In the Sweet By and By

I realized a special truth some decades ago. When we go through hard times, our attention begins to focus on better days to come.

The Christian songs written and sung during the hard days of the depression often focus attention away from how bad it is right then, to a better day to come .

On that day shows up several times in 26 and 27. The expression pushes the passage out toward the 1000 year reign of Christ and beyond.

God’s Promise is Victory

Isaiah 27:1 HCSB

On that day the Lord with His harsh, great, and strong sword, will bring judgment on Leviathan, the fleeing serpent—Leviathan, the twisting serpent. He will slay the monster that is in the sea.

Could be a reference to a myth about a chaotic monster who was subdued. Kind of like us saying “strong as hercules” it is a reference but doesnt mean we believe the god hercules

Could be a reference to Assyria, Babylon, or Egypt.

Could be a reference to Satan who is seen as a beast rising from the Sea in Revelation, the dragon etc.

The point is the same, God will judge over him and rule over him with a sword (could be the sword is the Word of God) God has won the victory, in the end. But, we can’t get so consumed with some “in the sweet by and by” mentality that we become defeated, woe is me kind of people here and now.

God’s Process Involves Pain

Isaiah 27:2–6 HCSB

2 On that day sing about a desirable vineyard: 3 I, Yahweh, watch over it; I water it regularly. I guard it night and day so that no one disturbs it. 4 I am not angry, but if it produces thorns and briers for Me, I will fight against it, trample it, and burn it to the ground. 5 Or let it take hold of My strength; let it make peace with Me— make peace with Me. 6 In days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will blossom and bloom and fill the whole world with fruit.

God’s Work in us involves pruning and purging. Vs 2-6

Isaiah 27:7–11 HCSB

7 Did the Lord strike Israel as He struck the one who struck Israel? Was he killed like those killed by Him? 8 You disputed with her by banishing and driving her away. He removed her with His severe storm on the day of the east wind. 9 Therefore Jacob’s iniquity will be purged in this way, and the result of the removal of his sin will be this: when he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing. 10 For the fortified city will be deserted, pastures abandoned and forsaken like a wilderness. Calves will graze there, and there they will spread out and strip its branches. 11 When its branches dry out, they will be broken off. Women will come and make fires with them, for they are not a people with understanding. Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them, and their Creator will not be gracious to them.

God’s Work is intended not for annihilation, but purification. Verse 7-11

In Chapter 5 the Lord speaks of letting his vineyard get trampled, but here we learn it was not for annihilation but purification. God doesn’t intend to wipe Judah (or any of those who belong to him) from the earth forever, but he does allow the hard things to come blow away everything that doesn’t belong (verse 8)

In particular, God seeks to strip away everything that is not of Him and every God that is not Him.

God’s Promise is Worth it

Isaiah 27:12–13 HCSB

12 On that day the Lord will thresh grain from the Euphrates River as far as the Wadi of Egypt, and you Israelites will be gathered one by one. 13 On that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those lost in the land of Assyria will come, as well as those dispersed in the land of Egypt; and they will worship the Lord at Jerusalem on the holy mountain.

Two metaphors are used to talk about how it will be when God is done.

A harvest where God’s people are gathered as one. verse 12

A Trumpet Call that Brings All God’s People home 13.

You sure can’t help but think of 1 Corinthians 15:51-52

1 Corinthians 15:51–52 HCSB

51 Listen! I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.