SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 9/24/2013 9:46 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The Sinful World Will Be Judged PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Isaiah 34:1-4
Message
of the verses: As we begin to look
at this subject from Isaiah chapter 34 we must first look at some of the
attributes of God. Most everyone would
say that God is love, and that of course it true, but God is also just and
wrath is also part of His attributes, and many people do not want to look at
these as they are unpleasant to think about.
We live in a world that is full of violence and when violence happens to
us or a person that we know or love we desire retribution to be given to them,
and unfortunately in the world we now live in it seems that the people who
commit the crimes have more rights that those the crimes were committed
on. I have written about the wrath of
God in earlier SD’s and used a verse from the book of Revelations to show that
one day His wrath will be complete, and the timing of that verse is just before
the last seven judgments fall upon the earth in the tribulation period. In chapter five we learn of a scroll which
has seven seals on it, and this scroll is what many Bible scholars have called
the title deed to planet earth, and there was only One person who could open
this scroll and that of course is the Lord Jesus Christ. When the scroll is opened there are seven
judgments taken out on planet earth, but the seventh seal opens seven more
judgments, the trumpet judgments, the seventh trumpet judgment opens the final
seven judgments called the bowl or vial judgments and it is right at this time
when we read about the wrath of God being complete once these judgment come
upon the earth. These judgments are
rapid fire judgments, as they happen very quickly, much more quickly that the
other judgments. “Then I saw another
sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which
are the last, because in
them the wrath of God is finished (Rev. 15:1).”
As we begin to look at Isaiah 34 we
see a picture of what God will do to all of the Gentile nations, but we see it
through judgment upon Edom, who are a great enemy of God. Remember that Edom was established by Jacob’s
brother Esau and so they were a distant relative of Israel, yet they hated
Israel in the same way that Esau disliked his brother Jacob. There is a verse in Romans that speaks of
this and it comes from the book of Malachi:
“Ro 9:13 Just as it is written, ‘JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.’” There is a verse in the book of Zechariah
which speaks of Israel being the apple of God’s eye. “Zec 2:8 For thus says the LORD of hosts,
"After glory He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he
who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.”
Now let us look at Genesis 12:1-3 “1 Now the LORD said to Abram,
"Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your
father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you a
great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall
be a blessing; 3 And I
will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’” We see in these verses the calling of Abraham
who was called Abram at that time, and what we really have is the calling of
the nation of Israel, and God says that He would bless those who bless Israel,
but the ones who curse Israel He will curse.
You can see this down through history as God has kept His world. We know who is behind the cursing of Israel
and that would be Satan, for Satan hates Israel because the Messiah came
through the nation of Israel and that means that Satan was judged at the cross
as the Lord took care of our three enemies at that time, the world, the flesh,
and the Devil. Let’s look a section in
the book of Revelations that shows this hatred that Satan has for Israel, and
also how the Lord cares for Israel. “1 A
great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under
her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; 2 and she was with child; and she *cried out,
being in labor and in pain to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in
heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on
his heads were seven diadems. 4 And his tail *swept away a third of the stars
of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman
who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her
child. 5 And she gave birth to a son, a
male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child
was caught up to God and to His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the
wilderness where she *had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be
nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” Many of the things spoken of in this section of
Revelations happened earlier in history as the male child is of course Jesus,
the dragon is Satan, and the sweeping away of one third of the angels happened
when Lucifer fell and became Satan, and this happened soon after God created
the earth. However that last part that
speaks about Israel being taken care of in the wilderness has not yet happened
as this will happen in the tribulation period.
God will judge the Gentile people
who hate Israel, and my fear is that our government is going against the nation
of Israel for the first time in its history, and that is not a good sign for
our country as we have seen in the verses in Genesis 12:1-3.
“1 Draw near, O nations, to hear;
and listen, O peoples! Let the earth and all it contains hear, and the world
and all that springs from it. 2 For the LORD’S indignation is against all the nations, And His wrath against all their
armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to
slaughter. 3 So their slain will be thrown out, And their corpses will give off
their stench, And the mountains will be drenched with their blood. 4 And all
the host of heaven will wear away, And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; All their
hosts will also wither away As a leaf withers from the vine, Or as one withers
from the fig tree.” (Isaiah 34:1-4) Let us look at Revelations 19:11-21 at this
time: “11 And I saw heaven opened, and
behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in
righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on
His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows
except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is
called The Word of God. 14 And
the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were
following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so
that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod
of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.
16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS,
AND LORD OF LORDS." 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he
cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven,
"Come, assemble for
the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings and
the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and
of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves,
and small and great." 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth
and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and
against His army. 20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet
who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had
received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two
were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. 21 And the
rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the
horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.” The section is Isaiah and this section from
Revelations describe the end of the battle of Armageddon. It is not a pretty
sight, but at the end of this when the people are judged, and those who did not
receive the mark of the beast will begin to live in the 1000 year kingdom on
planet earth with Jesus Christ being the Supreme Ruler over all the earth.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: In the
Apostle Peter’s second letter near the end he writes about the end of the earth
which will take place after the 1000 year reign of Christ upon the earth, as
the total creation of God will be “uncreated” by fire. He then writes since we know this is going to
happen what kind of people should we be now?
Be a person who is living for the Lord, and doing things that will count
for eternity.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to
trust the Lord for fruit from my visit of a person that I had not seen for 38
years this past Saturday.
Memory
verses for the week: Review of 2 Peter
1:1-5
1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and
apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as
ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the
knowledge of God and of Jesus or Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has
granted to use everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge
of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His
precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of
the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by
lust.
5 Now for this very reason also,
applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your
moral excellence, knowledge
Answer
to yesterday’s Bible Question: “Fool”
(Luke 12:20).
Today’s
Bible Question: “Who said ‘Lord, lay not
this sin to their charge.’”
Answer
in tomorrow’s SD.
9/24/2013
11:00 AM
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