Isaiah 13

“Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate. And He will destroy its sinners from it.” (Isaiah 13:9, NKJV)

It is hard for us to comprehend that a day of judgment will come when God pours out fierce anger on the world. But God would be impotent if He either couldn’t or wouldn’t judge evil people. There will come that day when God punishes the wicked and divides them from the saints. They will be cast into outer darkness, but the righteous will inherit the kingdom.

“Outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.” (Revelation 22:15, NKJV)

Isaiah wrote of the destruction of Babylon, which fell to the Assyrians in 689 BC. But complete fulfillment of the prophecy won’t occur until Mystery Babylon is destroyed in the Day of the LORD (Revelation 17-18).

When we pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” we are praying for this. You see, if a house is condemned because it is unsafe, the new house cannot be built until the old house is demolished. This old house of the world with all its corruption must first be destroyed before Christ can establish His government and peace.

But what if we knew that our loved ones were living in the house when the demolition crew was coming? Wouldn’t we make every effort to get them out before the house collapsed on them? Likewise, knowing that God’s day of wrath is coming, we cannot be apathetic while people we know are living in sin, for they will certainly perish.

God has waited a long, long time to execute His justice. Why is that? Peter tells us:

“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 Peter 3:9, NKJV)

We must not mistake God’s patience for slackness or indifference. The LORD is coming to judge the earth, and we haven’t much time to warn others.