34:1
God’s words are not intended just for Israel, but for all the nations of the world. As the church we must beware of becoming an enclave, God wants to speak to the whole world. But let us also note that God’s words to the world include words of judgement and words of salvation. When the church speaks to the world it should not always be “nice” words. God summons all peoples to come and hear Him, to pay attention to Him. All of the world is summoned to hear the word of God.
34:2
These words are certainly not nice! “The Lord is angry with all the nations”. His wrath is against them, and He will totally destroy them. Now these sort of words offend our Western sensibilities. There are two things we must do. First we must give these words their full weight, secondly we must remember that they are not the sum total of God’s word to the nations. Elsewhere there are words of salvation. We have seen some already in Isaiah, and we will see more. But let’s put this in a modern context to make it more real. The Lord is angry with the nations of the West for their sexual immorality and its destruction of the family. This goes back to increased sexual promiscuity from the 1960’s onwards (ie it is not just because of LGBT stuff) and the breakdown of marriage, and it includes the normalisation of the LGBT agenda and its effect on society, especially women and children. Those who think God is perfectly OK with this stuff haven’t got a clue. There is judgement, but there is also salvation. God also wants the West to turn back to Him so that we can be restored, so that lives can be put back together again, so that we can be healed.
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