A Glimpse of Wrath
Isaiah 30:27-33
November 5, 2023
This morning we took a moment
To look at a tremendous invitation from God to His people.
The people of Judah can be easily compared to that rogue son
We refer to as the prodigal in the New Testament.
• They were an ungrateful, rebellious people.
• God referred to them as “false sons”
• Because they didn’t want to listen to God and they preferred other saviors.
But despite their rebellion we saw the grace of God on full display
As He bid them return with promises of grace and compassion.
Isaiah 30:19 “O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you.”
It is a wonderfully reassuring promise to sinners
That if they will repent and return then He will hear and forgive.
THAT IS TRUE OF GOD EVEN TODAY.
For even we wait for the day that Peter spoke of when Israel will finally repent and return to God and Christ will return to set up His earthly kingdom.
Acts 3:19-21 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”
Peter preaches in Jerusalem to the Jews that if they would simply
“Repent and return” then “times of refreshing” would come.
• Those “times of refreshing” are the millennial kingdom.
• They occur when Jesus returns for “the period of restoration of all things”
• It is the time period which Peter says, “God spoke by the mouth of His holy
prophets from ancient time.”
And certainly Isaiah is one of those prophets.
So point to be made is that
There is grace for those who repent and return
And judgment for those who will not.
And just as this morning we took a glimpse of redemption,
TONIGHT WE TAKE A GLIMPSE OF WRATH.
This is STILL part of the INVITATION God is giving to His people Israel.
It is the promise of what God will do to all those who afflict His people.
Zechariah perhaps said it the plainest:
Zechariah 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.”
I had someone in my office recently who was asking about the current Israeli conflict with Hamas.
This person’s take was that
• Israel was an extreme violator of human rights.
• Israel is a corrupt nation.
• Israel is getting what she deserves.
Now listen WE DON’T, and God doesn’t give Israel some pass to do whatever she wants under promise of total protection from punishment.
If we’ve learned anything from Scripture it is that
No one has disciplined Israel throughout the years more than God.
Currently as a people they stand in rebellion against God
As a people who have rejected His Son and failed to repent and return.
And God has routinely raised up foreign nations to afflict Israel.
Just go read the book of Judges.
However, what we also learn throughout Scripture is that
Despite their moments of rebellion and despite the just discipline of the LORD, Israel remains God’s chosen people.
He has made promises to them that He will not forsake.
And therefore we also learn throughout Scripture
• That any nation whom God raises up to discipline Israel
• Had be extremely careful how they do it,
• For if they move an inch to far they invite severe judgment upon themselves.
We have already seen this regarding the enemy of Isaiah’s day,
Namely Assyria.
Isaiah 10:5-7 “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation, I send it against a godless nation And commission it against the people of My fury To capture booty and to seize plunder, And to trample them down like mud in the streets. Yet it does not so intend, Nor does it plan so in its heart, But rather it is its purpose to destroy And to cut off many nations.”
Assyria went too far and earned annihilation from God as a result.
Isaiah 10:16-19 “Therefore the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors; And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame. And the light of Israel will become a fire and his Holy One a flame, And it will burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day. And He will destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body, And it will be as when a sick man wastes away. And the rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number That a child could write them down.”
Seeking the destruction of the people of God
Is a fast track to experiencing God’s wrath.
Consider even what Paul promised the church at Thessalonica as he spoke of the coming day of the Lord.
2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 “For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.”
It is this wrath that we examine here in the final segment of Isaiah 30.
It is God’s wrath which will be poured upon those who afflict His people.
Isaiah uses it STILL AS AN INVITATION to his people
Of God’s great affection for them
And as a call for them to return to the only One who truly cares for them.
We learn the same.
• We see in Isaiah 30 a God who is a great avenger of His people.
• We see a God who will rise up to defend His own.
• We see a God who will repay with vengeance those who persecute His sons and daughters.
So as we study,
IF YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD, let this segment encourage you that God will not forever let His people be trampled.
IF YOU ARE NOT A CHILD OF GOD, let this segment encourage you to return to your Father who will never fail to defend His own.
Tonight as we look at it, I just want to give you 5 words.
5 words that sort of depict and describe the type of wrath that is coming on those who afflict God’s people.
#1 TORRENT
Isaiah 30:27-28a
“Behold, the name of the LORD comes from a remote place; Burning is His anger and dense is His smoke; His lips are filled with indignation And His tongue is like a consuming fire; His breath is like an overflowing torrent, Which reaches to the neck…”
Clearly you see that God’s wrath is compared to “an overflowing torrent”
A “torrent” is defined as a “a strong and fast-moving stream of water”
It becomes an analogy for any kind of “sudden and violent outpouring”
The picture here is one of absolute sudden violence and terror.
Isaiah begins with the word “Behold” which is a sort of startling word.
IT IS BEST TO PICTURE THE SCENE
Of a someone like a bully afflicting one of God’s children.
• He thinks no one sees him, he thinks he is perfectly safe in what he is doing.
• But he looks up and out of nowhere
• Here comes God running at him with fury and fire and burning anger
• And God just obliterates the bully.
You see God was always watching.
• God knew exactly what was going on.
• And on the day when God is finished disciplining His people
• He will charge and run right over the bully who has thrown the punches.
It is a violent expression of instant revenge.
And the wording couldn’t be more descriptive.
• “Burning…anger”
• “Dense…smoke”
• “lips…filled with indignation”
• “tongue…a consuming fire”
• “breath…an overflowing torrent”
He’s NOT coming to investigate.
He’s NOT coming to break up the fight.
He’s NOT coming to simply stop the bully.
He is coming in full fury and revenge like a Father
Who has seen His Son be struck one too many times
And is coming to totally and violently destroy his oppressor.
There is No mercy here.
There is No restraint here.
There is No understanding.
God has come to annihilate the one who has attacked His bride.
IT REMINDS ME OF THE STORY
When the Amalekite reported to David that Saul had been slain.
• He reported how he found Saul leaning on his spear and couldn’t recover
• And says that Saul asked him to kill him and so the man did.
• He then brought Saul’s crown and bracelet to David.
David responded:
2 Samuel 1:13-15 “David said to the young man who told him, “Where are you from?” And he answered, “I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite.” Then David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid to stretch out your hand to destroy the LORD’S anointed?” And David called one of the young men and said, “Go, cut him down.” So he struck him and he died.”
And the point is that there is wrath and anger and vengeance and fury from God against those who afflict His people,
Even if His people deserve it.
I’ve told you (I think even recently)
That to me perhaps the most terrifying seal that is opened in the book of the Revelation is the 5th seal which reveals the martyrs below the altar who are crying out for vengeance.
That is the scariest because it calls into action this God of vengeance.
It motivates the opening of the 6th seal.
Revelation 6:12-17 “I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
When God rises up to defend His own He comes in a torrent.
It is fast and filled with fury.
Even in Isaiah’s day God went out in one night and struck down 185,000 Assyrians.
No one defends God’s people like God does.
Take heart church, the God who has redeemed you
And adopted you as His own feels the same way about you.
Torrent
#2 TARGET
Isaiah 30:28b-29
“…To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve, And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin. You will have songs as in the night when you keep the festival, And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute, To go to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.”
The simple point to be discussed here is TO ANSWER THE QUESTION:
• When God’s wrath comes, who will feel it?
• Who is He angry at?
• Who is it focused on?
And we find that God’s wrath is not universal.
When He comes in fury He is NOT coming to destroy His people,
He is coming to destroy the nations who afflicted them.
He is coming “to shake the nations back and forth in a sieve”
• That is a testing process.
• That is a separating process.
And those who are found to have afflicted His people He will “put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin.”
• That is to say, for all those who have been found to have been enemies of His people, they will have no choice but to go to judgment.
• We found out in Psalms 32 that the bridal is used to make the horse and mule go where they would not willingly go on their own.
And that is precisely what God will do here.
Those nations who afflicted His people, after God runs over them
He will then lead them to destruction.
It just resonates again that
There will be NO MERCY for those who attack His people.
And then we are shown THE RESPONSE OF HIS PEOPLE to His action.
Now we turn from the bully whom God has absolutely pummeled
And we turn to the child who has just been delivered from the bully.
(29) “You will have songs as in the night when you keep the festival, And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute, to go to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.”
You clearly see that God’s wrath does not fall on everyone.
It falls on the nations, but not on His people.
We know this:
Romans 8:1 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
We know what Paul promised to the Thessalonians.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 “Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”
Just as God’s salvation is only for those who repent,
So His wrath is only for those who do not.
HIS TARGET IS SINNERS, NOT SONS.
The day of God’s vengeance will NOT BE A SAD DAY for His people.
It will be a day of the most wonderful celebrating,
Singing, dancing, and enjoyment.
Isaiah compares it to
• A festival where people have gathered and sing songs late into the night.
• A people who are eager to arrive in Jerusalem to attend a feast and enter dancing.
• It is picturesque of David dancing before the LORD as they brought Ark of the Covenant into the city.
You’re going to be happy!
You’re going to celebrate!
It’s going to be a party!
• The bully has been crushed!
• The enemy has been eliminated!
• And you’re going to love it!
What a reminder to the people of God.
WHAT AN INVITATION TO THEM!
Would Egypt promise them such deliverance?
Would Egypt guarantee such a celebration?
Of course not!
But God will.
They should most certainly repent and return to their Father.
Torrent, Target
#3 TERROR
Isaiah 30:30-31
And just when you thought that God showing up and pummeling your enemy was all it entailed, now you realize it is not.
For AFTER God shows up and destroys your enemy,
• He will then consign that enemy to “the flame of a consuming fire”
• And will continue to beat him for all eternity.
The statement is remarkable.
“And the LORD will cause His voice of authority to be heard, And the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger…”
See that bully had no problem afflicting God’s people
Because He had NEVER HEARD God’s voice;
He had NEVER SEEN God’s wrath in action.
He just afflicted God’s people with no fear of any repercussion.
To him God was nothing but a fairytale that need not be feared at all.
AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN GOD SHOWED UP!
And God was no fairytale at all.
God was speaking to him!
God was beating him!
• HE HEARD the voice of His indignation.
• HE SAW God rare back His arm and thrust it into his face.
• HE FELT God pick him up and toss him into the flame.
And the result now of seeing and hearing God?
TERROR
“For at the voice of the LORD Assyria will be terrified, when He strikes with the rod.”
Have you ever been in an experience where you felt genuine terror?
Try it for all eternity.
We are talking about a constant and unrelenting experience
Of absolute fear and dread that will never let up.
Hebrews 10:31 “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Jonathan Edwards once spoke of the sheer glory of the sun
• And how man cannot gaze upon it,
• And yet man thinks that he will nonchalantly approach its maker?
The sun is 93 million miles away and you can’t look at for even a second.
We read in Scripture than in the new kingdom there will be no need of the sun for the Lamb will illumine the world.
If you are not covered in the righteousness of His Son,
It will be the most terrifying thing you can imagine.
Israel, has anyone else every offered to avenge you in such fashion?
Torrent, Target, Terror
#4 TAMBOURINES
Isaiah 30:32a
“And every blow of the rod of punishment, Which the LORD will lay on him, Will be with the music of tambourines and lyres;”
That statement almost seems out of place,
But it is again a reminder that the thrust of this chapter
Is on THE BENEFITS OF GOD’S SALVATION.
He is calling to the children of Israel
To remind them of His great deliverance.
Right now you trust in Egypt who cannot save.
• Egypt will not deliver you.
• Egypt will not stop your bully.
• Egypt will not terrify him.
• Egypt will not allow you to celebrate your deliverance.
But that is exactly what God will allow you to do.
Isaiah actually says that the tambourine players in Israel
Will keep beat with the blows God will lay upon their enemies.
They’ll set the beating to music.
I know that seems so bizarre for us to think about,
But this is hardly the only time we see such a reality in Scripture.
The very end of Isaiah says:
Isaiah 66:22-24 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the LORD, “So your offspring and your name will endure. “And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the LORD. “Then they will go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”
There Isaiah speaks of the new heavens and new earth
And all the celebrating and worship that will occur in that place.
But did you catch the field trip they’ll all be taking?
“Then they will go forth and look on the corpses of men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die and their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”
They’re going to go and look at the slain and will abhor them.
• It is a celebration of sorts.
• It is a glaring gaze of justice upon the enemies of God.
We’ve certainly seen the reality in the book of the Revelation.
Revelation 19:1-6 “After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.” And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER.” And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.”
It is a song taking place during the aftermath of the judgment of God.
And certainly it is a celebration that God has now begun to reign,
But it is also a celebration that the wicked are destroyed.
How else do you describe the first Hallelujah?
“for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality”
How else do you describe the second Hallelujah?
“Her smoke rises up forever and ever”
That is exactly what Isaiah is speaking of.
God will not only rush in with fury to deliver you,
But God will totally remove that bully, terrify him in hell,
And you will rejoice as God afflicts him.
What is being spoken of is a total deliverance and vindication.
• Can Egypt promise that?
• Can any would-be deliverer that you know of promise that today?
Only God does that.
It is a solemn call for Israel to repent and return to Him.
What He has in store for them
Is far better than anything they have ever imagined before.
Torrent, Target, Terror, Tambourines
#5 TOPHETH
Isaiah 30:32b-33
“And in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight them. For Topheth has long been ready, Indeed, it has been prepared for the king. He has made it deep and large, A pyre of fire with plenty of wood; The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.”
That is an interesting word for sure, but one you will quickly understand.
Isaiah says that “Topheth has long been ready,”
What is this “Topheth”?
You’ve seen it other places in Scripture.
Jeremiah 7:31-32 “They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind. “Therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when it will no longer be called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place.”
• Jeremiah speaks of “Topeth” as a place located “in the valley of the son of Hinnom” where high places were built.
• He says in “Topheth” they used “to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire”
• And God says because of this sin God would quit calling this place “Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the place of Slaughter”
In fact God says that they will “bury in Topheth”
You see it again later in Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 19:6 “therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-hinnom, but rather the valley of Slaughter.”
There you see it again
“Topheth or the valley of Ben-hinnom”
The word “Topheth” literally means “place of fire”
It was also referred to as “the valley of Ben-hinnom”
In Jeremiah’s day it was the local dump.
It was outside the city and it is where refuse and animal carcasses
And everything else detestable was taken and burned.
It was repulsive to God because Israel used to
Actually burn their children there as sacrifices to Molech.
And God said that He would forsake that place, but that ultimately sinners would be buried there.
Now, take those words.
“Topheth” or “Ben-hinnom”
And we come to the New Testament.
Matthew 5:22 “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”
The word there that Jesus uses for “the fiery hell” is:
GHEH-EN-NAH
(sounds like Ben-hinnom doesn’t it?)
Jesus used that dump that was just south of Jerusalem
As a modern day example of the hell that awaited.
That place of burning, that place of disgrace, that place of filth…
Jesus picked the worst imaginable place on earth
And compared it to hell.
In fact later, He was even more specific:
Mark 9:42-48 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED. “If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED. “If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.”
• That dump was the place of magots because of all the animal carcasses and the fire was always burning.
And that is the place Isaiah speaks of here
Which God has prepared for the enemies of His people.
“For Topheth has long been ready, Indeed, it has been prepared for the king. He has made it deep and large, A pyre of fire with plenty of wood; The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.”
It is “ready”
Many a believer has taken much comfort in the reading of the first 3 verses of John 14.
John 14:1-3 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
• That is a tremendous promise of comfort
• As the believer is allowed to contemplate and envision
• The home that is being prepared for them.
Well, Isaiah 30:33 is the opposite equivalent for the non-believer.
They have a home being prepared for them as well.
Matthew 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;”
This home was originally prepared for the devil and his demonic army,
But it is ready and large enough for sinners too.
It is a place of fire and burning.
Just read Revelation 9 when the pit is opened and read about how so much smoke comes out that for a time it blots out the sun.
It is a place of burning and fire and there is plenty of it.
But then look at the remarkable statement.
“the breath of the LORD, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.”
God is compared there almost to a dragon of sorts.
Do you see that it is NOT Satan who is in charge.
It is NOT Satan who lights the fire.
It is not Satan who holds captive men in their judgment.
It is God!
• He is the One who captures.
• He is the One who condemns.
• He is the One who torments.
• He is the One who lights the fire.
Revelation 14:9-11 “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
Their suffering is “in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”
HE IS THE PUNISHER.
So what we read of here is a total deliverance from the enemy
And a total and perpetual punishment of that enemy.
Can anyone else deliver you so thoroughly?
Can anyone else give you such relief?
NO.
Israel, repent and return back to God.
• He alone is your Savior!
• He alone is your deliverer!
• He alone can handle your foe!
And of course that is true for the church today as well.
• Why would you trust in any other Savior?
• Why would you call on him who can’t save?
Run to Christ!
• Trust in Him!
• He is the great deliverer of His people!
• He is the great avenger of His people!
