Isaiah 34 And The Coming Day Of The Lord

Judgment is a hard word to hear, but Isaiah 34 refuses to let us pretend the moral weight of our choices doesn’t matter. We open with a warning to the nations and an honest look at the Day of the Lord, the Great Tribulation, and the sobering reality of a world that keeps pushing God away. Yet right in the middle of that seriousness is the episode’s anchor: the same Jesus who will return as King and Judge is also standing before the Father right now as your Advocate.

We talk through what it means to be “counted worthy” to escape what’s coming and to stand before the Son of Man. Pastor Carl presses the question down to the heart level: are we fully trusting, fully surrendered, and willing to let Christ’s defense be enough, or are we still trying to live on our own terms? Along the way we connect Isaiah’s imagery to Matthew 24, Luke’s call to watch and pray, and the terrifying snapshot of Armageddon that shows what happens when rebellion tries to fight its only hope.

The back half brings an unexpected turn toward healing and comfort. We trace Edom as a picture of entrenched resistance, then move into Isaiah 61 and the moment Jesus reads “the acceptable year of the Lord” and stops before “the day of vengeance.” That pause helps us see the difference between his first coming and his second, and it leads into God’s promise to console those who mourn, even when mourning is about our own sin, our losses, or the chaos around us.

If this helped you see end times prophecy and salvation by grace with clearer eyes, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review so more people can find Come On Up. What part of the message challenged you most?

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

The same one that's coming with judgment is the same one who stands before you in heaven as your advocate, defending you from the accusations of the devil, the accuser. Before the Father. How are we counted worthy to escape the judgment of God when we rest in the salvation of God?

SPEAKER_00 0:46

Are we fully trusting? Are we fully surrendered in the Lord? The very same King who's coming to execute judgment on the earth is the exact same one standing before the Father right now as your personal advocate. Today, Pastor Carl explains that being counted worthy is simply a matter of resting in the salvation God already provided. It all comes down to whether or not you're fully trusting and fully surrendered to the Lord, letting his defense be more than enough for you. Jesus is actively defending you, and he won't hold anything against you. And now, here's Pastor Carl.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Let's turn to Isaiah chapter 34. Verse 1 says, Come near you nations to hear, heed you people, let the earth hear and all that's in it, the world and all the things that come forth from it. Isaiah saying, This is an important message. This is your chance to turn, to learn before you burn. I didn't even make that up, but just tell just now. Isn't that something? Almost like a real preacher. You say things that rhyme. But anyway, trying to make light of something that's very serious. God is saying, I'm giving you warning after warning after warning. And there will be a time where enough is enough. And the pride of the nations will encounter the wrath of God. And Isaiah is saying, Listen, listen, it's coming. Pay attention. The indignation of the Lord is against all nations, his fury against all their armies. He has utterly destroyed them. He has given them over to slaughter. Also, their slain will be thrown out, and stench will rise from their corpses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. He's already going into this, you know, talking about what's going to happen as if it did happen. That's how some of the prophecies are written. It has happened already. And, you know, the Lord being outside of time, it has happened. But it's still to come from our perspective. And it's it's going to be an utter slaughter. Later on, we'll have a picture of it's it's it's a sacrifice that the Lord is making of the nations because they've rebelled against him. But are you listening? His fury is coming. This is to all nations. Sin has taken hold of all nations. We because we're all part of the human race, we're all sons and daughters of Adam and Eve who brought sin in. And so it doesn't matter where you're from, we are rebelling against God. Now the other side of that is because Jesus, because God loved the whole world, Jesus became a man. He died on the cross, and he rose again. That whosoever would believe would not perish, but have everlasting life. That he would build the family of God, that we would be part, adopted into his family, that we would be redeemed from where? All tongues and nations. So his grace and his mercy is shown on everyone. And his wrath is shown on everyone who does not receive his grace. Does that make sense? This time that's coming in the future is called the great tribulation. And Jesus talked about it in Matthew 24. For there will be great tribulation, such as not been since the beginning of the world, until this time, no or ever shall be. We think we've seen bad things in the world, and we have, and they've been glimpses, been patterns of what it will be like at the end. But when this great tribulation happens, it'll be like nothing this earth has ever experienced before. And the good news is it will be like nothing, it will never experience this again. But tribulation is coming. Isaiah is saying, listen, nations, it is coming. It's real, it's serious. What are you doing about it? And Jesus tells us in the book of Luke that you can watch and pray. It's real, it's coming. Because of this, you need to watch and pray always that you would be counted worthy to escape all the things that come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man. The same one that's coming with judgment is the same one who stands before you in heaven as your advocate, defending you from the accusations of the devil, the accuser, before the Father. He's on our side. How are we counted worthy to escape the judgment of God when we rest in the salvation of God? Are we fully trusting? Are we fully surrendered in the Lord? Or do we say, God, I could do things my way, I'm just fine. You'll be happy with the way I live my life. And then judgment comes. And this judgment, more specifically, and an event during the Great Tribulation, is this this battle of Armageddon, where all the uh the um all the nations come together to fight against God. And Revelation describes it this way: the wine press was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress and up to the horses' bridles, 1,600 furlongs. It's a blood bath. It's it's it's it's terrible. But this is what happens when a rebellious world fights against God, who is their only hope. God who promises peace, joy, salvation, healing, wholeness, abundant life. And we say, No, in fact, I want to destroy you so I can be in charge of my own life, and that's the attitude of the world. Back to our study, all the hosts of heaven will be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll, and all their hosts shall fall down, and the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit is fruit is falling from a fig tree. As we look into the great tribulation and these battles and and the judgment of God and his wrath being poured out on the world, everything is shaken, including the heavens. And Jesus talked about this too. He said in Matthew 24, for as lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together. Where the carcass is going to be? Well, in this particular battle, in the in the in the valley of uh Maghetto, that's where you're gonna find the sun. And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and the sign of the Son of Man will be appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. The Lord is coming back. It's going to be a glorious time. However, he's coming first to judge, he's coming first to pour out his wrath, and the nations that mock him, that fight against him, that at the same time pretend he's not there, who claim there is no God. The perfect word, the perfect phrase for the atheist is there is no God, and I hate him. Is there really no God? Everybody knows there is a God, but they have to suppress it, they have to harden their hearts in order to do what they want to do, which leads to death anyway. But the Lord is coming, and the nation's eyes will be open, and they will realize their judgment is on the way. And yet they still don't repent. Back in our study, verse 5 for my sword shall be bathed in heaven. In other words, he's sharpened his sword, he shined it up, it is ready for battle. He's leaving heaven and he's coming to earth. Indeed, it shall come down to Edom and the people of my curse for judgment. Who are the people of his curse? All those that rejected his grace, his mercy, and especially those who were enemies of his people. Again, Edom was the uh the cousin of Israel in a sense, because uh Jacob, from the line of Jacob, Jacob became Israel, he was renamed, and and that's where the twelve tribes came from. Esau, who was the firstborn, by the way, was rejected by God. Not because God is mean, but because God already knew the heart of Jacob, uh of Esau. He knew the heart of Jacob too. Jacob was a schemer, but Jacob ultimately had a heart for the Lord and a surrender to the Lord, but Esau never would. He would always rebel, and so would his offspring. And that's a picture of the influence of the world. The world hates Jesus, have you noticed? And it's getting worse. And for those that reject the grace of God, they are the people of God's curse for judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood. It is made overflowing with fatness. The blood of the lambs and goats with fat of the kidney and rams for the Lord has become a sacrifice in Basrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. Basra was the capital of Edom. And when the Babylonians came through, that place was left desolate. And so that was a partial uh fulfillment of that prophecy. But again, looking toward the end, all the enemies of God, who these people represent, they will be like a great sacrifice, a great slaughter. You wouldn't accept the payment that I gave for your sin, your only hope. And so my only option is to slaughter you. Our relationship with the Lord is serious. Rejecting our Lord is serious. And it's not that he's vengeful against us because we've rejected him, but in his holiness, if you do not accept the price for the sin that has been paid, that in his grace he has given to us, he has no other option but to punish that sin. The wild oxen shall come down to them, and the young bulls with mighty bulls, and their land shall be soaked with blood, and the dust saturated with fatness. Just these illusions of what happens during sacrifices. It's the people, the nations. They will be a sacrifice, but not a sacrifice acceptable to gain salvation. Not an act and not a not a sacrifice that would be acceptable to bring them into eternity with the Lord. Yet it was available to them. It's available to us. And if you've tasted of the Lord's grace and if you've become a Christian, it's still available to you. We need it every day, don't we? If you've begun in the spirit, why do we want to perfect ourselves in the flesh? Paul speaks to the Galatians saying that we need the Lord and his grace every day. We don't just get saved and say, oh, okay, Lord, now we're off and we can live our life the way we want to because we're forgiven for everything we do. No, you're saved from that into service with for him. You have he has purchased your life, you belong to him, and he dictates what's going to happen. And in that there's blessing, in that there's great fulfillment. And yet, in our fenness, in our struggle with the old man, we still want to do our own thing. And we fight against God. Isaiah saying, Don't fight against God, don't fight against him. For this is the day of the Lord's vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion. Its stream shall be turned to pitch, and its dust into brimstone, and its land shall become a burning pitch. You can just feel and sense that the wrath of God coming upon. Think about Sodom and Gomorrah and what happened there. A picture of what's happening, going to happen in the future. This is the day of the Lord's vengeance. It's also called the day of the Lord. It also points to that great tribulation when his wrath is poured out. Now, I'm going to give you a little sneak peek into a chapter in the future that we're going to cover. In Isaiah chapter 61. Do you recognize this? The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prisons to those who are abound to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. That sounds really good, doesn't it? That sounds like salvation. That sounds like hope. And does that sound familiar? That's one of the first things that Jesus declared in his ministry when he was uh at the synagogue in Capernaum. They would have leaders in the church or leaders in the community come forward and read the section of the scroll that was assigned for that day. He didn't pick this. So you understand every day they had all the synagogues around reading the same parts of scripture on the same dates. And on this particular date, when Jesus was asked to come forward and to read the scroll that was given to him was Isaiah 61. And traditionally, what you would do is read the whole scroll, the whole chapter, and sit down. He read chapter 61, verses 1 through 2a. Of course, they didn't have the chapter and the verse marks separated out at that time, but that's what he read. And if we remember the story in Luke 4, then he closed the book and he gave it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on him. You don't just read a little bit and stop and sit down. What are you doing? Their eyes were open. They're like, go back up there, finish reading the rest of it. What what's up? But what did he say? Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. What part of that? Let's go back. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. The Lord was baptized, and the Spirit came upon him and anointed him for service. The Lord has anointed me. The Lord God has anointed me, the God man, to preach good tidings to the poor. What are the good tidings? Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand is at hand. He is the way, the truth, and the life. If anyone comes to him, they'll find life and they'll find their way to the Father. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. When we come to know Jesus, he heals our hearts, to proclaim liberty for the captives. He breaks addictions. He gets us out of the slavery of our sin. Because he's paid for it on the cross. And the opening of the prisons to those who are abound to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. His proclamation is that you are accepted in the beloved. You are accepted in me, Jesus is saying. And I have fulfilled this. Now, what's the rest of Isaiah 61 say? Well, the very second part of verse 2 says, And the day of vengeance of our God. When Jesus came the first time, he came to pay for the price of the sin debt that we had. The sin of the world was paid for by his blood on the cross. Now in his second coming, he will pour out the vengeance of God. The rest of this chapter is fulfilled in his second coming, the day of vengeance of our God. And that's what we're looking at in this chapter of Isaiah, to comfort all those who mourn. He brings his vengeance to comfort those who mourn. This is kind of like the Beatitudes. Are you familiar with the Beatitudes? Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Go and study those again. Those and look at it from a spiritual perspective. When we look at things through the eyes of Christ, we see the sin problem that separates us from God. We see the enemies of God that stir up the fire of sin in our lives and in our world. And it's and it's the desire that sin would be destroyed. Either, and this is the greatest hope, by those that are committing the sins, that are fighting against God people, that they would repent and come to a knowledge of Christ. They would become part of the body of Christ, the family of God. That they would be changed, and now they have lives full of peace and hope and healing. But knowing, as the Lord knows, not all will repent. The only other way to get rid of sin is to eliminate it. Which means a lot of people will be eliminated. Which means the lake of fire will be filled with a lot of people not intended to be there. And so when we're praying for healing in our nation, we pray that people would come to a repentance and turn to the Lord. Otherwise, the wrath of God will bring peace. And either way, when it's all said and done, there will be comfort. After the Lord pours out his wrath, there will be a time of peace, and we're gonna look at it in the next chapter. That is glorious. And we rejoice that now we can experience all that God intended for us. There is peace, there is hope. Sin just sin has come to destroy, to kill, to steal. But the Lord has all that we need. So when he comes in his vengeance, it's nothing to have a party over. However, there is great celebration when it's all said and done. Because now indeed we have seen salvation. He consoles those who mourn in Zion when we see the sin of the world be destroyed. Again, it's not woo-hoo. Look at all those people going to hell. It breaks our hearts. It breaks the Lord's heart. But he brings consolation to us. And when we we as Christians are fighting against our own sins, when we come to the Lord and He opens our eyes to our hearts, and we realize how ugly it really is. It breaks our heart. We mourn over our sin. But in his grace, he brings comfort. He consoles us. He gives beauties for ashes. The joy, the oil of joy for mourning. He turns these things around. It doesn't excuse, it doesn't um wipe away, it doesn't ignore the brevity of these feelings, of these situations that we find ourselves in. Yet he he does bring joy. He helps us work through it. He helps heal our hearts from our own sins, from the sins of those that sinned against us, from the loss we have. We're praying that the Lord would bring the oil of joy to the laws. But not to rush the morning. The morning is important. And the Lord knows how to do that. He's the perfect, wonderful counselor. And he brings the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. If we're not careful in seeking the Lord, we can easily turn against the Lord when these things happen in our lives and other people's lives. But if we turn to the Lord and seek him, he has a way of changing our heart around. And this supernatural, unnatural event happens in our lives where we're actually able to praise the Lord in the midst of the storm.

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.