Prophecy and Judgment

Editor’s Note:  I have been on sort of hiatus for the last several months.  I have continued to pastor and write sermons but haven’t really had time to transcribe sermons into posts.  I have tried to fill the void by bringing excellent sermons from some other pastors.  I will occasionally do this throughout the year.  So if you submitted a post and I haven’t posted it.  I will get to it.  Some of them I have to build from notes and of course this will take some time.  Thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoyed the guest posts. – Chris

I have just finished reading the book, The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn.  This is a powerful book that compares judgment in Israel with the 9/11 events in America.  The book uses the prophecy of Isaiah in Isaiah: Chapters 9 and 10.  But I began to think of this prophecy and relating it individuals.  The question that formed in reading this was this:  If God judges a nation for turning away from God, does He also judge individuals for their apostasy?  That’s the question I want to explore in this post:  Prophecy and Judgment.

In twenty years as a Christian I’ve seen many people walk away from the will of God.  They’ve turned their backs on God and walked away from His provision and protection.  I’ve also seen in many instances a judgment fall on their lives.

Let’s look for a moment at the Prodigal Son.  He’s left his father’s house and taken his inheritance with him.  The Bible tells us that he begins to live riotously, (that’s what prodigal means), squanders his inheritance, and ends up with nothing.  He is reduced to eating what the pigs eat.  If you ask any pig farmer they’ll tell you that pigs eat garbage. 

So look at what has happened in this young man’s life.  He was raised in a wealthy family.  He had the best of everything.  But after he has left, he’s lost it all; his wealth, in his mind, he’s lost his family, and he has been reduced to living in squalor, eating garbage.  Is that judgment?  I would say that it is!

I have known men who have experienced much of what the prodigal has experienced.  They have turned away from God only to lose those things that were most important to them.  They’ve lost their families to divorce; they’ve lost their jobs and their finances and in some cases even their health has been ruined.  Does that sound like judgment?  I would say that it does.

Judgment always follows departure from God.  Its not that God is angry and wants to get back it us.  He’s not like some jilted romantic.  God has a purpose for judgment.  This post is about that judgment and God’s purpose.

Isaiah 9:8-13 (NKJV)
^9:8 The Lord sent a word against Jacob, And it has fallen on Israel. ⁹ All the people will know-- Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria-- Who say in pride and arrogance of heart: ¹⁰ "The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with hewn stones; The sycamores are cut down, But we will replace them with cedars." ¹¹ Therefore the Lord shall set up The adversaries of Rezin against him, And spur his enemies on, ¹² The Syrians before and the Philistines behind; And they shall devour Israel with an open mouth. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. ¹³ For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them, nor do they seek the Lord of hosts.

The Prophecy Against Israel

This is a prophetic word given by Isaiah to Israel.  As a prophecy it speaks of coming judgment.

At this time in Israel’s history, Israel is divided into Israel in the north and Judah in the south.  The capitol of Israel is Samaria.  The Assyrians have attacked it and they’ve caused much damage.  “The bricks have fallen and the Sycamores are uprooted.”  But Israel has vowed to rise again, “We will rebuild.”  The have vowed to comeback stronger and better, “We will rebuild with hewn stone.” They will replace the clay bricks with quarried stone.  Stone is much stronger than the clay.  They will replace the Sycamores with Cedars.  Sycamore is a common tree with soft, spongy wood.  Cedar is more suitable to building because of its grain and fragrance. So they vow that THEY will rebuild and be stronger.

But God tells them in verse 9 that they’re speaking with pride and arrogance, because they have removed God from their thinking.  They’re thinking that this is only a security problem.  They’re not thinking of it as a warning or a judgment.  They’re only thinking that they need to protect themselves better:  That they can become safer if they rebuild with better materials.  Hewn stone is stronger than clay, “Let’s build with that.”  Cedars are better than Sycamores, “Let’s plant those.” 

They’re thinking that they will make themselves stronger.  They’re thinking that they can do what they’ve always depended on God to do before. 

It’s really defiance, they’re telling the Assyrians, “You can’t destroy us, WE will rebuild.”  WE will do it.  In some ways it’s the same kind of thinking that the people who build the Tower of Babel had.  We will do what only God has done.  “WE can build a tower to the heavens.”

Israel’s thinking is:  We can do this; we can fortify and protect.  We don’t need God for that WE can do it ourselves. We can do what God has always done.  God has always said that He will protect His people.  That He will provide for Hid people.  But Israel has forgotten that.  In fact, they’ve already turned away to idols.  They’ve already turned away from the God who delivered them.  It’s this attitude that has brought about this warning.  Look at what it says: 

Because you have arrogantly said, “We will rebuild,” leaving God completely out of the equation, God is warning them, through Isaiah that the enemies of Rezin, (Israel’s ally), will rise up against him and them.  God has sent this as a warning to them that another judgment will come upon them.

The action of the Assyrians in knocking down the walls and uprooting the Sycamores was already a judgment.  This prophecy is a warning of more to come.  If the Assyrian attack didn’t open their eyes there is a more terrible judgment to come.  God gave that to Isaiah to speak to them.  First there is the action and then there are the words.  Following that Israel must make a decision, to turn back or to be judged.

Here’s a question, do you think God does that in individual lives as well?  Do you think we can leave God’s will and God’s protection and go out on our own and forget about God, or do you think God deals with us as individuals in the same way he dealt with Israel?

This is a prophecy.  This is a warning to Israel, “It’s going to get really ugly if you don’t turn back to me.”  It would be really frightening to me to walk away from God, because I’ve seen the devastating affect of walking away from God. I’ve seen men lose their families.  I’ve seen them begin to live riotously.  I’ve seen them living on the streets and eating from garbage cans, because this has taken place in their lives.  The really frightening part is that often they think they can’t turn back to God because they have given themselves over to exactly this kind of pride.

I don’t know why people are homeless here in Taiwan, but in Colton and Riverside, because of my position in the church I knew a lot of homeless men.  I saw their arrogance in their hatred of authority.  I saw their pride in their refusal to be accountable to a boss. “No one is going to tell me what to do!”  I saw their defiance in their unwillingness to be a part of the society at large, it was as if they screamed, “You won’t reach me, you can’t touch me I don’t need you.”  That’s exactly what Israel was saying when they declared, “WE will rebuild.”

This prophecy is telling Israel that their enemies will devour them; they will destroy them.  We also face an enemy that wants to destroy us.  The Bible tells us that our enemy, “is like a roaring lion seeking whom he will devour.”

The Purpose of Judgment

So, is God just an angry God?  Is God just a judgmental God, “You better tow the line boy, or I’m gonna tear you up!”?  Is that who God is?

Why would God turn his people over to their enemies?  He does that because He wants them back.  God isn’t doing this to be bitter and vengeful.  God isn’t motivated by hatred or revenge; in short, God isn’t like you and I.  God is doing this to bring them back to Him.

“What about the flood?  “ you may ask.  Why’d God destroy everybody in the flood?  He didn’t send a prophet to them to tell them about the coming judgment.  He did send a warning, He sent Noah, to preach righteousness.

2 Peter 2:5 (NKJV)
^2:5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;

He was trying to call those who were facing judgment to Him.  What do you think would have happened if someone heard Noah and repented?  He would have been allowed on the ark.  Remember in the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrrah, the city would have been spared for the sake of ten righteous men.

In the New Testament Paul speaks of the purpose of judgment:

1 Corinthians 5:3-5 (NKJV)
^5:3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. ⁴ In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁵ deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

The judgment was for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit might be saved.  Judgment was a call back to Him.  God is using the action of the Assyrians to call His people back to Him.  Look at what He tells them through Isaiah:

Isaiah 10:24-25 (NKJV)
^10:24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: "O My people, who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner of Egypt. ²⁵ For yet a very little while and the indignation will cease, as will My anger in their destruction."

He’s telling Israel, they’re going to damage you, they’re going to hurt you, but it’s only for a little while, until you turn back to Me.”  This is God’s primary purpose in judgment.  There is punishment for their rejection of God.  He’s warned them of that throughout history, “I’m a jealous God.”  He’s said it over and over through the law, through the prophets, through Moses and David, through Sodom and Gomorrah.  The sin and idolatry must be punished, but the primary purpose of judgment is to bring about repentance.

Sin and idolatry must be punished.  God’s anger is kindled.

Isaiah 9:16-17 (NKJV)
^9:16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err, And those who are led by them are destroyed. ¹⁷ Therefore the Lord will have no joy in their young men, Nor have mercy on their fatherless and widows; For everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer, And every mouth speaks folly. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.

God punishes the leaders for their leading of the people to turn away from God.  But He also holds them who are led astray personally accountable for their own idolatry.  “Those who are led by them are destroyed."  Judgment is personal.  You are responsible for your own response to God.  God isn’t going to give you a pass, you will be judged for turning away and his judgment will punish.  The plan is that the judgment will turn you back to Him. 

When do we cry out to God?  When all is going well?  Is that when we feel a need for God or do we cry put when we have come to the end of ourselves?  When we are humbled and miserable is when we cry out for God:  That’s the place where judgment will bring us.

When did the prodigal son, come to himself?  He came to himself when he had lost everything and was miserably competing with pigs for garbage to eat.  That’s when he decided to return:  After the judgment had driven him to his knees.  That’s the purpose of judgment.

Isaiah 10:21-22 (NKJV)
^10:21 The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, To the Mighty God. ²² For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, A remnant of them will return; The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

When they come home, the judgment will stop.  The Assyrians had come in and piled up destruction.  God was waiting for them to turn back, He even sent Isaiah to warn them that a worse calamity was coming.  He was calling them back to repentance.  He was looking for them to turn around.

The Bible tells us that the father of the prodigal son saw him afar off.  He saw him far down the road and ran to him and kissed him.  Have you ever thought about why he saw him so far off?  It’s because he was standing at the fence and looking for him.  He waiting and hoping for his return.  It’s the same with God.  We go through judgment so we will come to ourselves and return to a waiting God.

God’s Response to Those Who Come Back

When the prodigal returned the Bible tells us his father slaughtered the fatted calf and the whole household rejoiced.  The prodigal himself was forgiven and restored.

Look at what happens in the prophecy of Isaiah:

Isaiah 10:26-27 (NKJV)
^10:26 And the Lord of hosts will stir up a scourge for him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; as His rod was on the sea, so will He lift it up in the manner of Egypt. ²⁷ It shall come to pass in that day That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, And his yoke from your neck, And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.

God uses those who desire to destroy us to execute judgment.  When the judgment is finished, though, then the evil is punished.  Their judgment and oppression will cease and they will be judged for their evil.

Immediately following this prophecy of judgment, Isaiah begins another prophecy.  It begins like this:

Isaiah 11:1 (NKJV)
^11:1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.

This is a prophecy of blessing and renewal.  This is God’s promise of a redeemer.  He is a descendant of Jesse through David.  He is called a “Son of David,” in response to this prophecy.  The word Christ literally means “the Anointed One.”  He is there to lift the bnurden of sin, the yoke of oppression and to judge the evil one. 

This prophecy is a warning to Israel that judgment will come on them for turning away from God.  It tells us also of personal judgment if we turn away from God.  We must guard our hearts because it is easy t turn away from God in the busyness and turmoil of life and embrace other things making them a god.  Idolatry requires judgment because God doesn’t give up on us but looks for ways to call us back to Him.  God is a good and gracious God.

The Prodigal Mind

Have you ever stopped to think about how your mind works, especially when you’re not thinking about anything in particular?  It just throws out random thoughts, or brings back memories that you thought were forgotten, or ideas begin to bloom.  This is the time when our minds are fascinating.

Have you ever seen a brain that’s been removed from the skull?  It’s just this wrinkled mass of gray matter.  It’s not like a muscle.  It has no moving parts; it’s just a big gray lump. Yet, this is the machine that controls our thoughts.  It interprets our senses like smell and touch.  It makes sense of the images that come through our eyes.  It controls those autonomic systems, like heartbeat and respiration.  It controls deliberate movements, like the muscles that must move in sequence so that we can walk or scratch our heads.  Our brain is the thing that controls our ability to reasonable thought.  This is our ability to reason things out, to solve problems and create tools.  Our brain is the place where our intelligence and personality come from and yet it is just a big gray lump.

Our brains function through chemical reactions that cause electrical impulses to travel across nerve endings. But because of that we can think and form ideas that can cause changes in our environment.  The problem is that our minds, which are constantly working, come up with bad ideas far more often than they come up with good.  We must learn to discipline our minds so that we are able to control ourselves and limit our behavior. 

Today I want to post a message from a very familiar portion of scripture, that we have always looked at as a picture of the longsuffering love of God, and examine it in terms of the minds of those who are living out his will in day-to-day life.

Luke 15:11-24 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons.12 “And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood.13 “And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.14 “But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.15 “Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.16 “And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!18 ‘I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,19 “and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.21 “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.23 ‘And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry;24 ‘for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

Prodigal Living Wasting our Inheritance

The younger son wasted his possessions with prodigal living.  The words translated into English as prodigal comes from the Greek word Aosotos which is literally translated as riotous.  In fact, the American Standard Version uses that word riotously.  Se we get a picture of a reckless and extravagant lifestyle.  But how does that apply to our minds?

Here is a young man who took all that he had for granted:  The wealth, the probability of inheritance and threw it all away in order to live a life of wild abandon and excess.  This is a problem of the mind.  He is sure that he’s missing something.  He’s sure that there is more to life than what he’s already got and he’s looking for the excitement that he thinks this kind of lifestyle will provide.

We, as Christians, also have an inheritance that is set aside for us.  An inheritance thatwe will see as we continue to live the will of God for our lives.  But how many have known people that have behaved in the way of this prodigal young man and lost the inheritance that is to be theirs? 

We sometimes look at our salvation and think is their all there is to life?  I knew a man who at the age of 35 looked at his life and his career and said exactly that, “Is this all there is to my life?”  The problem was that he was a good Christian, living out the will of God for his life.  But he was tired of the job that he had.  He was tired of his “boring” Christian lifestyle, so he threw away his inheritance looking for some excitement.  He calls it, “a midlife crisis.”  But it was really a thirst for prodigal living.

He felt like he was not experiencing all the things he should have experienced by that time in his life.  We’re told through television, movies and music that life is to be experienced.  That somehow we must pass through certain rites of passage to be satisfied adults:  Rites of passage like fornication, drunkenness, drugs, whatever it is.  I believe this is the same thing that the prodigal son felt, that he was missing out on life, because as soon as he received his inheritance he went out and lived recklessly.

Ephesians 5:55 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

 In living that type of lifestyle he wasted his inheritance and when we live that way we also waste ours. 

But is it only the things we do that waste our inheritance or is it also what happens in our minds?

Matthew 5:27-28 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’28 “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Jesus is saying that it is a thing of the heart.  We think of the heart as the center of our emotions; as the center of who we are.  But the heart is only a muscle that pumps blood, through our bodies.  It is no different than the muscle that causes your diaphragm to flex and your lungs to inflate.  It is really the mind that is the center of our emotions, our attitudes and the things we believe.  It is our mind that determines who we are. 

The things that we allow into our minds are the things that will make us or break us in terms of our salvation.  What we allow into our minds will focus our thoughts.

Matthew 6:22-23 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.23 “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

 I read recently of a video of a fourteen-year-old girl engaging in oral sex on Youtube.    What would cause a young child to engage in this type of behavior in a place where others could videotape it?  What we look at shapes our thoughts.  Movies, television, magazines, the Internet, these are the things that bring visual images into our minds.  These images suggest ideas into our minds.  For example, television reality shows depict lifestyles of recklessness and debauchery.  Young people see these things, and the money and privilege that these people enjoy through the showing of things that should be secret and private in their lives to millions of viewers.  Flesh draws viewers, but it also stirs the hearts of young men.  They begin to look at women as objects.  Young women begin to feel that in order to attract a young man that hey must be sexy and provocative:  That sexy is everything.  These things begin to gain access to our minds and draw us toward prodigal living. 

It is our mind that begins to stir us.  The thoughts that we begin to entertain are directly influenced by what we see, read and hear.  As Christians, do we allow only those things that would strengthen our relationship with Jesus?  Or are we allowing ourselves to be influenced into prodigal living and the wasting of our inheritance, by the things we allow into our minds through media.

The Prodigal Son left Home Before He Ever Walked Out

It’s obvious to me that the prodigal son left home in his mind long before he ever demanded his inheritance and walked out of the house.  He’d thought it through.  He had plans and ideas for when he was off on his own.  He knew the things he wanted to do.  He was sure of the image he would project.  He thought about what he would need in order to do those things.  In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that he’d calculated the amount of his inheritance and had finally determined that he now had enough to make happen.

There was a popular comedian an number of years ago, Steve Martin, who in the middle of his stand up routine would suddenly stop, sigh and say, “Aaaah!  Sorry, I went to the Bahamas for just a second.”  It’s an illustration that we can be one place physically and yet our minds are thousands of miles away.  As a high school student I spent countless hours on backpacking trips and other exciting adventures while never leaving my Chemistry or History class.  How many times have you been at church and thinking about what was happening at work. 

This young man pictured himself in that far away place before he ever approached his father about his inheritance.  I have seen people with my own eyes sitting in church services with their minds in a far away place, no doubt some of them thinking about sin and wasting their inheritance. 

Nobody suddenly backslides.  Nobody is sitting in church, thinking about the will of God, and desiring more of him in life, and suddenly backsliding.  People backslide in their minds long before they ever leave the will of God. 

There is a subtle shift in perceptions.  They begin to struggle with prayer.  They lose the desire to be involved in what the church is doing in the community.  They begin to have problems with their brothers and sisters in the church.  They begin to rebel against the things preached and emotionally distance them selves from the church and finally from God.

Titus 1:15-16 To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.16 They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.

 This can happen even while they’re still filling a pew at church.  On outreaches we have run into these people.  They talk about how God has moved in their life.  They talk about their relationship with Him and yet they continue to sin.  A young man, on drugs and homeless, walked into my office one day, talking about his relationship with God; his desire to have more of God in his life; how much he loved God and served God by praying and worshipping, and then asked for the money to get him and his pregnant girlfriend a hotel room.  He had no idea of who God was or how opposed to the will of God his lifestyle was. 

This is a sign of the times we live in.  Even though they’re physically in the church, their minds are far away and their lives are riotous.  Jimmy Swaggart was preaching he Gospel with conviction the whole time he was consorting with prostitutes?

2 Timothy 3:2-5
For men will be self-lovers, money-lovers, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,  (3) without natural affection, unyielding, false accusers, without self-control, savage, despisers of good,  (4) traitors, reckless, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  (5)  having a form of godliness, but denying the power of it; even turn away from these.

When He Came to Himself

Luke 15:17  “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

 When he came to himself, that is, when he entered once more into his own mind.  The foundation of our relationship with Jesus is in our mind.  When we don’t see him here, physically.  We can’t reach out and touch him.  We can’t speak to Him and hear His voice like we hear the voice of other people.  When those things aren’t possible our relationship with Him is based in faith.  On what we think and believe about Him and those things are a part of our thoughts, which are a part of our minds.   

1Peter 4:7
But the end of all things has drawn near. Therefore be of sound mind, and be sensible to prayers.

 In order to be of sound mind we must guard our minds and allow only those things that edify our minds to enter into them.  We can only protect our inheritance through the protection of our minds.  We must be careful what we look at:  What things we allow to color our thinking.   We need to concentrate on the things of God, looking to Him for wisdom, looking to His word for guidance.

2 Timothy 3:16-17  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

We must begin to come to church with an ear to hear from God.  This is wha will strengthen out faith.  Strong faith will result in a strengthened resolve to serve God.  Faith is what keeps you.

One of the interesting things in this scripture is the reference to the servants of God having bread enough to spare but yet he says he is starving.  Those of us that are servinfg God have the, “Bread of Life.” 

John 6:33-35 “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. 

Placing our hopes in Jesus Christ, not our own strength, but Him and His word strengthens us.  By submerging ourselves into our relationship with Him we will be shielding ourselves from the influence that will draw us away.

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

What the Bible calls Mammon, we can call the things of the world.

During the Viet Nam war,the generals talked about winning the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people.  The thing that was supposed to turn them from communism and turn them toward the US was the winning of their hearts and minds.  In fact that is a sound strategy, “for where your heart is, your treasure will be also.”  We failed to win that battle and lost Vietnam to Communism.  This is also the strategy of the devil, to win the hearts and minds of those who serve Him. 

Guard your heart.  Protect your mind; shield it from the influences and images that destroy.  Don’t allow the devil to win your heart and mind.  Don’t allow yourself to be turned away to prodigal thinking or living.