The Sword Of The LORD
Our Bible passage, introduction to Sunday 1st October service and hymns are below. You may listen to an audio recording by clicking above or there is a video link to our YouTube channel at the bottom of this page.
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Our principal verses are:
Isa 34:1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.
Isa 34:2 For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
Isa 34:3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
Isa 34:4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.
Isa 34:5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
Isa 34:6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
Isa 34:7 And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
Isa 34:8 For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
The Sword Of The Lord
Swords used by the ancient Hebrews were pointed, two-edged, worn in a sheath and suspended from a belt around the waist. When Isaiah speaks of the Lord’s sword this is what would be in the mind of his hearers. In scripture the phrase ‘the sword of the Lord’ carries the sense of divine punishment and judgment. It was Gideon’s rallying cry in his role as Judge in Israel. It is also descriptive of the holy scriptures for their heart-piercing and liberating power.
Ignorance no excuse
In our passage ‘the sword of the Lord’ is referring to judgment and chastisement upon the nations of the world. Whether the nations ever came near to hear Isaiah’s message is no hindrance to its certain fulfilment. Likewise people today who deny or ignore God’s warning of judgment and eternal punishment will not hinder their coming or prevent them happening.
God of wrath? God of love?
We cannot read this chapter without realising how devastating God’s judgment will be upon His enemies and the enemies of His church. Sometimes people contrast the love of God in the New Testament with the severity described in Old Testament passages such as these. Believers find no contradiction. The contrast emphasises why our Saviour suffered so violently in our place and what He endured to secure peace for us with God.
The hand that wields the sword
Isaiah speaks of indignation, fury, slaughter and destruction. Wrath flows from God’s holiness revealing His response to sin. The ‘sword of the Lord’ brings judgment for which God is the first cause – the sword is bathed, or prepared, in heaven – however, secondary causes such as angels or men may inflict the actual physical blows to achieve God’s will.
Our shield and defender
We learn from such passages how there is no escaping divine punishment except we are delivered by the Saviour Jesus Christ. Even then, sin must be paid for. Divine indignation fell upon God’s fellow in His capacity as Substitute for the elect and accordingly Zechariah writes, ‘Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts’.
Payback
The moving cause, Isaiah tells us, is the arrival of ‘the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion’. Do we wonder why God delays? His timing is perfect. God’s judgment comes and shall yet come on all who are outside of Christ’s protection and the covenant promises. There is inevitability in divine judgment. God will most surely claim His glory in this world and avenge the wrongs inflicted on His church.
Eternal fire
Isaiah’s language is alarming. Images of burning pitch and the dust of earth igniting like brimstone fuel descriptions of hell in the Gospels and Revelation. Verse nine is likely a reference to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha, which are examples, Peter tells us, of ‘ungodly living’ and a warning of what is yet to come. God judges equally in time and in eternity and the coming fires of hell draw force from these images. Jude, for example, describes ‘suffering the vengeance of eternal fire’.
Righteous anger
Actually, such is God’s anger against sin the Saviour Himself declares it will be more tolerable for the men of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment than for those who reject Christ and His gospel. Judgment is certain. In time and eternity God’s holiness will be upheld. The sword of the Lord and the Avenger of blood will go forth to recompense evil against those who have hurt His people. The God of all the earth will do righteously.
Mark my words!
The closing reference to ‘the book of the Lord’ seems to direct the remnant people to be always watching for when these predictions will be verified, comparing events with prophecies to see how everything will be exactly accomplished and God’s promises revealed. John tells us in Revelation, ‘the words of God shall be fulfilled’ and we trust and believe it is so.
Amen
Our hymns are below.
Hymn 1
Gadsby selection 1000
“There is therefore now no condemnation.” Rom. 8. 1
J. Wingrove 104th
1
Ye tempted and tried, to Jesus draw nigh,
He suffered and died your wants to supply;
Trust him for salvation; you need not to grieve;
“There’s no condemnation to them that believe.”
2
By day and by night his love is made known;
It is his delight to succour his own;
He will have compassion; then why should you grieve?
“There’s no condemnation to them that believe.”
3
Though Satan will seek the sheep to annoy,
The helpless and weak he ne’er shall destroy,
Christ is their salvation, and strength he will give;
“There’s no condemnation to them that believe.”
Hymn 2
Gadsby selection 100
Redemption by Price and Power. John 1. 29; Heb. 2. 14
I. Watts C.M.
1
Jesus, with all thy saints above,
My tongue would bear her part;
Would sound aloud thy saving love,
And sing thy bleeding heart.
2
Blest be the Lamb, my dearest Lord,
Who bought me with his blood,
And quenched his Father’s flaming sword
In his own vital flood;
3
The Lamb that freed my captive soul
From Satan’s heavy chains,
And sent the lion down to howl
Where hell and horror reigns.
4
All glory to the dying Lamb,
And never-ceasing praise,
While angels live to know his name,
Or saints to feel his grace.
God’s judgment against sin is graphically portrayed in this chapter where it is described as ‘The Sword Of The Lord’. God will judge sin and must obtain satisfaction for every transgression of His holy law. By grace God's elect discover the Lord Jesus Christ to be their Substitute sin-bearer and find peace with God through Him.
1 October 2023