Isaiah 30:30-33 – The Power, Judgment and Purifying Fire of God

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Towering volcanic fire column rising beneath storm clouds in a mountain valley

Isaiah 30:30-33 NLT

“30 And the Lord will make his majestic voice heard.
    He will display the strength of his mighty arm.
It will descend with devouring flames,
    with cloudbursts, thunderstorms, and huge hailstones.
31 At the Lord’s command, the Assyrians will be shattered.
    He will strike them down with his royal sceptre.
32 And as the Lord strikes them with his rod of punishment,
    his people will celebrate with tambourines and harps.
    Lifting his mighty arm, he will fight the Assyrians.
33 Topheth—the place of burning—
    has long been ready for the Assyrian king;
    the pyre is piled high with wood.
The breath of the Lord, like fire from a volcano,
    will set it ablaze.”

These verses today, which bring Isaiah 30 to an end, are full of dramatic descriptions of how God will deal with the Assyrian problem. Did it ever happen? Yes, it did, in 701 BC. The King in Judah at that time was Hezekiah, and he started his reign in 715 BC, at the age of 25. We read in 2 Kings 18:3, 5, 7, “He did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight, just as his ancestor David had done … “Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after his time. … “So the LORD was with him, and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did. He revolted against the king of Assyria and refused to pay him tribute”. The Assyrians continued to overrun other parts of Judah, and finally ended up at Jerusalem, where they threatened the inhabitants with death unless they opened the gates and came out. The situation for the Judeans inside Jerusalem was dire and“When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes and put on burlap and went into the Temple of the LORD” (2 Kings 19:1). In the next few verses, we read how Isaiah was asked to pray for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. We read, “And he sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the court secretary, and the leading priests, all dressed in burlap, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They told him, “This is what King Hezekiah says: Today is a day of trouble, insults, and disgrace. It is like when a child is ready to be born, but the mother has no strength to deliver the baby. But perhaps the LORD your God has heard the Assyrian chief of staff, sent by the king to defy the living God, and will punish him for his words. Oh, pray for those of us who are left!”” “The prophet [Isaiah] replied, “Say to your master, ‘This is what the LORD says: Do not be disturbed by this blasphemous speech against me from the Assyrian king’s messengers. Listen! I myself will move against him, and the king will receive a message that he is needed at home. So he will return to his land, where I will have him killed with a sword’””. We read what happened at the end of 2 Kings 19, “That night the angel of the LORD went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere. Then King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and returned to his own land. He went home to his capital of Nineveh and stayed there. One day while he was worshipping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with their swords. They then escaped to the land of Ararat, and another son, Esarhaddon, became the next king of Assyria”. The account in 2 Kings 18 and 19 is a fascinating read of God’s help to a nation that called out to Him. As an aside, what happened to the 185,000 corpses? Were they all buried where they lay, or did the surviving members of the army just leave them there? There is no record of what happened to them, but perhaps the “angel of the Lord” dealt with the aftermath. 

Back in our verses in Isaiah 30 today, we read about fire, devouring flames and a place of burning. In the Bible, fire represents the presence, holiness, judgment, and purifying power of God. A popular story in Sunday Schools is about Moses and his encounter with God in a burning bush. The bush wasn’t consumed by the flames, signifying God’s eternal holiness, but it was this feature that grabbed Moses’ attention, and we read, ““This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it””(Exodus 3:3). That was the point when Moses was given a special mission, as we read in Exodus 3:10, “Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt”“.

A few chapters on in Exodus, we read about a pillar of fire, representing God’s presence. Exodus 13:21, “The LORD went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night”. Can we imagine what it must have been like, to continually have a physical reminder that God is with us? There is something else written about God in Hebrews 12:28-29. There we read about God’s power and majesty, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire'”.

In Malachi 3:2-3 we read how God’s fire tests and purifies the faith of His people, just as a metal worker purifies the metal, gold or silver, that he is working with. “But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness“. In a sense the Word of God, the Bible, acts in the same way, because, as Paul wrote to Timothy, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). That is why it is so important that we pilgrims continually read God’s Word. We must allow ourselves to be refined, preparing us for a life with God in Heaven one day. And it is never too late to reach for our Bibles and start reading, and we ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what He wants us to see and act upon. 

The Holy Spirit fell upon the disciples who had congregated “in one place” in Jerusalem. “They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:3-4). Yet another demonstration of the presence of God and His purifying fire. We may not have had the experience of tongues of fire visibly falling on us but we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, empowering us to do God’s work as He leads and guides us. If we have any doubts as to what this means, we should read Ephesians 3:20, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us“. “His power”? I sometimes feel that we neglect the Holy Spirit’s wonderful and powerful gift within us at our peril.

But there is one source of fire that all human beings should be fearful of, and we find it in Revelation 20:15: “And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire”. We pilgrims have nothing to be afraid of, in this respect, but what about our families and friends? Once again, I remind everyone of our obligations to preach the Gospel at every opportunity. We might just be able to pluck someone from the flames.

Dear Father God. You are awesome in Your power and majesty. Please forgive us for taking You for granted and neglecting our duties as a Christian. Lead us, we pray, to the people You wish to reach. Amen.

Punishment

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things. And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things.”
Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT

The word “punishment” is not a popular word or sentiment to bring up in a conversation down the pub. It conjures up thoughts of a child being sent to their room for some misdemeanour, or a criminal being imprisoned as a punishment for their crime. But we live in a moral universe. By that I mean that every misdeed, every sin, every crime, all will one day have to be remedied by a suitable consequential punishment. Every bad deed will be judged, either in this life or the next.

God, through Moses, set down detailed laws that had to be followed by the rag-tag bunch of ex-slaves, as He led them through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Many of these laws still apply today, because they underpin the very cohesion of our society. But here’s one that illustrates the principle of justice involving punishment. God taught that the punishment must match the crime, so justice is achieved. We read in Exodus 21:23-25, “But if there is further injury, the punishment must match the injury: a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise”. I’m not, of course, suggesting that we should implement physical punishments as in Moses’ day – such a response is considered barbaric in 21st Century society, but many today will suggest that this principle of the punishment fitting the crime no longer applies in society, with apparent punishments being too lenient and favouring the offender rather than the victim. But, never fear, the scales of justice will be balanced on the Day of Judgement, if not before, when all mankind will stand before God.

But what about us pilgrims? When we see behaviour in others that we disagree with how do we respond? Criminal behaviour is of course the responsibility of the civil authorities, and we are told to pray for them. But unfair and offensive behaviour, “legal but harmful” in modern social media parlance, may initiate feelings of anger within us. Jesus taught about this in Matthew 5:22, “But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell”. So we learn not to react when something happens to provoke us. Instead, we ask God to intervene and we then move on in the knowledge that our blood pressure and inner peace are unaffected. And the Master Judge will do what is right.

People in general, even many Christians, do not understand how detestable sin is to God. In fact, it is so abhorrent to Him, that one day all those whose sin and wickedness is recorded in their Judgement Day Book (not the Book of Life), will end up in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:15). Some will try and claim that our loving God would never do such a thing, but they fail to understand that God is not just a God of love, He is also a God of Righteousness, Holiness and Purity. For a season in these End Times days we have access to His grace. He has given us a remedy to sin and we can today stand righteous and holy before Him, through the sanctifying power of Jesus’ blood. But the door He has opened will not remain open forever. 

Once again, I issue a rallying call to my fellow pilgrims. We have the knowledge of the redeeming Words of God. We must share them to everyone we can while there is still time.

Father God. We thank You for Your inexhaustible supply of grace. We embrace it today, with love and thanks, and pray for more opportunities to share You with those in our families and communities. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Burning Lake

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulphur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
Revelation‬ ‭20:10‬ ‭NLT

The armies of the earth have been destroyed by fire. A sad end to man’s rebellion. They will of course be present at the second resurrection, and the consequences of this we will see, in a future blog, that it will not end well for them. Fire will be with them for all eternity, not just for the brief moment when they, and their fellow soldiers, were incinerated. But in today’s verse we see that the devil is seized once again. He seems impervious to his own limitations, and his inability to avoid God’s judgement, even though he must have known it would come to this. Look at the sequence of events. He was thrown out of Heaven. He was defeated at Calvary. He was incarcerated in the bottomless pit. And now he has been assigned to his final home – the fiery lake of burning sulphur. And in his vision John saw that the devil would be tormented, along with the beast and his false prophet, forever. Without any rest or parole. But he can never claim he didn’t know what would happen to him.

The devil overreached himself. He thought, in his arrogance, that he could take God on and win. Have we pilgrims ever met anyone who is so full of themselves, apparently impervious to their own limitations? They think that they are someone when, in reality, they aren’t?  But isn’t it strange – we can see this character trait in others but not ourselves. The Apostle Paul reminded the Romans of this in Romans 12:3, “Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us”. Paul said we should assess ourselves honestly, but how do we do that? One piece of Scripture that has helped me greatly on my pilgrimage through life is Ephesians 4:22-23,“throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes”. Personal deception is part of our old sinful lives. Through the renewing that comes through the Holy Spirit, we get the help we need to evaluate ourselves honestly. 

Jesus described hell as being dark, and full of wailing and gnashing of teeth. At the marriage feast He found that there was someone not wearing the right wedding clothes, and he was removed from the banquet. We read in Matthew 22:13, “Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”‭‭ Jesus gave a graphic description of the eternal regret that an unrepentant person will experience – in darkness and deep sorrow. But in John’s vision in Revelation 20, as we will see in a future blog, those whose names are not recorded in the Book of Life will be joining the devil, the beast and the false prophet in the lake of fire. Either way, though, eternal separation from God in a place of torment, shows how seriously God views sin and wickedness. We must view it the same way, particularly in our own lives. And pray for our loved ones, that they too will take advantage of God’s love in this season of His grace.

Dear Lord. In humble gratitude we thank You for your grace and love. Amen.