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Isaiah 13:6 Thoughts on "the day of the Lord"

Good morning brothers and sisters,

I want to encourage you to be strong in these difficult days.  We see things as out of control and we get anxious.  Isaiah saw difficult times and God comforted him by revealing His plans for Babylon.  The same God that had a plan in Isaiah's day is the same God that has a plan for our day.

Blessings,

Jeff

This chapter is prophesy of coming judgment on Babylon.  Judah has not yet gone into captivity in Babylon.  So before God uses Babylon to judge Judah & Benjamin, He gives Isaiah the understanding that there is a plan for what Judah will soon experience.  The end is known from the beginning.

Described as "the day of the Lord".  In Daniel 5, we read about the rather sudden fall of Babylon when Darius the Mede takes over after the handwriting was on the wall.  But Babylon had been in decline for sometime prior to this.  But then we see that Babylon is still a spiritual reality in Revelation.  So there is a temporal judgment and there is also final judgment.  The temporal is a shadow of what the eternal will be.  

This day is near, but it is not immediate.  God's judgment happens according to the counsel of His will, not according to human timelines or expectations.  

 I have been memorizing ten commandments (Exodus 20) and the related Westminster Catechism questions.  Regarding taking the Lord's name in vain: 

Q. 56. What is the reason annexed to the third commandment?

A. The reason annexed to the third commandment is that however the breakers of this commandment may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment.

The principle that people (individuals and nations) may escape punishment in this life but God will not suffer them to escape His judgment is very comforting to me.

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