This next several chapters (13 thru 23) of the Book of Isaiah contains judgments against the nations.
We can't read through these chapters without seeing God's wrath and judgment. It appears to be a type of paradox, as if both God's love and judgment cannot co-exist. But they do...in perfect balance.
There are several things that involved God's wrath, that also reveal His goodness:
- God's wrath is never out of this impulsive feeling of anger. God isn't just responding in a heated moment of anger to man's sin. God does love mankind, as a Creator, He loves His creation. In Genesis, we're called "The crown of His creation." We are the most beloved treasure to Him in all of creation, but, because of man's sinful hearts, we are separated from God. All throughout Scripture, we see also that God's wrath is not in Him, as far as that's not an inherent characteristic of God, but something that is provoked by sinful man.
In Romans 1:18, it says: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth."
So, it is man who provokes God's wrath; it is not something that God just has because it's part of Him.
In Ephesians 5:6, it says: "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience."
In John 3:36: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." - God's goodness is found in the solution to our sinful hearts. His wrath is on us if we are not saved, as John told us. So, in Isaiah 11 and 12, He speaks about a Branch from David's line. In the New Testament, we discover that the Savior is Jesus Christ. In John 15:1, Jesus calls Himself the "true vine," a direct imagery to Isaiah 11:1. So, the goodness of God comes from the amazing person of Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ came into the world to satisfy God's wrath.
So, it says in that day, you will say: "I will give thanks to You, O LORD, for though You were angry with me, Your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation …" So, when we talk about Jesus coming in response to God's wrath, it's not to pour out God's wrath on sinful man. The first time Jesus came, He came so that we could be saved from this wrath. I loved what Isaiah 11:3 says. It's talking about Jesus and it says: "And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth." So, it's talking about Jesus coming and Jesus isn't necessarily going to say "This is the wrath of God and this is how you're going to be punished." Instead, He says: "This is how you deserve to be punished, but this is how I'm making a way of escape." This is how you can escape the wrath of God and it's believing in the person of Jesus Christ. That is just such an amazing promise for us as Christians, for anyone who would come to the Lord and feel that weight of sin in their life and to know that yes, before you are saved, as John said in John 3:36, if you do not have the Son, then the wrath of God remains on him. People feel that — those that are under conviction, those that see their sin in the true light of what it is — they feel that wrath of God on them and they want to be saved from this. - God's wrath reveals God's goodness. God is love, but He's also justice. Sin must be punished. Jesus' death on the cross accomplished this. While Jesus was on the cross, He took all of God's wrath for us. In 1 John 4:10, it says that Jesus took our punishment, which was the wrath of God. So, the first time Jesus comes, He comes to save us from our sins, to offer this way of salvation, He says "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." He wants us to come and accept His gift of salvation. He took the wrath of God on Him on the cross and we only come to Him and accept this gift that He has for us. But the second time Jesus returns, it will be to pour out His wrath on the sinful world. Every injustice will be made right. You can see that if you read Revelation. When you read some of the punishments and the things that are going to happen at these end times. But it's also interesting — the response of the people in heaven is one of rejoicing. It's not the rejoicing that these people are suffering; it's the rejoicing in who God is. His wrath, although horrible, although it feels really bad, it is something that we can rejoice in because we know that He is the judge that makes things right. We just want things to be fair and right, and knowing that that's who my God is, is such a comfort.
- God's wrath is also revealed in that He extends His mercy. I love Isaiah 54:8. It says "'In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,' says the LORD, your Redeemer." His anger is but for a moment, but an "everlasting love" ... His love, and His compassion and His mercy — those are everlasting. The beautiful thing about God's wrath is that it's not too late — if you are alive, if you have breath in you — it is not too late to enter into His everlasting love. That is such an amazing promise! As Christians, this is such a comfort to our hearts because we know once you're saved, that doesn't mean you stop sinning, and sometimes we feel like we've gone too far. We've sinned too much; God isn't going to forgive us. Just read Isaiah 54:8. He might be angry for a moment, at your sin, but His everlasting love will always be there to forgive you — just turn to Him.
So, God pronounced judgment on Israel and the world, and — not to break them down — He wasn't trying to pronounce judgment to break them down, but to bring them back. So, if we're going to try to go our own way, God will sometimes use whatever means to get us back to Him. Paul talks about this when he says, in one of those really familiar passages — Romans 8:28: "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." All things work together for good — even the hard things work for our good. So, even the situations where God — we feel like maybe He's punishing us — those are to be for our good because it brings us back to Him. I think that's what Isaiah is trying to tell us in these chapters, but also in the whole book of Isaiah — that it might not be good, what you're going through might not be good, but good can come from this if you turn to God.