January 13, 2001
As I move on in Isaiah to chapter thirteen the focus shifts. In the first twelve chapters we read God's prophecies against his own people because of their sin. It is an exclamation of God's righteous anger, the necessity of dealing with sin BUT it is mixed with hope for the future because God will never abandon his people. Starting in chapter thirteen God deals with Israel's, and by definition his, enemies (Babylon, Assyria, Moab, Cush, Egypt, Damascus, Edom, Arabia & Tyre). Anyone who hurts his children incurs his wrath for ".. anyone who touches you, touches the apple of his eye." (Zech 3:8). Chapters 13 through 23 make very clear what God will do to his enemies. Reading this I realized what a formidable thing it is to be an enemy of God! When prophesying against the Israelites God always showed them the end to their punishment, promised them that there was light to come he gave them something to hold onto in their darkest moments. However, the enemies of God get no such comfort or assurance!! On the contrary he gives them the bleakest picture of their future... see verses 9 & 20 (of chap 13) he speaks of a cruel day, fierce anger, the land being desolate, destroyed.. "it will never be inhabited or lived in through all generation". There was & is no hope for anyone who was an enemy of God. They would be completely destroyed, totally annihilated with no one or anything to ever save them from their fate.
It immediately brought to mind Romans 5:10 and the thought that I was once an enemy of God. It is God's sacrifice & grace that brought me out of that state. It is something to think about because it is possible to live as an enemy today and it is possible to walk away from God and return to that state. Philippians 3:18 warned in that day that many lived as enemies of the cross because their God was their stomach, given to self indulgence, and their mind was on earthly things rather than God. The warning is no less valid today. So many things can tempt us, distract us and pull us away but God is holy, he is righteous and he expects us to live according to his standard. Anything less makes us an enemy of his... something I never want to experience again.