Isa 2:5-21

Mother’s day:

Happy mother’s day.

Mother’s we love you, you are wonderful; without you none of us would be alive. Our culture seems to have declared war upon the women who seek to excel in the role God has especially given to them, that being the rearing of children and the keeping of the home, training up children in the admonition and culture of the Lord; this is that age of the feminist girl-bosses, where the only women celebrated seem to be those who are most like men; yet we want to follow the example of the Lord and exalt and praise the role of the mother, the life giver, and say a brief thank you to the women who fulfill that role faithfully.

Now, I know it’s popular these days to make a marshmallow fluff sandwich of a sermon on mother’s day, but here we do exegetical preaching. The effect of which is to put the Holy Spirit in the drivers seat, going line by line through the text. This yields the choosing of the subject matter and the teaching to the Lord. We are gathered to worship the Lord, and to hear from His Holy word, not to have our ears tickled.

So, if you’re hoping for a marshmallow fluff sandwich today, if you would like a Beth-Moore mother’s day sermon, I can direct you to a place that may accommodate. But what’s the benefit of this smaller gathering if it be not to go deeper, to focus harder, to seek more earnestly to know the Lord.

We are here to hear from the Lord, which is why we put the Holy Spirit in the driver’s seat. As this is my last sermon before I will be leaving for 10 weeks, what better way to sendoff than to continue and discuss the next section of Isaiah, concerning the Day of the Lord. The day which comes upon everything high and lofty, upon everything proud and lifted up, and it will be brought low. A day where God pummels the wicked into oblivion: which has much application to mothers… Mothers, need to flee from the wrath of God like everyone else. God bless you mothers.

Intro/illustration

Let’s talk for a moment about Cockroaches.

When one has a cockroach infestation, one finds them in the darkest places, the hidden places. Cockroaches may live in a person’s house for a long time before they even realize it. They say once you see one, there are probably thirty or fourty that you don’t see.

They hide in the cracks and the crevices, under the floor, behind the walls. The hide in the dark places, under the stove where they think they are safe. The cockroaches laugh in their safety in the dark corners. They do not fear. Even though they don’t realize that mother has already called the exterminator.

For at the appointed time; when the appointment arrives, the exterminator comes to the house. And the day of reckoning against the cockroaches comes all at once. The exterminator brings his day of reckoning against these cockroaches; in that day he uncovers and exposes their hiding places. He knows where they hide, and when the roaches discover that they’ve been exposed, the burry and scurry deeper into the dark. They flee deeper into the walls and floorboards, and dash for behind the bathroom mirror.

But the effective exterminator is undeterred. He has all the necessary tools in his toolkit, whether it be a spray that scatters them, or an alluring poison which draws them out; when the exterminator comes upon the cockroaches, even those in the darkest depths of the kitchen cabinets, those which have hidden themselves in the back of the refrigerator, even those that say to the refrigerator “fall on us” and to the cabinets “cover us”, they will not escape the hand of the skilled exterminator.

For the day of the exterminator will come against the high and lofty cockroaches, from the greatest of them to the least of them, from the adults to the larva, they will all perish; none of them will escape. The kitchen, and the house will be cleansed.

Review:

Let’s review what we’ve covered in Isaiah so far:

If you would recall: Isa is addressing the city of Judah in a time of gross sin. A time of idolatry, burning incense to other gods. Under some of the kings during which Isaiah is prophesying they are even passing their children through the fire to Molech. Child sacrifice.

The Lord begins by calling forth the heaven and the earth as witnesses again the nation, this is covenant or lawsuit language. As Israel has broken the covenant, so the witnesses are called forth to examine the case.

Israel has not kept his side of the covenant. He is sick from the head to the toe from God’s repeated chastisements. The Lord brings specific charges against him; such as the practice of idolatry, the lack of justice enforced on behalf of orphans and widows, the city is full of blood, and because of their sin, the Lord cannot stand the acts of worship which the nation is still bringing superstitiously before the Lord.

He hates their solemn assemblies, he cannot stand their fasts and feasts. The external exercise of their worship is completely rejected by the Lord because of their internal iniquity and the sin that they practice habitually.

Yet, the Lord calls forth the people to reason with Him, and promises hope early on. He invites His people to reason with Him, and promises that though their sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow. God will cleanse them. He will separate and purify His people.

The promise is that He will separate out of the silver, all the gunk, all the dross, through the refining fires of judgment. He will make a separation through purifying judgment, that Jerusalem will be a city of righteousness, the wicked will be swept out. He will separate the the faithful and the faithless, the obedient and the disobedient. The faithful will be refined; the wicked will be burned.

Isaiah then looks into the distant future and sees a message of hope for the nation: He’s sees that in the latter days (which with the help of Peter and the writer of Hebrews, we understand to be this current age, the age of the reign of the Christ), that the house of Yahweh (His temple, which God has revealed to be built of living stones) the mountain of the house of Yahweh will be established and lifted up above the hills (That His house will be conspicuous above all the hills), and all the nations will flow into it. He sees the holy assembly of God being lifted up and all the nations seeking to ascend that mountain that they may be instructed in the law of the Lord, in the way of righteousness and in the paths of Yahweh. They seek to go up and be instructed in the rule of true religion from the mouth of the Lord Himself. The Lord who is present among His people, even to the end of the age.

For from Zion, the mountain of the Lord, which is the church of the Messiah according to Heb 11:21, the unshakable kingdom in heaven which we are receiving, will go forth the law, the word of Yahweh will go froth from Jerusalem, and Yahweh Himself will be present among His people and sit as ruler above the many people on His mountain, and He will render justice, He will judge with righteous judgement, and that the effect of this will be peace on earth. That where the gospel takes root, where the people seek the Lord, they will take their tools for warfare and beat them into tools for husbandry or farming. There will be peace among the nations, and they will not do evil on His Holy Mountain.

Remember that we are awaiting to see this fulfillment in the conversion and discipling of the nations, and we cannot expect this peace until that conversion takes place, yet we have here prophetic expectation and therefore we ought to have great hope and optimism. Looking at our world today, we see that their is still much more to go. But we can trust that as the gospel increases in the earth, the more that people are saved by the preaching and are discipled unto Christ, the closer we are to the end of war among the nations, on that day when mountain of the Lord fills the earth.

Then Isaiah looks from this distant and hopeful future back to the present reality; back to the present day Jerusalem, unto our text:

Isaiah 2:5–21 NASB95

5 Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. 6 For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with influences from the east, And they are soothsayers like the Philistines, And they strike bargains with the children of foreigners. 7 Their land has also been filled with silver and gold And there is no end to their treasures; Their land has also been filled with horses And there is no end to their chariots. 8 Their land has also been filled with idols; They worship the work of their hands, That which their fingers have made. 9 So the common man has been humbled And the man of importance has been abased, But do not forgive them. 10 Enter the rock and hide in the dust From the terror of the Lord and from the splendor of His majesty. 11 The proud look of man will be abased And the loftiness of man will be humbled, And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. 12 For the Lord of hosts will have a day of reckoning Against everyone who is proud and lofty And against everyone who is lifted up, That he may be abased. 13 And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up, Against all the oaks of Bashan, 14 Against all the lofty mountains, Against all the hills that are lifted up, 15 Against every high tower, Against every fortified wall, 16 Against all the ships of Tarshish And against all the beautiful craft. 17 The pride of man will be humbled And the loftiness of men will be abased; And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day, 18 But the idols will completely vanish. 19 Men will go into caves of the rocks And into holes of the ground Before the terror of the Lord And the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble. 20 In that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they made for themselves to worship, 21 In order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs Before the terror of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble.

Point 1 - the Necessary separation of God’s people

Isaiah 2:5 NASB95

5 Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Seeing the walking in the light far off, now the exhortation is to the present people. You see, the world is going in this direction, you are not going to prevail over the light of the Lord, so why fight it. Come now, let’s be reasonable here, walk in the light of the Lord; a phrase which implies that they’re not currently doing that.

Isaiah 2:6 NASB95

6 For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with influences from the east, And they are soothsayers like the Philistines, And they strike bargains with the children of foreigners.

Though it is previously implied, here it is explicitly stated that the nation is indeed alienated from Yahweh. They’re really not on speaking terms, and are in need of reconciliation. They are alienated because they are polluted with the influences of the other nations. As verse 1:21 said, they have practiced harlotry with the other nations.

They are upbraided or chastised for their superstitious and occultic religious practices which they got from the Philistines, the people who came from the east. They make agreements with the foreign peoples, they trust in them for monetary aid, and military support, and they are polluted with their occultic and superstitious religions.

Remember, when Yahweh first entered into the covenant with them He said:

Exodus 19:5–6 NASB95

5 ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

They were to be unto God a separated people. They were to eat differently, dress differently, worship differently, and they would be above all the peoples blessed differently.

Yet:

Isaiah 2:7 NASB95

7 Their land has also been filled with silver and gold And there is no end to their treasures; Their land has also been filled with horses And there is no end to their chariots.

This is not a general prohibition on wealth, but in the context, this is another instance of the harlotry with the nations, that they have taken in foreign money; they are reliant upon foreign aid, not the supply of the Lord. They are reliant of the foreign nations for their defense and tools of war. Yet in times past, when the nation was faithful, such as in the time of David and Solomon, the vats overflowed, the grain silos as well, and all their enemies were subdued before them. They are looking to the wrong place for help.

They are like a church who brings in heathens and pagans for advice, audits, lawsuits, financial aid, church growth strategies from the latest bigwig marketers; those who are in covenant with Yahweh ought not to look to the world for their help, but say with the Psalmist:

Psalm 121:1–3 NASB95

1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber.

Isaiah goes on to indite:

Isaiah 2:8 NASB95

8 Their land has also been filled with idols; They worship the work of their hands, That which their fingers have made.

The land is full of idols This is the greatest indictment, their greatest crime, and the worst result of their harlotry, which has been the adoption of the false gods of the nation.

See the example of 2 Kings how these political alliances resulted in this:

(remember King Ahaz is one of the kings ruling at the time of Isaiah’s prophecy)

2 Kings 16:10 NASB95

10 Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar which was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the pattern of the altar and its model, according to all its workmanship.

Under the umbrella of their chief crime of idolatry comes their resulting and specific sins. The worshiping of false Gods, a violation of the first and second commandment, indicates the most severe and serious breaking of the covenant of God. The most serious violation of their agreement with Yahweh, that they would walk in His commandments, and of the covenant to Abraham, that He would be their God, and they would be His people.

The people of God are to be separated unto Him. How about you? Are YOU yoked to the world?

Under the law Israel was to be separated from the foreign nations in many ways, in the clothes they wore, in their temple worship rituals and feasts, the very food they ate.

Look now at the new covenant, where the shadow has its fulfillment,

God has now called the gentiles and poured out His Spirit on all flesh. Peter says in acts:

Acts 10:34–35 NASB95

34 Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, 35 but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.

Now the separation between the two on the basis of flesh and external ritual observance has been erased. God has cleansed the Gentiles, that they may come into the elect of God, the commonwealth of the true Israel, of Zion, on the same footing as Israelites of the flesh. And those Israelites of the flesh, who may follow the ritual observance, yet reject Jesus, Jesus rejects:

Revelation 3:9–10 NASB95

9 ‘Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you. 10 ‘Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

And

Matthew 8:10–12 NASB95

10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. 11 “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

So now the separation is not based on the flesh and the shadows, but of those who are in Christ, and those who are not. Those who believe, who have faith, who are born again, against those who do not and are not. Those who love Christ who seek to follow the commandments, and those who practice lawlessness:

The separation of the OT is not abolished, but fulfilled: the true meaning of it now being fully realized, the moral separation of God’s people.

2 Corinthians 6:14–18 NASB95

14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 17 “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. 18 “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.

You see that God’s people today are to be separate, a holy and peculiar people. A people devoted to the Lord. For Jesus has promised to be among His people even until the end of the age. That He is present where two or three are gathered in His name. Shall you unite Christ with the devil?

To be Holy is to be cut off from the common lot; what man sees as common God sees as profane. The common bunch is on the broad road of destruction: To be separated, sanctified, a saint, is to be separated from the world: To be in the world, but not of the world.

If we observed your life? Are you separated from the rest of the world? Or do you walk like them, talk like them; enjoy the same entertainment, enjoy the same music, same books; Do you conduct business in the same way as the world? Do you seek the approval of the world? Do you take your methods from the world? Do you fear the disapproval of the world?

John condemns those who feared the approval of men over the approval of God, and who therefore were afraid to suffer for confessing Christ:

John 12:42–43 NASB95

42 Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.

For you are called to suffer outside of the camp, outside of the earthly Jerusalem, for the sake of the heavenly:

Hebrews 13:11–14 NASB95

11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. 12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. 13 So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. 14 For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.

Those condemned in Isaiah are those who would seek to worship God in the same way the world worships their idols. Where do you stand?

You are sojourners here, we look for a heavenly city: if you are of Zion, be of that heavenly city, walk in that manner. In the world, but not of the world.

Point 2 (The Exhaustive Judgment of the Lord)

Isaiah 2:9 NASB95

9 So the common man has been humbled And the man of importance has been abased, But do not forgive them.

(Alexander 101) Here there is a pun occuring: the voluntary humiliation of idol worship will also result in the compulsory punishment and making low by the hand of the Lord.

And as we know that God lifts up the humble, and gives grace to those who are made low, that idea is explicitly denied to those who abase themselves before idols.

God says in paraphrase: The man makes Himself low, and humbles himself, but he will not be forgiven. You want to make yourselves low? I will make you low, I will humble you, yet not to forgive you.

How low?

Isaiah 2:10 NASB95

10 Enter the rock and hide in the dust From the terror of the Lord and from the splendor of His majesty.

Here He comes. For the Lord’s presence comes to inflict punishment: The Prophet exhorts the people to hide; the terror of the Lord is coming.

This hiding in rocks and caves was common in that land, which was full of many nooks and crannies. When the Israelites were in trouble, tied up by the Philistines in war, they hid themselves in the these caves:

1 Samuel 13:6 NASB95

6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were hard-pressed), then the people hid themselves in caves, in thickets, in cliffs, in cellars, and in pits.

Those cliffs were used as a tool for war:

1 Samuel 14:11 NASB95

11 When both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, the Philistines said, “Behold, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.”

These cliffs were cut for this purpose:

Judges 6:2 NASB95

2 The power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.

This language of the Prophet is common and one must be familiar with it. It refers to the people hiding in fear, retreat, preparing and strongholding for battle. He says, hide yourself! For the splendor of Yahweh is coming in His majestic form! He is bringing judgment on the nation.

Isaiah 2:11 NASB95

11 The proud look of man will be abased And the loftiness of man will be humbled, And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

For in that day in the day of the manifestation of the terrible presence of the Lord in judgment, those who are high and lofty will be brought low.

The proud and high and lofty will be brought down. The charges have been brought, and now the Lord will come Himself and inflict judgment.

Isaiah 2:12 NASB95

12 For the Lord of hosts will have a day of reckoning Against everyone who is proud and lofty And against everyone who is lifted up, That he may be abased.

The day of the Lord. “An appointed time for the manifestation of His power.” (Alexander 103) The day of His judgment, of His presence is coming, against everyone who is proud and lifts himself up.

He says:

Psalm 75:2 NASB95

2 “When I select an appointed time, It is I who judge with equity.

“there is a day to Yahweh of hosts against all proud and haughty, and all those lifted up, and they will be brought low”

For it is a day of humiliation. Those who carry on in their boastfulness, lifting up their blasphemies against God and continuing in sin. He has promised a day of humiliation.

No one escapes this. He illustrates by speaking this against not everyone, but against everything! Every object, the objects familiar to the nation at the time:

Isaiah 2:13–16 NASB95

13 And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up, Against all the oaks of Bashan, 14 Against all the lofty mountains, Against all the hills that are lifted up, 15 Against every high tower, Against every fortified wall, 16 Against all the ships of Tarshish And against all the beautiful craft.

Every high object will be brought down in the day of the Lord.

Against the beautiful trees, the oaks, the mountains: against the hills! Against the towers, the walls, your skyscrapers, your beautiful ships, your merchant vessels and carnival cruise liners, against all your high and lofty things, and they will be made low in that day.

For:

Isaiah 2:17 NASB95

17 The pride of man will be humbled And the loftiness of men will be abased; And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day,

For the work of man’s hands will be shown to be nothing in that day, and it is only that which the Lord has made that will stand.

Here the chorus of vs 11 is repeated, the general message which verses 13-16 were intended to illustrate, the general message of the bringing low of the work of men and the exalting of the work of Yahweh alone. All the works than men devote themselves to, and trust themselves to, they will be shaken away.

For He will bring down the loftiness of the man, the pride and height of the man, and the Yahweh alone will be exalted. The earth will know that it is Yahweh who has done it. His work shall stand, and He will be glorified.

For the things of men will pass away, but Yahweh will be exalted, and those who trust in Christ will stay through the judgement.

Hebrews 12:25–29 NASB95

25 See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. 26 And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” 27 This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

For that which God builds will stand in that day of judgment, in that day of wrath, but that which is built of the perishable, of the creation, of the hands of men will burn; every idol, the houses that men worship, the cars, the jobs, the relationships, the anything and everything than man esteems that’s not in the unshakable kingdom of God will be consumed and cast down; Yahweh will preserve those who trust in Jesus, who have the unshakable kingdom.

The day of the Lord shakes the whole world, but the imperishable kingdom of the Messiah will remain, it will stand.

Hear the words of the Lord:

Luke 6:46–49 NASB95

46 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 “Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 “But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

What is the rain, the storm, if it is not the day of the Lord, the trials, the judgments, the weather of this life, and death, and the final day of Judgment; all of it. The only solid foundation, is that of the Messiah. The very Word of God Himself. The living bread. The tried cornerstone, the sure foundation.

See now the relevance of this threatening to our day:

For God has often brought judgments in real time, in history. He brought the Assyrians against Israel, He brought the Babylonians against Judah; He rained fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, He has cast down the angels who sinned and has reserved them in chains of darkness for judgment because of their immorality which occurred in Gen 6, and He destroyed the whole world with a flood.

The Lord threatened and brought His day upon Edom:

Obadiah 15 NASB95

15 “For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head.

The house of Esau will be as stubble; The Lord brought judgment on the house of Esau, the nation was destroyed and swallowed up into the surrounding nations, the inhabitants scattered, some slaughtered, the land was taken and the inhabitants were either killed or assimilated into the Jewish nation (according to Josephus and the Jewish wars).

The Lord visited Jerusalem in judgment in 70AD;

Acts 2:17–20 NASB95

17 ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams; 18 Even on My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit And they shall prophesy. 19 ‘And I will grant wonders in the sky above And signs on the earth below, Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. 20 ‘The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood, Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come.

I believe the reference to the glorious coming of the day of the Lord refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. Which was accompanied by many signs and wonders.

The Lord has brought judgments historically on many nations, and we will discuss them in more detail as we encounter them in the following chapters. The Lord brings judgment against the high and lofty nations, exalting His name.

Yet these judgments were not exhaustive, but served to show that God does not allow sin to go unpunished. He often brings justice quickly in time.

Yet sometimes, He appears to let the wicked go unpunished. Sometimes it appears that the wicked live undisturbed and they prosper in their wickedness.:

As Asaph recounts in Psalm 73:16-20

Psalm 73:16–20 NASB95

16 When I pondered to understand this, It was troublesome in my sight 17 Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end. 18 Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. 19 How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors! 20 Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.

When one knows the Lord, one knows that the day comes against all the wicked, all the high and lofty, and they will be brought low. There awaits a final day, were every ounce, every drop of justice will be squeezed, where men will be judged by every idle word

Matthew 12:36–37 NASB95

36 “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. 37 “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Only those whom God justifies will escape the wrath of the day of the Lord. Not by their works:

For

Romans 3:20 NASB95

20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

For the wages of sin is death, the righteous judgment of God.

Romans 6:23 NASB95

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

All have sinned. All deserve this wrath on the day of the Lord.

For Psalm 130:3

Psalm 130:3 NASB95

3 If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

But the Lord hidden His people in His chambers, on His ark; they are hidden with the Lord.

Isaiah 26:20–21 NASB95

20 Come, my people, enter into your rooms And close your doors behind you; Hide for a little while Until indignation runs its course. 21 For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; And the earth will reveal her bloodshed And will no longer cover her slain.

When that day comes, God provides His ark that His people may live; He warns His people that they may flee the city. This ark is Christ:

Romans 3:23–27 NASB95

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

The righteousness which the believer receives by faith in Jesus results in peace and safety from the wrath of God.

Romans 5:1 NASB95

1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Christ bore the wrath of the day of the Lord on behalf of His sheep, they have been declared righteous on the basis of His justification. He intercedes for them to the Father, and He saves to the uttermost.

Those of you who are in Christ, who love and are held and guided by the Messiah, the sheep of the Great Shepherd, you can look forth and await the day of the Lord with eagerness, waiting to see the Lord, waiting to be in His presence, because there is no more wrath left for you. Only peace and love.

Paul says to believers:

1 Corinthians 1:7 NASB95

7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

The Apostle says:

Hebrews 9:28 NASB95

28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

Yet also on that day when He comes, He will come with flaming fire from heaven to destroy the wicked:

2 Thessalonians 1:5–10 NASB95

5 This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. 6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 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, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 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.

So you see on the day of Christ’s final return, those in Christ will be delivered from the affliction, yet the wicked will be destroyed.

So repent and trust in Him and you will be saved, for all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Point 3 (The failure of idols to deliver and save)

The effect of the day of the Lord is an effective purging of evil from the land:

Isaiah 2:18 NASB95

18 But the idols will completely vanish.

The idols will be removed from the land, the worthless work of man’s hands will not long be worshipped. The humiliation of man results in the dissapearance of their idols. All men on that day recognize the true God.

Isaiah 2:19 NASB95

19 Men will go into caves of the rocks And into holes of the ground Before the terror of the Lord And the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble.

This verse is very similar to vs. 10, except instead of a exhortation and warning to the lofty men, it is a direct prediction.

The men crawl and hide to escape from the presence of the Lord.

Again as a point of emphasis: this type of language is very common in reference to judgment, when Jesus is led away, on the via dolorsa, one of His sparse sayings is:

Luke 23:27–31 NASB95

27 And following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were mourning and lamenting Him. 28 But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 “For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ 30 “Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31 “For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

He is speaking of the coming destruction of the city.

And also in reference to the coming judgement on Israel, by the Assyrians, Hosea says of Israel:

Hosea 10:8 NASB95

8 Also the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed; Thorn and thistle will grow on their altars; Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!”

And in Revelation when the Lamb is breaking the seals of the scroll of judgment, and we see a preview of the contents of the scroll, on the coming destruction of the enemies of God we see it.

Revelation 6:15–16 NASB95

15 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; 16 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;

I bring all this up just to say that this is important language to be familiar with. It’s important to take notice and familiarize ourselves with these common expressions of our Lord. The consistent theme of the day of Judgment is that men will look for a place to hide in the earth, and they will not find one.

Isaiah continues:

Isaiah 2:20 NASB95

20 In that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they made for themselves to worship,

They shall cast their idols in that day to the dark and filthy hiding places where the moles and bats inhabit. They shall utterly detest them, and cast away their idols in horror and terror from the true God.

Isaiah 2:21 NASB95

21 In order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs Before the terror of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble.

They cast away their idols for the purpose that they may hide themselves in the caves and cliffs in fear. The will no longer grasp their idol for safety, but recognizing its worthlessness, they will throw it away to free them up to go hide like a cockroach.

I want to end by discussing this:

2 Peter 3:3–9 NASB95

3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” 5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, 6 through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. 7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

As we read today and focus on the day of the Lord, as you go about your week, and you see the injustice, and the iniquity of the world: Do not be as the mockers, who think that things will always continue in the way they always have. They mock, and we hear it on the streets, at work, at home: Its the mocking of unbelief, saying:

Everything will always be as it always has been. It will be as it was. God isn’t going to judge the world. We grow out of plants. Eat drink and be merry, enjoy your lusts. The Bible is a book cobbled together and edited by later authors for the prophecies. We know the dead do not rise.

But God has judged the whole world before, He flooded it. And He will judge it again, by fire. Christ will return, He has risen, and because He has risen from the dead, we have overwhelming assurance that we will rise as well.

Remember though: time works differently for God, a day is as 1000 years, but the day of the Lord will come, and you will face the judgment seat. So trust in Christ, cling to the cross and life for eternity, depart from sin, and ascend Mt. Zion wearing the white robes that are not your own, but those that He gives you by faith.

For “The Righteous man shall live by his faith.”

Conclusion:

So I hope your hearts are warmed by this Mother’s day sermon. Happy mother’s day again! Boys give your mother’s a hug and do the dishes.

Remember that God’s people are called to be a holy, separated, peculiar people. Without Holiness no one will see the Lord.

Remember that the day of the Lord is coming. His judgment comes against all that are high and lofty, and they will be brought low.

Remember that an idol one trusts in, no matter what it is, will only be dead weight on that day; worthless and unable to deliver, which men will cast aside that they may hide from the terrifying and awesome presence of the Lord.

Amen.