Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America

Tuesday after the Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Trinity Sunday

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Pastor Dulas under Devotions
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Scripture: Isaiah 34:1-17 (NKJV)

1 Come near, you nations, to hear; And heed, you people! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world and all things that come forth from it.

2 For the indignation of the LORD is against all nations, and His fury against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter.

3 Also their slain shall be thrown out; Their stench shall rise from their corpses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

4 All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from a fig tree.

5 “For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; Indeed it shall come down on Edom, and on the people of My curse, for judgment.

6 “The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made overflowing with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

7 “The wild oxen shall come down with them, and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; Their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust saturated with fatness.”

8 For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

9 Its streams shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone; Its land shall become burning pitch.

10 It shall not be quenched night or day; Its smoke shall ascend forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; No one shall pass through it forever and ever.

11 But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it, also the owl and the raven shall dwell in it. And He shall stretch out over it the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness.

12 They shall call its nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all its princes shall be nothing.

13 And thorns shall come up in its palaces, nettles and brambles in its fortresses; It shall be a habitation of jackals, a courtyard for ostriches.

14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the jackals, and the wild goat shall bleat to its companion; Also the night creature shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.

15 There the arrow snake shall make her nest and lay eggs and hatch, and gather them under her shadow; There also shall the hawks be gathered, every one with her mate.

16 “Search from the book of the LORD, and read: Not one of these shall fail; Not one shall lack her mate. For My mouth has commanded it, and His Spirit has gathered them.

17 “He has cast the lot for them, and His hand has divided it among them with a measuring line. They shall possess it forever; From generation to generation they shall dwell in it.”

Devotion

On the Last Day, our Lord Jesus Christ, “will come to judge the living and the dead.” The announcement of Judgment Day brings with it the threat of punishment upon all who break the commandments. Jesus says, “There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not accept My words” (John 12:48). When Isaiah says, “Come near, you nations, to hear,” we ought to pay attention to these words so that confessing our sins, we fear His wrath and not do anything against them.

And yet, the Last Day also brings with it the promise of the salvation of God’s people. Isaiah says, “For it is the day of the LORD’s vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion” (Is. 34:8). The Lord will spare His people who have faith in Jesus Christ. Hebrews 9:28, “…and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.” Christians know that the coming judgment day has a gospel purpose, too. It is not just for punishment, but “for the cause of Zion,” His Church. The Lord will use the coming judgment to bring us salvation from our enemies of sin, death, and the devil. We will not always be oppressed. “Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57).

We pray: Heavenly Father, having promised to redeem us through the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, give us joy as we wait for the blessed hope of our salvation. Amen.

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