Isaiah 34–35

As you know, the Book of Isaiah is primarily a book of prophecy. And so, we go into it understanding from the get-go that there are things in it that were prophesied for roughly Isaiah's day, or shortly thereafter; and there are things in the Book of Isaiah that have not yet been fulfilled but are prophesied in this book. We're going to be covering tonight two chapters and all of the events that essentially, we're going to be looking at, have not yet come to pass. So, this is all future; and again, I want to remind you the Book of Isaiah was written about 700 years before the birth of Christ. So, this is old stuff in terms of when it came, but as I said it has not yet come to pass. I'll put on the screen for you here just kind of what we're covering here because there actually is a chronological flow to these two chapters. What we’re covering this evening Isaiah 34 - The Day of the Lord’s Wrath Isaiah 35 - Prophecies of the Millennial Kingdom Chapter 34, which is where we'll begin tonight is going to deal with the Day of the Lord and the Day of the Lord is actually a term that refers to a whole lot more than just a day; it speaks of the time period of God's retribution, and it's a fairly lengthy time period actually, but what we're going to be looking at, specifically, in the Day of the Lord is His wrath upon the nations. And this continues to be an area of confusion for people as far as what the Great Tribulation is really all about, what purpose it serves, and what part the Nation of Israel plays into the Great Tribulation. Hopefully, we're going to answer some of those questions. And then of course, chapter 35 is immediately the time period in history that is right after the Great Tribulation, and that is the Millennial Kingdom. We go into this 1,000-year period, and we'll talk about that, but you need to know that the next great event on God's prophetic calendar is the catching away of the Church.

There's really nothing else that needs to happen before Christ comes for His Church. And some people will say, well, now wait a minute, we know from the scripture that the temple is going to be rebuilt. And even though they've been making plans in Israel to rebuild the temple, they have not started, and there's nothing there in terms of a Jewish temple. In fact, the Dome of the Rock, a mosque, sits on what they believe to be the previous location of the temple. So, some people will say, well, that's got to happen first, and my response is, not necessarily. Because you've got to remember that the Tribulation Period begins, it's a seven- year-long period of time, but the temple doesn't really come into play until halfway through the Tribulation Period, about three and a half years, when the temple is then completed, and the Antichrist sets up his image there and demands worship. Is it possible for the temple to be built in a period of like three and a half years? Let's say the church is captured, you're caught away, and the Tribulation Period begins and we've got all these events that begin to unfold, and I don't know if you have seen buildings going up but they can put up stuff incredibly fast today and I think it's completely within the realm of possibility that you and I may never see the beginning of the building of the temple. We might. We might see it before the Lord catches us away, but I don't think we have to see it, for the Lord to come for His church and for that process then to begin. The very next thing that I see anyway, happening on God's prophetic calendar, is the Church being caught away and when the Church is caught away, remember that we are the salt and the light of the world (referring to Matthew 5:13-16). And that is going to plunge this world into a time of chaos and trouble where evil and darkness are going to rule, and that is that beginning of that period that we call the Great Tribulation. And once again, it's seven years total but it is the last three and a half years of the Great Tribulation, during which God will pour out His wrath upon the nations, and we're going to see some various passages that talk about that here tonight. Isaiah chapter 34 is where we're going to begin. It prophetically foretells this time of wrath that is coming, during the time of the Great Tribulation. Before we read some of these verses, let me just tell you that Jesus also spoke about this; and I want to put this up on the screen for you quickly so you can see it from Matthew chapter 24, and this is Jesus speaking here and he says,

(paraphrasing) Then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. So, this period of the Tribulation is going to be unmatched in terms of the degree of trouble that it brings. And he says here, in fact, that if those days had not been cut short, that no human being would be saved. But people will be saved during the time of the Great Tribulation. In fact, some people will survive the Great Tribulation. Unbelievers will survive the Great Tribulation. He goes on to say, for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short; and we know that the days of the wrath will be essentially three and a half years. Okay, Isaiah chapter 34 verse 1

And then look as we go on here in verse 4, the Lord even foretells of catastrophic signs in the heavens, he says,

and that's…and the host of heaven refers to essentially the bodies, the heavenly bodies, if you will, okay. Now, a host can refer to a lot of different things, frankly. It can refer to angels. It can refer to demons. It can refer to people. But in this case, it says

And here it's talking about the stars literally falling from the… in the heavens. It says,

And I don't know if it's anything like leaves falling from a Globe Willow, we've got a couple of those in our yard, and I tell you in the fall, it's like it's snowing. I mean, it's just heavy-duty. It's crazy to think of stars falling in that same way. But interestingly enough, this is also mentioned elsewhere in the Word of God. Let me show you a couple of passages, first from Joel chapter 2 on the screen. Check this out. It says,

“The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. (And look at this) The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.”

And then again from Matthew 24, we read that

This is crazy cataclysmic stuff that's going on during this time of the Great Tribulation when God pours out His wrath. So that, I mean, it's just going to be so frightening, so incredibly powerful. Verse 5, he says

Now stop there for just a moment. It's kind of interesting, I think, that in the midst of this chapter, which speaks of God's wrath to come upon the nations of the world, that then Edom is suddenly mentioned here, specifically; and most of you probably know that Edom, or the people of Edom, were closely related to Israel the descendants, or the Edomites are the descendants, of Esau, the brother of Jacob. And yet, even despite their closeness, Edom had a long history with Israel of just a bitter hatred toward the Jews; and for this reason, Edom becomes kind of a type, if you will, or a likeness of those nations which hate Israel. And that is going to be the predominant theme throughout the latter part of the Tribulation Period. When the Antichrist turns and betrays Israel; he will eventually bring an army to attack Israel at the very end of the Tribulation. We'll talk about that here in a bit, but you can see why Edom has become kind of like a type or a picture, an illustration, of all of these nations that have this bitter hatred for Israel.

--- It says in verse 6, “6 The Lord has a sword; it is sated (Your Bible may say covered or bathed or even filled) with blood; it is gorged with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 7 Wild oxen shall fall with them, and young steers with the mighty bulls. Their land shall drink its fill of blood, and their soil shall be gorged with fat. Not a pretty picture. Now check out verse 8, “8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.” Now stop there, because this is where we pause for a moment here in the midst of all of this talk about the outpouring of God's wrath upon the world and we begin to see some answers to the question: What is the Tribulation Period going to be for Israel? Do you know there are a lot of Christians that don't even want to think about Israel? There are a lot of Christians, in fact, there's Christian teaching that says, we, the Church, have replaced Israel; and that, in fact, is called Replacement Theology. And it, basically, positions itself in such a way as to take the promises, the blessings, and all that was given to Israel, and apply them to the Church. Replacement Theology, I believe, is very dangerous because it denies the fact that God has a spiritual people and God has an earthly people; and the fact of the matter is, that is the way it is outlined in the Word of God. The Church is, and continues to be, the spiritual people of God, and Israel continues to be the earthly people of God. The Tribulation Period is a time when, while God is pouring out His wrath upon the unbelieving and evil world, it is a time of discipline upon Israel but also a time of vengeance upon the enemies of Israel, during that time. You'll notice there in verse 8, he says, the Lord has a day of recompense, or rather it's a day of vengeance, and a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. That means, on behalf of Zion on behalf of Israel, this is spoken in the context of this prophecy about the Great Tribulation. The Great Tribulation is not just God's outpouring of wrath upon the world because they're unbelieving and evil. It is because they have persecuted His earthly nation, over the years as well. And so, those are very important things to keep in mind. God is going to use the Tribulation Period to discipline Israel; but at the end of the Great Tribulation, when the Antichrist amasses the nations of the world, the armies of the nations of the world into a huge force to come against Israel and to destroy her; that is when Jesus is going to return to the earth. ---

Jesus doesn't return to this earth until the end of the Tribulation Period. He comes for the Church first, but remember what Paul says about that? We're going to meet the Lord in the air, not on the earth. Paul says very clearly in Thessalonians (referring to 1 Thessalonians 4:17) that the trumpet will sound, and we will meet the Lord in the air. Then He comes to the earth, at the end of the Tribulation Period, and when it appears hopeless for Israel, He returns at such a time to fight on their behalf and to destroy the armies of the world. This is actually given to us, prophetically, in the Book of Zechariah. Look on the screen as I show you another passage here from chapter 14 verses 1-3.

“Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations (God says) against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. (It's going to be horrible) Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on the day of battle.” Zachariah tells us it's going to be a terrible time for Israel, and then the Lord returns and fights on her behalf, putting down the armies of the world. These are powerful prophecies, and they go together here with Isaiah. Now, the rest of chapter 34 here in Isaiah focuses on God's judgment on Edom as the illustration, or representation, of the nations of the world. And it really just kind of gets into a lot of poetic detail about how the nations will be destroyed and uninhabitable in some cases. It says,

Interesting, huh? “12 Its nobles—there is no one there to call it a kingdom, and all its princes shall be nothing. 13 Thorns shall grow over its strongholds, nettles and thistles in its fortresses. It shall be the haunt of jackals, an abode for ostriches.” This is basically telling you that people aren't going to live there. “14 And wild animals shall meet with hyenas; the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; indeed, there the night bird settles and finds for herself a resting place. 15 There the owl nests and lays and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow; indeed, there the hawks are gathered, each one with her mate.” And then the chapter ends this way, very interesting. It says, “16 Seek and read from the book of the Lord: Not one of these shall be missing; none shall be without her mate…” In other words, all those animals that he just mentioned, He says, mark my words, they will all be there not one is going to be missing and each one will have its mate. This is really just another way of saying this is…it's going to happen just this way and you can bank on it. He says this, still in verse 16. “...For the mouth of the Lord has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them.” Okay. In fact, and then He goes on to speak of Edom/The Nations saying…. I’m actually still talking about the animals that are going to be inhabiting. He says, “17 He has cast the lot for them; his hand has portioned it out to them with the line; they shall possess it forever; from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.” So, referring to all the animals He mentioned, the birds, and so forth; God is saying He has given it to them, and He has made a determination that this is the way it's going to be, and there's no changing it. So, that's your chapter. Wonderful chapter, isn't it? I mean, it's judgment. It's God's wrath. It’s God’s wrath. And of course, it reminds us that we serve a God who is a God of justice and that there will be a day of reckoning for all mankind. Now, this is the wrath and the separation from God that you and I have been saved from, through the death of Jesus Christ, but it is coming. It is coming upon the world and God is just. Now, as we move on to Isaiah chapter 35, this completely changes the scene. If we were…if this were a play, the curtain would come down, we'd have to get a bunch of guys in there, running around, changing props, and putting different lighting in, and all that kind of stuff, to get ready for the next scene. Because, whereas we have been dealing now with judgment and wrath, now we come to a time of peace and prosperity on the earth. And of course, the reason for this is that after the Lord destroys the enemies of the world, or the enemies of Israel, the nations of the world, and their armies; He begins to rule and reign in Jerusalem for a period of 1,000 years. But before that happens, He has to deal with Israel. Before that Millennial Kingdom actually begins, Israel has to come to terms with her Messiah. The one she rejected when He came the first time. She will not reject Him the second time. She will know and understand not only that this is truly the Redeemer, but this is the One who came the first time too and we crucified Him. And Zechariah, again, prophesies about how Israel is going to deal with all of this. Let me put this on the screen from Zechariah chapter 12. Look at this. This is really interesting. It says,

“And on that day (The Lord is speaking here.) I will destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. (There's the end of the Tribulation. Now, He deals with Israel.) And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, (Here the Lord is talking. This is Jesus’ speaking. So, when they look on me,) on him whom they have pierced, (Okay, speaking of crucifixion.) they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.” Zechariah is telling us, prophetically, how Israel is going to come to terms with her Messiah. She's going to recognize…The nation as a whole will recognize then that He is the deliverer and of course, at first, when He comes and saves them there's going to be like hey, the Messiah finally came, but then they're going to look upon Him. And isn't it fascinating that Zechariah prophesied before it took place the kind of death that Jesus would suffer, at their hands? They will look upon Him who they have stoned? No! Do you know that was the way the Jews executed people? You know that? The Jews executed people by stoning.

It was the Romans who executed people by crucifixion, and yet Rome hadn't even come into power at this time. Rome wasn't a world power when Zechariah made this prophecy, and yet he speaks of a form of execution from a world power that hasn't even come to power; and he speaks of it specifically, as how the Messiah died, and they will look upon Him whom they have pierced. Now, what's their response going to be? They are going to be completely blown away and they're going to mourn for Him, as someone would mourn for the death of their only child. As one weeps over a firstborn. But it will also be a time of a complete regathering. The Nation of Israel will, at that time, turn to the Lord with all their heart. And Paul actually talks about this in the Book of Romans (referring to Romans 11:26 ESV) when he talks about the fact that all Israel will be saved. At that time, all Israel will be saved. They will recognize their Messiah, their Deliverer as Yeshua, the One who came the first time. They will mourn over the fact that He was rejected, but they will receive Him at last and they will be saved; then shall begin what is called that time period of the Millennial Kingdom. Let me show you this from the Book of Revelation on the screen from Revelation chapter 20. It says,

There will be a final battle at the end of the Millennial Kingdom, but it will be put down very quickly. But this passage tells us in Revelation about…It defines this time period for us that Isaiah is now prophesying about here in chapter 35. And I want you to notice how Isaiah, if you look with me now, how he begins to describe what's going to happen to the earth, during this time of the Millennial Kingdom. He starts by saying, “1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; (And it says) the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;” We live in an area here in Eastern Oregon and Western Idaho that is considered to be high desert. We know that when the desert blossoms, it's a pretty big deal. We get some green that sticks around for a while in the spring and it's kind of fun, isn't it, after the snows have melted and the spring rains have come.

--- Sue and I always, when we're driving to Boise, we point out, oh, look at the hills they are green, or sometimes depending on the weather they'll still be green into July or something. But at the end of July, August, pretty much everything's gone brown by that time. That's because we live in a desert-type area or with a desert- type climate, and yet it says that when the Lord takes the throne the desert areas are going to blossom. They're going to become fertile, beautiful land, and notice it says in verse 2, it's not just going to blossom. It says “2 it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,...” In Lebanon is where those huge cedars grow and that kind of fertility, and growth, and so forth is going to be given to the desert regions. Crazy as it might sound. And it says, “... the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. (And very very fertile areas will also be given to it. And it says,) They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.” When will they see it? When they see the deserts bloom. They're going to say, yeah, boy, we know who's in charge. He makes the desert bloom. The disciples were amazed when Jesus made the wind and the waves stop. They were like, who is this who controls the wind and the waves? (referring to Matthew 8:27 ESV) Well, in the Millennial Kingdom, it's going to be far greater than that. He who controls the wind, and the waves is going to control the deserts and make them blossom and be fruitful and fertile and it's just crazy. Then it begins to speak of people, during the Millennial Kingdom. It says, “3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 4 Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you. 5 Then the eyes (Look at this, The eyes…) of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;” Now, these things were partially fulfilled during Jesus's earthly ministry, but they were not completely fulfilled. They will be completely fulfilled during the Millennial Kingdom. And so, the same kind of healing, physical healing, that we saw during the earthly ministry of Jesus is going to be abundant upon the earth during the Millennial Kingdom, where He rules and reigns. In fact, it says in verse 6, “6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, (It’s the guy who was using a walker. He's going to get up and just start jumping around. And it says,) and the tongue of the mute (The person who couldn't speak is --- going to…) sing for joy. For waters break forth (Look at this…waters break forth) in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;” And verse 7 tells us that, “7 the burning sand shall become a pool,...” It's interesting, I learned that the words “burning sand” there in verse 7, in the Hebrew, are actually the single word for, mirage. And you know what a mirage is? Essentially, it's an illusion. It's the heat of the sun rising from the surface of the ground, creating the illusion of water. And so, it's basically saying here that the illusion of water is going to become a reality of water, during the Millennial Kingdom, and it's just so cool; and it says “7...the thirsty ground will become springs of water; (So these areas that were dry and dusty, will be given water.) in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, (In other words, where these wild animals once lived and dominated.) the grass shall become reeds and rushes.” And reeds grow in swampy, watery areas, and so, these areas that were just desert-like are going to be swamp-like with water and all kinds of growth. Verse 8, I have to tell you is interesting and not just a little challenging. It says, “8 And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.” Why? Because they're on the highway. Now, this is challenging because, and I probably read just about every commentary I could get a hold of on this verse. And I'll be honest with you, there's a great deal of difference of opinion as to whether or not Isaiah is describing a literal highway that is constructed, or this is a figurative sense of understanding those who are now following the Lord and opening their heart to His ways. It's difficult to know. I don't know. It's not like it's outside the realm of possibility that there could be a literal highway here called the Way of Holiness, but we don't know. We don't really know, but we will find out one day. Verse 9 says, “9 No lion shall be there, (and that speaks of the dangers that used to exist for those who traveled) nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; (no, no dangers.) they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.” The redeemed of the Lord shall walk there. So again, whether it's a literal highway or whether it's the way of walking after Christ, because in the Millennial Kingdom, like I said, there are going to be people who survive the Great Tribulation and that means there's going to be mortals on the earth. There are other passages that speak of the Millennial

Kingdom that say that people will die, during the Millennial Kingdom, at a very old old age. In fact, somebody who's like a hundred will consider…if somebody dies at the age of a hundred, that'll be considered really early. Now, but that doesn't speak of you. Because you see, you're not going to be mortal at that time. When the Lord comes for His church. When the Lord catches away His church, Paul says, we will be changed in the twinkling of an eye (referring to 1 Corinthians 15:52 ESV) and that is when we will receive our new bodies, because we know that those who died in Christ before that time, we will not precede them. That's what Paul says. We will not precede those who went before or who died before. They will be raised, or their bodies will be raised, and then we will be changed in the twinkling of an eye, and then we will receive our new bodies. When the Lord returns to the earth, and by the way, we're coming back with Him, the Bible says that the Saints return with the Lord at the end of the Tribulation. So, we will be living on the earth, during the Millennial Kingdom, but we are going to have our new bodies, our new immortal bodies, incorruptible. Man am I looking forward to that. Let me tell you something right now, and the older I get, the more I'm looking forward to it, right? Come, Lord Jesus! Understand people, because this bothers people when they read prophetic passages about people dying in the Millennial Kingdom. They'll say, well, now wait a minute, we are going to live and die during the Millennial Kingdom? No, but there will be people, there will be mortals, who survive the Tribulation Period. They will live and they will die, during the Millennial Kingdom. They will have children, offspring, and the earth will continue to be populated and after a period of 1,000 years, some of those people are going to forget the Lord. When the enemy is released at the end of that 1,000-year period, which we saw there in Revelation, there is going to be some people who will be ripe for deception. And the enemy will be able to amass enough people to actually make one final overthrow of the throne of God. Of course, he will not be successful, and we know that. But that's where those people are going to come from, who the enemy is going to deceive at the end of the Millennial Kingdom. It's not believers. Okay. You and I will no longer have a sinful nature; that goes with the flesh. Okay. When the body of flesh goes, the sinful nature goes. All right. I'm going to read the last verse here and some of you might have a song going through your head if you are really old and/or were exposed to a certain kind of music in church. It says, “10 And the ransomed of the Lord (you probably learned it as the redeemed of the Lord) shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” I like that, sighing will flee away. Sorrow is what we have because of death and sighing is what we have because of the dying process, getting older, and our bodies kind of losing their steam. I want to close here tonight with a couple of passages that, also from the prophetic passages of scripture, speak of the Millennial Kingdom because we get other information that gives us deeper insights. One of the books we turn to is the Book of Micah. Let me show you this on the screen from Micah 4. Follow along. It's kind of long.

(And then we go on to read that) “He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide for strong nations far away; (so other nations will have their issues resolved by Jesus from Mount Zion) and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore; but they shall sit (under) every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken. For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.” Isn't that a beautiful passage? Micah is telling you and I that during the Millennial Kingdom, even though there are mortal nations that continue to live upon the face of the earth, Jesus will settle their issues. They will actually take their implements of war, and they will turn them into implements of agriculture. Isn't it good to know farming is not going to die? Right? Amen. It'll be a time of unprecedented peace and it says that every man will basically be able to enjoy the fruit of his labors. He's not going to be afraid that somebody is going to come take it away from him or steal this or that or whatever. Then we have one last passage from, again from Zechariah, chapter 8 I like this. It says,

In other words, we know that the Lord is on the throne in Zion, and they'll take hold of one of those blessed people, the Jews, and say, I want to go with you. I want to go see the King. I want to go hear the words of life, and they will come. And the people of Israel, at that time, will be greatly exalted during the Millennial Kingdom. We can kind of see what God is doing here, can't we? We get a better and more rounded picture, prophetically, of how God is going to use the Nation of Israel and how God is not done with the Nation of Israel, far from it. The Church and the Nation of Israel are two different entities in God's economy, and God is not finished with Israel, and there is more, much more, to come for them but that does not take away one iota who you and I are, who we are together, as the body of Christ.