I should probably give you a heads up here, that some of what we will read here today can be difficult to digest, let alone accept and believe. It’s the imagery used in which God reveals His methods of bringing wrath and judgment on His people...of all things, than can be troublesome. And as I continue to remind anyone who reads here: all I can do is point you to the word of God and what you do with it is between you and Him. (Acts 17:11)

We left off yesterday in Isaiah 5:26-30. God has ‘lowered the hedge’...and here they come: a ‘nation from afar’ in which God has ‘whistled for’ (26).

Now remember...what we often read in the OT is a foreshadow of things to come in the ‘spirit realm’. We know that we no longer contend with ‘flesh and blood’, but what, according to Eph. 6:12? And who does Peter tell us to be on guard or watch for in 1 Pet. 5:8? So back in OT times, we know that God would often bring in the Philistines, or the Chaldeans, or the Assyrians, etc. to carry out His vengeance when His people rebelled and refused to keep His law. Today, our ‘enemies’ are no longer ‘flesh and blood’...which I hope has become clear to us all.

So let’s draw some more comparisons in this text in Isaiah 5. This ‘nation from afar’ brings ‘sharp arrows’. What are we given to ‘quench those flaming arrows’ in Eph. 6:16? What was their ‘roaring’ likened to in vs. 28-29? And how does Peter compare our ‘enemy’ to in 1 Pet. 5:8?

Now look back at Isaiah 5:13 to read what happens to God’s people. Are we told they ‘go into captivity’? Do you know what enables us to be ‘taken captive’? Sin does; sin ‘gives place to the devil’ (Eph. 4:27) which is why Jesus said: “Go and sin no more lest something worse happens to you” (John 5:14). Do you think He was serious about this? Take a look at Jeremiah’s lament in 13:15-17. Who gets ‘taken captive’ there? And what was the root or cause of that? Pride.

Do you recall what Jesus promised to those ‘sheep’ of His...who hear and follow? Take a look at John 10:27-28. And why did Paul exhort Timothy to be patient and humble when trying to teach those who opposed him, there in 2 Tim. 2:24-26?

Yesterday, I pointed out the question the Lord had asked there in Isa. 5:4, wanting to know ‘what more’ could have been done to ensure good fruit would have come forth. Then I suggested that God was asking the same question of us today...wanting to know why we continue to sin when He’s done all that needed to be done to free us of it. (Rom. 6:1-7,18,22; 2 Pet. 1:2-4; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 4:18). This might help us better understand the sobering words those professing ‘believers’ heard in Matt. 7:23; not to mention that passage in Heb. 10:26-31.

Shall we continue on with the approaching ‘armies’ we read about often in the OT as God directs them in to carry out His judgments. And let’s not forget Paul’s reminder that ‘all these things happened to them...as warnings and examples for us upon whom the end of the ages has come...” (1 Cor. 10:6-11). Let’s turn to Jeremiah 1. You’ll begin to see a pattern here as God calls, or ‘whistles’ for these forces to move in. And let’s be honest...can we really say we’ve not been warned? (Matt. 3:7-12; Luke 13:1-5; 2 Cor. 7:1; Heb. 10:24-25).

Jeremiah spends much time writing, proclaiming and warning what God’s people can expect in the not too far off future. Take a look at Jer. 1:13-16. What is God summoning from the ‘north’?, clans or families of the kingdoms (15). And what will they gather around? Don’t forget, Jerusalem and Judah represent God’s people, His ‘beloved’ and it’s against them He will ‘utter His judgments’ (16). Sounds eerily similar to what Jesus foretold in Luke 19:41-44.

I am going to strongly encourage you to spend some time on your own reading through the first 13 chapters of Jeremiah later today, or soon, and have a highlighter handy to mark various passages that will most likely stand out to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit. (Don’t be surprised if you continue reading more than those chapters either) Just ask the Lord to make clear to you what, if any...spiritual truths lie in Jeremiah’s words that apply to us today. Jesus did that for His disciples in Luke 24:31-32,45, and He’ll do it for you as well. And let me assure you , this is not using ‘replacement theology’ or trivializing what happened back in OT times in the ‘natural realm’.

Let’s finish up with the Book of Joel. I’ll give you a moment to read 2:1-13 on your own. Joel is God’s mouthpiece here as he warns of the coming ‘Day of the Lord’...that is ‘at hand’ (1). And look what he warns is coming in vs. 2-5. Sounds like another approaching ‘army’ of sorts, similar to that army of Chaldeans we read about in Habakkuk 1 last week.

We see there in Joel 2:6 the response of the people how they ‘writhe in pain; all faces are drained of color’. Sounds like ‘men’s hearts might be failing them for fear of things to come’, which Jesus spoke of in Luke 21:26. Now, please note vs. 7-9 and see what these ‘armies’ do. They are storming the city, climbing walls and ‘climb into houses, entering windows like a...thief’. Seems I recall Paul describing the ‘day of the Lord’ coming as a ‘thief in the night’; two times in fact... there in 1 Thess. 5:1-9. But this picture of ‘thieves breaking in’ should resonate with you, given what we know about what the ‘thief’ comes to do (John 10:10). And we know what Jesus explained how ‘unclean spirits’ seek to re-enter houses with more wicked spirits...in Matt. 12:43-45. Also...what was the warning given by Jesus to a church that had a reputation of being ‘alive’ but in His eyes...was ‘dead’ (Rev. 3:1-3)?

If you find Joel’s writing troublesome and unnerving...then please underline vs 12-13 which should offer you some hope, followed up by 2 Pet. 3:9. And one last thing about this chapter we just read in Joel. Back in the 1980’s, there was a popular song you may remember that could really get a congregation tapping their feet. It was called ‘Blow the Trumpet in Zion’, and countless numbers of sincere believers would get worked up as this ‘army of God’ was riding in, victoriously...thinking all the time it was referring to God’s army of ‘believers’. Little did we realize it speaks of the invading forces of demons and the powers of darkness that are coming on the land today. Do you know who wrote that song? A well-known ‘TV evangelist’ by the name of Kenneth Copeland. And I’ll just leave it at that for today. Tomorrow, Lord willing, maybe we should talk about much of the ‘blindness’ that exists these days. Join me?