Isaiah 9 - When Judgment Feels Like Fire

A wildfire doesn’t need much fuel to spread, and Isaiah says a culture can burn the same way when people forsake God. Pastor Carl brings that warning into sharp focus, showing how judgment can look less like a lightning bolt and more like God letting us experience the natural consequences of our own choices. If you’ve ever wondered why the world feels like it’s unraveling or why “bad things happen to good people,” this message doesn’t dodge the tension. It slows down, questions our assumptions about goodness, and points to the moral reality that makes our outrage possible in the first place.

From there, the tone shifts from gloom to hope as Isaiah 9 opens up Galilee’s story: the very place that first tasted oppression becomes the place where Light breaks in. We walk through the prophecy of the virgin-born child, Emmanuel, and the sweeping titles that describe Jesus with clarity and weight: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. We also connect the promise of deliverance to Gideon’s unlikely victory, a reminder that God fights battles in ways that humble pride and free people from heavy burdens.

The message gets uncomfortably practical when it turns to national arrogance, leadership that misleads, and the reflex to “rebuild stronger” without repentance, even touching on the way Scripture was quoted after 9/11. The thread that holds it together is simple: God is zealous and jealous for our good, and His correction is meant to bring us back into safety, not push us away. 

Listen, share with a friend who needs hope that isn’t shallow, and subscribe and leave a review so more people can find Come On Up.

Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Welcome to Come On Up, the Radio Ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

Isaiah is equating the actions of those that have forsaken God, the whole northern kingdom, as a wildfire. If we let evil prevail, it's going to destroy our society. It's going to burn us all down. But at the same time, he equates this as the wrath of the Lord. Verse 19, through the wrath of the Lord of hosts, the land is burned up, and the people shall be as fuel for the fire, and no man will spare his neighbor.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Did you hear that come on up listener? This is a shocking statement. In the last couple of broadcasts of Come On Up, Pastor Carl has been helping us see and understand how much God loves us while maintaining a strong stance against sin. As we just heard a moment ago, there will come a time when the love of God will actually bring about righteous judgment on the earth. If God is loving, he will also be just. The important lesson you'll learn today is that you do not want to be a part of that judgment that is coming. And now, here's Pastor Carl.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

So they're driven into deeper darkness. Have we seen that? We've seen that in our families and friends and society, haven't we? You're walking on this path, what do you expect? Don't blame God for it. I can't follow a God that allows all these bad things to happen to good people in this world. Well, have you sought that God to see his perspective on the deal? Because if I study the Bible and and if I'm reading it accurately, it says that there's no man that's good. Ever since the fall, we're born into sin. Why do bad things happen in this world to good people? Well, first of all, there's a question about who are the good people. Second, bad things happen because we're a world full of bad people who are seeking their own way. And because of the grace of God, he shines his light on us so that we can see our sin and that we can behold our Savior, who's the remedy for our sin. And the only reason there are quote-unquote good people is because he's the definition of good and he makes us good. If there was no such thing as good, there wouldn't be an argument about good and bad people, because the fact that we think that something's good is a proof that there is a good God that's given us a conscience. Even if it's not fully developed and we we choose to walk in the darkness and not the light, we can go forever on this philosophy, but it's really a sad thing when we recognize God bringing his judgment, which a lot of times is just letting us go our own way. You're following the natural consequence of not being covered by the umbrella of the Lord, by his grace. You reject his grace, and you just expose yourself to all sorts of things that'll come and get you. And you get mad at God about it. That takes us to chapter 9. Nevertheless, the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, as when at first he lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed her by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan in Galilee of the Gentiles. He's saying, These things are going to happen in the northern kingdom. Nephalli and Zebulun were the two tribes that were right on the border of the uh Euphrates River, and they were the first to be captured by Assyria when that flood of the conquering army of Assyria came in. They were the first to get flooded, even though that whole region would be destroyed and taken away. There will be a time when they will find hope again in the in the in the Galilee of the Gentiles. It was in this area, the area that was that was judged, the area that was full of Gentiles, that the Lord made his home, that the Lord did his ministry. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them light has shined. This was the land of death, but now there's life because the light is shining. In that light is this virgin born child, whose name is Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus. You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy. They rejoice before you according to the joy of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For you have broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. The Lord would come, and he would bring forgiveness, he would bring healing, he would bring a new life and hope. And this particular prophecy points to both his first and second coming. Because today the Lord is not in Jerusalem, today the Lord is not on the throne forever. Today we're waiting for him to come back. But he came the first time to pay for our sins, and spiritually, personally, our souls are freed. The shackles are are are lifted. We're brought healing and hope and new life in Jesus Christ, who came out of Galilee of the Gentiles. And he fights for us. As in the day of Midian, do you remember Gideon? And do you remember his mighty men that started out tens of thousands? And they said, the guys who are scared, send them home. And a whole bunch went home. And then they kept bringing it down, and he got down to 300 men. And with those 300 men, God went before them and it and destroyed the camp of the Midianites. You remember that story? Isaiah is saying, it's going to be like that and even better. If you're trusting in the Lord, he's going to fight your battles. And for every warrior's sandal from the noisy battle and the garments rolled in blood will be used for burning and a fuel of fire. And the Lord fights for us. Are you having victories in your life? Are you allowing God to fight your battles and see what happens to your enemies? For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor. Again, in the Hebrew, there are no commas. And this is really one word, one description: wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah is talking to Ahaz, trying to give him a big picture of what God is doing. And he's pointing to the coming king who would come hundreds of years later. But that's the context of this prophecy. When we hear it at Christmas, do we realize that was the context? Do we realize there's one that's coming that's coming to save you because you've rejected God? There is hope when you repent and turn to Him. And what will He do for you? Well, He'll help you along. He's the wonderful counselor, He's the teacher, He's the helper. The Holy Spirit comes and teaches us and helps us and counsels us from the Word of God, shows us the heart of God, shows us our own hearts. If we don't know what's going on in our own hearts, we can't be changed. But when he starts showing us things, and and we don't back up from it and say, I don't hear anything. When we're open to say, Lord, show me, and he shows us, and it hurts, but we allow him in our repentance, we we lay it back at his feet, and he begins a work of healing. He's the wonderful counselor, and his fees are great. Receive from him, he's the mighty God, he's the creator God, he's the God above all gods, he's the everlasting father, he's the father that loves us. Because when Jesus said, When you've seen me, you've seen the Father. You remember that when you accept Jesus and the Holy Spirit comes to live within you, guess what? Jesus is with you, the father is with you as well as the spirit, and it's a great mystery. But as we see in his baptism, there are distinct persons in the Trinity. Uh, the Holy Spirit came upon the Son, and the and the and the and the Father, Father God from heaven spoke and said, This is my beloved Son, listen to him. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end, and upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to order it, establishment with with justice, with with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. This is the God that we worship, this is the Messiah that we were hoping for and trusting in. And ladies and gentlemen, he's coming back, he's going to set up his kingdom, and he's going to be on that throne, and he's going to bring peace to this world. And how does he do this? The zeal of the Lord will perform this. It's the zeal of the Lord. Another word for zeal is jealousy. He is jealous for me. Do you realize that? God is jealous for you. Not that, you know, oh, he's worshiping another God and and I'm heartbroken. And it's it's more like I want to protect my son and my daughter. I'm jealous for them. I don't want them running out into the street to play because it's not safe. Where is it safe? In my presence. And because I love them, because I'm jealous for them, I'm jealous for their good, and I want that relationship. God does want the relationship with us. He's gonna do all this. And he's done so much already. Do you know him? Do you trust him? Do you walk with him? Do you allow yourself to be corrected by him? Or do you justify your sin and go your own way and think you're okay? Isaiah is saying, Be careful. The Lord sent a word against Jacob, and it has fallen on Israel, and the people will know, Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, who say in pride and arrogance of heart, The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with hewn stones. The sycamores are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars. Jacob is another name for Israel, the northern people, Ephraim is another name. Are they one of the twelve tribes? Are they one of the ten that went to the north? And they're the largest one. And when they're referred to, they refer to the whole uh ten tribes up there, and the inhabitants of the Samaria, that whole region, that whole region who have who've gone against God, and God allows judgment to come, instead of breaking their hearts, instead of turning to the Lord, instead of repenting of their sin, they get stronger. And they say, We can deal with this. We're gonna rebuild, we're gonna rebuild even stronger than ever before. This is the spirit of Babylon, or more specifically, the spirit of the folks during the Tower of Babel that decided we can do this thing. And there is power and unity, isn't there? We can unify against God together and build this great tower that leads to heaven, and then we can show them a thing or two. Or there is no God anyway, so we're just gonna do what we're gonna do, and we can do it because we are fill in the blank, Americans. We are Babylonians, we can do this thing. Do you realize that this section of scripture was quoted by many of our leaders in Washington after the attacks of 9-11? Thinking that they were spiritual and invoking God's blessing, what they're really saying is, we don't care that you judged us and we're going to build back. We're gonna rebuild, we're gonna show you and the whole world who we are. Oh Lord, have mercy on us. Did you not realize that this was God judging our nation? Yes, it it's it it's Islamic, yes, it's it's Muslim attacks against the great Satan. But we as a nation have been drifting from the Lord, forsaking him more and more. And God is saying, Would you wake up? Would you repent? Would you return? And so our leaders come and they say these pious words that think they're quoting the Bible, so they must be doing something really good to get God's favor. In reality, we're waving our fists at God. Say, I don't care what you do to us, we're gonna do what we're gonna do, and we're gonna do it even better than before. Lord have mercy on our nation. Therefore, the Lord shall set up the adversaries of resin against him and spur his enemies on. The Syrians before the Philistines, the Syrians before and the Philistine behind. They're coming from both ends to attack Israel. They shall devour Israel with an open mouth, for all his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched still. Does this mean that God is blessing the enemies of Israel? No, he's using them. For the people did not turn to him who strikes them, nor do they seek the Lord of hosts. Why was the northern kingdom destroyed? Because they pretended to be godly and spiritual, but they did not seek after God. They rejected God, they went in their own way, and so he brings their enemies to come and destroy them. May we have hearts that seek after the Lord. Therefore, the Lord will cut off the head and the tail from Israel, the palm branch and the bull rush in one day. All of it. The uh the the palm branch is is a branch that grows upwardly. It's a palm branch that that stands upright and strong, full of pride. The rush grows in muddy marshes and represents the scum of the world. Some people are sinners and know it, right? Other people have put themselves in positions of strong authority, and everybody looks up to them and thinks that they're all important people. But if they're rejecting God, it doesn't remember, it doesn't matter who they are. Judgment will come on the great and the small. For the leaders of this people cause them to err, and those who are led by them are destroyed. It's important that we have godly leaders. Because the godless, the lawless, they lead the people astray. And the people, the people, we the people need to be educated in the ways of God so that we can recognize the falsities that come from our teachers, from our government, and then we can stand up and say, no, this is not right. And it's not my opinion, it's God's opinion. Therefore, the Lord will have no joy in their young men. The strong have great potential to be leaders in their lives. If they've rejected the Lord, he has no joy in them. Nor have mercy on their fathers and widows. For everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. But this is the God of love. He looks out for the widows and the orphans, doesn't he? Yes. Those that come and accept his grace and his mercy, who run to him for help, who find him to be a strong tower in their time of need. But if we say I could do this my own way, I don't need no God to tell me what to do. I can handle this. All these things have happened, but there's still more wrath to come. It's not been satisfied. For wickedness burns as the fire, and it devours the briars and the thorns and kindle the thickets of the forest. They shall mount up like rising smoke. Isaiah is equating the actions of those that have forsaken God, the whole northern kingdom, as a wildfire. If we let evil prevail, it's going to destroy our society. It's going to burn us all down. But at the same time, he equates this as the wrath of the Lord. Verse 19: Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts, the land is burned up, and the people shall be as fuel for the fire, and no man will spare his neighbor. Again, a lot of times the Lord's judgment is just allowing us to suffer the natural consequences of our actions. You want to destroy your land? You want to destroy your people? I'm going to let it, and that's that's part of my judgment that's come upon you. It's the fire that's burning. The fire could be stopped. The fire could become rain. If we let him, if we turn to him, if we repent. Oh, may our nation repent. And he shall snatch on the right hand and be hungry, and he shall devour on the left hand and not be satisfied. Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm. Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim and Manasseh together they shall be against Judah, for all his anger is not turned away, but his hand is not stretched out still. Not only is the structure of society destroyed, but the people are fighting against themselves, destroying each other. Because I need what I need. And I don't care who I step on to get it, I don't care who I kill to get it. I'm hungry and I need to get food. And yet they won't be satisfied. No matter how much you throw your weight around, you won't be satisfied. Because where do we find our real satisfaction? In the Lord. How do we find our place with the Lord? In humility. Not in pride. All this is happening, but his hand is stretched out still. There's more to come. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we just thank you. We thank you that first of all, you don't leave us in the dark, but you shine your light of truth. The truth of who you are. And who you see us to be in you. Lord, you're jealous for us. You're zealous. You're not willing that any should perish, but all that would would come to a knowledge of you. Lord, we thank you for that. We thank you for humbling yourself. Not only to become a man, but to live a life as the perfect man, and to die on the cross as the Lamb of God, the perfect, blameless, spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And today we remember that. And remember what it means to our lives. Remember that when you're bringing judgment, when you're bringing correction to us, that that's a good thing, that we can respond and receive your grace and your mercy as a result. Would you cause us to leave here as changed people with a renewed desire to follow you with our whole hearts and to set aside the things that keep us from experiencing your grace and your mercy. We thank you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Thanks for listening to today's lesson from the book of Isaiah here on Come On Up. You're hearing from Pastor Carl at the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina. Now, the book of Isaiah ends with a section that prophesies a new heaven and a new earth, which will come to replace the world that we currently know as it passes away. All of the promises and prophecies that God has made through the prophet Isaiah will come to their ultimate conclusion in this new kingdom. Death and evil will be no more, and goodness and justice will flow like a river. When we look at the world around us right now, it seems like chaos has already won. We can see live images of war, inequality, and sadness in just a few clicks, and it can seem like things will never get better. But Isaiah reminds us to look past the chaos that is right in front of us and fix our eyes on God's promises. That's how we can stay afloat when everything around us feels like it's collapsing. Well, if you want to join a group of believers who are looking together towards the new kingdom, we'd love to invite you to join us here at the Mountain Cross. We meet on Sundays at 10 a.m. at the Smoky Mountain Cinema. For more information, you can visit us online at themountaincross.com. There you will also find our How to Know God page, where you will learn more about how you can belong to the kingdom of God. Thanks for joining us today. Come on up to the mountain with us again next time as we seek to learn more from the Lord through His Word. Come on Up is sponsored by The Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.