Reading the Bible with me? Then grab our pen and journal and read Isaiah 13-15. We will focus on Isaiah 14:13-16. Many think these verses recount the archangel Lucifer’s fall from heaven. Jewish scholars believe it is prophecy of the fall of Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king. I believe this is the pre-creation fall of Lucifer and his angelic rebellion against God. Regardless of your opinion on this, the sin addressed is the same. It is always the same. We call it pride. Pride might be defined as ignoring or rejecting the plans and purposes of God in favor of your own plans and purposes. To do so is to exalt yourself above the most high and holy God. It is insolence, rebellion, arrogance, selfishness, and idolatry. Pride is the soil in which all sins take root.
God is faithful, merciful, gracious, and patient. However, He will not always strive with mankind (Genesis 6:3-5). Eventually, according to God’s plan and purpose, judgement will come. Thomas Jefferson once said, “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.’ His justice is not sleeping, my friends. Peter said, in 2 Peter 3:9, that God is “patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” What a beautiful reminder of God’s love for us.
The writer of the Hebrews offers a warning in Hebrews 10:26-31. “Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies. For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us. For we know the one who said, “I will take revenge. I will pay them back.” He also said, “The Lord will judge his own people.” It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (NLT)
There is coming a time when God will righteously judge humanity. How do we escape that great white throne judgement? Submit to the Lordship of Jesus over your life! Seek first the Kingdom of God and righteousness! Love Justice, be merciful, and walk humbly with God!
