomed return – blessings beyond measure will descend in the total healing of the body.  This did not happen when the Israelites returned to Jerusalem.  But it did begin to happen – and all we who believe are waiting on the fullness of this blessing to come to pass.

            John the Baptist was waiting to be executed, and we read:  “Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me’” (Matthew 11:2-6, ESV).

            Jesus is quoting Isaiah and telling him, “Yes, I Am the One you have been waiting for.  I Am God the Messiah – the Savior – I Am the One Who came to heal and will bring cosmic healing on the last day.  Don’t be afraid to die for My sake.”

            Don’t be afraid to die for Christ’s sake.

            Paul tells the Corinthians:

            “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:  ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

            “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (I Corinthians 15:51-58, ESV).

            Not just we shall change, but everything:

“For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.”

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the whole Creation will be lush and alive and bountiful.

            The coming of Messiah brings restoration.

            And fourth, the ransomed of the Lord will return.

            “And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

            The good news for Jerusalem – even though they would eventually be conquered and taken into captivity is – when the time is done – some seventy years – God will bring them back – all those that God has ransomed and set free will come home.  They will travel safely – neither vicious man nor beast will keep them from making it to Jerusalem.  Not even the devil is able to stop the ransomed of the Lord from reaching Jerusalem. They will sing and rejoice and be filled with gladness and joy forever.

            Ultimately, this is about the ransomed of the Lord Jesus – all those that Jesus has ransomed and set free by His Blood – all those who will enter the Kingdom forever – filled with singing and rejoicing and gladness and joy forever.

            Jesus says, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13-14, ESV).

            And we might pause for a moment and get scared:  the unclean shall not enter.  Sinners are unclean.  I am a sinner.  I am unclean.  Do you ever get stunned as you pray for forgiveness as you think over your sins?

            Can you relate as Michael Been sings:

“He says, ‘We'll walk in the front door

“’And proudly raise our heads’

“I say, ‘Man you must be foolin'

“’Our hands are covered in blood red’" (https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b1d&q=the+call+%22our+hands+are+covered+blood+red%22&spell=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZu8-Gk5nkAhUkm-AKHdcWAJsQBQguKAA&biw=1303&bih=694)

            Remember Isaiah’s realization:

“And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!’

            “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for’” (Isaiah 6:5-7. ESV).

“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed’” (John 8:34-36, ESV).

Jesus ransomed all those who will ever believe savingly in Him – through His life and death.  He has washed we sin-soaked sinners with His Blood and has set us free.  And now we are called to walk the way of holiness – to quickly repent of sin, to seek forgiveness, and to walk the way that Jesus has set before us.  In thanks to Jesus for what He has done, with the hope of the New Jerusalem before us, let us walk the way of holiness.  Let us strengthen ourselves in His Word and keep going back to the way of holiness each time we fall.

The Lord has ransomed us and is bringing us home.  He will come and make everything and all of us sinless and holy in fact forever.  Let us strive hard towards Him with these facts deeply planted within us.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, Your servant, Paul wrote, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies” (2 Corinthians 4:7-10, ESV).  We thank You that Your Son has ransomed us, and we look forward to our entrance into the Kingdom with joy and gladness and singing.  Send the Holy Spirit to cause us to strive to walk the way of holiness – for You are worthy.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Thursday Night Study

D.V., we will start a new study on the book of Galatians on Thursday, September 5th at 7 PM.  The pastior will bring the books.  Please join us then!

"The Final Judgment" Sermon: Isaiah 34:1-17

“The Final Judgment”

[Isaiah 34:1-17]

August 18, 2019, Second Reformed Church

            Last week we considered the New Zion – the New Jerusalem, and we saw that all of us are sinners and we need God to sovereignly act to save us and change us into the Image of His Son.  And we saw that in the New Zion, we will be holy and right and all will be well with us in body, soul, mind, and spirit.

            As we turn to our text, this morning, we look at what will happen to those who never repent.  Perhaps during their lives, but surely at the Final Judgment on the Last Day.

            God tells Isaiah to preach this news – to call out to all of the world – to all of the nations and all of the people and all of the earth and every creature and thing that fills the earth to hear what happens to the person and the nation who denies the Almighty God and the salvation only available through His Son.

“Draw near, O nations, to hear, and give attention, O peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes from it.”

And we see, the Lord is supreme in power.

            “For the LORD is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host; he has devoted them to destruction, has given them over for slaughter.”

            As Isaiah tells us back in chapter six, our God is the Holy, Holy, Holy God.  Isaiah was a sinner and he knew it, so the seraphim symbolically placed a burning coal on Isaiah’s lips to purge away his sin – a small reminder that the Son of God was flogged until His skin was in ribbons, and then crucified, suffering the full Wrath of God for the sin of each person who would ever believe throughout time and space – all at once – in the moment when He was forsaken by His Father.

            And so, since the Lord has so loved the world and sent His Son to save all those who would believe, God is enraged and furious with them.  All those who never believe are under His Wrath of Supreme Power and He devotes them to destruction – to slaughter.  (And the language is symbolic, of course, in the sense that to be just, the punishment must be endless.)

            “Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise; the mountains shall flow with their blood.”

            The bodies of those who eternally rebel against God will fill the earth and a stench will rise up from them, because there are so many, they cannot decompose or be buried.  The blood of the slain will run down the mountains like floodwaters. The slaughter will be massive.  The number of those who never believe will be massive.

            “All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree.”

            The sin of humanity has corrupted the entire Creation, so, it will collapse and rot away under its corruption.  The Creation will fall apart and die and fall to the ground like a tree losing its leaves.  And God will roll up the fallen, sinfull, corrupt Creation – as you roll up a piece of paper for the garbage – and He will cast it down to the ground.  A lump of clay made into a pot for dishonorable use, now balled up again to be rethrown and made honorable as the restored Creation.

            The Lord is supreme in power, and He has the right and the obligation to bring His Wrath against all those who never believe and against the havoc that our sin has wreaked on the Creation.  At the Final Judgment, there will be a cosmic recreation and a massive outpouring of the Wrath of God which will not end.

            Second, the Lord will slaughter Edom.

            Now, do we remember who Edom was?

            Isaac had two sons:  the older was Esau, and the younger was Jacob.  And we read:

“Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, ‘Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!’ (Therefore his name was called Edom.) Jacob said, ‘Sell me your birthright now.’ Esau said, ‘I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?’ Jacob said, ‘Swear to me now.’ So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright” (Genesis 25:29-34, ESV).

The birthright was normally given to the first-born son.  It included being the family priest, inheriting all the authority his father had, as well a double potion of the inheritance (https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/birthright/).  Esau, in his hunger, sold his birthright for a bowl of red lentil stew.  And, thus, he lost his birthright and became the father of the people of Edom – a nation to the southwest of Israel that was usually enemies with Israel.

 And so the prophets speak of Edom – the descendants of Esau – as the enemies of God:

Amos says, “Thus says the LORD:  ‘For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity, and his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever. So I will send a fire upon Teman, and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah’” (Amos 1:11, ESV).

Edom is the nation that despises the promises of God.  Edom is symbolic of all the nations and all the people who despise the salvation God has made through Jesus.  And so, Isaiah prophesies about the slaughter of Edom, and has in mind all those, who like Edom reject Jesus and His salvation.

God’s sword will become drunk as He slaughters the people of Edom at the Last Judgment:

            “For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom,      upon the people I have devoted to destruction. The LORD has a sword; it is sated with blood; it is gorged with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom. Wild oxen shall fall with them, and young steers with the mighty bulls. Their land shall drink its fill of blood, and their soil shall be gorged with fat.”

            God says that those who refuse Him will be slaughtered and offered up like the lambs and goats and oxen and bulls were offered up as sacrifices to the Lord in the Temple.  Adults as well as children, women, as well as men, will be offered up.

            God explains how to offer a sacrifice that is acceptable to Him:

            “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD. He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. Then he shall kill the bull before the LORD, and Aaron's sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Then he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces, and the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. And Aaron's sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar; but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD” (Leviticus 1:3-9, ESV).

            And so, those who never believe will be offered up to God as a sacrifice – their whole selves – body, soul, mind, and spirit – will be given over to slaughter that God would be glorified in acting justly against sin.

            For those who do believe, a sacrifice has been made for us, as the author of Hebrews explains:

            “For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” (Hebrews 13:11-16, ESV).

            The Lord will have His vengeance against all those who sin who have never received the salvation Jesus earned – God will totally devastate everything having to do with Edom and all unrepentant sinners:

            “For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and her soil into sulfur; her land shall become burning pitch.”

            And since God is infinitely holy, the punishment for those who despise Him will be infinite as well:

            “Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever.”

            Edom will be given over to the creatures of the wild – no humans will ever have it as their habitation again:

“But the hawk and the porcupine shall possess it, the owl and the raven shall dwell in it. He shall stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness. Its nobles—there is no one there to call it a kingdom, and all its princes shall be nothing.”

As Malachi writes:

            “’I have loved you,’ says the LORD. But you say, ‘How have you loved us?’ ‘Is not Esau Jacob's brother?’ declares the LORD. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.’ If Edom says, ‘We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,’ the LORD of hosts says, ‘They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called “the wicked country,” and “the people with whom the LORD is angry forever.”’ Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, ‘Great is the LORD beyond the border of Israel!’” (Malachi 1:2-5, ESV).

Although we see the wicked rise up again and again, on the Last Day, the Lord will slaughter Edom as part of the Last Judgment.  All the Wrath that was not poured out against Jesus on the cross will be poured out on all those who never believe for their sin.  They will suffer the Wrath of God till full payment has been made.

            And let us remember what we saw a few weeks ago:  those who believe in Jesus will rejoice and praise God for His Justice against sin and evil, but we will not rejoice to see that Wrath poured out and the suffering of the wicked.  We will focus on the Justice of God in His Judgment – which is beautiful.

            Third, if God said it, that settles it.

            Picture New York City – Manhattan.  (Picture it because most of us have been there – not for any other reason.)  Remember how it looked when the Twin Towers fell – picture all the buildings of NYC falling to the ground in a cloud of dust.  Picture all the people torn apart as with a sword. 

The ground bubbles up with tar and absorbs all the building and bodies and everything of NYC into it.  NYC is become a wasteland.  And the ground cools, and weeds grow up, and the wild animals make their way into the land and claim it for their own.

            “Thorns shall grow over its strongholds, nettles and thistles in its fortresses.  It shall be the haunt of jackals, an abode for ostriches. And wild animals shall meet with hyenas; the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; indeed, there the night bird settles and finds for herself a resting place. There the owl nests and lays and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow; indeed, there the hawks are gathered,           each one with her mate.”

            Substitute Edom for NYC.  The weeds grow over the land.  Jackals and ostriches and goats and birds and owls and hawks make the nation their own.  There they find their mates and have offspring.  But there are no humans in this land – once of wickedness.

            Today, this is the southern half of Jordan.

            And someone might ask, “Well, if the area of Edom is still inhabited by people, doesn’t that prove this Scripture wrong?”

            No.  For the same reason that we find people all throughout the world who deny that Jesus is God the Savior:  the Final Judgment has not yet come.

            Some of us will remember a bumper sticker that was once popular:  “God said it.  I believe it.  That settles it.”  R. C. Sproul has pointed out that the middle clause adds nothing, because, “If God said it, that settles it.”  It doesn’t matter whether I believe what God says or not.  If the Almighty and Sovereign God has said something will be, it will be.  Period.

            As God says:

            “Seek and read from the book of the LORD:  Not one of these shall be missing; none shall be without her mate. For the mouth of the LORD has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them. He has cast the lot for them; his hand has portioned it out to them with the line; they shall possess it forever; from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.”

            Read what God has said – what He has promised.  Edom will be flattened and there will be no people in it.  God the Holy Spirit will bring jackals and ostriches and goats and birds and owls and hawks into the land – with their mates – and He will give it to them as a place to live and breed.

            The day is coming when Jesus will return to judge every person who has ever lived throughout time and space – so God has said, so it will be.  Those who have believed in Jesus savingly will be forgiven for their sin – Jesus merited forgiveness for all we who believe – by His life and death.  But those who never believe will become sacrifices to the Justice of God and they will receive His Wrath as just punishment for their sin – in particular, the sin of never believing savingly in Jesus.  Every sin can be forgiven in Jesus, but not the sin of unbelief.

            Let us pray:

            Almighty God, help us to better understand what it means that You are the Holy God so we will be more and more repulsed by sin.  Enlarge our hearts that we would be passionately concerned about the eternal state of our friends and family.  Cause us to pray for them and open our mouths to let them know there is only salvation in Jesus Alone.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.