Yahweh's Day
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Today is the day to humble yourself in the sight of Yahweh so that in his day you will be with him in his exaltation (Revelation 19:11-16).
Isaiah warns us about those who do not humble themselves.
He clarifies that all the proud will be humiliated and God will be exalted.
Pride is a sin we all struggle with. Thank God for his forgiveness.
Isaiah 2:6-11.
6 For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of things from the east and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
7 Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots.
8 Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made.
9 Men bow down to them in homage, they lie flat on the ground in worship. Don’t spare them!
10 Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty.
11 The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
What are the characteristics of the proud?
In verse six we see that the proud do not follow God or rely on him for directions. Instead, they fill their lives with the things of the world and rely on the world for their provision.
Paul made it very clear, as did the prophets before him, that we are not to be conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can know what God’s will is for us (Romans 12:2).
In verse seven we see that the proud love wealth displayed in war profiteering.
This is illustrated for us with horses and chariots, for horses and chariots were the top of military might.
Paul reminds us that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils (1 Timothy 6:10). Money itself is not evil, but the craving for it produces evil decisions.
As Americans, we are constantly bombarded with this desire.
What are you doing to keep this affection in check?
To keep this affection in check we must cultivate our love for Jesus through humility.
In verses eight through nine we see that the proud make for themselves gods of their own creations and choose to worship them rather than God.
John Calvin writes “… the human mind is, so to speak, a perpetual forge of idols.” Humanity has been creating idols to worship since the fall. (Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 1997.)
In America we may not worship a statue. No, we just replace it with:
The body and sex
Big business and success
Entertainment of all kinds
Politics
Sports
Science and technology
We, in our hubris, make idols out of all kinds of things. They creep into our lives. It is time to clean our house by humbling ourselves before God and worshiping him alone.
In verses ten through eleven we see that the proud hide from Yahweh’s terror and majesty. Even today the proud hide themselves from Yahweh. They ignore and despise his gift of salvation and refuse to humble themselves.
Will you stop hiding from God, humble yourself, and receive his gift of salvation by believing in Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection?
Isaiah 2:12-21.
For the Lord of hosts has a day
against all that is proud and lofty,
against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;
against all the cedars of Lebanon,
lofty and lifted up;
and against all the oaks of Bashan;
against all the lofty mountains,
and against all the uplifted hills;
against every high tower,
and against every fortified wall;
against all the ships of Tarshish,
and against all the beautiful craft.
And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,
and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
And the idols shall utterly pass away.
And people shall enter the caves of the rocks
and the holes of the ground,
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
In that day mankind will cast away
their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
which they made for themselves to worship,
to the moles and to the bats,
to enter the caverns of the rocks
and the clefts of the cliffs,
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
The time is coming when the pride of man will be laid low by the wrath of the Lord and his majesty.
The time is coming when all the things of the world humanity takes pride in will be laid low by the wrath of the Lord and his majesty.
The time is coming when all the idols humanity has created and worshiped will utterly pass away by the wrath of the Lord and his majesty.
The time is coming when the proud will try to hide themselves from the wrath of the Lord and his majesty, but there will be nowhere to hide.
John reminds us that the proud includes all of humanity who do not humble themselves before the coming of Jesus in Revelation 6:15-17.
15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,
16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,
17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
Isaiah 2:22.
22 Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?
Remember we are but breath; we need not be full of ourselves.
Rather, we should be full of Yahweh.
Are you ready for the day of Yahweh?
Will you choose to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God so that you will be with him in his day of wrath and exaltation?
