Jack Hibbs - A Day You Will Wanna Miss (01/22/2026)
Isaiah 34 vividly depicts the terrifying day of the Lord’s vengeance and wrath poured out on the nations during the future Tribulation period, a time of unprecedented global judgment that believers in Christ will escape through the Rapture, culminating in the Second Coming where Jesus returns to defend Israel and establish His righteous rule.
Introduction and Preview
Well, you guys turned to Isaiah chapter 34, and it is a powerful chapter. From this chapter—chapter 34—next time, chapter 35 is a Messianic chapter regarding the ministry and identification of the Messiah. Chapter 35 next week together: how would you identify the Messiah if He should show up? Isaiah 35 next week will tell us about that. Tonight we’re looking at a shift in the structure of the book of Isaiah. We come now to what is really a closing portion of what you’ve been hearing so much аbout: the judgments of God.
Isaiah as the Evangelical Prophet
Chapter 34 is a little bit different, and I think you’ll recognize it tonight, and you’ll be very much, I think, aware of why the book of Isaiah or the prophet Isaiah is known as the evangelical prophet, because there are more New Testament Messianic promises regarding the Messiah. In other words, Isaiah is more New Testament than any other Old Testament book. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John cite Isaiah more than any other prophet.
And tonight you’re going to see how Isaiah, by God’s gifting and his call to be a prophet, saw into the future—and not only into the future, but into a very small segment of time regarding the Tribulation period. Tonight’s message is entitled “A Day You Will Want to Miss.” This is a day, this is a time that you will want to miss. There is no way that you, as a believer, would want to be involved in what Isaiah 34 is about.
And for those of you who are believers—how many of you are born-again believers? You love Jesus—you will miss this day. Amen. You’re not going to experience this. It’s a promise of God. There’s a lot of technical reasons why the church cannot be in the seven-year Tribulation period. It’s quite Jewish, it’s quite technical, it’s quite amazing, but we look at this tonight.
The Necessity and Purpose of the Tribulation
And just by way of introduction—and I’ve got somewhat of a beefy introduction to set the stage, and then we’ll get into the book and we’ll go through it rather quickly—surprisingly, there is the necessity and the purpose and the plan to what is called the Great Tribulation, or let me say thus: the Tribulation period. When we talk about eschatology, the seven-year Tribulation period—listen—it’s the seven-year Tribulation period that is forthcoming in the future.
There is what is called the Great Tribulation, which is the midsection to the end. All seven years belong to the nation of Israel, based upon Daniel chapter 9 very specifically. It has to be that way. God’s Word says it’s that way. And even though it is seven years of God dealing specifically with the Jewish nation and with Jews, it envelops the entire world. Nobody escapes from this.
And there will be those believers who will come to know Christ during that period of time by the ministry of at least 144,000 male, Hebrew-speaking, virgin men—12,000 from each tribe—and they’re going to proclaim the Word of God with power. And the Bible tells us that so many people are converted during that period of time that John, the author of the book of Revelation, when he saw them, said that it was a number too great for a human to count. That is awesome.
Think of it: probably safe to say that in the last 2,000 years, as many people have been saved—they’ll probably be more people saved during the Tribulation period than what have been saved in the last 2,000 years. Think of that. It’s going to be absolutely awesome. And those believers—by the way, those Tribulation saints—you ought to remember that there’s Old Testament saints (example: David), there’s the Church Age saints (the church—you, us), and there’s the Tribulation saints.
What’s interesting: Tribulation saints will have to die for their faith. They will die for their testimony. But as we, the church tonight, look into the future, we are going to be blown away with how New Testament-like Isaiah 34 is. But listen: by necessity—what I mean by that is the Bible is going to make it very clear here that the time of man’s government is going to come to an end.
The Tribulation period brings an end to man’s attempt to govern himself. Have we not yet learned that man cannot govern himself? So there’s a necessity to the Tribulation period. You might say, “Well, why all this mayhem? Why all of this trouble?” Number one: to show the world and to show man that he cannot govern himself without God. Man is a mess.
In Matthew chapter 24, verse 21, the Bible says, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world.” Jesus said, “Until this time, no, nor ever shall be”—the worst of the worst. The purpose: the seven-year Tribulation period—and by the way, we need to be very careful, though—always keep in mind that when we’re learning about the Tribulation period, you can’t study it without knowing that Israel is the key player in it.
The purpose is God’s focus upon His people. He will save a remnant of the Jewish people at that time. A remnant of the house of Israel will be saved. And then another thing to keep in mind is the plan that God has—a great plan to bring to an end man’s attempt to rule, as I mentioned a moment ago. In Matthew chapter 24—I’ll read verse 21 down to 22 in context again.
“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.” Look at verse 22: “And unless those days were shortened,” Jesus said, “no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake—that’s Israel—those days will be shortened.” The world is going to be so messed up, there’s going to be so many people dying, that unless Christ came back, nobody would survive—no people would all perish. But He does come back, and we’re going to be reading about that tonight.
The Spiritual Barometer
I want to show you something that’s kind of cool. I don’t know—I think it’s cool. I’m going to show you this slide, and it may not impress you, but this is—see this barometer? This is a barometer I got in London at an antique store, and it’s pretty big, by the way. It’s hanging in my house because I love this kind of stuff. And let’s zoom in for a second.
This is what’s happening earlier today. Do you see right here—this is the calibrating rod right here, and you would set the scale. It’s shifted. The barometer has shifted today. It started out this morning with a higher barometric pressure, and it began to lower during the day. This is, again, a barometer. It just hangs on the wall. It doesn’t say anything.
It doesn’t speak to you. There’s no high-tech to it, but it’s extremely accurate. If you’re weird like I am and you go back and look at it every so often—now, look, in Southern California, that thing doesn’t move much. That’s why I took a picture of it today. This is a “wow” photo. Why? Because the barometric pressure began to drop.
Why? Because there’s a storm coming. There’s weather coming. And invisibly, between our eyes and my eyes and your eyes, there’s a whole lot going on in the atmosphere that you cannot see with your eyes, but there are certain instruments picking up on it. Are you with me? There are certain things designed to detect change.
And the Bible tells us that there’s going to be a time coming—and we’re already starting to see hints of it in our age—that the spiritual barometer is moving. And if you know the Bible and if you are into the Word of God, you look at what’s going on around the world—just like last Sunday in that Paris debacle—you look at that, and that’s not a coincidence.
Anything dealing with Israel is not a coincidence. And you look at your Bible, and the Bible, though it just as it were is stationary, it’s always indicating change, like a barometer. And so we look at the weather and we see, you know what, it’s dropping—that means you can expect wind, you can expect clouds, you can expect change.
The Bible says the same thing about the days and the age in which we live. In Matthew chapter 16, verse 1—Matthew 16:1—Jesus said, “Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, testing Him, and asked Him if He would show them a sign or a miracle from heaven.” And Jesus answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’
Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.” Jesus is saying: you got your barometer working, but you’re missing the spiritual barometer. And if you know the Word of God, you’re not going to miss the changes. You’re going to track them. You’re going to be aware of them.
Exhortation to Watchfulness and Promises of Escape
And Jesus gave an exhortation to be watchful and ready for the believers always. In Matthew 5:17—we’ll get to Isaiah in a moment—in Matthew 5:17 Jesus says, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”
Not even a comma—and that’s important for tonight—not even a comma or hyphen in the Hebrew language will pass until all these things are completed. God’s Word is so true. Exhortation—I’m building a case. Listen to me. In Luke 21, verse 34—listen to this—Jesus says, “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing”—this is the danger of our age now.
We’re right down near to the end; the temptation to give up is high—Jesus says, “Watch out. Don’t let your heart get weighed down with partying, drunkenness, the cares of this life.” That’ll get you—the cares of this life. A little strangle, He says, “so that that day come upon you unexpectedly.” Verse 35: “For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.”
By the way, the believer does not dwell on the face of the earth. The believer’s citizenship is in heaven. Verse 36—listen to this: “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” A promise of deliverance from these times that we’re going to be looking at in Isaiah 34.
One more pre-study verse—it’s awesome. Revelation 3:10—Jesus speaking to the church at Philadelphia, which not only was a church there in Asia Minor (Turkey today)—actual geographical place, real church—but throughout all of the ages, those seven letters to the seven churches depict the heart and the life of any era of church life all the way down to any individual.
In other words, in this building right now there are those who are like Philadelphian believers, there are those who are like Laodicean believers, there are those in this room that are like Thyatira in your walk. You should know the personality of the seven churches. You and I want to be a Philadelphian type of believer—not from Philadelphia—Philadelphian in Revelation chapter 3.
It’s vital. Jesus said, “Because you have kept My command to persevere—you didn’t give up, you didn’t quit—I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” You can’t get more clear than that. There’s going to be a generation of believers that will be kept out of what is coming to the entire globe—not locally, the entire globe.
I submit to you this evening that that promise is none other than through what is called the Rapture of the church. There’s no other deliverance package revealed in the Scripture. There’s going to be a generation of the church that is going to be removed from these perils that are going to come.
God’s Justice Comes to Earth (Isaiah 34:1-17)
So here we go. In verses 1 to 17—it’s really one point tonight—it’s this: we’re talking about God’s justice comes to earth.
Verse 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 that comes forth from it.” Verse 1: God announces—by the way, He’s done this before; He did this in chapter 1. He’s calling the nations and the heavens to take witness of what He’s about to do. That’s an amazing thing.
The first time He said that, by the way, was in Isaiah chapter 1. He kind of echoed the same thing in Isaiah 1, verse 2. He says, “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: ‘I have nourished and brought up children’”—He’s talking about Israel in this context, chapter 1—“‘and they have rebelled against Me.
The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, My people do not consider.’” He was rebuking them, and they were taken away into judgment. Now Isaiah 34: He’s speaking to the nations of the world. He’s saying, “That’s it.” So something’s happened. Now He’s speaking to the nations, and He’s saying it’s time for My justice to come. This is a big deal.
Verse 2: here’s how it comes together, it takes shape. “For the indignation of the Lord is against all nations, and His fury against all their armies.” What’s going on? “He has utterly destroyed them; He has given them over to the slaughter.” There’s so many times—look right there in that verse, right at the end of the word “slaughter”—do you have like a comma there or a period?
You want to mark that. You want to highlight that. You ought to circle it, and I’ll tell you the reason why. So many times in Bible prophecy, so many times in the book of Isaiah, you must read prophecy carefully and slowly, understanding that when God speaks, there’s number one: often the near fulfillment and the far fulfillment.
That is, there’s the fulfillment of the prophecy locally, and there’s the fulfillment of that prophecy in the long term. And it can be with a colon, a semicolon, a period, a comma, a pause—and it’s vital that we understand that.
The Comma in Prophecy: Isaiah 61 and Luke 4
For example, the ministry of Jesus—I hope you appreciate this; this is kind of amazing.
If you want to turn in your Bible—it’s not far from where you’re at—go to Isaiah 61. I’m wondering if you’re going to catch on to where you’ve heard this before. When God speaks, now He’s saying, “I’m calling all the nations to justice. I’m going to call the court. I’m going to indict the nations of the world.” He’s going to culminate the Tribulation period.
But look at Isaiah 61, and I wonder if you’re reminded of a New Testament verse: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
I look at Isaiah 61, verse 2—the second part goes on; notice: “the day of vengeance of our God.” Do you see that? Isaiah 61—notice this: when He’s announcing in the first verse, it’s all good news, right? You recognize the ministry of Jesus. Look at the opening part of verse 2—you still recognize the ministry of Jesus—“to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
There’s a comma right there. If it were in English—it’s in Hebrew—there’s a comma. There’s a pause. Thank God there’s a pause. You want to know why? The next statement in verse 2 is “and the day of vengeance of our God.” In Luke chapter 4—listen to it now—Luke chapter 4, verse 16.
“So He—Jesus—came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.” I don’t want to get into the weeds on this, but it was literally the day that Jesus, the citizen of Nazareth—it was His day to read in the synagogue. The week before, it was some other guy from His town.
There’s no coincidence with God. The very day that a particular citizen from Nazareth—who happens to be Jesus—it’s His turn to read from the appointed Scripture of that day. Every synagogue in the world would be reading the same passage from Isaiah that day. And it just so happens Jesus stands up because it’s His day to read it.
Watch what happens—wouldn’t you love to have been there? “And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it is written”—He didn’t go searching for, “Oh, I’m going to blow their minds. I’m going to go to Isaiah 61 and freak them out.” He turned to the place where He was supposed to.
Because chapter 60 had been read the week before; chapter 62 would be read next week. Are you with me? Verse 18, Luke 4: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed;
to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Can you imagine? He stops right in midstream. Then He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. This is shocking. This is not supposed to happen. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him—of course they were; they were wondering what’s going on.
And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Shocked everybody. You can read on later—they were absolutely blown away. He’s announcing to all of us that He’s the Messiah. Listen, church: if He would have kept reading, He would have gone right from the proclamation of the good news to the Tribulation period.
The very next statement in verse 2 of Isaiah 61 is the Tribulation. For you see, Jack, what are you saying? That comma has been holding back—that comma has been 2,000 years holding back judgment and the wrath of God on earth. One comma in your Bible. And when God begins to move again, man, are things going to go quick. Remarkable.
Jeremiah 30 and Jacob’s Trouble
Jeremiah 30, verse 1 says this—Jeremiah 30:1—concerning that period of time: “The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ‘Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying: „Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you. For behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, „that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,” says the Lord.
„And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.”’” You all have witnessed that. “Now these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah. ‘For thus says the Lord: „We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
Ask now and see, whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor, and all faces turned pale? Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it; and it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he—that is, Jacob, that’s Israel—shall be saved out of it.”’” The Tribulation period—it’s what Isaiah is talking about.
Graphic Judgment Described
Look at verse 3 of Isaiah 34—chapter 34, verse 3: “Also their slain shall be thrown out; their stench shall rise from their corpses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.” Is that graphic or what? You say, “That’s not going to happen.” Oh, it’s going to happen. But Jesus—meek and mild—right now when He comes back, we have that Shepherd picture of Jesus.
And so you and I should keep that in our minds—we’re believers—but there’s a day coming when His eyes are a flame of fire. Wow. He’s coming back, and His face—the Bible says it’s so brilliant that the sun will flee from His presence. His face, when He comes in the Second Coming, will dim the brilliance of the sun—supernatural light.
You see, well, it’s kind of scary. I can’t believe that’s happening. It’s going to happen. By the way, it doesn’t have to be scary for you. He’s talking about the end. He’s talking about the end of the Tribulation period.
Clarifying Luke 17: Not the Rapture
Okay, now hold on your seats—it’s exactly what’s being talked about in Luke chapter 17.
Luke chapter 17—now listen to this. So many times, you guys, I need all of you to pay attention. This may sound—may be boring to you, I don’t know—but this is vitally important. This portion I’m going to read to you right now has been abused by so many people. I remember years ago being at a conference, and the teacher, the speaker, used this portion of Scripture to justify the Rapture.
And it’s completely wrong. There’s not a Greek scholar on the planet that would say that this is a Rapture verse. But if you’re not careful in your Bible study, you’ll assume it is because it sounds similar. Are you ready? Get your pen ready. Luke 17, beginning at verse 30—Jesus talks about this, that period of Great Tribulation and certainly the seven-year period in total.
Luke 17, verse 30: “Thus it will be in the day when the Son of Man—Jesus—is revealed.” When He comes, verse 31: “On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back.” What does that mean?
That’s the midpoint of the Tribulation period. Church, you ought to write that down in your notes right there in Luke chapter 17: midpoint Tribulation period. In fact, you can write down 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 as well. Jesus says if something’s going to happen, don’t even go into your home—run.
And Matthew 24 is in total concert with Luke 17. Jesus said, “Those of you who are in Judea, in Jerusalem”—listen, not Canoga Park or Newport Beach—He’s very specific—“those of you who are in Judea, when you see this, flee. Don’t even go to your house—run.” They’re going to run—by the way, we talked about this a few weeks ago—they’re going to run to Petra.
At that point is where the Antichrist declares himself to be God in the temple of God and the abomination of desolation (Matthew chapter 24), and the Jew will run for his life, realizing we’ve been deceived by this political superstar person, and they flee. Now watch what happens—verse 32: amazing statement. “Remember Lot’s wife.” Good or bad? Bad.
Context is judgment. “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed: one will be taken, the other left. There will be two women grinding together: one will be taken, the other left.” Watch out—don’t make the mistake that a lot of people make.
Context is judgment. If you mess this up, you’re going to have no Rapture happening in your eschatology. You’ve got what you think is a Rapture at the end of the Tribulation period—nobody really goes up at all. But this is not the Rapture, and Jesus is going to prove it to us. Look at verse 37—and they said to Him, the disciples, “Where, Lord?”
Now look, everybody—“Where, Lord?” Where what? Notice the context: where are people left or where are people taken? Where they’re taken—where? And Jesus says to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will be gathered together.” The word “corpse” here is rotting, dead, defiled flesh.
People who want to make this a Rapture verse will say, “That’s the body of Christ—that’s Jesus—that’s Christ—and the vultures are really eagles—that’s the church—and that’s what it is. It’s a Rapture.” Good luck. You can’t do that. Wherever they’re taken, they’re taken to judgment.
The ones who are left are the ones that are blessed. If you keep reading, the ones that are left are the ones who survive the Tribulation period and they live into the Millennial Kingdom. Those that are taken are taken away in judgment. This is at the end of the Tribulation period. This is not a church Rapture event. They’re taken away to destruction.
The Sheep and Goats Judgment
Jesus—listen—simultaneously, look at Matthew chapter 25, verse 31. Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory”—that’s the Second Coming—“and all His holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. And all the nations will be gathered before Him.
He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick or in prison and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren’—the Jew—‘you did it to Me.’”
When Jesus says “My brethren,” He’s always talking about the Jew. Verse 41: “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you did not give Me food…’” And He goes through that list again.
And they say, “When did this happen?” And He said—in verse 46—these will go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. The criteria: they didn’t bless His brethren. Very serious. This should both teach us a warning and also an exhortation regarding wickedness.
The heart of man needs to be born again. Man needs to be changed from the inside out.
Cosmic Disturbances and the Day of Vengeance
Verse 4—chapter 34, verse 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.”
Now watch—remember, Isaiah speaks so much New Testament language. In your notes now write down 2 Peter chapter 3. If you recognize that talk, you recognize 2 Peter 3. 2 Peter 3, verse 8: “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
In other words, God lives in eternity. He’s not waiting for anything. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness”—in other words, if you’ve been getting away with murder, if you think God’s approving of it, if you’ve been sleeping with your neighbor, if you think doing drugs and you’re robbing the bank and you’re ripping off.
And you haven’t been caught yet and you think it must be good—God didn’t stop me yet, it must be fine—listen, you’re living by the skin of your teeth, man. Only by the fact that God is patient and kind. But listen—He will stop with that. Don’t count His patience as slackness—no—but His longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
That’s God’s heart: for you to get right with Him. Verse 10: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt”—the word “elements” here in Greek is “atoms”—“the atoms will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it shall be burned up.” That’s Isaiah talk.
Remarkable—the consistency of the Scripture. Verse 5—listen to what God says; this is shocking: “For My sword shall be bathed in heaven.” The word is “soaked.” Whatever God’s doing in church—this is radical. The English here is nothing. The word implies this—watch this—the word implies God Himself, not an angel.
The Lord takes His sword and He dips it—we’ll know this more in a moment—He dips it in righteousness or justice, judgment. In other words, what God is about to do in Isaiah 34—yet future—is absolute pure holiness, righteousness, and justice. You and I don’t even know what holiness is. We don’t even know what justice is.
“I want justice”—no, you don’t. You don’t even know what you’re talking about, because justice is pure holiness and righteousness, and none of us can stand in the presence of it. That’s why you and I need the blood of Christ. His righteousness would consume us in a second if it weren’t for the redemptive blood of Christ.
His sword is drawn out—this means that the King is about ready to return to earth and to exercise His righteousness. Wow. Look at verse 6: “The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made overflowing with fatness”—now He goes into a description of its absolute effect—“with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah”—that’s a reference; almost all Greek-Hebrew scholars say those statements are a reference to His perfect ability to judge in His Second Coming. Watch this: He says that He has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
Edom is not only a geographical place, but in the context Edom is an arch enemy of God’s people and God’s promises. Anybody remember who the father of Edom is? Yes—Esau. Esau who despised his birthright. Esau who didn’t honor the things of God became an enemy.
“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.” That’s tremendous. Verse 8: “For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance.” Just like Isaiah 61—this is the day that you and I as Christians will never see.
You’ll never see this. You’ll never see God act toward you in vengeance. You need to know that tonight. Some of you love the Lord, but knowing Jesus is an absolute burden for you. It’s just difficult. You were happier as a non-believer, and then you heard the truth and it messed up your life completely.
Because you love God, you know His Word is true, but you get caught up in your works and you think that you’ve got to earn His love every day. You think you’ve got to pull the line, dance the dance, jump through the hoops. You’ve got to make the mark every day. You’ve got to get that happy face or else God’s not going to save you—not enjoying God.
You can’t enjoy God like that. Listen—you’re born again, you love the Lord, you’re going to heaven, but you need to understand something: His thoughts toward you now are for a future and for a hope. He loves you. He decides to do that. And there’s this horrible paganism within all of us that if we just pray longer and give more and do more, we’re somehow acceptable to God.
That’s pagan. He has set His affection on you. If you’re a believer tonight in the Lord Jesus Christ—isn’t it amazing—theologically the Bible declares you a saint. “See, well, the Catholic Church didn’t say I was a saint.” That’s tough. The Catholic Church has no authority to declare someone to be a saint.
The Bible tells you exactly how to become a saint: believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. That’s a saint—a holy one—the Holy Spirit living inside the believer calls you a saint. If you have any doubts, read the book of Corinthians. They were called saints—first chapter.
What a bunch of crazy, messed-up people, and they’re called saints. It’s like, are you kidding me? It’s remarkable. You will never experience this vengeance of His. Now look—if you’re here today and you don’t believe in Jesus and you don’t care to, and you’ll go it alone—then you’ll see His vengeance.
You’ve got nothing protecting you. You’re on your own. It’s a tragic thing. It doesn’t have to be. But look at verse 8 continues—I love the second half of verse 8: “the year of recompense for the cause of Zion.” What this is amazing: Jesus Christ is coming back at the end of the Tribulation period in wrath and vengeance. Why? Because He’s going to defend Zion. There’s no getting around that.
Connection to Armageddon and the Second Coming
Hey, if you’re a note-taker—this: Isaiah 34 answers to Revelation chapter 16, specifically the sixth of the bowl judgments—the sixth one. Revelation 16, verse 12 says, “Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl”—this pan, it’s like a saucer, and it’s full of wrath—“the sixth angel pours out the bowl onto the great river, the Euphrates.”
Is this amazing in your Bible? So watch this—how’s this gonna work in the spiritual realm, in the heavenlies? John sees an angel carrying this bowl, and in the spiritual realm he pours it out, and spiritually speaking now the Euphrates River—I assume—is just flowing, and you don’t see a bunch of water splashing.
If you’re water-skiing down the Euphrates River that day, you’re not going to see it splash and overflow. In the spirit realm, something is going to come out of the bowl and it’s going to land—it’s going to hit the Euphrates River spiritually speaking. By the way, this is a side note, and it may be just kind of silly, but he didn’t think so.
I was talking to a U.S. Marine combat helicopter pilot captain, and he said, “Jack, I don’t know if it was because I’m a believer or what,” but he said, “Every time we would fly over the Euphrates River—it’s not very wide—but every time, and I flew over hundreds of times, there’s just this creepy feeling.
You just get this creepy feeling. All of a sudden I’m worrying about my engine going out, going down in that water—just looking at that water.” He said, “Man, I know what the deal is.” And I just thought, well, whatever. But listen to this: in the future the sixth angel will pour out his bowl on the great river Euphrates.
“And its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs”—demons, he says; they’re not frogs, but they’re creepy—and if you’re Jewish, frogs are not good—“coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.”
So out of Satan, out of the Antichrist, and out of the false prophet—the unholy trinity—“for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” And they gathered them—verse 16 goes on to say—“to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.”
Armageddon—God’s judgment place, the final last place. I want to show you—you’ve seen it before; many of you have been there. It’s one of the most beautiful places you’ll see. Isn’t that awesome? It’s just gorgeous. This is Rahmat David. This church has done a lot of work there. We’re still doing work over here.
Jerusalem’s over here. There’s Mount Tabor in your Bible. See this valley here goes this way. Syria’s over here. Lebanon’s over here. Syria’s over here. Jordan’s over here. This valley goes like this—like a big U. It’s so beautiful. There’s the base. So we’re looking over here.
Man, this is ISIS over here—Syria right here. There’s the Golan Heights right here. This is Megiddo—Armageddon. This is the last battle place on earth. See this intersection right there? Either a few weeks ago or last week—maybe last Sunday in one of the services—I mentioned the most important intersection in the world. Remember that?
See that one stop light right here? Watch this: you take this road and you go all the way to the Orient—that road will take you all the way into Syria, all the way east. See this road—this will take you all the way north to Russia. This road—this will take you all the way down to Africa, down to the tip of Africa.
See this little road right here? This road right here will take you right about there—why? Because it hits the Mediterranean where you get on a ship and you go to Europe. Technically—I don’t want to burn anybody’s eyeball out over there—but you go right here and you go like this and you go up the coast and then you go up over Turkey and you go into Europe.
That intersection—this area right here—there’s been more blood spilled right here in war than any other place on earth. This is Megiddo—Armageddon—the Valley of Jezreel, the Jezreel Valley in your Old Testament. When Jesus Christ comes—by the way, the Bible says He’s going to come from Bozrah.
The Bible says that when He returns He will have His robe—His robes going to be—this is wild. Look: the Rapture—the Rapture takes place. He puts the church safely in heaven. He fulfills so many passages of Scripture during that time the church is in heaven, but one of them is that He goes forth and fights for Israel like He did in the days of battle.
You can look at Isaiah 63 verses 1 to 6 on that one. He tucks the church away. Then He comes out of His wedding chamber and He says to the church, “Hide your face,” as it were, “for a little bit. I’ll be back, because I’m going to go pour out My indignation upon the earth.”
The Bible says that when we see Him again in Revelation 19, He’s already wearing a new robe that has on His thigh “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” But what else does it say about it? It says that it is dipped in blood. And the Bible says in Revelation 19 that we join Him and come back in the Second Coming.
Here’s what’s fun: we know exactly the direction that He’s coming from. Do you remember when Jesus says concerning His Second Coming, “As the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be”? He wasn’t joking.
The Bible says He will be coming from Bozrah, and from Bozrah His foot will touch on the Mount of Olives. What does that mean? Jesus is going to be coming from that direction—Bozrah is over there—and He’s going to be heading toward Jerusalem, which is over here. He’s going to come this way to Jerusalem. Wow.
Revelation—I have two minutes—Revelation 19:11: “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns.
He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean”—that’s awesome; they’re not wearing robes. There’s only one group of people in the Bible that does not wear robes.
Of all the saints—Old Testament saints wear white robes, did you know that? Tribulation saints—they lose their head for their faith, right?—they get white robes. There’s only one group in eschatology that doesn’t get a robe—she gets fine linen, clean and bright. She gets a wedding gown.
The church—look at her. She’s quite a gal. By the way, she’s got a wedding gown right here. She’s hanging out with a Guy whose name is The Word of God. And look—it says “clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.” So now she’s on a horse.
She’s got a wedding gown, riding a horse—she’s in an army. So I don’t know if she’s got a camo helmet on or what. “And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” Verse 17: “Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, ‘Come and gather together for the supper of the great God,
that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.’”
To remember earlier—we’re talking about those who are taken and those who are left.
And from verses 9 down to verse 17—it’s just a description of the desolations that come to people who reject God. No need for you to be like that.
Closing Hymn and Invitation
I’m going to ask you to stand. I want to close with this because it’s so powerful. It just jumped into my memory today.
And in light of all of this incredible power and wrath of God, you’ve got to remember something: first of all, that Jesus Christ went to the cross so that you could have the forgiveness of your sins, so that you would never experience His wrath. He doesn’t like this. He doesn’t want this.
When Christ comes in the Second Coming, He comes to a Christ-rejecting world. And Julia Howe in 1861 wrote this American hymn—it’s from really the book of Joel, but listen—see if you recognize it. And in light of Isaiah 34, listen:
“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps;
His day is marching on.
I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
‘As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on.’
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me;
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.”
It’s about a decision that you make—a choice that you make. Let’s pray tonight. Right now in closing—and if you’ve never accepted Christ, please—the gloom and the grim of the message tonight may never have to be your fate.
Father, we come to You this night, and You are a holy God, righteous God, perfect in all Your ways. It’s no wonder, Lord, that Your Word tells us that when You speak the mountains shake and the hills tremble. It’s no wonder that in Your might You can blow a wind from Your nostrils and divide a sea.
And Father, tonight You can remove the stains of sin that have cursed a man or a woman’s life tonight just by their asking You to forgive them of their sin and to transform their lives. You died that men might live. My friend tonight—whoever you may be, whatever you’ve ever done—it’s not beyond the saving grace of God tonight.
Tell Him: “Lord Jesus, forgive me and make me new. Wash me in the blood of the Lamb that I may never know Your vengeance, that I may never know Your wrath. That I would confess tonight: Jesus, thank You for taking my punishment upon Your cross, and I thank You tonight for being resurrected from the dead.”
Lord, may I never see the day of judgment in my life, for You’re not willing that any should perish but that all should come to eternal life. In Jesus' name we pray, and all God’s people said amen.