"the day of the Lord comes": avoiding the humiliation

Isaiah includes a huge section on the judgment of the nations (chapters 13-27) that is difficult to preach.  Look for reasons why judgment falls on them.  Isaiah is urging God's people to not act like the nations so they will escape judgment.  In Isaiah 13:6-11 and 14:12-17 we encounter a description of the day of the Lord that's coming, "cruel, with wrath and fierce anger...to destroy its sinners..." (13:9).  Then 14:12-17 contain the well-known claims of an egotistical king ("I will make myself like the Most High" v. 14).  As 2 Peter 3:1-13 states, all this talk about coming judgment is designed to urge God's people to holiness.  All the pride of the king in 14:12-17 is contrasted by our Savior who "...humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death..." (cf. Phil. 2:5-8).  Believers respond to the prediction of future judgment by trusting and obeying their Savior.  Allow judgment Texts to spur us on to holiness.