Slices
Prepare
Today we will read more dire warnings and wonderful promises. We will also learn how we can avoid God’s punishments and gain access to his treasures. Ask God to give you ears to hear his Word.
Bible passage
Distress and help
33 Woe to you, destroyer,
you who have not been destroyed!
Woe to you, betrayer,
you who have not been betrayed!
When you stop destroying,
you will be destroyed;
when you stop betraying,
you will be betrayed.
2 Lord, be gracious to us;
we long for you.
Be our strength every morning,
our salvation in time of distress.
3 At the uproar of your army, the peoples flee;
when you rise up, the nations scatter.
4 Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts;
like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.
5 The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness.
6 He will be the sure foundation for your times,
a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge;
the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.
7 Look, their brave men cry aloud in the streets;
the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways are deserted,
no travellers are on the roads.
The treaty is broken,
its witnesses are despised,
no one is respected.
9 The land dries up and wastes away,
Lebanon is ashamed and withers;
Sharon is like the Arabah,
and Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves.
10 ‘Now will I arise,’ says the Lord.
‘Now will I be exalted;
now will I be lifted up.
11 You conceive chaff,
you give birth to straw;
your breath is a fire that consumes you.
12 The peoples will be burned to ashes;
like cut thorn-bushes they will be set ablaze.’
13 You who are far away, hear what I have done;
you who are near, acknowledge my power!
14 The sinners in Zion are terrified;
trembling grips the godless:
‘Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire?
Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?’
15 Those who walk righteously
and speak what is right,
who reject gain from extortion
and keep their hands from accepting bribes,
who stop their ears against plots of murder
and shut their eyes against contemplating evil –
16 they are the ones who will dwell on the heights,
whose refuge will be the mountain fortress.
Their bread will be supplied,
and water will not fail them.
Explore
You may have heard it said that ‘the fear of the Lord’ does not mean being scared of him, but there is much in this passage that seems designed to scare. Verses 1 and 12–14 directly threaten terrible fates for God’s enemies. It is right and wise to fear his wrath and his great power. Dismissing it, thinking God couldn’t or wouldn’t exercise his righteous judgement, is utter folly.
The ‘sinners’ of verse 14 are right to ask how they can escape being consumed by God’s wrath. In his great grace and mercy he tells them – and us – the way out. It isn’t easy, though. Look at verse 15: it speaks of living righteously with our feet, our mouths, our hands, our ears and our eyes! No one can live in that kind of sinlessness – no one except Jesus.
When we fear God’s judgement, we quickly come to see our need of Jesus. The wise person accepts his offer of salvation and gains protection from the coming wrath, along with the rich store of wisdom and knowledge promised in verse 6.
Respond
Pray: ‘Almighty God, you are great and powerful and the wise fear you and your righteousness. Thank you for your great gift of salvation to all those who call on you. Thank you for saving us. Amen.’
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Deuteronomy 10,11; Romans 1
Pray for Scripture Union
During the last six months, over 150 young people have been trained and mentored to share their faith through the Amplify young evangelist academy. Pray for them as they gather over the coming weekend for their final residential, to celebrate and to be commissioned.
