Wail for the day of the Lord is near, as destruction from the Almighty. It will come. Therefore, all hands will be feeble and every human heart will melt.
– Isaiah 13:6–7
This is a very sobering picture in Isaiah 13 and something we see all throughout the Bible. There’s a sense in which for all who are trusting in Jesus, yes, we are eagerly anticipating the day of the Lord or the day when Jesus returns, we pray, “Come Lord Jesus, come quickly.” We long for that day when our salvation will be complete. When sin and suffering will be no more, when we’ll enjoy the just and righteous rule and reign of Jesus on the earth. We long for that.
Isaiah 13:6–7 teaches us to live in light of the coming judgement.
At the same time, for those who do not trust in Jesus, who are not trusting in the salvation that God has given, the day of the Lord is a fearsome day.
It’s a day of destruction, a day of judgment. It’s a day of eternal destruction and judgment. And we need to feel both of these and our Christian lives like, “Yes, a longing for eternal life, a longing for freedom from sin, and evil, and sorrow, and suffering, and death.” It’s right to long for those things. At the same time, to realize that for anyone around us and anyone in the world who doesn’t know or trust in Jesus, this day of judgment is coming. And we need to feel both of these so that we share the gospel with urgency.
Just think about people around you today, people in your family, friends of yours, coworkers of yours, and neighbors of yours who don’t know Jesus, this day is coming. It could be today for any one of them. Obviously, they’re not guaranteed tomorrow, not guaranteed to be breathing, for their heart to be beating tomorrow, and it could be today when Jesus returns.
Isaiah 13:6–7 encourages us to share the gospel with urgency.
Share the gospel with urgency today and not just with people around us where we live, where followers of Jesus can share the gospel with them. But this is why we pray for unreached people around the world, for specific people, groups, who don’t have Christians around them to share the gospel with them because judgment is coming for them and they’ve never even heard the good news about Jesus. We pray, God help us today to live with Hebrews 9:27–28 eager anticipation for your coming Lord Jesus. And at the same time with a sobering reality that anyone and everyone around us who is not trusting in you will experience eternal judgment and destruction on that day. God, help us to share the gospel, the good news of your love and your grace and your mercy in Jesus today with people around us.
And God, we pray for their salvation. We pray for the salvation of family members, friends, coworkers, and neighbors. For people we know who don’t know you right now. God, please save them. God, please open their eyes to your grace and your mercy. In Jesus. We pray that you would do that today. God, we pray with urgency for this. God, we pray that you would give us urgency to share the gospel with them… To know how best to share the gospel with them. We pray for fruit for your Holy Spirit to open their eyes to your salvation.
Prayer for the Fezzan Bedouin People
And at the same time, oh God, we pray for people we don’t know who don’t have Christians around them. God, for the Fezzan Bedouin of Libya, for 218,000 of them. No known followers of Jesus among the Fezzan Bedouin. God, we pray this day is coming. You long for their salvation. You’ve made a way for their salvation, God bring that about. Soon, we pray. We pray that the Fezzan Bedouin would be reached with the good news of your grace and your love in Jesus. Please, oh God, may it be so. We pray and help us to live with Isaiah 13:6–7 in mind today and each day. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
