John the Baptist asked the religious leaders of his day, many, if not most of who were clearly ‘blinded’ to the things of God (Matt. 23:24; 15:14)…”Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matt. 3:7).

We are told in John’s gospel that anyone who is not a follower/believer in Jesus…that the ‘wrath of God remains, or abides on them’ (3:36 & Acts 26:18). And Paul would later declare in Romans 1:18- ‘the wrath of God is [being] revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men…”.

Friends, I would submit to you that many sincere professing believers today have a deficient understanding as to what the ‘wrath of God’ is, why it’s here and how it is relevant to all who are on the earth today. And if/when you ask a professing believer who claims to be ‘saved’…what exactly they are ‘saved from’…few seem to be able to tell you off the top of their heads that it is the ‘wrath of God’ that Jesus came to ‘save us’ from, according to Romans 5:9.

In fact most might be quick to tell you that we are not living in a ‘dispensation of God’s wrath’…since Jesus came and took the punishment of our sins when He died on the cross. Now if that was the case, which it is not (the part about God's wrath being 'put on hold')... how would you explain what happened to Ananias and his wife, in Acts 5; or those believers in 1 Cor. 11 who fell under judgment/discipline (29-32). Or how about King Agrippa being struck down in Acts 12:23? And why did Jesus suggest that if a man whom He had healed… continued to sin…might experience even greater problems, in John 5:14?

Yes…it is because of our ‘lack of knowledge’…that many of ‘God’s people are being destroyed’…even today (Hosea 4:6). And this is why God was grieved with his prophets back in OT times, as we looked at yesterday…and why God is not happy with many today who would presume to be speaking on His behalf…but are not (2 Tim. 4:3-4). I would also submit that the reason there seems to be a lack of a genuine ‘fear of God’ today is because we don’t understand the significance of what His wrath entails. And the best way to learn and come to a greater appreciation and understanding of what His wrath is…is to look back to the OT which serves as a basis of knowledge for us all to learn what was a ‘shadow of things to come’.

We looked at this yesterday and came to see that when we read of God’s wrath, or ‘anger’…there are strong hints which point to how God uses ‘Satan’…or ‘destroying angels’…to carry out His judgments (Ps. 78:49).  And that did not change in the NT (1 Cor. 5:5). In fact…if you hang with me here, you’ll see that it is only ‘ramping up’, and in ways that you would have difficulty believing if it were told to you beforehand. (Acts 13:40-41; Habakkuk 1:5-12)

I realize this can be hard for both ‘believers’ and unbelievers alike to wrap their head around, let alone to believe and accept ... having to reckon this talk of ‘demons and devils’ might actually ‘be a thing’… but as always…all I can do is point you to what is laying there in the pages of your Bible to study for yourself…and then pray that God will open the eyes of your understanding as well (Acts 17:11).

Throughout the OT, when God reached a point of ‘lowering the boom’ on His people because of their continuous sins and rebellion, He would raise up or bring the ‘enemies of God’ in to carry out His judgments. And this is where it can get dicey for some, because who exactly is our ‘enemy’ today? (1 Pet. 5:8; Eph. 6:12; 1 John 5:19).

We spent some time yesterday going through Jeremiah 23 and learning of God’s displeasure with the prophets of that day because they failed to warn the people , and ‘caused them to err’. There’s an interesting passage in Jer. 50:6-7 where God again declares the reason why His people were lost and scattered ‘sheep’, and He placed the blame squarely on the shepherds who ‘led them astray’. When we fail to warn people of the consequences of their actions…we are leading them astray; and this in turn opens the door for the enemy to come in to ‘steal, kill, and destroy’. Now look at vs. 7 where the ‘adversaries who devoured the sheep’ make it known that they had ‘legal ground’ to do so…”because the people had sinned against the Lord’. When did God change? Can you look at Galatians 6:7-8 and Eph. 5:6 real quick?

Jeremiah 24 goes in to more detail announcing that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon…will carry away God’s people into captivity, but that in due time, He (God) would bring back a remnant of those who would ‘return to Him with their whole heart’. There is so much more to this ‘whole heart’ thing than we dare imagine, and I’ll come back to that later. But because of the abundance of ‘bad fruit’…God was sending the ‘sword, famine and pestilence among them’ (24:10). And what was John’s warning about an 'axe being laid to the root of trees that did not bring forth good fruit’ in Matt. 3:7-10? You might also look at Jer. 46:19-23 as an interesting reference as well. You should recall the message earlier this past week about what God had to say when the ‘watchmen’ fail to warn the people of the coming ‘sword’, and upon whose hands the blood of the people will be upon (Ezek. 33:7).

Trust me when I tell you I know this can sound like nothing but ‘doom and gloom’, and can be wearisome to read and study and digest; but it is so critically important that we know and understand all this, because this is what I usually refer to as the ‘bad news’. And as I have stated in times past…you really can’t appreciate the ‘good news’ until you first hear and firmly grasp what the ‘bad news’ is. This is also the reason I continue to beat that drum of why ‘fruit matters’...which now leads us to Isaiah 5. Given what we have been laying the groundwork for here in recent days…let’s just touch on some key points in Isaiah 5… where God speaks prophetically about His ‘beloved’ who had a vineyard where He hoped to bring forth good grapes (fruit) but it yielded only bad fruit. (Who do you think the 'vineyard' might represent? Isa. 5:7; Mark 12:1; John 15:1-8)

He (God) then asked: “What more could I have done?” (4)…and then announces what He’s about to do: “I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; and break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.” (5). Now look at vs. 24-25 where we read how God will send ‘fire to devour and the anger of the Lord is aroused against HIS people’. And why is He doing this? “Because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” Anyone remember from yesterday what ‘hosts’ refers to? It’s the ‘armies’ that God sends to carry out His judgments; but today…it’s not the communist or the ‘libs’ or even ‘Muslims’ that God is turning loose (Eph. 6:12). It is the powers of darkness who carry out God’s wrath; and if you would, please finish up reading 26-30 (Isa. 5) and see if the Holy Spirit doesn’t reveal some more insight there for you. (Who does Peter liken the ‘devil’ to, in 1 Peter 5:8?). Also, if you can carve out some extra time, you might gain more insight taking your time reading through both chapters 5 & 13 in Isaiah. Then, tomorrow…the really ‘good news’…which comes in the form of the ‘gospel’ ( 1 John 5:18).

Hang in there…help is on the way!