A Sacrifice on Heaven and on Earth

Amen.

Well, please turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 34.

Isaiah 34, we'll continue looking at this passage, it is about judgment on the nations,

God's work in heaven coming down on earth.

When you have that, please stand for the reading of God's Word.

Isaiah 34, beginning in verse 5, for my sword has drunk its fill

in the heavens, for behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom, upon the

people I have devoted to destruction.

The Lord has a sword, it is sated with blood, it is gorged with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats,

with the fat of the kidneys of rams, for the Lord has a sacrifice in Basra, a great

slaughter in the land of Edom.

Wild oxen shall fall with them, and young steers with the mighty bulls, their land shall

drink its fill of blood, and their soil shall be gorged with fat.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this passage which speaks of your sovereignty.

We ask that you would help us to appreciate you and your sovereignty all the more today as we consider your Word and that by your

Spirit, working with the Word in our hearts, we would be transformed.

In Jesus' name, amen.

So perhaps you, being someone who here is at a Reformed church, are familiar with who Esau

is in the Old Testament, the brother of Jacob, and perhaps you are familiar with the fact that he

represents in many ways a sign of God's reprobation, the opposite of what

election is.

When God elects some to salvation, in eternity past, he has not elected

others, meaning that he has reprobated them, determined them for destruction.

Bible says that God has prepared all things for his purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil.

And the New Testament frequently, and even the Old Testament, speaks of Esau as a symbol of that

reprobation because as Esau was before he had even come

out of the womb, God had determined his future.

So Malachi speaks of this, so Romans 9 speaks of this, but maybe you are not

familiar that Isaiah speaks of this as well, and he speaks of it here in this passage, speaking of Edom,

Edom being the nation that came from Esau.

And so what this passage is going to do is going to look at Esau once again as a sign of

reprobation, as a sign of God's work in eternity past to determine

who he would graciously.

Save.

The Lord is merciful to whom he is merciful, and he has compassion on whom he has compassion, but he

is just towards whom he is just as well.

So looking here at verse 5, 5.

For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens.

Behold, it ascends for judgment upon Edom.

Upon the people I have devoted to destruction.

The Lord has a sword.

It is sated with blood.

It is gorged with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys.

Of rams.

For the Lord has a sacrifice in Basra, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

And so Edom is that nation which has come from Esau, Basra most likely its

capital city.

This is all speaking of that nation.

And why that nation in particular?

Well, for one, they had most especially offended the Lord by

their gloating at Israel's fall, by rejoicing in Babylon's

rise, hoping to get some gain out of it against their brother.

This is what it says later on in the prophets.

For example, Ezekiel 35 and verse 5 says,.

6 Because you cherished perpetual enmity and gave over the people of Israel to the power of the sword at the

time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment, therefore as I live, declares the Lord God, I will

prepare you for blood and blood shall pursue you.

This is speaking of Edom in the context.

It talks of Mount Sierra, which is the mountain of Edom.

And then in verse 10 it says,.

Because you said, these two nations and these two countries shall be mine, we will take possession of them.

Although the Lord was there, therefore as I live, declares the Lord God, I will deal

with you according to the anger and envy that you showed because of your hatred against.

Them.

I will make myself known among them when I judge you, and you shall know that I am the.

Lord.

Obadiah says much of the same, Obadiah beginning in verse 10.

Because of the violence you have done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you and you shall be cut off forever.

On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth

and his foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of.

Them.

But do not gloat over the day of your brother and the day of his misfortune.

Do not rejoice over the people of Judah and the day of their ruin.

Do not boast in the day of distress.

Do not enter the gate of my people and the day of their calamity.

Do not gloat over his disaster and the day of his calamity.

Do not loot his wealth and the day of his calamity.

Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off fugitives.

Do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress.

And so Edom is a nation that later on in the time of Babylon will

enjoy the fall of Judah because they think it will mean some gain for them.

This has greatly offended God.

Now many secular scholars who study Isaiah say that that can't be what this is actually about.

It must be some other reason that Edom is being spoken of here because that doesn't come until much later.

But if you read secular scholars on Isaiah, you'll realize that they actually deny a lot of what this book is about

because they think it can't possibly be prophesying Babylon.

That doesn't come until much later.

It is certainly possible that this is speaking of some other offense, but given

the focus of the prophets on this particular crime of Edom, when

Babylon will rise, I think we have a reason to suspect that that is most likely what it is talking about

here.

Now another reason to be particularly focused on Edom, to be particularly focused on Esau,

is because Esau is the brother of Jacob.

Because in a way, these nations are the closest.

God holds them especially accountable because of how close they are to that nation.

They should be merciful to the people of God, and yet they are not merciful to them.

It says here, the Lord has a sacrifice in Basra, a great slaughter

in the land of Edom.

Now this destruction is described later in Isaiah as well.

In Isaiah 63, it says, who is this who comes from Edom and prints him garments from Basra?

He who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength.

It is I speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.

This is the Lord.

This is the Messiah coming from Edom, from Basra, having already enacted that destruction.

Why is your apparel red in your garments like his who treads in the winepress?

I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me.

I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath.

Their lifeblood spattered on my garments and stained my apparel.

For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come.

I looked and there was no one to help.

I was appalled and there was no one to uphold.

So my own arm brought my salvation, and my wrath upheld me.

I trampled down the peoples in my anger.

I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.

You notice here, when it's talking about the destruction of Edom, it makes a transition to speaking of the peoples.

I trampled down the peoples in my anger.

So here you have a picture of the Messiah coming from Edom, having destroyed Edom, but then announcing that he's destroyed

all the nations, all the peoples.

And so this here is not just a prophecy, particularly about Edom, but it

is about Edom as typical or prototypical of all the nations of

the earth, all the nations who would stand against God, all the nations who would gloat in the destruction of God's people,

all those who would be enemies of God.

When it says that God has a sacrifice in Basra, a

great slaughter in the land of Edom, you might as well read that and say, the Lord has a great slaughter

in Sunnyvale, a great slaughter in the land of Silicon Valley.

This applies to our own area, this applies to our own city.

God has his purposes against those nations, against those peoples who would

stand against him, which is all who do not gather together with him in Zion, who do not

gather together with him in the church.

And he also calls them the people devoted to destruction.

Now, a more literal translation here, typically more literal

translations will say, the people of his curse.

This is a people who are cursed because God has, meaning that God has

already determined their end.

Let me go ahead and read that passage I alluded to in Genesis 25.

So this is speaking of Esau before he was born.

It says, and Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because she was barren, and the Lord granted his

prayer, and Rebekah, his wife, conceived.

The children struggled together within her, and she said, if it is thus, why is this

happening.

To me?

So she went into inquire of the Lord, and the Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb,

and two peoples from within you shall be divided.

The one shall be stronger than the other.

The older shall serve the younger.

When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb.

The first came out red in his body like a hairy cloak, so that they called his name Esau.

Afterward, his brother came out with his hand holding Esau's heel.

So his name was called Jacob.

Isaac was 60 years old.

He was 60 years old when she bore them.

So God had given Isaac, Rebekah, this prophecy while Jacob and Esau

were yet in the womb about who would be stronger, about who would serve the other, and the older would

serve the younger.

Esau would not be the one of God's choice, and Jacob would be the one

of God's choice.

So God has his purposes here in election.

This is not a, you know, there are a lot of people who will look at this passage and see it as some sort of

prophecy about the relationship between

Jews and Muslims.

I don't think that is a, there might be some way in which it applies.

That's certainly not the main thing here.

And also, you should know, if you are not already aware, that when Islam claims to

have some sort of descent from

Esau or, yeah, that basically they are not from Esau, but from

Ishmael, that this is just a claim that they are making, okay?

There is no, like, history that, you know, carries back that validates any of that.

So a lot of, I remember growing up and hearing these things and thinking that was actually, you know, the case that, you

know, these prophecies applied particularly to Islam because, you know, that descent had happened.

And these are just claims that they have made to come from particular people.

There might be some truth to it, but if so, it's not based on, you know, any kind of real evidence that we have.

Now, beyond speaking of God's sovereignty in this way of

speaking of Edom and the curse that is upon them, he also speaks of

the sword.

It says,.

For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom.

And then skipping forward here, the Lord has a sword, it is sated with blood, it is gorged.

With fat.

So you think of the sword and the sword in the heavens, and it is, it is hungry, you know, it is eating up blood, it is eating

up fat.

And every last bit of God's wrath will be satisfied by the sword.

It will accomplish every last piece of destruction that is needed.

There's no one who will escape, who will escape what God is accomplishing.

And moreover, there's a picture here of sacrifice that is happening.

It speaks of the blood of lambs and goats, the fat of the kidney of rams.

Why fat of goats?

Why kidneys?

Why is it speaking of these things?

These are things that are particularly dedicated to the Lord in sacrifice.

God had determined that the fat was for Him.

God had determined that the blood was for Him, that these things should be poured out on the ground, that they should be offered in sacrifice,

and they should not be eaten by the people.

These particular portions of fat in the animal, in the particular, in blood, these are not to be eaten by the

people, rather they are to be given to the Lord in sacrifice.

And so there must be a sacrifice, a sacrifice must be made.

And here, the picture is of Edom being the sacrifice that will satisfy God's wrath.

You know, this is a picture of a human sacrifice, essentially, that they are goats and they are the rams, they are the

bulls that will be slaughtered in order to satisfy the Lord's wrath.

And what's interesting here, too, is it speaks of this as being a heavenly sword, as

a heavenly sword, but that judgment comes

down.

So it is already sated with blood, it is already filled in the heavens,

and is already gorged with that, but the reason why is because the Lord has a sacrifice in

Bazar, a great slaughter in the land of Edom, that these things are coming to Edom.

These things have already been accomplished in the heavens, and they are coming down to.

Edom.

So God has His purposes, and they've already been accomplished in the heavens.

The Scripture speaks this way on a number of occasions.

You look at Revelation and the great war that takes place, and then basically what we see here on this earth is

a playing out of the battle that has already been won in the heavens.

And you consider the Lord's prayer, right?

Matthew 6 .10,.

Matthew 6 .10 says, our Father who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

But we are supposed to pray that God's will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

There is a will that has already been accomplished in heaven, a spiritual battle already won, and we are to

pray, not that God would accomplish something that He hasn't accomplished, but that He would fulfill something that has already been

accomplished, right?

This has already been accomplished in the heavens, and we are supposed to pray that it comes down to earth, and that is exactly

what the picture here in Isaiah 34 is talking.

About.

It's talking about a sword that has already drunk its fill in the heavens, and then it will come and drink its fill on

the earth as well.

You know, all the more reason to, yeah, to pray for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Don't just skip over that and think, oh, well, as long as I'm praying for God's will to be.

Done.

You know, pray with an understanding, with a knowledge of how fully this is accomplished.

The more we're praying according to the will of God, the more that we're praying with an understanding and a belief of

what assurances and what promises we have to lay hold on, the more God is glorified in answering that prayer,

us holding on to Him and trusting Him and what He has said, okay?

If we are praying these things without a knowledge of that, God is less glorified by His fulfillment of

these truths, so hold on to those promises as you're praying.

Really pray that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

It continues on here.

It says, wild oxen shall fall with them, and young steers with the mighty bulls.

Why oxen?

Why steers?

The Bible speaks of...the Bible speaks of the importance of sacrificing oxen,

and if you look and you notice when it's talking about sacrificing oxen, when it's talking about sacrificing goats,

usually the goats and the lambs are for individuals and the oxen are for the sins either

of the people as a whole or of the priest who represents the people as a whole.

So when it moves on here from the blood of lambs and goats, it's moving on from the layman to the

leaders.

You know, it's speaking of both low and high, God has destruction planned for all of them.

You know, all the more reason to...yeah, all the more reason to pray for your rulers, those

that we do every, you know, every Sunday we pray for our rulers, and one reason to

pray for them, not just because God has said that He desires all to come to

repentance, including those of high positions, but in particular because they have

so much, such a high role,

such an obligation before the Lord that they frequently fall on, that they really are the oxen.

You know, they are the prime targets of the slaughter that is coming.

They are prime pieces of sacrifice that unless there

is repentance, there will be a requirement.

Of blood.

God will require that blood of them, and you see it here

when it says, their land shall drink its fill of blood and their soil shall be gorged with fat.

This being exactly what Genesis 9, Deuteronomy 15, 23 speaks of,

the fat being reserved for the Lord, the blood being poured out, that

these things are not for the people, but rather they are for God.

Now interesting here is, and maybe you notice this, is the language that's

being used, their land shall drink its fill of blood.

Well, didn't we hear that just a second ago?

It's that my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens.

You know, something has happened in the past, the sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, but now their land

shall drink its fill of blood.

It says their soil shall be gorged with fat.

Right?

Verse 6 said, the Lord hath a sword, it is sated with blood, it is gorged with fat.

This is something that has already been accomplished, it has already drunk the blood, it has already been gorged with fat, and now the earth will

be filled with blood, and the earth will be gorged with fat.

Now what is that other than what we just described in the Lord's Supper, or excuse me, not the Lord's Supper, the Lord's Prayer,

that God's will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

That heavenly sword has drunk the blood, it has consumed the fat, and now the earth

will drink the blood and consume the fat.

God's work is being accomplished, but it has already been, God's work is being fulfilled, it has already been accomplished in heaven.

And so we, people who are by nature enemies of God, should look at this and recognize

that our lives are owed to God.

Genesis 9 says that the reason why blood is not to be drunk,

blood is not to be eaten, is because it belongs to the Lord.

Our own lives belong to the Lord.

We are temporary stewards of what we have in this world.

This is not, you know, this body, this life, this lifetime that we are in is not ours forever.

There will be an end to it here in this particular situation, this earth, and it is on loan to.

Us.

We are mere stewards of it, so do not squander this opportunity to take

full advantage of what God has given you.

Do not use it thinking that it is yours forever, but rather it is on loan to you from the Lord.

But now what is someone to do?

What is someone to do who sees us and recognizes that, well, God has determined that His wrath

must be satisfied by sacrifice, and I am that sacrifice since I have

sinned against.

God?

Well, the answer is there is another sacrifice.

There is another sacrifice that has been determined in heaven for all eternity.

It is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

That is Jesus Christ.

You know, how can the Bible say, and I know some translations say this differently, but how can the Bible say that He is the Lamb slain before the

foundation of the world?

Is it not for the exact reasons that this says the same thing?

This truth has already been accomplished in heaven.

God's destruction is already determined and settled in heaven, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ,

the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, how do you escape judgment?

How do you escape when God's heavenly sword must be satisfied?

What will satisfy it?

Nothing will satisfy it ultimately apart from heavenly blood.

That is what you need in order to satisfy the sword, and Jesus Christ has come.

He's offered His own life.

He has spared His people who were apart from Him, cursed, who were apart from Him,

devoted to destruction, that we might enjoy blessings

forever in Him, and this is a wonderful, glorious truth that we should be rejoicing

in, seeing how impossible this situation is to solve, and seeing how

impossibly Christ has solved it, coming to earth, shedding His own blood for our

sins, that we might be saved.

And consider also the wonderful truth that is, that His blood has been shed

before the foundation of the world in the similar way that this is.

On the other end of reprobation is election, that God's particular redemption, it has been

accomplished in heaven.

You know, it's a wild thing that He has paid the penalty, and yet that redemption accomplished is not

applied until a particular person believes, but yet at the same time, it's not

contingent on the particular person believing, as though He is the one who will

decide whether or not it gets applied, rather it is God who has determined

by accomplishing these things in.

Heaven.

That sword that has drunk its fill of enemy blood in heaven has drunk its fill of the

blood of the Lamb as well, in order that we might be spared from the wrath to come, in

order that all God's people, all of His elect, might come to a knowledge of Him.

And there is a great hope in this, so that when you go out and you

evangelize, you can share the gospel knowing that God has already accomplished this in heaven.

You know, His sword has already done its work in heaven, and so we can be sure that the Holy Spirit will work where He

wills.

And if you look at your own life, and you are feeling uncertain about your condition,

you can know that the work that God has started, He will bring to completion, and that all who come to Him will

never be cast out.

Let us pray today, praying especially that God's will be done on earth as

it is in heaven, praying especially for our rulers, praying especially with a

thankfulness for what God has accomplished in Jesus Christ.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word.

We thank You for this great promise of salvation that comes through Jesus

Christ, and we thank You for this great promise of justice which comes from His hand as well toward all the enemies,

all the peoples that would turn against You.

And we look forward to the ultimate salvation that we will experience when Christ returns in glory.

In His name we pray.

Amen.