ISAIAH’S APOCALYPSE

Tonight (Wednesday, 3/20, 7:00 pm), gather with your Calvary Chapel family in the Holy Grounds Cafe’ or on our website (www.calvaryinv.com

Facebook, and YouTube (Calvary Inverness) as we continue our three-year journey through the Bible by turning to the book of Isaiah (24-27).

After pronouncing God’s judgment on Israel and the surrounding nations, Isaiah prophesied about the worldwide judgment that Bible students know as the “Seven-Year Tribulation.”

It will be a time of devastation and destruction. So terrible that Jesus warned, “There will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved” (Mt 24:21-22).

This group of chapters is called “The Little Apocalypse of Isaiah.” God unveiled the future to Isaiah. Of course, he wouldn’t live long enough to see his prophecy fulfilled, so why did God reveal it to him? So, future generations, like us, would have a written record of what God had done and what will come next.

This time of God’s wrath is still far off for our generation. So, how do we know what Isaiah predicted will come to pass? The answer is found within the pages of Isaiah. All one has to do is read the previous section (13-23) and scan the history books to see that every prophecy Isaiah gave was fulfilled to the most minute detail.

God, who is holy, is also merciful. So, what was true in Isaiah’s day is still true today. Therefore, He had Isaiah and His other prophets warn the nations so they could recognize their sin, repent, and turn to Him.

Peter writes, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pe 3:9).

One of the earliest examples of God’s mercy is in the book of Genesis. It was at a time when “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Ge 6:5).

Therefore, He commanded Noah to build an ark and warn his generation of the flood that would cover the whole earth due to their blatant sin. Moses writes, “And the Lord said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years’” (Ge 6:30).

Thus, Noah carried out his commission to construct an ark and preach for 120 years, giving unworthy people time to repent.

May the Spirit of God move upon our hearts as we study these four chapters with a sense of urgency and proclaim to those around us, as Noah and Isaiah did, to repent of their sins, turn to God, and ask His Son for forgiveness. Judgment is coming, and the only way to escape is through faith in Jesus Christ.

Please pray that this three-year journey through the Word of God will be received by open hearts that long to grow in the Grace and Knowledge of Jesus.

Moreover, He would do deep and abiding work in and through us for a world in desperate need of a Savior.

In His Strong Love,

Pastor