34 Draw near, O nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples!
Let the earth and [a]all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it.
2 For the Lord’s indignation is against all the nations,
And His wrath against all their armies;
He has [b]utterly destroyed them,
He has given them over to slaughter.
3 So their slain will be thrown out,
And their corpses [c]will give off their stench,
And the mountains will [d]be drenched with their blood.
4 And all the host of heaven will [e]wear away,
And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll;
All their hosts will also wither away
As a leaf withers from the vine,
Or as one withers from the fig tree.
5 For My sword is satiated in heaven,
Behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom
And upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction.
6 The sword of the Lord is filled with blood,
It is [f]sated with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats,
With the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah
And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 Wild oxen will also [g]fall with them
And young bulls with strong ones;
Thus their land will be soaked with blood,
And their dust [h]become greasy with fat.
8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
A year of recompense for the [i]cause of Zion.
Well that’s gross! So, the Lord is just going to come down and slaughter all these animals because of the sins of the nations? Yet think of all the animals sacrificed under the old system of judgment. At least once a year, all the people had to come and offer an animal sacrifice for their sins. Imagine the sheer number of animals, bearing the cost for their mistakes and disobedience.
It’s one thing if they were really trying to be good and follow God’s law. But so often, it was only a token (if they even offered sacrifices at all). They came and offered their sacrifice, and then went on their way without a second thought. In their minds they likely thought, “Well, we can sin all we want, and we’ll just cover it with another sacrifice next year!”
Though that may seem far-fetched, many are guilty of the same today. Paul even addressed this very issue when he wrote to the believers in Rome, “Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?” He was continuing on from the previous chapter and basically saying, “When we sin, and ask for forgiveness, God gives us grace. So then, why not sin more so God can show us more grace!?”
Yeah, when you put it that way… It sounds foolish, because it is. And Paul continues, “May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” We would do well then to consider two things when we sin, the pain we inflict on the heart of Him who forgave us, and the price that was paid for our very sin. Can we really hurt God, really?
Think of this example, if you are a parent, how do you feel when your kids willingly disobey you? Not good, right? And if you’re not a parent, I’m sure you can imagine at least partially. But take it a level further. Your kid gets in a car accident and totals someone else’s car. They can’t pay for it, they made a mistake, they feel terrible, and you have the money, so you make it right. Now imagine your kid goes and does the same exact thing, and wrecks another car.
Yeah, and that’s just money, God is dealing with our eternal souls and “is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” This passage uses the words indignation and wrath, but I don’t know if that really captures the full picture. Either way, we should not take so lightly the impact of our sin. Yes, Jesus covered it all, once and for all. But that isn’t a license to sin, it is a license to live free of sin, and for His glory.