Isaiah

Isaiah: “Salvation is Yah!”

ISAIAH: the “Salvation of JeHoVaH.” The Evangelical Prophet; Subject, the Kingdom of God. The anticipated Gospel, and Israel in “The latter days.”1 Key chapter: Fifty-third; Key word: the “Branch” ~ { Quarterly Studies } ~ {Select commentator excerpts.} Part 1: Isaiah chapters 1—39: “The Sins of Israel and Judah and the Necessary Judgement of God.” Aim: “That we will better understand and know that the holiness of God demands that He judge sin. What and how we worship makes a difference to God.” Part 2: Isaiah chapters 40—66: “The Comfort of God for All Nations.”

Aim: “That we will better understand the grace of God extended to all nations and realize the special place Israel has as God’s covenant nation.”2 >>>—> Wednesday, August 23, 2017 <—<<<

“The ‘Two’ Books of Isaiah” “¶ Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.” (Isaiah 40:1-2) These two verses introduce the so-called book of “Deutero-Isaiah,” which biblical critics (who deny that prophecy can be fulfilled) claim was written by a second Isaiah simply because it contains prophetic claims which have come to pass. The Lord Jesus, however, quoted more than once from both “divisions” of Isaiah, attributing both of them to the same inspired author, and He surely knew more about their true authorship than do modern liberals!

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I. M. Haldeman, How to Study the Bible. “The characteristic meaning and purport” of each book of the Bible.

“Aims” taken from the ABA “Through-the-Bible Series” 2017 Spring and Summer Adult Quarterlies; Bogard Press.

Actually, however, the two divisions of Isaiah are quite distinctive in their respective vocabularies, simply because their respective themes are different. In fact, the chapter structure of the two divisions is quite remarkable, possibly even providential. The first book (chapters 1-39) contains the same number of chapters as the Old Testament has books. The second book (chapters 40-66) contains 27 chapters, the same as the number of books in the New Testament. The New Testament portion begins with John the Baptist (Isaiah 40:1-5), just as the New Testament itself does, and ends with the new heavens and the new earth (Isaiah 65 and 66; compare Revelation 21 and 22).

The central chapter in the New Testament part of Isaiah is Isaiah 53, which contains the clearest and fullest exposition of the substitutionary death of Christ for our sins to be found anywhere in the Bible.

And the central verse of this chapter (which actually should begin at Isaiah 52:13) is: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5). HMM3

Prophecy The prophetic books contain both narrative and poetry, but what sets them apart as their own genre is the presence of the prophetic oracle—“Thus saith the LORD”—and the function these oracles play in Scripture. The prophets arrive on the biblical scene as attorneys for the prosecution, arguing God’s case in a covenant lawsuit against Israel for breaking the covenant. But not only do they make the case, they prophetically warn of the judgment to come (calling for repentance) and prophetically proclaim the salvation to come (calling for faith).

How do we exegete prophecy?

•The basic feature—and problem—of interpretation is the promise-fulfillment dynamic. This is what divides interpreters. When, where, and how a prophecy is fulfilled helps us understand its meaning.

•One important aspect of prophecy is the prophetic foreshortening of events. The prophets see the mountains on the distant horizon as a single, two-dimensional line. Once we actually get there in history and travel into those mountains, we discover that there are multiple ranges broad distances apart. This means that most, if not all, prophecies have multiple horizons of fulfillment.

•For example, in the flow of Isaiah’s narrative, the “sign of Immanuel” in Isaiah 7 is fulfilled in Isaiah 8 with Isaiah’s own son. But that’s just the first range of mountains. Behind and towering over that range is the text’s ultimate fulfillment in the birth of Jesus Christ.

•Another example is found in the apocalyptic prophecy of judgment in Isaiah 24–27. This prophecy is fulfilled first by the Babylonian invasion of Palestine. A second mountain range of fulfillment perhaps arrives with Rome’s destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Ultimately, in light of Revelation, we recognize that this prophecy is fulfilled at the end of the world on the last day.

•A common feature of prophecy is to use the language and images of the past in order to describe the future.

Creation, garden of Eden imagery, the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, and the exodus are all used to describe future events. These provide a theological understanding of what’s happening, not necessarily a literal understanding.

•Not all prophecies are unconditional. The most famous example of this is Jonah preaching to Nineveh. He prophesied that in three days Nineveh would be overturned, unless the people repented. The people repented, so the prophecy was not fulfilled.

•Quite a bit of prophecy is not predictive, but descriptive (typological). For example, the New Testament understands that much of King David’s life anticipated the coming Messiah.

•As always, context is king. In the case of prophecy, the shape of the story of the Bible as a whole is crucial. We need to remember that revelation is progressive, and in the revelation of Jesus Christ, we’ve been given both the main point and the end of the story. This means that we have an advantage over Old Testament readers. We work from the story of the whole Bible back to the prophecy, not the other way around. As Peter assures us in 1 Peter 1:10–13, the gospel gives us clearer vision than even the Old Testament prophets had. Therefore the New Testament determines the ultimate meaning of Old Testament prophecy, not the other way around.

•Example: Isaiah 11—the prophecy of the reign of the Branch of Jesse. This prophecy draws on imagery from Genesis 2 (Eden), Exodus, and Joshua. It describes the future in overlapping images: a return to Eden, a second exodus, and a completion of the unfinished work of conquering the Promised Land. In piling up these images, many of which are also poetic, we need to recognize that the prophet is making a theological point, and not necessarily a literal historical prediction. All of this will be accomplished through the righteous judgment of a shoot from the stump 3

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D. Evidence for Creation › Evidence from Scripture › Authentic Text.

of Jesse, who is described in terms taken from God’s presence in the exodus (Isaiah 11:10–11). So the prophecy points forward ultimately to the divine Son of David, the God-man Jesus Christ, and his universal rule in the new heavens and new earth.4

Prophet of the Assyrian Period Introduction: Title, Author, and Date, (Isaiah 1:1): Isaiah’s ministry extended from the closing year of Uzziah’s reign to the end of Hezekiah’s reign (758-698 B.C.; Assyrian date, 740-698 B.C.), a period of at least forty years, and possibly sixty. The latter half of the eighth century B.C. is approximately the period of his activity. He followed Amos and Hosea, and was contemporary with Micah. Isaiah’s prophetic ministry covered the stirring period during which Assyria, under the leadership of Pul, Shalmaneser V, Sargon, and Sennacherib, repeatedly invaded Syria and Palestine. From his watch-tower Isaiah surveyed the nations, from Assyria and Elam in the east to Egypt and Ethiopia in the southwest, and Jehovah asserted, by the mouth of His prophet, His sovereignty over all the earth.

Isaiah had a wife and children. His wife was a “prophetess,” in sympathy with her husband, and their sons bore names which were signs of coming events. Isaiah was highly educated, and possessed a most perspicuous and forceful style. He seems to have spent his life in Jerusalem. ~ Syllabus for Old Testament Study by John R. Sampey.

The last twenty-seven chapters of the book constitute one grand messianic poem, subdivided into three books, the first and the second closing each with the solemn refrain, “There is no peace, saith Jehovah, to the wicked,” and the third expressing the thought more fully, “Their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.” Each of these books consists of three sections of three chapters each, chapter 53 thus becoming the middle chapter of the middle book of this great prophetic poem, the very heart of the prophetic writings of the Old Testament. And the central verses (5-8) of this central chapter enshrines the central truth of the gospel:5 “¶ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cu t off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.  And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.” {I s ai ah 5 3: 4 - 9 w h o le p a r ag r aph . }

The righteousness of the Messiah, As connected with salvation, is the constant theme of the Prophets, especially of Isaiah. “The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will ma g n i fy th e la w , a nd m a k e it ho no u ra b le. ” Isaiah 42:21. “Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.” Isaiah 45:8. The heavens 4 5

Michael Lawrence, Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church: A Guide for Ministry, (Crossway, 2010), 48–49.

From An Interpretation of the English Bible by B. H. Carroll

were to drop down this righteousness, and the skies were to pour it down, while men’s hearts, barren like the earth without rain, were to be opened to receive it by faith, having no part in doing anything to procure the gift. “S u r e l y , s h a l l o n e s a y , i n t h e L O R D h a v e I righteousness and strength: ... In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.” Isaiah 45:24-25. “I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.” Isaiah 46:13. “My righteousness is near; My salvation is gone forth ... My salvation shall be for ever, and My righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken unto Me, ye that know righteousness,” Isaiah 51:5-7. “by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many;” Isaiah 53:11. “This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.” Isaiah 54:17. “Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. ” Isaiah 56:1. “For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.” Isaiah 61:11. “For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory:” Isaiah 62:1-2.6 --> {See APPENDIXES: Isaiah excerpts from: “After the Resurrection, Where and What?”

by J. B. Moody.} --> {See also “The Witness of Isaiah” from: Biblical Creationism, and “Of Seas & Songs” from The Revelation Record by Henry M. Morris.} --> {About the chart “Mountain Peaks of Prophecy” from: Dispensational Truth

by Clarence Larkin.} --> {Note on “Exalted Zion” from: ‘The Thousand Years’ by Nathaniel West.} --> {And from the “Introduction” to a must read: “Israel My Glory” by John Wilkinson.}

Part 1: Isaiah chapters 1—39: “The Sins of Israel and Judah and the Necessary Judgement of God.” “That we will better understand and know that the holiness of God demands that He judge sin. What and how we worship makes a difference to God.”

I. Rebellion of God’s People.

2 - Isaiah complains of Judah for her rebellion. ~ 5 - He laments her judgments. ~ 10 - He upbraids their whole service. ~ 16 - He exhorts to repentance, with promises and threatnings. ~ 21 - Bewailing their wickedness, he denounces God's judgments. ~ 25 - He promises grace, ~ 28 - and threatens destruction to the wicked.

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

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Haldane, Robert, 1764-1842. Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans.

¶ Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master ’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. ¶ Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollifie d with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garde n of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. ¶ Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?

Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. ¶ Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. ¶ How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. Thy silver is bec ome dross, thy wine mixed with water: Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. Therefore saith the Lord, t he LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies: ¶ And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin: And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.

¶ And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed. For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water. And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.

“The ox knoweth HIS OWNER, ... but MY PEOPLE doth not consider ~ He “made a Marriage-Feast for His Son”7 The preaching of Christ and His Apostles was the second call. This was not a call out of Egypt and it was not a call to salvation in the first degree, for from the Exodus onward the nation was regarded as saved in that sense.

Even when in a state of sin and growing apostasy they are still addressed by the prophets as the people of God. Isaiah 1:3; 3:12-15; 5:1-13. Neither was the second call to be interpreted as a transference from one condition in the flesh to another in the same. It was rather a call to come out of an earthly state and into a heavenly state, where the raised would live in immortal bodies and enjoy perfect communion with God. How absurd then to apply the parable to the sinner-the unsaved. It has nothing to do with such. The Holy Spirit says, “He came unto His own (possessions-idia), and His own (people-idioi) received Him not.” The Messiah began His preaching with the words, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” This too was the message of the Baptist. The establishment of the Kingdom and thereby the accomplishment of the promises made to Abraham and David was impossible except on the basis of repentance and a mighty turning to God. But when Israel’s Messiah pointed out the sins of the nation, especially of the leaders, which must be abandoned or the Kingdom postponed,11 their latent wickedness came into open expression. Men in Israel, as in the church, had no appreciation of spiritual values, with the result that when the call to victory and glory came “they would not come.” It was too Utopian to be true, they thought. They loved the visible, the tangible, the sensible; and so, “One went to his own farm.” He could speak of his earthly possessions as “his own”, something get-at-able; but the verities of Messiah’s Kingdom did not appeal to him. He could say, “my farm”, but he could not say, “my God”. The Patriarchs could and did. Genesis 17:3-23; 28:13-22; Psalm 7:1-11.

THE HOLY AND TRUE. Christ here claims to be “the Holy One” and therefore God (John 10:30; 14:9; John 17:11, 22). In the Old Testament “the Holy One” is a frequent name of God, especially in Isaiah 1:4; 5:19, 24; 10:17, 20; 12:6, {27 places in Isaiah (“Prophecy proclaim”{sic?} in Bible Numbers)8}; Job 6:10; Jer. 50:29; 51:5; Ezek. 39:7; Hos. 11:9; Hab. 3:3, etc. “The Holy One” has a very distinct meaning of its own. Varax, is “true.” As opposed to “lying”; verus, is (as here) “true” as opposed to “spurious,” “unreal,” “imperfect.” Christ is the True One as opposed to the false gods of the heathen; they are spurious gods. Both adjectives are characteristic of St. John. Verus (true) serves to bind together Gospel, Epistle, and Apocalypse. It occurs nine times in the Gospel, four times in the first Epistle, and ten times in the Apocalypse; twenty-three times in all: in the rest of the New Testament only five times. It is the word used of the true Light (John 1:9; 1John 2:8); the true Bread (John 6:32); the true Vine (John 15:1). Applied to God, we find it in (John 7:28; 17:3; 1John 5:20). - PRINCIPAL A. PLUMMER, D. D.9

S. S. Craig, THE DUALISM OF ETERNAL LIFE; in“The Parable of the Great Supper, or Wedding Feast.” {Nowhere in scripture have I found the option of a “postponed kingdom;” which the Jewish leaders were apparently trying to opt for by rejecting the kingdom John and Jesus were preaching. Were they actually being given a choice? It was coming, ready or not and whether they wanted it or not and was actually already there. “The kingdom exists today in the person of the King, Christ, and the ruling class He is now calling out.” See “THE KINGDOM POSTPONED?” Excerpt from “Rice–Smith Discussion” by Elder C. A. Smith, 1936; G. E. Jones, etc. (n.d.) in “The 3 Stages of Christ’s Kingdom~Church~Bride.” ~ esn} 8 “THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BIBLE NUMBERS (by Eld. G. E. Jones)” handout.

9 D. M. Panton, The Panton Papers.

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His next appearance was to reasoners.

“Behold two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus and they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and REASONED, Jesus himself drew near and went with them” (Luke 24:13-15). Then the Saviour revealed Himself to them and taking His text from the prophets He preached a wonderful sermon to them concerning the things that all the prophets said concerning Himself. Jesus thus honored reasoning: He would not have us blindly accept a doctrine or practice. God said, even in the Old Testament times, “Come now let us reason together” (Isaiah 1:18). The man who shuts his mind up against reasoning will not get many favors from the Lord. God is a reasonable God and the Bible is a reasonable book and Jesus, God manifested, honored two reasoners as He did no others after His glorious resurrection.10

The Golden Altar Before the Throne This altar in Revelation 8:3 suggests that we are back on Jewish ground, and that God is now dealing with Israel again. This thought is also brought out in the sealing of the 144,000 of the twelve tribes of Israel. The voices, thunderings, and lightenings signify the judgments that are about to come upon the earth. God redeemed Israel out of Egypt with great judgments. The Lord said, “I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt BY GREAT JUDGMENTS.” (Exodus 7:4). God will again redeem Israel with judgments. “Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.” (Isaiah 1:27). All the trumpets bring judgment. God is again intervening in behalf of His elect nation. (In Isaiah 45:4 Israel is called God’s ELECT). ... But before the Lord takes up His dwelling with Israel He must send some sore judgments on Israel’s enemies. In Isaiah 1:27 it is stated, ... This is why we read in Isaiah 63:3-4, in connection with the Lord treading the winepress, “…the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and THE YEAR OF MY REDEEMED IS COME.” ~ Elder G. E. Jones; A Verse by Verse Commentary on Revelation.

ISAIAH 1 The first chapter of the prophet rebukes severely the Jews for the national desertion of Jehovah. But the pathetic appeal, that the ox knew its owner, and the most stupid of animals his master’s crib, yet that Israel “knew not HIM,” applies in its fullest force to the Jews’ rejection of Jesus, by whom they were created, and for whose pleasure they were made. “They did not understand,” says Procopius11, “who he was, who was seen even by their fathers in a human form. Therefore he saith, ‘Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.’

And, ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy sons, and thou wouldst not!’” To which may be added, the Saviour’s own declaration, in words Ben M. Bogard Sermons & Lessons.

Procopius of Caesarea (c. 500 – c. 554 AD) was a prominent late antique scholar from Palaestina Prima.

Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian, he became the principal Byzantine historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars (or Histories), the Buildings of Justinian and the nowcelebrated (and infamous) Secret History. He is commonly held to be the last major historian of the ancient Western world. ~ Wikipedia {cf. www.britannica.com/.../Procopius-...} 10 11

exactly resembling those of the passage before us: “Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.” (John 8:19.) On the complaint, that the whole body was diseased, the same writer remarks, “What more powerful mode of cure remained, after that of the Saviour’s tarrying with them, who was able to heal every sickness and malady, both of souls and bodies, in them that believed?” The desolation of the country was such as characterized the reign of Ahaz, when the neighbouring nations, at their will, insulted and plundered Judaea. Still more fully does it apply to the destruction of Jerusalem, and devastation of Judaea by the Romans, after the Saviour’s crucifixion. The comparison of Jerusalem to a “cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers,” is beautifully illustrated by Eusebius:12 In order to guard the fruits of the vineyards, sheds are set up for the watchman’s convenience. “Whilst, then,” he says, “the vine is filled with its proper fruits, the shed is tended with every care and regard, that the watchman may diligently guard that no passer-by rob it of its fruits; but when the vineyard is without fruit, his watching-place is disregarded, as is fitting. Thus are the Jews threatened that they should be abandoned, since they brought not forth suitable fruits.” Even so, when the Jews rejected Jesus, “their house (and country) was left unto them desolate.”

It was to the times bordering on this overthrow that Paul (Romans 9:29), guided by the sacred Spirit, applied the succeeding verse, “Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.” On which passage Procopius beautifully observes, “There shall be a second call of the Jewish people in the last days, even though it be only a remnant at first. And this prophecy hath declared, saying, ‘The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an altar, and without a priesthood, and without teraphim.

Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek Jehovah their God, and David their king.’ (Hosea 3:4-5.) And this is signified to us also in another mode. For verily the people of old were disobedient, of whom he said, ‘As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest.’ But Caleb and Joshua entered in with the new generation, they a figure of the remnant of Israel, saved by obedience and faith in Christ, who, after crossing with us the holy Jordan, shall inherit hereafter the kingdom of heaven.” We know how truly the words quoted by St. Paul were fulfilled in that day. But it still remains, as appears probable, that it will receive a fuller and final accomplishment in the day of unparalleled tribulation.

Eusebius of Caesarea (circa 275 to 339) was bishop of Caesarea in Palestine and is often referred to as the father of church history because of his work in recording the history of the early Christian church. {www.theopedia.com} 12

By calling them “Sodom and Gomorrah,” Isaiah chastises their pride in regarding themselves as surely the children of God, because of their natural descent from Abraham. On which Procopius observes, “They published and declared their sin, together with their injustice, as Sodom, when they devised the evil counsel, saying among themselves, ‘Let us bind the Just One, for he is displeasing unto us:’ which sin, truly, against him who alone is called ‘Just,’ that is, Christ, rendered them worthy of such a title as that of Sodomites. And when the prophet again calls them, “the people of Gomorrah,” he adds, “The prophet justly unites with the rulers ‘the people,’ for, as they refused the just judge, Lot, saying, ‘This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge:’ so also they refused the just judge, saying, ‘Away with him! Crucify him, crucify him!’ They of Sodom, indeed, wrongfully entreated strangers; but the Jews, Him that came to his own; - the one, angels: the others, God. Jerusalem, therefore, because of its wickednesses, became Sodom.”

The Lord himself then attacks the next object of their dependence - their rites and sacrifices. He discovers to them that when these were not offered with a prepared and contrite heart they were no longer acceptable. But, beside this general subject of disparagement, there was a yet deeper cause of dissatisfaction.

The sacrifice of Jesus being now offered, the significance of the temple service had departed, and its victims were no longer worthy of regard; but rather an abomination, since they could no longer be offered in faith. Another reason assigned for disregarding their most solemn rites and prayers, is, that their “hands were full of blood.” And this doubtless had an especial reference to the Saviour’s death, as Procopius also remarks : “His blood be on us and on our children!” was the cry which fixed their condemnation. Thenceforth their prayers were abomination, for their hands were imbrued in the blood of the Son of God. Even this the Saviour himself threatened: “Behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill, and crucify, and some of them ye shall scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and altar.” Thus the law ended with a curse: for it found its professed subjects “laden with guilt.” But then the prophet addresses them with Gospel exhortations, “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings, cease to do evil, learn to do well:” words which are re-echoed by St. Peter in his exhortations at Pentecost; “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” “Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence, of the Lord.” Even yet their scarlet sins might be made white by the blood they had wickedly shed. But if not, “the sword should devour them:” and so it

happened; the Roman armies with keen severity redeemed the pledged faithfulness of Jehovah’s word.

The character given of Jerusalem by Josephus fully confirms the prophetic picture. “Murderers indeed lodged in it:” - the bands of assassins that paraded Jerusalem filled it with murders. The people were wicked to so surpassing a degree that Josephus himself says – “I verily think that had the Romans forborne to punish so great criminals, either the earth would have swallowed the city up, or some deluge had drowned it, or else the thunder and lightning which consumed Sodom, would have lit upon it; for the people of the city were far more impious than the Sodomites.”

But let us fill up more definitely the prophet’s sketch.

Eusebius agrees with Jerome in explaining the expression in verse 22, “Thy dealers mix wine with water” (the version of the LXX.), as signifying that the Scribes and Pharisees adulterated the true and pure word of the Most High with their puerile [childish, , trivial] and corrupt traditions. Their hypocrisy the Saviour exhibited, “Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” That their princes were “rebellious,” was seen by their revolting from Rome; that they were “companions of thieves,” was fulfilled, as both Eusebius and Jerome conceive, by their league with Judas, the traitor and thief. That they “judged not the cause of the widow,” we learn from the Saviour’s reproach, “that they devoured widows’ houses.” In consequence of all these sins, the vengeance of God, it is threatened, should come upon them; yet this judgement should destroy only the wicked. His wrath accomplished, the remnant shall yet come forth, Isaiah assures us, purified as gold without alloy, and Zion shall yet be called, “The faithful city.”13 Their comparison to “an oak. whose leaf fadeth,” was strikingly illustrated by the Saviour’s parable of the barren fig-tree, and by his withering the way-side tree which presented nothing but leaves.

The general features which this chapter exhibits as characteristic of the Jews, are, a hypocritical show of righteousness and attention to ceremonies, joined with a real disregard of God, and a heart full of malice, envy, and avarice. How truly this was fulfilled in the Jews of our Saviour’s time we know from the Evangelists.

Connected with this their sin, is the threat which was afterwards executed, that the temple and its service should be no longer continued to their nation. “Tread my courts no more,” which is not so much a prohibition, as a prophecy that soon they should not be able to enter those courts which they had so profaned. And Procopius justly observes, “The prophet does not accuse them at this time of idolatry, but of murder,” with which the Saviour charged them, “0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that

Her judges restored - (that is, resurrected) - would be such men as Moses and Joshua, or in latter times such as Ezra and Nehemiah; or more properly still, such as Apostles (and overcomers) of the Lord.

13

killest the prophets!” And Stephen re-asserts it, “Which of the prophets have not your fathers killed?”14

II. God’s Universal Reign.

1 - Isaiah prophesies the coming of Christ's kingdom. ~ 6 - Wickedness is the cause of God’s forsaking. ~ 10 - He exhorts to fear, because of the powerful effects of God's majesty. ¶ The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD. ¶ Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, bec ause they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots: Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. ¶ Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clef ts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?

14

Robert Govett, “Govett’s ISAIAH”

Gill’s Introduction to Isaiah 2 This chapter contains a vision or prophecy of the enlargement of Christ's kingdom and interest, and of the glory of his church in the latter day, by the calling of the Gentiles, and the numerous conversions of them to it, and of the abolition of idolatry, and the destruction of the antichristian party. The inscription to it is in Isa 2:1 the prophecy itself follows; the date of it is the last days; the subject matter of it, the kingdom, interest, and church of Christ, signified by the mountain of the Lord's house; its glorious estate is expressed by its establishment on the mountains; by its exaltation above the hills; and by the great numbers that should flock to it, and should encourage one another to go up to it, in order to learn the ways of God, and walk in them; the means of which is the Gospel preached, that should go out of Jerusalem; the effect of that is peace among the nations: hence the house of Jacob is exhorted to walk in the light held forth by it, Isa 2:2 and then the reasons are given of God's rejecting and forsaking some that bear the Christian name, called the house of Jacob; namely, their Heathenish superstition, idolatry, covetousness, and confidence in their riches; who are sarcastically called upon to hide themselves in the rocks for fear of the Lord, Isa 2:6 when the judgments of God are denounced on the proud and lofty, comparable to cedars, oaks, mountains, hills, high towers, fenced walls, and ships of the ocean, at which time, Christ, and he alone, will be exalted, and idolatry utterly abolished; the consequence of which will be the utmost dread and terror to all idolaters, Isa 2:11 and the chapter is concluded with an exhortation to such to cease from the man of sin, and have him in no account, Isa 2:22.15

When and where this foundation was laid.

Prophecies respecting the time and place of laying this foundation: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” Isaiah 2:2-3. Also Micah 4:1-2; [cf. Ezekiel 17:22-24.-ed.]

The original word translated “established” here and in Micah, is “kon,” and means “to be set up; to raise up; to be prepared,” according to Gesenius, and the word “prepared” is found in the margin of our English Bibles. This is one of those numerous prophecies found in the Bible, which clearly foretells within the compass of a few lines, the beginning or “setting up,” of Christ’s church or kingdom on earth, its growth or development, and its glorious and triumphant consummation, when “he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” verses 3&4. There are two or three things contained in this prophecy, which I desire to be borne in mind.

Notice—(a) The “setting up” of the Lord’s house,” was yet future when Isaiah and Micah wrote these prophecies, about 750 B. C. Then it was not in existence at, or prior to this time. (b) The context, as well as the phrase, “the last days,” show that the prophecy refers to Christ (c) The “Lord’s house” was to be “established,” or ‘set up” in the ‘top of the mountains.”

We beg the reader to bear these arguments in mind, while we introduce another line of Scriptural proof-texts, which represent the establishment of the church under another figure, closely allied to the preceding.16

15 16

John Gill, John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, Is 2. See also in appendixes: EXALTED ZION. Frank Lascelles DuPont, The Origin and Perpetuity of the Church of JESUS CHRIST,.

“Mountain”— This is also a symbol of a kingdom, Daniel 2:35 , 44; Jeremiah 51:24-25; Isaiah 2:2. A mountain may represent the Lord’s kingdom or a world kingdom. A beast never represents the Lord’s kingdom. ~ Jones. A Verse by Verse Commentary on Revelation.

Jerusalem: God’s Capital City.

Another significant reason why Christians should rejoice in Israel’s physical restoration and strongly support her continued existence in the Middle East is the prophesied future of her ancient and modern capital city, Jerusalem. Holy writ reveals that Zion is to be the very seat of the Messiah’s earthly reign. The nations on earth will come up to visit Jerusalem when Jesus rules from the holy city as King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

This is revealed in several Scriptures: “Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3).

“Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet home, A tabernacle that will not be taken down; Not one of its stakes will ever be removed, Nor will any of its cords be broken.” (Isaiah 33:20).

“Thus says the Lord, ‘I will return to Zion, And will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, The Mountain of the Lord of hosts, The Holy Mountain.’”

(Zechariah 8:3).

“I will not give sleep to mine eyes, Or slumber to mine eyelids, Until I find out a place for the LORD, an habitation for the Mighty One of Jacob...For Your servant David’s sake, Do not turn away the face of Your Anointed...For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place. ‘This is my resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it’” (Psalm 132:4-5, 10, 13-14).

“Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and MOVE NO MORE; nor shall the children of wickedness oppress them any more, as previously” (2 Samuel 7:10).

It is evident from Scripture that the Sovereign Lord of Creation has chosen the city of Jerusalem as His earthly capital. This decision was made by the very same God who promised to restore His covenanted Jewish people to the sacred city and surrounding land in the last days before the Second Coming. How can Christians look for and welcome Jesus’ prophesied return, and not rejoice in and actively support the Jewish return that was foretold to at least partially precede it?

God described the details and boundaries of the land in Genesis 15:18: “On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates.” This was a royal land grant, perpetual and unconditional. Genesis 17:8: “Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” Genesis 28:13: “the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.” God has never revoked Abraham’s title deed to the land, nor has He given it to anyone else.

The spot where God confirmed His covenant is an area north of Jerusalem between Bethel and Ai. It is in the heart of what is called the West Bank, or Judea and Samaria. (The United Nations refers to this as “occupied territory,” and demands that Israel relinquish it.) An inalienable right is one that cannot be given away. The Bible declares this to be so in Leviticus 25:23. The people were forbidden to sell the land because, ‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.”

Jerusalem is the only city God claims as His own; it is called the City of God and the Holy City in Scripture. He declared to Solomon in 2 Chronicles 33:7, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever.”

In October of 1991 the Middle East peace conference was convened at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain. I was sent by God to be a witness there. I was the first person to speak after Secretary of State James Baker concluded his remarks. I asked, “Why can’t America recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital? Secondly, we are moving a military presence into the Arab world for security. Why can’t we have a military presence in Israel to help its security? It has suffered so greatly, and has especially paid a dear price during the Persian Gulf War.” Baker was incensed by my remarks and said he refused to be entangled in a fruitless debate and that the status of Jerusalem should be determined by negotiations.

To this day, America has refused to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. This is a grave mistake. I have shouted this warning from the White House in Washington to the Royal Palace in Madrid as I rebuked world leaders with the words, “God does not recognize America’s non-recognition position!”17

From Pink’s Life of David: “The city of Jerusalem is therefore called the holy city, and it was the greatest type of the church of Christ in all the Old Testament. It was redeemed by David, the captain of the hosts of Israel, out of the hands of the Jebusites to be God’s city, the ho ly place of His rest forever where He would dwell, just as Christ, the Captain of His people’s salvation, redeemed His church out of the hands of devils, to be His holy and beloved city. And, therefore, how often does the Scripture, when speaking of Christ ’s redemption of His church, call it by the names of Zion and Jerusalem! This was the city that God had appointed to be the place of the first gathering and erecting of the Christian church after Christ’s resurrection, of that remarkable pouring out of the Spirit of God on the apostles and primitive Christians, and the place whence the Gospel was to sound forth into all the world. The place of the first Christian church, that was to be, as it were, the mother of all other churches in the world. Agreeably to that prophecy, Isaiah 2:3-4, ‘Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem ’” (Work of Redemption, Jonathan Edwards). ~ Studies in the Scriptures Annual Volume 1932

III. God Will Remove the Leaders.

1 - The great confusion which comes by sin. ~ 9 - The impudencie of the people. ~ 10 - The different rewards of the righteous and wicked. ~ 12 - The oppression and covetousness of the rulers. ~ 16 - The judgments which shall be for the pride of the women. ~ 25 - The general desolation.

For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable. When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand: In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make 17

Copyright 2011 by Mike Evansi of Jerusalem Prayer Team and Fuel For Truth.

me not a ruler of the people. For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory. ¶ The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. ¶ As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people. The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the LORD GOD of hosts. ¶ Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: Therefore the LORD will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts. In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, The rings, and nose jewels, The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.

Eleven—”Judgment” In foretelling the JUDGMENT that would come on Judah, Isaiah mentioned ELEVEN different kinds of men. See Isaiah 3:1-3. In Jeremiah 52:1-9 we find that this JUDGMENT came in the ELEVENTH year of the reign of Zedekiah. ~ Jones. A Verse by Verse Commentary on Revelation.

THE JEW’S SURVIVAL The Jew to-day is the purest-blooded people, and the proudest-descended race, in the world: it is a marvel of history that exactly as no race has been able to assimilate the Jew, so no race, universally dispersed as he is, has ever survived but the Jew: what he was when Tyre fell, or the Temple went up in smoke and fire, that he is to-day.

His features bear a portrait three thousand years old. “Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: the show of their countenance doth witness against them” (Isaiah 3:9). Language, literature, customs, traditions are identically what they were two thousand years ago; there is not a country on the globe where their fifteen millions are not to be found, while in their ancient home, Asia, not half a million remain; yet they are a compact, coherent, undiluted Gulf Stream in the ocean of mankind. It is the fulfilment of Jehovah’s word: - “If

thou wilt not fear this glorious and fearful name the Lord thy God, the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other” (Deut. 28:58, 64). As someone has remarked:“Behold the Jew, and tremble; behold the Jew, and believe; behold the Jew, and rejoice.”18

WOMEN PREACHERS. “U.S. women ordained to full-time ministry in 1986 increased to 20,730 from 10,470 in 1977, and represented 7.9% of all U.S. clergy, according to a recent study by the National Council of Churches. ... The survey showed that 84 of 166 denominations ordain women to full ministry...”

(National & International Religion Report, March 13, 1989). ...

The Bible clearly states that the man is to lead in the home and church, and the woman’s role is to submit to the man’s headship. There is widespread rebellion against this divine plan, though, and many women are being appointed to leadership positions in churches. ...

The Bible speaks too clearly on this subject for there to be any confusion. The problem is that churches too often are looking to sources other than the Bible for guidance. God loves women as much as He does men. Women are as important to the home, church, and society as men are. In Jesus Christ, women enjoy the same spiritual position and blessings before God as men do. This does not mean, though, there is to be no difference in men and women in their appearance and roles. There is a basic truth which needs to be restated in the church and society today: Men and women are different!

Men and women were made for different roles. The N.T. affirms that men are to be the leaders in the home, church, and state. Women were not created to rule these divine institutions; men were. The prophet Isaiah was condemning Israel when he said women ruled over them (Isaiah 3:12). In the church, according to the Bible, no woman is qualified to be a pastor or a deacon or in any other leadership position over men. Who says? God says!

“Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. ” (1 Timothy 2:11-14).

“ Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their hus bands at home: f or it is a s hame f or w omen to speak in the church.

What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. ” (1 Corinthians 14:34-37). 19

“Today— thanks to the numerous evolutions of women’s rights and gradual incline of women’s social, cultural, and political powers—those who would immediately dismiss the ministry of a woman simply because she is female have dwindled to a comparatively trivial minority. Women have influence more now than ever before, and their voices are as prominent within the church as men.

However, the world appears to be hungrier than ever before for the affectionate gospel of Christ. In fact, according to a study referenced by USA Today, the number of women preachers/pastors doubled between 1999 and 2009.”20 D. M. Panton, The Panton Papers.

David W. Cloud, Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity.

20 Horn & Putnam (2016-07-04). The Final Roman Emperor, the Islamic Antichrist, and the Vatican’s Last Crusade.

18 19

How pathetic the thought that for the great majority of Christians their end is not maturity and Millennial glory, but exclusion, destruction and age-lasting judgment. Alas! How will we preachers and teachers of the Word stand before our judge in that terrible day? Surely Isaiah 3:12 is appropriate here. We have tried to save our life from the offence of the Cross, but in doing so we have lost it for the age to come with the consequence that we have exposed ourselves to eternal (age-lasting) judgment. The Master has pictured the true and false servants in Matthew 24:42-51. But thank God for Paul and Peter and James and John. Listen to Paul again: “But refuse profane and old wives’ fables (and much of theology comes under this head), and exercise thyself rather unto Godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little; but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and that which is to come.” I Tim. 4:7-8.21

Some Pointers #5.

The Holy Spirit makes it very clear through Paul that the Jewish church, if we may so designate it, and the Christian, stand related as type and antitype. There are some prominent marks in the analogy: Both began in a special manifestation of God. Compare Ex. 12—14 and Acts 1—3.

Both very quickly went into a state of apostasy. Judges 2; Acts 20:28-30; Rev. 2; 3. Both are finally rejected of God. Hosea 1:9; 7:13; Rev. 3:14-17; Rev. 2:1-7. In each case there is a spared remnant which remains faithful.

Isaiah 65:1-16; Hebrews 11; Rom. 8:28-39; Rev. 3:4; Matthew 7:13-14; 24:25-27. In each case God holds the religious leaders of the people responsible for the apostasy. Ezek. 34; Isaiah 3:12; Hosea 4:6; Acts 20:28-30; I Tim. 4:1-3; Rev. 2:1, 12, 18; 3:1,14. (Angel-pastor, preacher.)

And, finally, all the backsliders of both dispensations will in the coming age be ultimately restored. Surely this is the Gospel of a rational and divine optimism. Hosea 2:14-23; Matthew 5:21-26; Acts 3:21.

But let us, under this fifth head, particularize somewhat more generally so as to see the exact agreement of type and anti-type: (1) In case of disobedience on the part of the people He had redeemed from Egyptian bondage, God threatened the most awful judgments conceivable. Lev. 26 and Deut. 28. Paul says, these things happened unto them for examples to us. 1 Cor. 10:1-10. “He that hath ears to hear let him hear.” How often the master used that expression. The Jews were sure they could hear and see. Matthew 13:10-17.

(2) He told them that if they forsook Him He would forsake them and give them up to His four sore judgments, and He kept His word. Ezek. 14:21; Matthew 18:1-34.

(3) Jehovah declared in the most solemn manner that when the cup of their iniquity was full nothing would turn Him from His purpose to judge, and chastise, and afflict. The only deliverance then and now is righteousness of life, and holiness of character. Ezek. 14:12-14; Hebrews 12:14. The language of Ezek 5-7 is awfully solemn, but it is the word of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Holy One of Israel. So is Matthew 18:1-34.

(4) He threatened them with expulsion from their land and He brought it to pass. Isaiah 6:9-12; 2 Kings 17:1323; 25:1-25; Deut. 31:16-21; Rev. 3:16. The suffering in these captivities must have been indescribably great. To this day they have no national home.

(5) The great sin of Israel was spiritual adultery. They claimed to be the chosen people of God and yet they loved the fellowship of the world. This leads inevitably to gross immorality. Ezek. 16:23-37; Hos. 4:2, 1314; Ex. 20:14. So it is in the church. Jas. 4:4; Hebrews 13:4; Rev. 2:22; Matthew 5:32. See what Israel and the church ought to be, and ideally are, and some day actually will be. Ezek. 16:9-14; 2 Cor. 11:2. But notwithstanding the apostasy of the mass of believers in both ages God the Father through the Holy Spirit has been gathering out a Bride for His Son, a virgin, who in the Millennial age will be His constant companion. She will be very pure, very beautiful, and wonderfully glorious. Lev. 21:14; Psa. 45; Rev. 14:15; 19:5-9. Note the inner significance of Lev. 21:14. Contrast 2 Cor. 12:19-21. Those who would have a

21

Stephen Speers Craig, THE DUALISM OF ETERNAL LIFE, (Rochester, N.Y., 1916).

place in the Bride of Christ must enter personally into a special covenant. Listen to the Holy Spirit through Isaiah: “Incline your ear and come unto me; hear and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting (agelasting) covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.” Isaiah 55:3. This has no reference to eternity.

Before Christ descends into the air He will say to the angels, “Gather my saints together unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” Psa. 50:5. See Rom. 12:1-2. The “elect” of Matthew 24:31 are the “few” of Matthew 7:14. All other believers belong to the “many” of verse 13.

(6) The failure of Israel to enter the Promised Land was to Paul a type of the prospective failure of the Christian church of this age to enter the Messianic Kingdom. Num. 14; Hebrews 3; 4; Gal. 5:19-21; 1 Cor. 10:1-10; Jude 5; Matthew 7:13-14.

(7) He affirms that just as in Israel the natural branches were cut off because of unbelief and sin, so shall it be with the church. Rom. 11:13-24; John 15:6. But it is not a final excision. It is to the Jews for this age and to many of them for the age to come also. To the church, all but the few, the excision will be from the bliss and glory of the Messianic Age. But in due time God will “graft them in again.” Rom. 11:22-24; Acts 3:21. The Rich Man was one of the “cut-off” branches. Type and antitype agree everywhere. But do not overlook the fact that while Jewish and Christian branches are cut off, the trunk of the Olive Tree is not thereby affected.

It is rooted deeply in the soil of God’s wisdom, power and love as set forth in the Abrahamic Covenant and in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the “Seed” promised in that Covenant. He said “I am the true Vine.” John 15:1-1 0. He might have said with equal felicity, “I am the never-failing Olive Tree.” Rom. 11:17.

(8) The Holy Spirit indicates that as the age of Grace is one of greater light than that of the Law, so the penalty for disobedience will be relatively that much greater. Hebrews 2:1-3. This confirms our interpretation of 2 Thess. 1:7-10 given elsewhere.22

IV. A Remnant Prepared.

1 - In the extremity of evils, Christ's kingdom shall be a sanctuary. ¶ And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. ¶ In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israe l.

And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the d aytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.

KINGDOM ACCOUNTABILITY TRUTH: FIRST RESURRECTION 1. Generally used to refer to any teaching of grave accountability for Christians, such as literal chastisement at the judgment seat of Christ, conditional millennial entrance, and a thousand years in the outer darkness of the underworld. “Bible teachers as Robert Govett and David Panton belong to a rare group of Christians with extraordinary spiritual insight. However, 22

Stephen Speers Craig, THE DUALISM OF ETERNAL LIFE, (Stephen Speers Craig; Rochester, N.Y., 1916).

we should keep in mind, when we read the writings of these men — which include the Vanguard Reprints — that they followed a so-called selective rapture and resurrection of Christians. It’s fully true that there will be a selection of believers before[i.e., at] the judgment seat of Christ, but this selection doesn’t {necessarily} occur already at the time of the rapture, simply because the judgment seat is the place to determine what is of the flesh and of the spirit, not the rapture.” -Introduction to the “Vanguard Reprints” by Roel Velema. {Why not both, i.e., Scriptural baptism must play a part in this process (1 Peter 3:17-22) unless to “strive lawfully” doesn't apply here. The Amplified Bible has 2Tim. 2:5 this way: “And if anyone enters competitive games, he is not crowned unless he competes lawfully (fairly, according to the rules laid down).” To “MAKE THE CUT” then has to be at the Rapture of true Christians, i.e., Scripturally baptized believers, who by that act have sworn fealty to the returning King!

Whether or not they/we are allowed to stay may be a matter of “apparel” (cf, 2 Sam 12:20; 1 King 10:5; Ezra 3:10; Est 5:1; Job 22:14; Ps 45; Isaiah 4:1; Zeph 1:8; Matt 22:11-14; Gal 3:27; Rev 19:8 KJV) ~ esn} 2. The privilege of being raised to immortality before the millennium. The majority of Christians will not be raised to immortality until after the millennium (1 Peter 3:17-22; Revelation 20:5, 15). After appearing before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:9-11), they will return to death (Matthew 5:30, 18:34, 35) and suffer millennial chastisement (according to their works) until [“time served” or ] the Great White Throne. The Great White Throne (at the last day) is the second resurrection. At this time, all Christians will be raised to immortality (John 6:39); all unbelievers will be thrown into the Lake of Fire to suffer eternally. But a select number [the elect] of overcoming saints will experience immortality a thousand years earlier.

These saints have part in the prize of the first resurrection (Philippians 3:11, 14, Revelation 20:6).23

And the Lord will create on every dwelling place of Mount Zion That is, on every particular church of Christ in Gospel times, and especially in the latter day; which are the dwelling places of Father, Son, and Spirit, and of believers in Christ. The word used signifies a place well fitted up, and prepared, and established, and settled; and such will be the churches of Christ in the latter day glory; they will be fitly framed together and built up, a habitation for God, through the Spirit; they will be beautified, and made glorious, and will be established upon the top of the mountains, and be tabernacles that shall not be taken down, whose stakes and cords shall not be removed and broken, Eph 2:21 and so will be sure dwellings, and quiet resting places; and happy will those be who will be the inhabitants of them, since they will have the best of company, the best of provisions, and all health and prosperity, Isaiah 32:18: and upon her assemblies; or “her convocations” in allusion to the holy convocations and solemn assemblies of the Israelites at their festivals, Le 23:2 which are the churches of Christ, as before, consisting of men called by the grace of God, with a holy calling; called to be saints, and so are an assembly of saints, Ps 89:7 called by means of the Gospel, as the Israelites were by the blowing of the trumpets, to assemble together, to hear the word, and attend every part of divine worship, Nu 10:2 and as the invisible church is called Zion, and the general assembly, Heb 12:22 so particular visible churches are called assemblies, for upon all the glory shall be a defence {Heb. Chupah} His nuptial chamber, on which Elias writes, “we call the garment (or canopy) spread over the head of the bridegroom and bride, supported by four pillars, in the time of their espousals.” Ps 19:5. This is interpreted by the Talmudists of the resurrection of the dead, when they that die in the land of Israel shall live.24

Questionable Scriptures Examined.

So far as the often quoted Dana and many, otherwise, sound Baptists are concerned, the church is positively a local congregation on earth but when it reaches 23 24

Various, Corinthians Studies, The Shayne Moses Project.

John Gill, John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, Is 4:5 {and Psalm 19:5, Eze 26:20.}

heaven it will, for no reason the author can see, become universal. This theory, it seems to the author, makes God to be inconsistent; the church, in the final analysis, to be a nonentity, and removes all hope for permanent rewards. The question is often asked, “If the church is to continue, or if there is a glory church, will each local church retain her individuality in glory?”

The writer believes each local church will retain her identity in glory, [cf. Isaiah 4:5—ed.] just as each individual will retain his identity. However, the writer does not believe that each local church will be a separate unit in glory. Each of the local churches coming together will form one great assembly; the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, the glorious ekklesia. This will be the fulfillment of Christ's plan for His church as revealed in Ephesians 5:25-27, which reads: “Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”25

This, however, is not the universal re-genesis of the Planet, but the preparation of its theocratic middle-point for the glorious kingdom of the 1000 years, in which Israel stands pre-eminent. The moral process of development has already passed over into the material, through the resurrection from the dead, and where the children of the resurrection are, there nature shares their liberty and glory. Even the neighbouring “Desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose,” Isaiah 35:1, and “be like Eden, the Garden of the Lord,” Isaiah 51:3, while above the City and “over all, the Glory shall be a covering,” Isaiah 4:5. But, entrancing as this vision is, it is not John’s vision of the “Bride,” the “Holy City” after the close of the 1000 years, but the vision of a state of things before that close, and in which the “Beloved City,” Rev. 20:9, appears as the metropolis of an earthly kingdom whose overthrow is sought by Satan let loose, and by Gog and Magog, in expedition impossible on the final New Earth.26 {continued in “The Argument,”}

V. Parable of the Vineyard.

1 - Under the parable of a vineyard, God excuses his severe judgment ~ 8 - His judgments upon covetousness ~ 11 - Upon lasciviousness ~ 13 - Upon impiety ~ 20 - And upon injustice ~ 26 The executioners of God's judgments. ¶ Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard.

My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away

25 26

L. L. Clover, The CHURCH: excerpt found in The 3 Stages of the Kingdom~Church~Bride of Our Lord Christ excerpt of, THE MILLENNIAL TEMPLE By Nathaniel West, D. D..

the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. ¶ Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah. ¶ Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands. ¶ Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled: But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and G od that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

¶ Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it! ¶ Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. ¶ And he will lift up an ensign to the n ations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly: None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latche t of their shoes be broken: Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses ’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind: Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall

roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it. And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens th ereof.

The Wine of Egypt William Patton, Bible Wines, (Redding, CA: Pleasant Places, 2004), 64–65 Genesis 40:11: “I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.” To break the force of this, it is pleaded that it was only a dream. But a dream designed to certify an immediate coming event could only be intelligible and pertinent by representing an existing usage.

“A singular proof of the ancient usage of squeezing the juice of grapes into a cup has been exhumed at Pompeii” It is that of Bacchus standing by a pedestal, and holding in both hands a large cluster of grapes, and squeezing the juice into a cup.

“Plutarch affirms that before the time of Psammetichus, who lived six hundred years before Christ, the Egyptians neither drank fermented wine nor offered it in sacrifice.” - Nott, Third Lecture.

“In remote antiquity, grapes were brought to the table, and the juice there expressed for immediate use.” Nott, London Ed. p. 58.

“Josephus’ version of the butler’s speech is as follows: He said ‘that by the king’s permission he pressed the grapes into a goblet, and, having strained the sweet wine, he gave it to the king to drink, and that he received it graciously.’ Josephus here uses GLEUKOS to designate the expressed juice of the grape before fermentation could possibly commence.” - Bible Commentary, p. 18.

Bishop Lowth of England, in his Commentary on Isaiah, in 1778, remarking upon Isaiah 5:2, refers to the use of Pharaoh’s butler, and says, “By which it would seem that the Egyptians drank only the fresh juice pressed from the grapes, which was called oinos ampilinos, i.e., wine of the vineyards.”

Rev. Dr. Adam Clarke, on Genesis 40:11, says: “From this we find that wine anciently was the mere expressed juice of the grape without fermentation. The saky, or cup-bearer, took the bunch, pressed the juice into the cup, and instantly delivered it into the hands of his master. This was anciently the yayin (wine) of the Hebrews, the oinos (wine) of the Greeks, and the mustum (new fresh wine) of the ancient Latins.” Bagster’s Comprehensive Bible quotes Dr. Clarke with approbation.

“It appears that the Mohammedans of Arabia press the juice of the grape into a cup, and drink it as Pharaoh did.” - Nott, London Ed. p. 59.

Milton says of Eve: “For drink the grape she crushed—inoffensive must.”

So also Gray: “Scent the new fragrance of the breathing rose, And quaff the pendent vintage as it grows.”

- Nott 59.

Monopoly of natural opportunities. {“Woe unto them that join house to house, ...”} Isaiah 5:8-9 ... are some of the grounds on which believers will be excluded from the Messianic Kingdom during the Age to Come27

“The Millennial Issue” Foreword: As this age draws toward the end, the picture becomes clearer and clearer to the student of prophecy. It becomes more and more apparent that the personal reign of Christ on this earth is a vital question. I have always felt that there was much more 27

Stephen Speers Craig, THE DUALISM OF ETERNAL LIFE, (Stephen Speers Craig; Rochester, N.Y., 1916).

involved in this question than most people realized. Now I know this is so. Today the lines are being more closely drawn. Modernists, social reformers, unionizers, legalists, and all heresies and the forces that are working to bring the Antichrist into power are lining themselves up against the Premillennialists. The doctrines the Premillennialists are preaching are in the way of the formation of a world government and a universal federation of all religious bodies into one vast religious hierarchy. It was the same in the early centuries of Christianity. It is so today. For the first two and one half centuries the majority of Christians believed that Christ and His saints would reign a thousand years on this earth. They looked for Christ to return in person and reign in person over the nations of the earth. ... The attitude of this present world system toward our Lord is reflected in its bitter opposition to His return to this earth to reign. “We will not have this man to reign over us,” Luke 19:11-27.

The teaching of Premillennialists, that Christ is coming back to this earth to take over its affairs and reign in person is against what the modernists, social reformers, and unionizers propose to accomplish. It condemns all their wisdom and efforts to establish a righteous, peaceful world order as vain, unbiblical and doomed to failure. It takes this task out of their hands and puts it in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a close relationship between the doctrine of salvation by works and the idea that men will usher in a time of peace and righteousness. One teaches that the individual’s salvation depends upon his own works. The other teaches that the salvation of the world depends upon its works. On the other hand the Word of God teaches that this earth, like the sinner, can only be delivered by the supernatural intervention of Christ Jesus in its behalf. Premillennialism is a millennium by grace. It is one that is to be ushered in by the supernatural return of Christ. In the salvation of the sinner grace intervenes when there is an end of human works. It will be so in the redemption of this earth from the evils and woes that beset it.

When human wisdom and works have dismally failed and reached an end then the Lord will intervene by His supernatural power and coming.

The natural man has always resented the interference of God in his life and plans. He wants no supernatural work in his behalf. He feels himself entirely capable of bringing about his own salvation, spiritual and otherwise. As a rule, he is willing to recognize the existence of a supreme being but he wants no close relationship with God. Because of this he is opposed to the work of the Spirit of grace in his heart. Because of this he is opposed to the supernatural intervention of Christ in behalf of the nations. This takes the task out of his hands and puts it in the hands of Christ alone.

For over thirty years I have studied closely the trend of religious opinions and movements. I have seen the world being turned away from the gospel of Christ to a gospel of social reform. I have seen the faith of men being turned away from what Christ is going to do to what man proposes to do. I believe the time is here when those who expect to be loyal to Christ and His Word should take a firm, positive stand on the millennial question.

.... Just what part of the Bible does [e.g., Mr. Kempin] believe anyway? Just where is his Scripture to prove the world will not grow worse? It is not in the Bible. It is his doctrine that is built upon assumption. In the face of all these Scriptures which teach that the world will grow worse and worse he denies it. “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness ; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

Isaiah 5:20. Here is Mr. Kempin’s picture. The Bible teaches that the world will get worse and worse and that iniquity and violence will abound. And we have it today. Mr. Kempin

calls this evil good, and he calls those who preach exactly what the Bible teaches evil men and heretics. Hence, he puts light for darkness and darkness for light.28 Take care that the foundation be well laid upon the everlasting Rock Jesus Christ. For this is the foundation that God hath laid in Zion, and another foundation can no man lay. Ye must be cemented to this foundation by the Spirit and faith, otherwise ye can never stand in a day of trial; for your root being rottenness, your “blossom shall go up as the dust” (Isa 5:24). The house built upon the sand fell when the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon it; but the house founded upon this Rock shall stand out against the utmost efforts of the gates of hell (Mat 7:24-27).29

VI. {Workers Call} Isaiah’s Vision.

1- Isaiah in a vision of the Lord in his glory, ~ 5 - being terrified, is confirmed for his Message. ~ 8 - He offers himself. ~ 9 He sheweth the obstinacy of the people, unto their desolation. ~ 13 A remnant shall be saved. ¶ In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried u nto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. ¶ Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the alta r: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. ¶ And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

¶ But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

Revelation 15:8 ~ “And the temple was filled with smoke...”

Isaiah’s vision of the heavenly temple encountered a similar scene. There he saw the seraphim (possibly identical with, or at least closely allied with, the 28 29

George Elliott Jones, The Teachings of Elder G. E. Jones,.

THE EVIL OF APOSTASY Ebenezer Erskine (1680-1754). Apostasy - Chapel Library.

cherubim), crying out: “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door [that is, “the foundations of the threshold”] moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke” (Isaiah 6:3, 4). Similarly “a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself” surrounded the four living creatures (or, the cherubim again) as the glory of the Lord approached Ezekiel by the river of Chebar (Ezekiel 1:4). ... there are no elders in the visions of God’s throne in Isaiah 6 and Ezekiel 1–10, in consequence of the fact that prior to the cross the spirits of all the redeemed were still confined to Hades; ... That there is indeed a temple in heaven is confirmed in both Old and New Testaments. Isaiah the prophet saw it in his vision (Isaiah 6:1), and the writer of Hebrews makes it clear that the earthly tabernacle (and, later, Solomon’s temple) had been patterned after “the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man” (Hebrews 8:2) This glory cloud of celestial smoke, known by the ancient Hebrews as the “Shekinah” glory, is thus associated in Scripture with the intimate presence of God at times of great crises in God’s dealings with men. No man can ever approach God in His ineffable omnipotent holiness, but the glory smoke assures man of the divine presence and the certainty of the divine accomplishment.30

God in His majesty: Isaiah 6.

“I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim; each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.” “And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, ‘Woe is me! for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips: and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

Here we have God in His majesty, and the creatures in their worship before Him. And John tells us, that the glory which the prophet thus saw, was Christ’s.

“Esaias said again, ‘He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and turn, and I should heal them.’ These things said Esaias when he saw His (Christ’s) glory, and spake of Him:” John 12:39-41.

In Rev. 4. and 5. we have glory restored to Christ at the throne of God, after His suffering unto death, and after the unworthiness of angels and men, and of spirits departed has been manifested; together with the burst of worship which greets the Father and the Son at the close of the chapter.31 ~~~ In the providence of God Paul is borne to Rome. Arrived there, he assembles at his lodgings the Jews of Rome, “to whom he expounded and testified the 30 31

Henry M. Morris, The Revelation Record: .

Robert Govett, Govett’s BAPTISM AND THE KINGDOM, Philippians 2.

kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.” The kingdom of God, then, of which Jesus is to be the future king, is the one of which Paul testified: for of that alone the prophets and Moses testify. As they depart, he points them to Isaiah 6, a passage which foretells the blinding of Israel; during which time the church, or ‘the secret of God’ has been introduced. This blindness of Israel is not total, and it is to last for a time only. The 7th of Isaiah, together with the 8th and 9th, describe the future kingdom in connection with Israel; the throne to be occupied by Messiah, being the throne of David.32 ~~~ Moses was disappointed in his attempt to engage his people’s afflictions. “But he supposed, that his brethren would understand, that God by his hand is giving them salvation; BUT THEY UNDERSTOOD NOT.” (Greek.) Perhaps then the cause of Jesus was like this! God was giving a higher salvation to Israel and the world, and Jesus would let them know it; but they perceived it not! Perhaps, then, this was the foretold time of Israel’s blindness, when they should see Messiah and His works, and not perceive; should hear His words of wisdom, and comprehend them not: Isaiah 6. 33

THE KINGDOM IN MYSTERY There are few subjects which penetrate so deeply into the doctrine and practice of the New Testament as that of “The Kingdom of Heaven,” or “The Kingdom of God.” It seems to me, that there are also few subjects on which clear and true views would be more beneficial to the church.

What then was the Lord’s testimony concerning it in the Old Testament?

In Isaiah 2 it was foretold, that the temple should in that day be lifted up on a height conspicuous from afar, and that the nations should journey thereto.

Jerusalem should be the place where God’s word would be taught, and whence it would go forth. The Lord should rule the nations; and as the result of His righteous rebukes, peace should be established everywhere. The weapons of war should be forged into the tools of peace, as no longer needed for the destruction of men, or the defence of life and property. Israel should walk in the light of God’s countenance. Was this fulfilled by the Gospel?

Only so far, that the doctrines of Christ were sent forth from Jerusalem. But the other points have not been fulfilled; there is scarce a semblance of their fulfillment.

Take, as the second passage, Isaiah 11. This prophetical chapter testifies of the rise of Jesus as the descendant of David, and of the resting of the Spirit of God upon Him. This was accomplished at the Saviour’s baptism. He spake not after the 32 33

Robert Govett, Govett’s BAPTISM AND THE KINGDOM. Robert Govett, Govett’s BAPTISM AND THE KINGDOM, Stephen’s Accusation, Defence, And Martyrdom.

sight of His eyes, nor after the hearing of His ears: but full of the Spirit of God, He detected the wiles of the Pharisees, and read the hearts both of His followers and of His foes.

But there is no fulfilment as yet of verses 4 to 16. There it is promised, that justice shall be the principle of His reign; and by Him shall be slain the Wicked One, the Man of Sin: 4, 5. By Him shall the wild animals be tamed, and poisonous serpents deprived of their venom: 6, 9. Jesus shall be set as the centre of the nations; “and His rest shall be glory:” 10. This rest, as Paul teaches (Hebrews 4:10) has yet to come. In that day Israel shall be delivered from their exile, and restored to the land of promise. The ten tribes and the two shall no longer form two hostile nations: 10, 14. God will put forth His hand in visible might upon the N.W. arm of the Red Sea, and dry it up. He shall divide the Euphrates into seven streams, that it may be forded with ease by returning Israel, as once of old the Jordan was passed by a like miracle: 15, 16.

Has the Gospel fulfilled these things? Not at all! But they will hereafter be fulfilled; although they are not yet, because of Israel’s unbelief. God foretold the evil day of the blindness of the Jew, in the vision granted to Isaiah in the temple: Isaiah 6. To this passage both Jesus and the apostles frequently refer.

A SECRET or “MYSTERY” of God was to intervene, before the promises were fulfilled to Israel. Before Messiah was revealed on earth, God designed that Messiah should be concealed on high, testified of to the Gentiles, and believed in by the elect from both Jew and Gentiles, who constitute the church or body of Christ.

Hence there are two states of the kingdom: (1) THE KINGDOM IN MYSTERY; and (2) THE KINGDOM IN MANIFESTATION. Let us first consider The Kingdom in Mystery.

Jesus, heralded by John the Baptist, appears on the earth as the Lord’s Anointed one. But the more he manifests Himself in doctrine and miracle, the more do the unbelief and rejection of Israel and its leaders display themselves.

Twice do the Pharisees blaspheme the Holy Spirit, by whom Jesus was anointed: Matthew 9:34; 12:24. Jesus testifies on the second occasion, that this is the unpardonable sin. He thereupon casts off the ties of the flesh: he owns no more even the bonds of His family. The ties He allows are those of the Spirit alone. Mary is no more now than any other of those obedient to the Word of God. Jesus at once takes up a new position; beginning to speak on the sea, yet near the shore. He leaves also His old form of direct teaching; putting a veil on His face, as it were, by using parables. For the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit was the proof of Israel’s foretold blindness: Isaiah 6. They heard Messiah, yet understood Him not: they saw His person, and yet recognized Him not. Hence Jesus speaks in parables, which they heard indeed, but their spiritual meaning they did not apprehend.

Israel was then divided into two portions: (1) the elect out of it; (2) and the body of the nation, blinded: Isaiah 8:12-18. The fathers earnestly desired to see and hear Messiah come in the flesh; but the nation refused Him when He appeared in wisdom and in miracle. Blessed nevertheless were they, whose eyes and hearts were opened so to believe and obey. This was the occasion of fulfilling one of Messiah’s perfections, that He should be like Joseph, a revealer of secrets.

(Matthew 13:34-35.) Where was it so predicted? In Psalm 78:2. That Psalm describes Israel in early days as rejected for their unbelief; and as provoking God, in spite of His many mercies to them in Egypt and the desert. For their sins in Canaan the Lord delivered them over to their foes, till, for His own glory’s sake, He arose and destroyed those who oppressed them. Then ensued a change in His plan.

He gave up Shiloh, as the place of His abode, and chose Judah and Jerusalem, giving to His people David to be their king. Promoted from the lowest of stations, he guides the flock of God at length with integrity and skill.

Now this history was also further typical of God’s purposes in the future.

Israel was a second time to be cast off for their unbelief, trespasses and blasphemy, in spite of greater goodness on God’s part. There is to be a future giving of them up to their enemies, in the latter day of Great Tribulation; and a second and final deliverance of them. Then Judah is to be brought into prominence, with the exaltation of the temple and the glory of the land under the better covenant yet to be made. The Psalm ends with the choice of David, his integrity and skill. Through him peace is brought to God’s long-rebellious, long-chastened nation. Thus at length the kingdom shall be given into the hand of the true Son of David, more skilful of hand and more upright of heart. And that is the cessation alike of Israel’s sins, and of their punishments.34

What this Jesus is?

He is God, and had personal being from before all worlds; therefore not such an one as took being when he was formed in the world; he is God's natural Son, the Eternal Son of his begetting and love—God sent forth his Son. He was, and was his Son, before he was revealed—What is his name, and what is his Son’s name, if thou canst tell? (Prov 30:4; Eze 21:10). He hath an eternal generation, such as none can declare, not man, not angel (Isa 53:8). He was the delight of his Father before he had made either mountain or hill. While as yet he had not made the earth or the fields, or the highest part of the dust of the world, all things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. It is he with whom the Father consulted when he was about to make man, when he intended to overthrow Babel, and when he sent Isaiah to harden the hearts of Israel (Prov 8:26; John 1:3; Heb 1:2,3; Col 1:17; Gen 1:26, 11:7; Isa 6:8). This is the person intended in the text. Hence also he 34

Robert Govett, The Kingdom In Mystery.

testifies of himself that he came down from the Father; that he had glory with him before the world was. And ‘what and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?’ (John 6:62, 16:28, 17:5).35

Power ... Against God and Truth, As Well As One For God and Truth.

Nor need we be surprised at this. There is a supernatural power which is against God and truth, as well as one for God and truth. A miracle, simply as a work of wonder, is not necessarily of God. There has always been a devilish supernaturalism in the world, running alongside of the supernaturalism of divine grace and salvation.

“Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.” Here was divine miracle.

But Pharaoh went and called his wise men and sorcerers, and “the magicians of Egypt also did in like manner with their enchantments; for they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents.” Here was devil miracle, in imitation of the divine. In the same way the turning of the waters to blood was counterfeited, as also the plague of frogs. Only when it came to the creation of swarms of insect life, did the magicians give up, and admit that this was beyond their power. (See Exod., chaps. 7, 8, and 9.) So, again (in Deut. 13:1–5), God assumes and asserts that there may be supernatural revelations in behalf of idol worship; for He gives it as a law for His people: “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass whereof he spoke unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” So the Saviour tells us that many will come up in the day of judgment, saying, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works (all manner of miracles)? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. ” (Matthew 7:22-23.) Of the “false Christs and false prophets” whom he foretold, he says they “shall show great signs and wonders.” (Matthew 24:24.) Paul says of Antichrist, and the doings in connection with him, that his “coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders.” (2 Thess. 2:9.) “Lying wonders” does not mean unreal wonders, mere trick, jugglery, and legerdemain; but wonders wrought for the support of lies, that is, devil miracles. Mere pretended miracles have nothing of miraculous power; but in this case the worker comes “with all power.” There is no emptiness or unreality about them. They are genuine miracles, wrought in the interests of Hell’s falsehoods. The test of a miracle is its supernaturalness; the test of its source, is the doctrine, end, or interest for which it is wrought. If in support of anything contrary to God and His revealed will and law, it is no less a miracle; but in that case it is a work of the Devil; for God cannot contradict himself. (See 1 John 4:1–3.) It is also plainly intimated in the Divine Word, that, in judgment upon the wicked world for its refusal of Christ, and its setting at naught of all the divine miracles, the present bonds and limitations of Satanic power will be relaxed, the Devil and his demons allowed freer range upon this planet, and those in love with falsehood and unrighteousness given over to delusions then so much stronger than ever before. (See 1 Kings 22:18, 22; 2 Chron. 18:18, 22; Isaiah 6:9-10; Ezek. 14:9; Rom. 1:21, 25, 28; 2 Thess, 2:11, 12.) It is therefore in strict accord with all history and revelation, that the consummate False Prophet “doeth great miracles, and deceiveth those that dwell on the earth by reason of the signs which it was given him [permitted him of God] to work.”36

Predestination.

The Scriptural authority for this doctrine is unquestionable. Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a great image (Daniel 2.) with a golden head, the breast and the arms of silver, a brazen body and thighs, legs of iron, and feet part of iron and part of clay; a stone cut without hands destroys the image, becomes a great mountain, and fills the world. The golden head was the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, the silver arms the Medo-Persian empire, the 35 36

John Bunyan. Works of John Bunyan — Complete (Kindle Locations 17780-17783).

J. A. Seiss, The Apocalypse: ..., Eighth Edition.

brazen body the Macedonian dominion, and the iron legs, and feet partly iron and partly clay, the government of Rome. The stone cut without hands was Christ’s coming kingdom and conquests that would destroy all existing empires and fill the whole world with the agencies of its universal authority. These events, except the destruction of Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom, were ages in the future, but they were predetermined and absolutely certain. The same thing was true of the second dream of the king,—the dream of the cutting down of the great tree “whose height reached unto heaven, and the sight unto the end of all the earth.” It foretold the insecurity of the king and his removal from the throne for seven years; this heaven-preordained calamity fell upon the king soon after. The present condition of the Jews, and their state for ages, was preordained of God: “I will deliver them, saith the Lord, to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them.”—Jer. 29:18. “I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.”—Amos 9:9. Isaiah (6:11-12) foretelling evils for the Jews, says, “Lord, how long? And he answered, ‘Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate.’” “Be not dismayed, O Israel, for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure: yet will I not utterly cut thee off, or leave thee wholly unpunished.”—Jer. 46:27, 28. The Jews have been scattered into all lands, and they are everywhere unjustly regarded as a “reproach and a hissing”; they have been sifted among the nations, but no grain of Israel has taken root in the lands of their exile; their country and their cities are desolate; he has not wholly cut off Israel, and he is evidently awaiting the right time to restore them to their country and their God. These events were predestinated and foretold thousands of years ago.37

VII. War against Jerusalem.

1 - Ahaz, being troubled with fear of Rezin and Pekah, is comforted by Isaiah. ~ 10 - Ahaz, having liberty to choose a sign, and refusing it, has for a sign, Christ promised. ~ 17 - His judgment is prophesied to come by Assyria. ¶ And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field; And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal: Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. ¶ Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

37

William Cathcart, Ed., The Baptist Encyclopædia, 1881, pg. 934-935.

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.  Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. ¶ The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes. In the same day shall the Lord shave with a rasor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep; And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land. And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns. With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns. And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 7 We arrive now at a chapter beset with many difficulties, yet whose general tenour exhibits the power and foreknowledge of God, and the pride and unbelief of man, surmounted by a glorious prophecy of the Redeemer’s advent.

We are informed, at its commencement, that the king of Assyria and the king of Israel confederated together to make war against Jerusalem, “and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal.” Now this was not an ordinary war, as of one nation of the earth against any other nation of the earth. It was a war whose object, if carried, would have made God a liar; for he had predicted, that none but the family of David should rule over Judah.

Even when, at Solomon’s death. God rent the kingdom, he left to Rehoboam “one tribe, that David his servant might have a light always before him in Jerusalem.” (1 Kings 11: 36.)

That tribe was the tribe of Judah, to which so many promises were attached. To attempt, therefore, to set up one of any other family as king in Jerusalem, was daringly to endeavour to contravene the pleasure of the Most High. It was a contest, not merely against man, but against God. Yet idolatrous Ahaz and his people, who took no heed to the promises of God, were moved at the tidings of this war, “as the trees of the wood are moved by the wind.” The heart of the believer is kept in perfect peace: the heart of the faithless is not so. Had they but recalled to mind the words of God, they would have perceived that while he lived and ruled, the design was impossible.

But to quiet their fears, the prophet was directed to take his son, perhaps an infant, and named Shear Jashub, (“the remnant shall return,”) and to assure Ahaz that these kings were now only two firebrands, no longer emitting flame but smoke, the signal of their

being nearly extinguished. Also, because Ephraim must have known the prophecy respecting the integrity of the line of David, yet attempted to overthrow it; therefore within sixty-five years it should be smitten, “that it be not a people;” which was accomplished by Shalmaneser’s carrying captive the tribes of Israel out of their own land, since which day, they have no more appeared as a people, and their very locality is a matter of doubt.

But the fate of Ahaz was not to be tried by waiting to the end of so long a period as sixty-five years. Since the honour of God was concerned, the Lord was willing to give any sign that he might devise, either from Hades or from heaven. On which point take the following quotation from Jerome:- “Would you have,” says he, “the earth to cleave, that with a mighty yawning, Hades (which is said to be in the heart of the earth) should be laid open? Or that the heavens should be opened? Both which refer to the type of the Saviour’s death and resurrection. For he that descended is the same as he who ascended. ‘Now that he ascended what is it, but that he descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things.’

(Eph. 4:9-10.) And again, Romans 10:6-7, ‘Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) or, Who shall descend, into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.’)”

This sign Ahaz refused, either from superstitious slavish fear or from pride, lest the true God should show his superiority to the idols of his worship. For which sin the prophet uttered his just rebuke: of which the meaning probably is this – Are you fearful when you have only to contend with men like yourselves, what then must it be to contend with God? For by thus refusing his offer, you do in fact oppose his gracious purpose towards you.

But since Ahaz thus refused, Jehovah himself would give them a miraculous sign.

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive.” The promise in Eden declared that the Restorer should be the “seed of the woman,” but this added distinctness to the information. The Restorer should be a miraculous seed of the woman, and of the family of David. If so, then the house of David could not but endure till the time predicted. But it may be asked, How could that which was not to take place for many centuries afterwards afford consolation to Ahaz? To this commentators have always found it difficult to return an answer. But perhaps the foregoing remark meets the brunt of the difficulty. Still further, it should be observed, that as Ahaz had refused the miracle, the miracle was no longer to be vouchsafed to him. For the reality of his deliverance from the two kings he must now rest on the bare word of Jehovah.

Yet, as it is the manner of God’s dealings, when he bestows a promise, to give then or soon after an earnest of the greater things promised, by bestowing something resembling the future grand accomplishment; so it is not improbable that Isaiah might have pointed (as Dr. Kennicott thinks) to his infant son Shear Jashub, as the child before whose arrival at the discernment of good and evil, the land which he feared should be forsaken of both the kings.

Both Jerome and Eusebius understand the declaration that the child should eat “butter and honey,” as an intimation of the reality of Christ’s manhood, since he should be sustained by food such as is the support of ordinary men, though his birth should be supernatural, and though to him should belong those majestic titles, “Immanuel,” (God with us,) and “the Mighty God.” The quotation of this passage by St. Matthew is exactly in accordance with the Greek as restored by the various readings there presented; and with the quotations of the Fathers. That it was exactly fulfilled the sacred historian shows. On which point Justin

Martyr, arguing with the Jew Trypho, has this observation:- “Now that there never was any one of the race of Abraham, according to the flesh, either born, or said to be born of a virgin, except this Christ of ours, is evident to all the world.”

The succeeding verses contain the intimation of a great desolation that was to befall the land of Judaea, in spite of this promise, and seem to be an expansion of the prophecy in the preceding chapter, where it was said that “the cities should be desolate without inhabitant;” and that, owing to a double infliction of wrath by the king of Assyria on the one hand, and a plague of insects on the other; as of old time the Almighty threatened to send “the hornet” as the instrument of his vengeance against the Canaanites. And so great should be the desolation of the poor remnant, that instead of their possessing herds of oxen and flocks of sheep, as in the days of their prosperity, a man should but possess a single cow and two sheep. Also, instead of the provisions being of the “finest wheat-flour,” the wild productions of the country would be the only sustenance, for the vineyards should be desolate with briers and thorns, and the survivors should be obliged to go forth with arrows and bows to obtain the wild animals necessary to their subsistence. Procopius further supposes that this passage implies the fear of the survivors. “The small remnant shall be so possessed with fear as to take up their abodes in the mountains, woods, and thickets, according to the Saviour’s words, ‘Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains.’” * * *38 “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Let us to-day go down to Bethlehem, and in company with wondering shepherds and adoring Magi, let us see him who was born King of the Jews, for we by faith can claim an interest in him, and can sing, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” Jesus is Jehovah incarnate, our Lord and our God, and yet our brother and friend; let us adore and admire. Let us notice at the very first glance his miraculous conception. It was a thing unheard of before, and unparalleled since, that a virgin should conceive and bear a Son. The first promise ran thus, “The seed of the woman,” not the offspring of the man. Since venturous woman led the way in the sin which brought forth Paradise lost, she, and she alone, ushers in the Regainer of Paradise. Our Saviour, although truly man, was as to his human nature the Holy One of God. Let us reverently bow before the holy Child whose innocence restores to manhood its ancient glory; and let us pray that he may be formed in us, the hope of glory.

Fail not to note his humble parentage. His mother has been described simply as “a virgin,” not a princess, or prophetess, nor a matron of large estate. True the blood of kings ran in her veins; nor was her mind a weak and untaught one, for she could sing most sweetly a song of praise; but yet how humble her position, how poor the man to whom she stood affianced, and how miserable the accommodation afforded to the new-born King!

Immanuel, God with us in our nature, in our sorrow, in our lifework, in our punishment, in our grave, and now with us, or rather we with him, in resurrection, ascension, triumph, and Second Advent splendour.39 Then they brought up in course a dish of butter and honey. Then said Gaius, Eat freely of this, for this is good to cheer up and strengthen your judgments and understandings. This was our Lord’s dish when he was a child: “Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.” Isaiah 7:15.40

Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED,.

C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings, (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896).

40 John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress: From This World to That Which Is to Come.

38 39

“God is with us.”

No inquiry of this nature could progress far without considering the great and most outstanding prophecy of this event recorded in the entire Old Testament. This, of course, would be Isaiah 7:14, where the prophet writes: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

We all understand that the word “Immanuel” means “God is with us.” Here is a clear-cut prophecy concerning the coming of the Redeemer, which has been a great embarrassment to every enemy of Christianity and every foe of the Saviour Himself. It is the fashion to argue that the word “virgin” in the Hebrew text merely means a young woman, and has nothing to do with chastity. This is a deliberate falsification or, at best, a misstatement of fact.

What sign would there be to a nation in a young woman becoming a mother? That has happened so many millions of times in past history no man can estimate their number. This birth is to be one that will startle the world, and give evidence of the fulfillment of a covenant of God! Also, it shall result in a person so holy, men shall look at him and say, “God walks among us.”

Nor will it do to say that this promise of a coming Son, who was to be a sign, was made to King Ahaz and was fulfilled in his day. This is the common refutation of modernism, and is based upon a following verse which says, “For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.”

No intelligent and honest student of Scripture would have to seek far to find the explanation of this apparent difficulty. The commonest law of interpretation is that every text shall be studied in the light of its context. Hence, we go to the opening verses of the seventh chapter of Isaiah and get the historical background and setting for this prophecy. We thus remember that in the days of Ahaz, who was king of Judah, the king of Syria and the king of Israel formed a military alliance to exterminate Judah, and then laid siege to Jerusalem. Ahaz, whose capital was the fortified city of Jerusalem was deeply concerned and stirred. He knew that he could not prevail against the combined might of Syria and Israel, and, in deep distress, he walked the paths of the city meditating upon his plight.

To answer his prayers, God sent the prophet Isaiah to him with a message. The Lord instructed Isaiah to take ,with him his infant son, Shear-jashub, and meet the king by .the upper pool. Here Isaiah intercepted Ahaz, and told him’ to be of comfort and courage: that God would be his help and his defense. Seeing the disbelief on the face of the king, Isaiah continued by saving, “The Lord also instructed me to say, Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.”

But the despondent king replied, “I will not ask, neither will I test the Lord.”

Now, note the impasse. God had sent a message to Ahaz which the king is reluctant to obey. To help his faith, God then offered a sign which the king said he would not accept.

Therefore, the prophet turned from Ahaz and spoke to the entire nation of Judah saying: “Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign.”

To whom now is Isaiah speaking? To Ahaz? No. Ahaz has said, “I will not take a sign.”

Therefore, the prophet interpolates a message to the entire nation, saying, “The Lord will give you a sign.” Then he uttered the significant promise of a virgin born Redeemer.

At once Isaiah turned back to the problem of Ahaz. Remember that he had been instructed to take with him his own toddling son, Shear-jashub, who at that time was about one and onehalf years of age. You see, there are two children in the seventh chapter of Isaiah, one named Immanuel, the other named Shear-jashub. Placing his hand upon the head of his own tiny son, Isaiah then said to Ahaz, “Before this child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.”

History certainly vindicated that astonishing prediction of the prophet Isaiah. Before his eighteen-months-old son had reached the age of the conscious knowledge of the difference between right and wrong, Syria and Israel had been overrun by the Assyrian conqueror, and the domain of Ahaz was thus saved.

But not for more than seven hundred years was the other prophecy fulfilled!

It is quite evident that we have a disagreement between authorities here, for Matthew, in writing about the birth of Jesus, specifically said, “Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying, Behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is ‘God with us.’” It seems to be a matter of a choice of authorities. Matthew said that the birth of Jesus was a complete fulfillment of the specific prophecy of Isaiah 7:14. The infidel says there is no connection between the two. I think I would be pardoned if I accepted Matthew, an eye-witness, who had personal knowledge of the facts involved, as a better source of evidence than any modern scholar who was born nineteen hundred years too late to know what he was talking about.

There is another definite and conclusive prophecy of the virgin birth which I have never heard an infidel attempt to refute. This is the famed passage in Jeremiah 31:22. This chapter deals with a prophecy of Israel’s restoration and the subsequent rejoicing of the nation. It goes on to a promise of the coming of Christ and the new covenant that will be made with the people of God after His coming. In announcing the advent of the Redeemer Jeremiah states: “How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.”

That this is a message to the entire Hebrew race is evidenced by the prophet’s phrase “backsliding daughter.” Frequently in Old Testament utterances the Jews are thus denominated.

But the promise that by a specific creation a new event shall transpire, one which earth had never before witnessed, is a definite statement of the coming of the Saviour. His coming shall necessitate a specific creation, for a woman shall produce a man (Jeremiah 31:22). Certainly this would be a unique and unprecedented phenomenon; that a mother should be the father of her own babel This is the significance, however, of Jeremiah’s strange and perplexing prophecy. It can only be understood and interpreted in the light of later history. God redeemed this promise when Jesus was born in accordance with this prophecy.

There is a strange tendency upon the part of many modern writers, to draw proof of the probability of the virgin birth of our Lord from various fields of biology. Direct cell-division, as in the case of certain protozoa, or the phenomenon of parthenogenesis, so often seen in insect reproduction, are cited as parallel cases proving the virgin birth of Jesus to be scientifically credible. All of this is beside the point, and such arguments are most unfortunate, to say the least.

The simple fact of the matter is that the birth of Jesus Christ was a miracle: and there is no comparable occurrence in nature. It has pleased the Creator to establish many quaint and fascinating methods by which the various orders of living creatures reproduce their kind, but

none of them are of the same nature as the method of the incarnation of Christ. Nowhere in the natural order does the Holy spirit “overshadow” the insects which operate by parthenogenesis, for instance, and in the case of a queen bee, the action and help of the male bee is necessary to begin the process.

We weaken our case when we attempt to bolster it with such far-fetched illustrations. The evidences which support the fact of our Lord’s remarkable advent need no help from outside sources, they are sufficient in themselves! It is far wiser to simply state the case, admit that the virgin birth of Jesus was a miracle, and rest upon the clear word of God.41

VIII. Damascus and Samaria Fall.

1 - In Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, he prophesies that Syria and Israel shall be subdued by Assyria. ~ 5 - Judah likewise for their infidelity. ~ 9 - God's judgments shall be unresistible. ~ 11 - Comfort shall be to those who fear God. ~ 19 - Great afflictions to idolaters.

¶ Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man’s pen concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

A n d I t o o k u n t o m e f a i t h f u l witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz. For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria. ¶ The LORD spake also unto me again, saying, Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son; Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks: And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. ¶ Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. ¶ For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. ¶ Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.

Harry Rimmer, THE MAGNIFICENCE OF JESUS: The Coming King, CHAPTER VI The Psychology Of The Virgin Birth.

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¶ And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for t he li v in g to th e dea d ? T o the la w a nd to t he t e st im ony : if t hey s pea k not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.

This article goes on to say, “They want a world government of some kind because they are convinced that it is the only way to avoid an atomic war.”

Verily the Scripture is right that tells us that the wisdom of this world comes to nought, 1Cor. 2:6. It is the wisdom of the world that has led men into their present predicament.

Now, it proposes to have them jump out of the frying pan into the fire. It has brought them to the verge of physical destruction, and, to escape the consequences, it is now going to lead them into the eternal damnation of their souls. “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image,” Rev. 14:9-11. So, in seeking to escape from the consequences of the folly of following the wisdom of this world, which wisdom has brought them to the verge of physical destruction, they are now going to follow the wisdom of this world into the folds of the beast and bring upon themselves eternal damnation and torment, without any hope of repentance. They had better fear God, rather than the atomic bomb. “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and that stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not to the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord:—Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit,” Isaiah 31:1-3. “For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself, and let him be your fear,” Isaiah 8:11-13.

Premillennialists are not talking of a universal brotherhood, nor or they advocating confederacies, nor church unions, universal churches, or a world government. They know these things are coming, and that they are the work of the Devil, and leading onto the coming of the Antichrist, and they propose to play hands off and warn the people about what they are getting into. They are not going into any such ungodly universal movements for fear of the atomic bomb. We have our faith fixed in our God and His Word, and we know He will come and He will deliver. We look not to men, or the princes of men, in whom there is no help.

Our God tells us to “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help,” Psalm 146:3. Our trust is in our Lord, His Word and the hope of His coming. We have no confidence in world movements, nor of the self made religious movements of man.

We know where they are headed, and what will be the outcome. Premillennialists have been denounced as pessimists, and prophets of gloom, because they dared to oppose the wisdom of men and big self-made religious programs, and tell the people of the terrible days that would come on this world in the end. Judging from that Cleveland movement to bring

about a world government to escape the destruction that is threatening from the atomic bomb, it seems like someone else besides the Premillennialists are seeing the handwriting on the wall. But their wise men, like the wise men of Belshazzar, do not know what it is all about, or what it means. But Premillennialists are not alarmed. Christ has told us that the time would come when men’s hearts would fail them for fear of what is coming to pass on the earth, Luke 21:26. But we are not alarmed, for our Lord told us that when we see these things beginning to come to pass, “Then look up, and lift up your heads ; for your redemption draweth nigh,” Luke 21:28. We are not looking to universal brotherhoods, a universal church, or a universal government, nor to this world’s wise men, its religious, or political leaders. We are looking up. We are lifting up our heads. We are not dismayed. Things, in this old world, are working out as our Lord has told us and we have expected and preached. Our faith in His Word is being justified. Our hopes are being made stronger. Our courage is being renewed. We are looking and waiting for the call of our Lord and Saviour; His promise is true and we are not doubting. Amid all the fear, turmoil and shattered hope of this world we can hear the rustle of the wings of the Sun of Righteousness. Amid the inky darkness and gloom of this age and the despair of men we have a more sure word of prophecy that shines out as a day star pointing us to the coming of better things, when our Lord and Saviour shall come.

“It may be at morn, when the day is awaking, When sunlight thro’ darkness and shadow is breaking, That Jesus will come in the fulness of glory, To receive from the world His own.

“Oh joy! Oh, delight! should we go without dying, No sickness, no sadness, no dread and no crying, Caught up thro’ the clouds with our Lord into glory, When Jesus receives His own.”

Brother, does your heart thrill at the thought? Do you feel like lifting your voice and shouting His praises? Get on the doctrine that will set your soul afire with glorious hope and expectancy. The lines are being drawn. Which side do you want to be found on when Jesus comes? Be sure you are not found in the company about whom Jesus spoke in His parable, who said, “We will not have this man to reign over us.” This nobleman is coming back to this earth to reign. “Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little,” Psalm 2:10-12.42

“Men put their faith in numbers and man made organizations. God says, “Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.” (Isaiah 8:12-13). Men have despised the day of small things. See Zechariah 4:10. God’s people have always been in the minority. Noah and his family were in the minority before the flood. But they were very much in the majority after the flood.”43

George Elliott Jones, The Teachings of Elder G. E. Jones, I think “movement” was of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs, -ed 43 George Elliott Jones, A Verse by Verse Commentary on Revelation,.

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Why the Bible and not Other Standards.

To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not, according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.—Isaiah 8:20.

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.—1 John 4:1.

For the prophecy came not in old times by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.—2 Peter 1:21.

THERE are three reasons, either of which is decisive.

I. It is the Best Standard.

We are often told to “Accept the truth wherever found, On Christian or on heathen ground,” and the inference is implied that there is some truth on heathen, not found on Christian ground. But no one has ever ventured to name any such truth. The simple fact is that whatever religious truths may be found in other sacred books or in works of philosophy, these same truths are found in the Bible, and here they are free from mixture with errors.

Ethics knows nothing higher or nobler than the moral teaching of the Bible. Amid all the wonderful progress of the race during the more than 1800 years since the last book of the Bible was written, not the smallest addition has been made to Biblical ethics. No moral truth has been discovered beyond what is contained in the Bible. And the same is true of all other religious truth. If any man thinks some new religious truth has been discovered since the Bible was completed, he has only to attempt to produce it, and he will be convinced. What we must believe, what we must be and what we must do, are set forth in the Bible with a clearness and a completeness found nowhere else. Not a doctrine, nor an aspiration nor a duty is omitted.

Here are a few testimonies from great thinkers who will not be suspected of any bias in favor of the Book: Fichte says of the Bible: “This ancient and venerable record contains the profoundest and loftiest wisdom, and presents those results to which all philosophy must at last come.”

Renan says of the Gospel of Matthew: “All things considered, it is the most important book in the world;” and of the Gospel of Job, he says: “It is the most beautiful book in the world.”

“In the Bible,” says Coleridge, “there is more that finds me out than I have experienced in all other books put together. The words of the Bible find me at greater depths of my being, and whatever finds me brings with it an irresistible evidence of its having proceeded from the Holy Spirit.”

Prof. Huxley said of the Scriptures: “By what other books could children be so humanized and made to feel that each figure in that vast historical procession fills, like themselves, but a momentary space in the interval between the two eternities and earns the blessings or the curses of all time according to its effort to do good and hate evil.”

The other standards offered are, 1st, other sacred books, like the Vedas, the Koran, the Book of Mormon, and 2nd, the church, and 3d, Reason.

1st. All other books are weak in comparison with the Bible; and the great superiority of the Bible to these books being admitted by all who are likely to read this article, there is no need of arguing the point at length. A simple comparison of the lands where these other books are regarded as standard with the lands where the Bible is most believed in will convince the most skeptical.

2nd. The church derives its authority from the teaching of the Scriptures. And the church—using the term in its broadest sense, to include all bodies of confessing Christians—the church has ever taught the inspiration and authority of the Bible, although sometimes claiming the right to interpret it for the people. The meaning of the Scriptures, however, was ever the important thing. Ecclesiasticism has assumed to take charge of the Bible and to dole out its teaching to the people, but ecclesiasticism has never denied its authority. Often, as in the case of the Pharisees, the Scriptures were made “of none effect,” but like those Pharisees, ecclesiasticism admitted them

to be the highest authority. The result of withholding the Bible from the people and of filtering its teachings through ecclesiastical channels, are manifest in Spain and Italy.

3d. Shall we turn to reason? Then whose reason? Shall we seek to be guided by the reason of the wisest and best? Who will select these for us? Those most generally recognized as the wisest and best bow before the Bible. But reason can not avail us. The most it can do, in the most favorable conditions, is to save us from error, it cannot lead us to truth. The philosopher Kant, in his Critique of Pure Reason—the highest authority on the subject—says: “The greatest and perhaps the sole use of all philosophy, of all pure reason is, after all, merely negative, since it serves not as an organon for the enlargement of knowledge, but as discipline for its delimitation, and instead of discovering truth, has only the modest merit of preventing error.”

Prof. Huxley, in the Nineteenth Century for February, 1889, quotes and endorses this utterance of Kant.

John Ruskin (Val D’Arno, sec. 55), quotes and commends the following language of Thomas Carlyle: “Perceptive reason is the handmaid of conscience, but not conscience hers. If you resolve to do right, you will do wisely; but resolve only to do wisely, and you will never do right.”

In a letter to a friend, published in the London Christian, Herbert Spencer said: “In my earliest years I constantly made the foolish supposition that conclusive proofs would change belief. But experience has long since dissipated my faith in man’s rationality.”

None of these men quoted can be charged with bias in favor of evangelical religion. They are the very ones to whom those who exalt reason as a standard naturally turn. It is manifest, therefore, that reason is not to be made a standard in religion. George Eliot has well said: “When you get me a good man out of arguments, I will get you a good dinner by reading you the cookery book.”

II. it alone is authoritative.

The second ground for taking the Bible rather than other standards is that it alone is authoritative. It is the only one we are under obligations to accept. The Bible alone speaks “with authority and not as the Scribes.”

The Protestant rule of Faith as given by Dr. Robert Watts is as follows: “1. That the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, to the exclusion of the apocryphal books and tradition, contain all the extant word of God. 2. That they furnish the only infallible rule of faith and practice. 3.

That the rule contained therein is complete, embracing all that man is to believe concerning God and all the duty that God requires of man.” (Faith and Inspiration, p. 86.)

All through the Bible its authority is asserted. Paul argues for the plenary inspiration of Genesis (xii:7) when he writes to the Galatians (iii:16) “He saith not and to seeds as of many, but as of one and to thy seed, which is Christ.” Here the argument turns on the use of the singular rather than the plural. Jeremiah called “the roll,” the “Words of the Lord.” (xxxvi:6.) Jesus quoted Deuteronomy as infallible, and as settling the questions raised by Satan, saying in reply, “It is written.” (Matthew 4:4, 7.) Our Lord affirmed the infallibility of the 82d Psalm by quoting from it (John x:35) and saying: “The Scriptures can not be broken.” Indeed he argued the infallibility of the clause from the infallibility of the Scriptures containing it. These are but samples. Jesus and His apostles ever treated the Old Testament as fully inspired and hence of absolute and final authority on all questions treated of in its pages. Peter tells us (2 Peter 1:21): “For no prophecy ever came by the will of man, but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Ghost.” (R. V.) And the apostles are put upon a par with the prophets (Eph. 3:5). Paul claims inspiration for the words he writes (1 Cor. 2:4, 13) and he enjoins that his epistles be read to the churches as Scripture (Col. 4:16). Peter calls the words of the apostles “the commandment” of the Lord (2 Peter 3:2), using the strongest Greek word in the vocabulary for authority — ἐντολή. And Jude exhorts us to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints.” (v. 3, R. V.)

It is not that men were spiritually elevated above their fellows so that with a broader and clearer vision they could instruct their fellows in spiritual things. It is not that certain seed thoughts or basal principles were communicated to men, which were to be expanded and developed along with the spiritual life of the ages, changing as circumstances might require—so that what is a correct statement of doctrine in one age is incorrect in another. Truth is not a system of “fluent and fluxions,” such as Newton discussed. Truth can not change. If two and two did not make four in the time of Abraham they do not make four now and never will make four, while if they do make four now, they always did and always will. No possible change of circumstances or development of mind can have the slightest effect on the truth. So the Bible is God’s Word to the world; His message to mankind, was delivered through chosen messengers, but delivered “once for all.” It is not subject to addition or development or modification of any kind. It is the absolute and final authority in all questions of faith and morals. We are not bound to believe or do anything because Buddha, or Mahomet, or Shakespeare, or Goethe, or Spencer says so. While we are bound to believe and do whatever the Bible says we must. “Thus saith the Lord” is an end of all controversy.

III. it alone tells us what our souls need.

The third ground for taking the Bible rather than other standards is that it alone tells us what our souls need.

“Lord, to whom shall we go?” said the astonished Peter, “thou hast the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68.) Dim and uncertain is the light of nature and of philosophy on the great questions of character and of destiny; so that Socrates, after thinking on these things as perhaps no other man has ever done, “felt,” so his great disciple Plato tells us, “the need of some ‘sure word of God’ to guide us in the right way.” The Bible is not one of a class of books. It is unique in its theme, its power and its authority. All other books are feeble in comparison. Scientific books tell us of matter, of force, of heat, light and electricity. How feeble all this in comparison with such utterances as “Let there be light,” “I am the light of the world,” and “All power hath been given unto me.”

Books on political economy tell us of the laws of trade, of supply and demand, of how to develop the material resources of a country, and how to regulate taxation and the authority of officials. What are such things in comparison with the great themes of death, judgment to come and eternity?

Ruskin tells us of the pictures fading away on the stones of Venice and the crumbling walls of Florence.

With a few touches the inspired penman gives us a picture of love and duty, and the story of Ruth and Naomi fades never away from our minds. Probably the best book besides the Bible is Shakespeare, and the best thing in Shakespeare is Hamlet. But is not the sorrow of a dreaming boy for his foully murdered father—for that is Hamlet—trivial in comparison with the grand drama of Job, where God and the angels are spectators, and Satan wrestles with faith in the torn heart of the patriarch?

In other books we find such truths as men can spell out with their observations and experiments, and such as they can guess out with their philosophy, but in the Bible we have the revelation of God to us, and the opening of Heaven to our vision. Here we learn the remedy for sin. Here we are told how God can be just and the justifier of him that believeth. Here we find the “words of eternal life.” There is but one way of salvation and the Bible alone tells us of that. Nothing else but the Gospel has ever changed a bad man into a good man, or ever can; while the Gospel has done this in multiplied thousands of instances. “There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved,” and to be saved is our supreme necessity. Outside the Bible we can learn of God’s power, of His wisdom, of His glory, but only here can we learn of His love and of His mercy. Only here can we learn that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” Only here can we learn of Him, whom to know is life eternal. Only here can we find the “sure word of God” for which Socrates sought, and lay hold on the hope which “maketh not ashamed.”

To take any other standard is to follow the creature rather than the creator. It is to accept the thoughts of men as superior to the wisdom of God. It is to turn our backs upon the only light of the world and go out into that outer darkness that knows no morrow forever.

In the market place at Worms, I was profoundly impressed as I stood before the Great Luther monument.

Surrounded by statues of his coadjutors, all fronting in the same direction, and rising on a pedestal in its colossal proportions, is the bronze statue of Luther. His right foot is firmly advanced. In his left hand he holds a Bible, on which his right hand rests clenched. The artist has seized the moment when the hero stood facing the Diet of Worms to answer for himself. Looking into that calm upturned face I could almost hear from those parted lips the noble words: “Here I stand; I can not do otherwise. God help me. Amen.” Answering to this

statue, across the ocean in the land where the Bible has been widest open, there stands a companion statue. It is the monument of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. On a lofty pedestal is a colossal statue of faith pointing with one hand to the open Bible and with the other toward the open heaven.

Other standards are composed of men’s guesses, while in the Bible the great truths of God burn and glow with all the eloquence of heaven. And facing a gainsaying world it becomes us to plant ourselves squarely on God’s Word—for we can not do otherwise, God help us—and to point a sin-sick and guilt-blinded race to the open Bible and to the open heaven it reveals.44

IX. Birth and Reign of the Prince of Peace.

1 - What joy shall be in the midst of afflictions, by the birth and Kingdom of Christ. ~ 8 - The judgments upon Israel for their pride, ~ 13 - For their hypocrisy, ~ 18 - And for their impenitency. ¶ Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. F or unt o us a chi ld is b or n , unto us a son is g iv en: a nd the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. ¶ The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together; The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. ¶ For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts. Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed. Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

44

T. T. Eaton, Why the Bible and Not Other Standards, (Roger Williams Heritage Archives, 1899), 35–47.

¶ For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hung ry; a nd he sha ll eat on the left ha nd, a nd t hey sha ll not be sa tisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah.

For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Isaiah 9:3 (KJV 1900) llThou

hast multiplied the nation, and ||not increased the joy: They joy before thee according to the mjoy in harvest, And nas men rejoice when othey divide the spoil.45

Here’s another example Why Jesus Cannot Use the New King James Version. Notice how this translation choice ultimately affects the inerrancy of the Scriptures: The Lord can’t recommend both of these Bibles because they say and mean the exact opposite. One reading is true; the other isn’t.

Only one can be correct, and the Lord has to choose one. He can’t pick both.

Plus, if he picks the ©1982 NKJV reading, then he contradicts the reading he’s been using for the past 400 years. That’s not so good if you’re looking for a God who’s trustworthy. ~ from Which Bible Would Jesus Use? by Jack McElroy.

By a slight change in the Hebrew, its (joy) [Or, to him.] is substituted by some for not, because “not increased the joy” seems opposite to what immediately follows, “the joy,” &c.

HENGSTENBERG, retains not thus: “Whose joy thou hadst not increased,” (that is, hadst diminished). Others, “Hast thou not increased the joy?” The very difficulty of the reading, not, makes it less likely to be an interpolation. HORSLEY best explains it: “The prophet sees in vision a shifting scene, comprehending at one glance the history of the Christian church to remotest times—a land dark and thinly peopled—lit up by a sudden light-filled with new inhabitants—then struggling with difficulties, and again delivered by the utter and final overthrow of their enemies. The influx of Gentile converts (represented here by “Galilee of the Gentiles”) soon was to be followed by the growth of corruption, and the final rise of Antichrist, who is to be destroyed, while God’s people is delivered, as in the case of Gideon’s victory over Midian, not by man’s prowess, but by the special interposition of God.” “Because it seems more compatible with the general tone of the passage, many translators and commentators (ancient and modern) have eliminated the word “not.”

However, the very fact that “not” seems so incompatible would make it unlikely that any copyist would (either intentionally or accidentally) insert the word into the passage.

Thus, it is probably correct as it stands here. The meaning seems to be that, even though

See ch. 26:15.

Or, to him. So Job 6:21. Psalm 100:3. ch. 49:5. m Psalm 4:7 (Heb.). Comp. John 4:36. n See Psalm 119:162. o Judg. 5:30. See Ex. 15:9.

45 Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary. ll

||

God had greatly multiplied the nation, as promised to Abraham (Genesis 22:17), there had been no increase in true joy among the people. Though they had been blessed and made free physically, they were still in bondage spiritually (see Isaiah 9:8-21).”46

The Old Testament prophets did foretell an earthly reign for Jesus, when He should come to bring this planet under the sway of obedience to God. And when we say “reign” we mean just what that word has always meant in connection with government. We concede, of course, that Jesus is now enshrined in the hearts of those who love Him and believe in Him as Lord and Savior, but this is not what the Bible means when it speaks of this reign of Christ. For instance, read again the exact language used in the ninth chapter of Isaiah: ... [and] ...

Let us take a close, analytical look at those familiar words and see just what they teach. Isaiah described an event which was historically fulfilled in part, through the miracle of the incarnation of Jesus. “Unto us a child is born” carries us back from our present era to that time of which Luke wrote, when the virgin mother brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. The Child was born indeed, and all history was born anew in that event.

But more than a birth is implied in the following words, “a Son is given.” Here we have the manner in which the very love of God was demonstrated to men, when He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. We know the Child of whom the prophet spoke: we recognize the Son in the person of the Savior.

He is clearly identified when the prophecy states that this coming One shall wear the names of deity and possess the attributes of God. He is called by the holiest names men can use when addressing God; names by which God revealed Himself to the ancients of Israel. For instance, we read in the tenth chapter of Deuteronomy: “For Jehovah your God, He is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the Great God, the Mighty, and the terrible . . .”

Or remember also that when God made Himself known to Abraham, it was in these words: “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, Jehovah appeared to Abraham and said unto him; I am God Almighty; walk before me and be thou perfect . . .”

The significance of this cannot be missed. When the Child appears, and when the Son has come, He will be known by the name which God revealed to Abraham.

More than this, He is to possess that attribute of deity which makes Him self-existent! A human who can rightly be called “The Everlasting Father” is a strange son of Adam indeed! The mystery of this amazing paradox is easily understood after Jesus had come, and the God-Man had demonstrated His divine origin, nature and purpose. This He did in the miracles He wrought, the death He died, and in His triumph over the tomb.

Thus identified, note that the Coming One is to establish a literal reign. Isaiah uses the exact words, “Of the increase of His government . . .” “and the government shall be upon His shoulder.”

The prophecy speaks of a throne, inherited from David. All men know that David had a human company over whom he reigned in a political and actual sense. David never was a priest; being of the family of Judah, he could not officiate in the worship of God. He had no “spiritual” kingdom, he governed the realm, made and enforced laws, levied taxes and commanded armies to defend his subjects and his possessions. Thus, if Jesus is to reign upon or from the throne of David, we must expect an earthly and physical reign.

46

Henry M. Morris, Morris Bible Notes,.

It is almost comical to note the lengths to which denominational leaders, seminary teachers, and writers of commentaries will go to twist these words out of their natural meaning and “interpret” them to show that Christ only reigns in the hearts of men in a spiritual kingdom. They tell us that the gospel is going to conquer gradually until all the races of the earth yield in love to Him, and universal peace and brotherhood result. Then He will be reigning over the earth and all its inhabitants.

There are just three things wrong with this “interpretation.” The first is, we are not doing so well! The missionary program has been feeble, inadequate and limited at its best, but now it is all but suspended by many Christian nations! The vast fields allotted to German churches are fallen into neglect: the Scandinavian countries lie helpless and prostrate before a foe who leaves them no time or means for world missions. Great Britain, engaged in a desperate battle for her very existence could spare neither men, funds nor equipment to extend her part in the gospel conquest. And America spends more every thirty days for cigarettes than she puts into missionary offerings in an entire year! After Russia deported God as an undesirable alien, and Germany turned to neopaganism, Christianity actually lost in the statistical columns. If Jesus has to wait for His kingdom until we mortal Christians convert the world to Him, that kingdom is so far in the future it staggers the imagination to contemplate that distant day.

The second error in this modern idea of a spiritual reign, brought about by the conversion of the heathen (who seem to prefer Mohammed to Christ!) is that Isaiah says it will not be established by human efforts! The prophet says—”The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this!” When Jesus reigns in this world of men, His throne will be erected in spite of opposition and by conquest. More of that we shall see later, we now point out the fallacy of this modernistic interpretation. God is going to erect this kingdom, not men.

The third objection to this weird and un-Scriptural teaching is the fact that the New Testament warns us that in the days just before the kingdom of Christ begins, a dark period of apostacy is to sweep over Christendom. Hear the words of the Holy Spirit, as He solemnly warns through the pen of the Apostle Paul: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies through hypocrisy, having their consciences seared as with a hot iron: “This know also, that in the last days grievous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, slanderers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.”

These grim words are further emphasized by the blunt statement of Jude, the brother of our Lord, who wrote in warning terms: “But beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.”

How then can we expect a gradual conversion of the whole world by the Gospel, when the very text of that Gospel describes the last days of our age in terms of apostacy and failure? Contemplating the termination of the age of Grace, Jesus Himself raised the question, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find the faith in the earth?” Add to this the clear implications of His parables of judgment, and the folly of the modern idea of the Gospel being a leaven which gradually but finally transforms the whole race of man, appears as self-evident. Jesus said that at His coming, tares and wheat would be growing together. In the dragnet were to be seen good fish and bad, and so on through all of His grave warnings.

Lest you think I have taken one or two isolated texts to prove a point, let me hasten to remind the reader that we could fill pages of this short volume with such quotations. For instance, we have the solemn warning from 2 Thessalonians, chapter two: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day will not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God; so that he asp God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God!”

This record is further illumined by the statement made by Peter, in the second chapter of his Second Epistle, where the apostle be gins with the words: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”

From this premise Peter then develops a gloomy theme, using the balance of this Epistle to warn of apostacy and the judgment thereupon. And his only hope is that after that judgment, there shall come a new earth wherein shall dwell righteousness. Nevertheless he insists that failure and punishment shall mark the end of the Gospel era, not triumph and a spiritual kingdom. This obviates the common teaching which shows the Lord Jesus reigning as the result of a long missionary campaign.

And what shall we say of the entire book of Revelation? God closes this message to men with that fearsome warning of plagues and disasters, judgments and dooms, all of which shall come upon a sinful and Christ-rejecting earth. The only way to hold to the idea of a spiritual kingdom, dominating the hearts of the entire human race, is to deny any prophetic significance to the book of Revelation, and say that all of these “figurative” judgments have been fulfilled in past ages. This quaint but popular position is hard to sustain in the light of chapters 20, 21, and 22! As far as we know, there has been no event in past time comparable to the binding of Satan in the abyss! He seems quite active and free just now. The resurrection of the just has not yet occurred, nor has the great white throne been established for the last scene of judgment. The new heavens and the new earth of chapter 21 are certainly still future, as is the new Jerusalem. We are not yet in that restored Eden of chapter 22, and no intelligent and honest commentator can deny that some of this book is prophetic, and refers to future events. And if that is true, who is to say that the promised plagues and punishments, meted out to a generation who are enemies of God, are not also future?

At any rate, the idea that the gospel is to win the earth to Christ, thus fulfilling the promises of a kingdom and a reign for Him, are utterly un-Scriptural. We return to our premise, namely, the prophecies promise a literal, physical, earthly kingdom for the Lord Jesus.

What other kind did David have?

Jesus is to sit “upon the throne of His father, David.”

What other form of government is there?

“The government is to be on His shoulder.”47 

The Lord of Hosts It is as Lord of hosts that Christ will return in the midst of the battle of the great day of God Almighty to overthrow the Beast and his system, and establish His government on the throne of David. His title as “…the God of the armies of Israel…” is “…the LORD of hosts…” When David went forth to meet Goliath he said, “I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.” (1 Samuel 17:45). As the One mighty in battle He is called the Lord of hosts in the 24 Psalm. “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD MIGHTY IN BATTLE. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even th

47

Harry Rimmer, THE SHADOW OF COMING EVENTS,.

lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? THE LORD OF HOSTS, he is the King of glory.” (Psalm 24:7-10).

It is as Lord of hosts, whom David said is the God of the armies of Israel, that He shall establish His government on the throne of David. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7). The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform what? It will establish His government upon the throne of David.

So when He comes back to the battle of the great day of God Almighty, He is coming as the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, to overthrow the Gentile world powers which will be headed up under the Beast. After He has overthrown the Gentile world system He will establish His government upon the throne of David.

As God of the armies of Israel He is called the Lord of the Sabaoth (not sabbath, but Sabaoth). “And as Esaias said before, kExcept the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, lwe had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.48“ (Romans 9:29). In his lexicon on page 565 Thayer says this word Sabaoth means “The Lord of the Armies of Israel, as those who under the leadership and protection of Jehovah maintains his cause in war.” It is very needful for us to understand what the title “The Lord of hosts” signifies to have a right conception as to why Christ will come back in the midst of the battle of that great day of God Almighty, and as to what He is going to do following that battle. It will be after that battle that the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform the establishment of His government upon the throne of David as foretold in Isaiah 9:6-7. ... Revelation 19:11-21 is a prophecy of our Lord’s return to EARTH, and that He will come in the midst of a battle. They show that He will come as “…the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel…” (1 Samuel 17:45) to overthrow Israel’s enemies and set them free. He will come as the ONE MIGHTY IN BATTLE, even as we read in Psalm 24:7-10. After this battle the Lord of hosts will establish His government on the throne of David. “The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.“49

X. Assyria Is God’s Instrument.

1 - The woe of tyrants. ~ 5 - Assyria, the rod of hypocrites, for its pride shall be broken. ~ 20 - A remnant of Israel shall be saved. ~ 24 - Israel is comforted with promise of deliverance from Assyria. ¶ Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. ¶ O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few. For he Cited from Isai. 1:9.

See Isai. 13:19.

48 The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., (2009), Ro 9:29.

49 George Elliott Jones, A Verse by Verse Commentary on Revelation,. k l

saith, Are not my princes altogether kings? Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus? As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man: And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped. Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth th erewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood. Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day; And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth. And the rest of t he trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them. Âś And it sha ll come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land. Âś Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction. And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of O reb : a nd as his ro d w a s u pon th e sea , so sha ll he lift it up a fter th e manner of Egypt. And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages: They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled. Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.

Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee. As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled. And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.

“OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE” Paragraph 4. The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God, so far manifest themselves in His providence, that His determinate counsel extends itself even to the first fall, and all other sinful actions both of angels and men;93 and that not by a bare permission, which also He most wisely and powerfully binds, and otherwise orders and governs,94 in a manifold dispensation to His most holy ends;95 yet so, as the sinfulness of their acts proceeds only from the creatures, and not from God, who, being most holy and righteous, neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin.96[50]

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 10 The tenth chapter contains a clear prophecy of the great and wilful king, of Daniel’s vision, who is here represented as ambitious to extend his sway over all the nations of the world, and set by God for the purpose of avenging the wickedness of the world, and especially of his people the Jews.

They are here described as returned to their own land, but still avaricious and unjust, for which sins they are again to be carried captive, and to “fall under the slain.” For this cause Jehovah calls to the Assyrian to execute his wrath, “to gather the prey, and tread under foot their cities.” Not that it is his design to fulfil the purposes of God; far from it, his own lust of power and of blood shall lead him on. So was it of old with Pharaoh; so with “Herod and Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel,” they “were gathered together,” by their own evil passions, and with their own fruitless purposes, “to do,” says the Evangelist, “whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.” Which remarks solve a fancied difficulty proposed by Arminians, - how God can punish those who have all along been fulfilling his will? To which the answer is ready; - it is the intention that makes the act good or evil, and the intention of the wicked is to please themselves, and to oppose God. True it is that all their deeds and designs shall further his will; but no thanks are due to them.

Such an issue was the farthest from their thoughts and desires.

The same announcement is made in other words by Daniel, respecting the Wilful King: “And the king shall do according to his will, and he shall exalt himself and shall prosper until the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.” (Dan. 11:36.) Another point of resemblance between the two pictures is, that of Isaiah’s king it is said, that “to destroy is in his heart; and to cut off nations not a few.” Coincidently we read in Daniel verse 44, that “tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to make away many!”

At the concluding clause of verse ten [LXX], God, I apprehend, begins to speak,“Howl, ye graven images, in Jerusalem and Samaria For, as I have done to Jerusalem and her idols, So will I do to Jerusalem also, and her images.”

And after the Assyrian has thus accomplished the wrath of Jehovah, he himself also shall be punished for his pride. Of which pride a specimen is given us in the 13th verse: “By the strength of my hand have I done it, and by the wisdom of my understanding.” In the same Rom. 11:32-34; 2 Sam. 24:1; 1 Chron. 21:1 2 Kings 19:28; Psalm 76:10 95 Genesis 1:20; Isaiah 10:6,7,12 96 Psalm 1:21; 1 John 2:16 50 Confessions, Declarations and Creeds, THE BAPTIST CONFESSION OF FAITH (1689 & Spurgeon 1855); CHAPTER 5.

93 94

strain he declares his ambitious purpose of subduing the whole world. His flatterers, astonished at his prowess, call him “the only sovereign,” but, as Eusebius observes, he replies, that so long as any kingdoms remain un-captured, he will not so consider himself.

The case with which he expects to perform it, is compared to a man seizing a nest when the parent bird is departed, a beautiful, original, and highly expressive image.* The whole picture strongly resembles the ambitious and boastful message of Sennacherib to Hezekiah: “Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly, and shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan and Haran, and the children of Eden, which dwelt in Telassar?” As, then, in his boasting, ambition, and blasphemy, he shall resemble Sennacherib; so shall he, in the end of his pride, and the mighty slaughter of his host, slain not by the power of man, but by the vengeance of the Saviour’s return. Moreover, as Sennacherib was rebuked of Jehovah, because of his boasting that “by the multitude of his chariots he had come up to the height of the mountain, and that with the sole of his feet he had dried up all the rivers of the besieged places;” as the Lord bids him know, that “HE had done it,” “that HE had brought it to pass,” in order to desolate the nations in their strongholds, and the dwellers in fenced cities, so does he scornfully reprove the Wilful King, “Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?

Shall the saw magnify itself against him that moveth it?”

Dost thou, only the instrument of my anger, fancy that thou art the prime mover?

“Wherefore (for this thy pride) JEHOVAH shall send Upon thine honour dishonour, And upon thy glory a burning fire shall be kindled.” * In a note on ver. 23, Eusebius says, “this is his boasting style, who is called Antichrist.”

Bishop Horsley also considers that this chapter refers to him.

Thus is it also written in Daniel, of the “little horn,” whom all commentators agree in regarding as identical with Antichrist, or the Wilful King. “I beheld, then, because of the voice of the great words (of pride and blasphemy, ver. 25) which the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.” And the time of this his destruction is also the time of the Saviour’s coming, as is evident from the next words: “And the light of Israel shall be a fire, And his Holy One a burning flame; ...

And the fire shall devour both soul and body, And he that fleeth shall be as one fleeing from burning flame.”

Moreover, the sequel proves the justness of this conclusion; for the remnant of Israel shall no more trust in him that smote them (i. e., Antichrist, as remarked above), but shall trust in the Holy One of Israel in truth.

This inference is further confirmed by the 22nd and 23rd verses, which are quoted by St. Paul in Romans 9: 27, 28, who there applies them to the small elect remnant that shall be saved out of Israel, though “its numbers be as the sand of the sea,” and at the time when God “shall finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness, even when Jehovah shall make a short work upon the earth,” which seems evidently to refer to that time of trouble of which

Christ said, that “except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved, but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”

For the sake of this elect remnant the prophet proceeds to speak words of comfort.

True it is, that the Assyrian must come and “smite with a rod;” but, yet a little while, and God’s anger shall cease. For when his time shall come, God shall destroy him as he destroyed Pharaoh and his host by the uplifting of the rod of Moses over the sea, when the waters, before suspended like walls on either side, rolled down upon the encircled bravery of the Egyptian and his forces. It shall also, be like the destruction of the Midianites, recorded in the 7th and 8th of Judges, when Gideon, with his few followers, routed the invaders of Israel, “the Midianites and the Amalekites, and all the children of the east that lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude.”

At the 28th verse begins the spirited description of that great invasion of Judaea by Antichrist, when the Saviour counsels all them that are in Judaea, to “flee to the mountains” at once, without looking back, lest they perish, like Lot’s wife, being overtaken by his speedy march. The celerity of his movement is beautifully shown by the perturbation of so many cities. It is implied by the names of the cities mentioned, that the invaders’ march will be directed from the north, and that part of his army would be detached to the westward of it, in order to surround it, and cut off escape. “The places here mentioned,” says Lowth, “are all in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem; from Ai northward, to Nob westward of it. Anathoth was within three Roman miles of Jerusalem, according to Eusebius, Jerome, and Josephus. Nob probably still nearer.”

Yet in spite of this his resistless attack, when the indignation shall be accomplished, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven to smite the mighty, and the haughty shall be humbled to the dust. * * 51

XI. Righteous Reign of the “Branch”

1 - The peaceable kingdom of the Branch out of the root of Jesse. ~ 10 - The victorious restauration52 of Israel, and vocation of the Gentiles.

This post was published to The Shayne Moses Project at 5:55:58 PM 4/13/2017

The Coming King and His Reign.

By Harry Rimmer, Sc.D., LL.D. Copyright, 1946, by The Research Science Bureau, Inc.53

The Messianic prophecies are definite in the extreme, and it is sheer ignorance of the Bible or a willful desire to distort the Scriptures which makes men reject the teaching concerning His return.

One of the clearest and most explicit of these Messianic promises is the eleventh chapter of Isaiah. To show the clarity of this revealed program, and something of the nature of Christ’s reign, let us make a simple analysis of that chapter. Such an analysis would develop in this fashion:

Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED,.

Restauration: “Specifically. The return of the Jews to Israel, ending the Diaspora. rare after 18th cent.” ~ Oxford.

53 Harry Rimmer, THE SHADOW OF COMING EVENTS: Chapter 4. The Coming King.

51 52

ISAIAH, CHAPTER ELEVEN Theme: The Coming King and His Reign.

Writer: The Prophet Isaiah.

Date: About B.C. 713.

Occasion: To Encourage the People, in the Face of a Threatened Invasion.

1. The Coming Redeemer (Isaiah 11:1). “¶ And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:” 2. The Character of the Redeemer (Isaiah 11:2-5).

“And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” 3. The Nature of His Reign (Isaiah 11:6-9).

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”

4. The Universal Extent of that Reign (Isaiah 11:10). “¶ And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.” 5. Victorious Israel Shall Be Regathered (Isaiah 11:11-14).

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.”

6. Certain Geographical Changes to be Made (Isaiah 11:15-16).

“And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.”

Of course, a complete analysis of this prophecy is beyond the scope of so short a study as this one must be, but certain facts demand emphasis. It is frequently argued that all of these prophecies are figurative and cast in poetic expression and therefore must be interpreted into their actual meaning. Even if that were so, a “figure” is a method of expressing abstract ideas by words which suggest pictures or images from the physical world. But an accurate and honest use of figurative language demands that the concrete figure used shall convey a true and correct conception of the abstract idea. Hence, it would be fundamentally dishonest for the prophet to use the terms “throne,” “government,” “reign,” and kindred forms, if the actuality of which he speaks is only a spiritual or mental sway.

Note first the accuracy of Isaiah’s statement concerning the genealogy of the Coming One. He states that out of the stump of Jesse, a living shoot shall emerge. The figure is taken from the culture of the fig tree, so common in the land where the prophet lived. If a barren fig tree is cut back, the wound covered with grafting paste and protected, out of the roots will spring up a new shoot which will be alive and fruitful.

We know that Jesse was the son of Obed, the grand-son of Boaz, and the father of King David.

Since the physical throne of Israel descends through the family of David, the House of Jesse then stands for the kingly line. “Jesse” flourished as long as a descendant of his line sat upon a throne.

The last such king was the ill-starred Zedekiah, who violated his sacred oath, and, against the stern warning of the prophet Jeremiah, made a fatal alliance with Egypt. As a result the tragic two years of war followed, Zedekiah was compelled to watch the execution of his entire family by the sword, and he himself was carried captive to Babylon. Since then Jesse has been a “stump” and there has been no life apparent in the ancient tree.

But the roots remained alive, and God has promised that a new “shoot” shall spring forth from that slumbering stump. This can only mean that a king shall yet reign, of the lineage of Jesse, of the tribe of Judah and the family of David. Now consult the genealogy of Jesus, and confirm once again your knowledge of the fact that our Lord is of the family of Jesse, through His mother, Mary. So our first premise in the prophecy is established—the figure of speech does mean that another Hebrew king is yet to reign. All of this is both implied and stated in the first verse of Isaiah, in chapter eleven. Incidentally, the identification of the promised king is aided by the fact that the name “Branch” is used elsewhere in Old Testament prophecies to portray Jesus the Messiah. Jeremiah uses this name, as does also Zechariah. In the book of Jeremiah [23:5-6] we read: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is His name whereby He shall be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

We shall refer later to the Messianic application of this verse, we merely introduce it here to establish the fact that the Person known as “the Branch” is to bear names that are peculiar to deity. The holiest name of God is conferred upon Him by Jeremiah, and divine attributes, such as “RIGHTEOUSNESS” are ascribed to Him. So Isaiah and Jeremiah are in agreement and harmony on this point at least.

Many years later, when the remnant of Israel had returned from captivity and was engaged in rebuilding in Palestine under the government of alien powers, the prophet Zechariah also promised them that they would some day have their own king. He also called the Coming One by the name “The Branch”, and referred to Him as One who would be manifested as God.

But even without this further light, we do not need to question the identity of this Coming King of Isaiah’s song; He is adequately described in verses two to five in this chapter of Isaiah.

Verse two tells of the source of His power, in these words: “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him.” That is sufficient to establish His nature and accredit His Person, as we have had no human monarch since the age of the prophets who reigned in and by the power of the Holy Ghost!

Verses three to five tell of the application of this power which the Coming King shall make to the lives of His subjects, and this gives us a good idea of the quaintness of that reign. How odd a conception for human historians to contemplate; that a King shall use his vast powers for the poor and the meek, rather than for the rich and the powerful! Certainly we have not yet known of such a monarch!

Yet with all this, He is to smite where punishment is due, and His enemies shall perish by the very words of His condemnation. What a strange, yet awe-inspiring figure begins to emerge from the Scripture which tells of His character and His rule!

The picture grows more complicated and even more wonderful as we read of the nature of that reign. Verses six to nine tell us that even the wild animals of the earth shall be converted at His ascension, and shall revert to the conditions of life which prevailed in Eden. Imagine a King of such power that He shall change the very nature of ravening beasts! These wild enemies of man shall become his friends and pets, and the spilling of blood will cease during Christ’s rule.

Shall we try to evade the many difficulties which this idea raises in the modern mind, by the cowardly subterfuge of calling it all “figurative,” and therefore subject to any interpretation which shall fit the individual mind: or shall we face those problems honestly and seek to find further light upon them? If we decide on the former, as the easier way, we must be prepared to state what it is that the figure portrays. The most extreme contrasts are here pictured, as the lion and the fatling, the calf and the bear all sharing one bed! The lamb is the natural prey of the wolf: if they two “lie down” together now, the lamb is inside the wolf! The African hunter knows what splendid leopard bait the kid is, and here they are portrayed as being chums. To effect such an amazing reversal of what we call the natural order, the very nature of these animals will have to be transformed. Indeed, the prophet goes so far as to say that babies shall play with serpents whose very names are now synonymous with suffering and death. If all of this is figurative, what does it picture? What is the fact behind the imagery?

But if the prophecy refers to an express condition, we may seek more light upon it. For instance, there is the forecast given by the New Testament, in Romans 8:19-23, where we read: “For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who subjected the same in hope.

Because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”

Add to these strange words the statement of Genesis 1:29-30, and we begin to see some sense in the prophecy of Isaiah, and have an inkling of the nature of the coming kingdom. At the end of the week of creation, Moses records that God said: “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.”

Put these two together, and we have a basis of understanding. In the days of Eden, when man and all creation were strangers to sin, no creature slew another living thing for daily food.

Because of sin, the rule was changed, and the creation has “groaned” under this bondage of death and blood ever since. But when Jesus returns, and the will of God is done on earth even as it is in heaven, the animal realm will revert to the dietary practices of Eden. So says Isaiah, and he speaks with the authority of the Spirit of God. What an age that will be!

Years ago, when all of my children were small, I asked my five-year-old daughter what she wanted for Christmas. Without a second’s hesitation, she said, “A baby lion!”

I wasn’t surprised, as all of her life she has loved all living things. Our home has been a sort of menagerie ever since I can remember. Snakes and lizards, tame skunks, dogs, cats, horses, alligators and horned toads—we have had open house for and to them all.

But a baby lion was going too far, so I said, “Well, darling, I’d like to get you one. But you know lions come from Africa, and we live in California. I can hardly go to Africa and get you one for Christmas!”

“You don’t have to,” my daughter replied. “There is a lion farm out near El Monte. We went there last week, and saw them all getting fed. They had lots of baby ones, and I want one.”

I tried to reason. I said, “Dear, I’d like a baby lion myself. They are awfully cute, but the trouble is they don’t stay babies! In a few months it will grow so big it would scratch the furniture and tear up the rugs, and in a year or so it’ll want to eat us! Then we’d have to give it to the circus or shoot it, and we would be sad to lose it after we had raised it. I can’t give you a baby lion for Christmas, but I’ll give you anything else you want.”

Quick as a flash she answered: “Then I’ll take a baby tiger!”

I knew that I was stuck—so I sat down and told her of an age that is to be, and of a Coming King. I read her Isaiah’s great prophecy, and told her that the King, when He came, would change animal nature and restore the conditions that prevailed in the garden of Eden. When that had been accomplished, I assured her, she could have both a lion and a tiger, and a bear and a leopard as well. “A little child shall lead them” is a very definite promise, but before that can be so, a tremendous change must be wrought in the very wild beasts of the earth.

Can this transfiguration be brought about by the preaching of the gospel? Can it be effected by the practice of the “Golden Rule” or by adherence to the precepts of the “Sermon on the Mount”?

The very idea is silly. The “Brotherhood of Man and the Fatherhood of God” could conceivably reconstruct society — but by no stretch of the imagination can we claim that it would also metamorphose the ravening beasts of the earth into friendly, grass-eating pets for the children! So we must either admit that Isaiah is prophesying a physical reign in a changed earth, or confess that we simply repudiate any belief in the authority of his words. In that case, we stand convicted of dogmatism and willful unbelief.

It is to be noted also that the further analysis pictures a universal domain. The words of verse 10 draw a sharp line of distinction between two groups of people. The phrase “the people” in Hebrew writings always refer to the children of Abraham: the rest of us are “the nations.” In the Hebrew text the original word is “goi” and in our English translation this word is rendered Gentiles, 30 times; heathen, 142 times; and nations, 373 times. The Hebrew word “am” is translated also by the English word nation, but it appears only 17 times in the Old Testament text.

But “am” is translated “people” 1,835 times. Occasionally it is qualified, as by the phrase “every people,” but when it is rendered “the people” it means Israel.

Thus the words of Isaiah convey a startling reversal of present governmental trends. World dominion rests in Gentile hands, and in most, if not in all great countries, the Jew is tolerated at best. He resides by sufferance and by grace of Gentile permission even in his own land of Palestine, and that only in limited numbers sharply restricted by stern laws. But when Christ triumphs, and His kingdom is erected, it will be centered in Jewish or Hebrew interests, and the Gentiles shall seek shelter therein, and come by sufferance into the citizenship thereof!

How is this to be brought about by the ministry of the Gospel? Missionaries could labor another ten thousand years, preaching grace and redemption to all nations, but that would in no wise offset the trend of world rule. Something drastic and dramatic has to happen to fulfill these very exact words of God’s promise, and unless Isaiah really has revealed a future event, there is no conceivable way in which world dominion will be centered in a Hebrew line, city, or regime.

This cannot be brought about by the recognized abilities of the Jewish people in financial wizardry. Germany proved that. When enough wealth is concentrated in Jewish hands to make the effort worth while, some pragmatic and powerful robber will always rise to despoil them.

It cannot be done by a spread of Jewish culture. Hitler proved that also. As soon as enough Jews are in the teaching centers of a Gentile nation to effect the current of culture, it becomes unlawful for a Jew to hold a seat of learning any longer! The recent black tragedy of Europe demonstrated that.

And make no mistake about this point; there will always be Hitlers, Mussolinis and Stalins as long as man is in control and force is supreme. Our only hope is the blessed hope, that Christ shall return and transform the world by the power and authority which He shall wield.

The significance of the prophecy of Isaiah becomes even clearer as we ponder verses eleven to fourteen. When the reign begins, of which the Scripture speaks, the Jew will no longer be homeless and a wanderer. He shall not be scattered among all nations, tolerated in limited numbers in his own homeland. No, in that day the dispersed of Abraham’s seed shall be gathered together from all nations, and from every point of the compass. They are pictured as being victorious over their ancient enemies, and abundantly capable of self-defense if need be. A victorious, united, re-gathered people, they will be a nation once again, and will dwell by right in their own land. Words could not be plainer, nor could meaning be clearer. God has promised certain things in this prophecy, and all the “spiritualizing,” “interpreting,” or “allegorizing” of which crooked and deceitful teachers are capable cannot twist those concrete promises into any other meanings!

Especially is this so when we note that the eleventh chapter of Isaiah does not stand alone, but is supported by other Old Testament prophecies equally specific. We have reference to one such, in Jeremiah [23:5-6 and] 33:15[-16], which we have cited before. We repeat it here to refresh your memory with these words: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, That I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is His name whereby He shall be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

An honest exegesis of that verse will show certain plain facts to be the intended teaching of this promise. First, a King is certainly coming! Not in some mystical or spiritual sense, but He is to reign and prosper, and to “execute judgment and justice” in the earth. It is conceded that Jesus, of whom this prophecy admittedly speaks, does reign, in a limited sense, in the hearts of His people. But has that resulted in the establishment of righteousness and justice in the earth?

You know it hasn’t. Never have wrong and injustice been more strongly intrenched than at the

beginning of this year of 1946. We have high hopes, of course, that they will be repressed and chained again. But even if they are, we are sadly aware from bitter experience that they will soon break forth again. Vicious power and lust for conquest cannot be educated out of human nature — only by regeneration can men be changed. The 20th century has witnessed the worst relapses into brutality that history has yet recorded, and after all these centuries of culture, teaching, philosophy and evangelism, we are farther from world peace and human brotherhood than we have ever been before. The reign of righteousness and justice will not be established by the slow leaven of the gospel. It waits for the revelation of the Mighty One who is to come!

The second inescapable fact in this text is that the Coming One is to be of Jesse’s House. “I will raise unto David a righteous Branch” cannot be misunderstood. Remember that Zechariah also wrote of Him at least two generations after the sad fate of Zedekiah, the last descendant of David who ever occupied a throne. None such has been crowned in any land since these words were written, therefore any fulfillment of them must still be a future event.

The third point to note is that this Son of David is to have a physical dominion. His execution of the administrative power is to be “In the earth.” So thus it is to be a throne in a literal and real sense, and its power is to be world-wide. Not in part of the earth, or in the land of Israel alone shall His authority extend; the entire planet is to be the sphere of His dominion. So the Lord who rules heaven now, will some day conquer and add the rebellious earth to His realm, and finish the mystery of sin by the conquest thereof on the scene of its long and evil record.

Then note the next item, that His reign will be characterized by the safety and security of the Jew. “In His days Israel shall be saved, and Judah shall dwell safely.” Surely that phase of world history is in the future!

This is a condition every Christian prays for, but when has it ever been? Review in your mind the sad history of the earth’s most persecuted race, and seek for a time when they have known security and peace!

For a brief day in Solomon’s rule prosperity was theirs, but the children of those who knew Solomon groaned in slavery, and knew the shock of battle and the dark grief which comes to the despoiled. For a decade or two at most the Jew has had an occasional rest from spite and suffering, but these periods have been few and short.

But a brighter day is ahead! When the Coming King establishes His government, it will be distinguished by this historically unique fact — Israel shall have peace and security for His entire reign.

Again authenticating Isaiah, Jeremiah clearly identifies this great monarch who is yet to be, when he says, “And this is His name whereby He shall be called, ‘THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’” You will notice that your English version of the Bible prints this entire Name in capital letters. This is done to draw the attention of the reader to the sacred nature of the holy Name used in the Text. We translate the Hebrew word by the English form “Jehovah” in the American Revised Version; but the familiar form of the Authorized, or King James version, uses the term “LORD GOD.” The designation implying holiness, which is the chief attribute of God, is added to the Name in Jeremiah’s text, thus emphasizing the thought that a divine King is in view in the prophecy.

This section of Jeremiah is really a repetition of chapter [33] 23, verses [15-16] 5 to 8, and the message is thus repeated for additional confirmation. The form is similar in each enunciation of the prophecy, but the nature of the reign is stressed in the earlier utterance, and the deity of the King in the latter statement. So in the former sentence the emphasis is on “and He shall reign as

king and deal wisely.”[RV] This positive declaration obviates the possibility that the kingdom may be merely mystical or spiritual, it attests an actual physical domain.

Of course there have been many rulers who have manifested restraint, wisdom and benevolence in their practice of power. There have been kings who were godly and lived righteously, but the earth has yet to see such a King as this promise portrays. One who is righteousness rather than one who possesses or exercises it!

Vain and proud men have called themselves by high-sounding names, vaunting their own greatness. There have been many “Mighty and Universal Potentates,” “Kings of Kings” and “Lords of Lords” — but never has the earth seen a ruler who can be justly called “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS”!

It is manifestly impossible to exhaust the list of Old Testament prophecies concerning the Coming King in so short and simple a study, these are picked almost at random from many. The Messianic Psalms themselves alone provide material for volumes of study. The words of Ezekiel by themselves make a complete case. The thrilling shout of Zechariah is quite sufficient to stir the heart and inform the mind, even if it stood alone. Added together, the voices of prophecy constitute an amazing body of divine promises, all of which justify us in looking for the redemption of God’s pledges and assurances, in the person of the Coming King.

The Young Earth?

Christians who advocate the old-earth idea typically feel that Satan was cast out of heaven long ago, and was present on earth throughout the ages. But, if that is so, where were Satan and the myriads of demons when God pronounced everything “very good”? Was Satan lurking behind a tree just waiting for a chance at Eve? Was he already actively working to distort God’s creation, causing extinction and death? That’s not “very good” at all. How could the holy, perfect, God of the Bible declare it to be so?

To make matters worse, God has promised a “restoration” of earth to what it was like before Adam sinned. To an old-earther, Adam lived just a few thousand years ago, at the end of 4.5 billion years of history.

Adam’s world was essentially no different from ours. So what will this world be restored to? Billions of years of extinction and death? No, the Bible says it will be a time without bloodshed and carnivorous activity, when the wolf and the lamb will lie down together, where even the lion will be vegetarian, and where harmony will exist between man and the animal kingdom once again ( Isa 11:6-8). To an old-earther this has never happened.

How can the earth be restored to such a state?54

XII. {Joy—Converts} Thanksgiving Expressed.

“The Song of the Redeemed.”

1 - A joyfull thanksgiving of the faithfull for the mercies of God. ¶ And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. ¶ And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

54

John Morris, The Young Earth; “The Theological Battlefront”.

How the death of Christ is an atonement You wish to understand more about Christ’s death being an atonement. I shall try and explain. The curse which Adam by his sins brought upon us all was this, “Thou shalt surely die.”—Genesis 2:17. This included the death of the body, the death of the soul, and the eternal destruction of both in hell. This is the curse that hangs over every unpardoned sinner. And our sins have only added certainty and weight to the awful curse, for the “wages of sin is death.” Now, when the Son of God said He would become our Surety and Saviour, the Father said, “Thou must die for them;” see John 10:17, 18: “I lay down my life.” “This commandment have I received from my Father.” It is true, Christ did not suffer eternal destruction in hell; but He was a person so glorious and excellent—God’s own Son—that His short sufferings were equal in value to our eternal agonies. So that, in the eye of law, and in God’s account, Jesus has suffered all that you and I were condemned to suffer. Hence that sweet, sweet passage, “Comfort ye, comfort ye, … for she hath received (in Christ) of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”—Isaiah 40:1, 2. Christ’s dying for us is as much in God’s account as if we had twice over borne the eternal agonies of hell. Hence that sweet song which God enabled you and G. to sing: “I will praise Thee; though Thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and Thou comfortedst me.”—Isaiah 12:1.

Hence also that triumphant question, “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died.”—Rom. 8:34.

Keep looking, then, to Jesus, dear soul, and you will have the peace that passeth all understanding.

Whenever Satan accuses you, send him to the stripes of the Lord Jesus. Deal gently and tenderly with your unconverted friends. Remember you were once as blind as they. “He was despised, and WE esteemed Him not.”—Isaiah 53. ... read and pray over Matthew 18:3–6. ... The Lord bless you, and keep you cleaving to Christ the true vine. You have found the pearl of great price. Go and sin no more. “If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” God is able to keep you from falling. In his dear arms I leave you., etc.55

“The 3rd verse was chanted by the priests on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, John 7:37, 38. The little possessive pronoun my is the bucket with which we draw water from the depths of God. Our pilgrimage way is lined by these wells of saving help.56

From Bunyan’s Water of Life [the application of the whole] You know our discourse has been at this time of the water of life, of its quantity, head-spring, and quality; and I have showed you that its nature is excellent, its quantity abundant, its head-spring glorious, and its quality singularly good.

FIRST. Let this, then, in the first place, be a provocation to us to be more free in making use of this water.

There are many, now-a-days, that are for inventing of waters, to drink for the health of the body; and to allure those that are ill to buy, they will praise their waters beyond their worth. Yea, and if they be helpful to one person in a hundred, they make as if they could cure every one. Well, here you have the great Physician himself, with his water, and he calls it the water of life, water of life for the soul: this water is probatum est.17 It has been proved times without number; it never fails but where it is not taken (Acts 26:18; Isa 5:4, 5). No disease comes amiss to it; it cures blindness, deadness, deafness, dumbness. It makes “the lips of those that are asleep to speak” (Cant 7:9). This is the right HOLY WATER,18 all other is counterfeit: it will drive away devils and spirits; it will cure enchantments and witchcrafts; it will heal the mad and lunatic (Gal 3:1–3; Mark 16:17, 18).

It will cure the most desperate melancholy; it will dissolve doubts and mistrusts, though they are grown as hard Robert Murray McCheyne and Andrew A. Bonar, Memoir and Remains of the Rev. Robert Murray McCheyne, (Edinburgh; London: Oliphant Anderson & Ferrier, 1894), 279.

56 F. B. Meyer, Through the Bible Day by Day: A Devotional Commentary, (1914–1918), 4:57.

17 “Probatum est”= “is proved”—a scrap of Latin commonly used in advertising medical prescriptions, in Bunyan’s time.—Ed. 18 A Protestant can have but little idea of the insane superstition of the Papists in respect to holy water. The following lines, from Barnaby Googe’s Popish Kingdome, will shed a little light upon it:— “Besides, they do believe their sins to be forgiven quite, By taking holy water here, whereof if there do light But one small drop, it driest out the hellish devils all Then which there can no greater grief unto the fiend befall.” —4to. 1570, p. 42. In the Editor’s library.—Ed. 55

as stone in the heart (Eze 36:26). It will make you speak well (Col 4:6). It will make you have a white soul, and that is better than to have a white skin (Eze 36:25, 26). It will make you taste well; it will make you disrelish all hurtful meats (Isa 30:22). It will beget in you a good appetite to that which is good; it will remove obstructions in the stomach and liver. It will cause that what you receive of God’s bread shall turn to good nourishment, and make good blood. In a word, it preserveth life (John 4:14). They that take this water shall live longer than did old Methuselah, and yet he lived a great while (Gen 5:27).

Wherefore, let me continue my exhortation to you. Be more free in making use of this water; it is the wholesomest water in the world; you may take it at the third, sixth, ninth, or eleventh hour, but to take it in the morning of your age is best (Matt 20:3–6). For then diseases have not got so great a head as when they are of long continuance, consequently they will be removed with far more ease; besides, those that thus do will receive endless life, and the comfort of it betimes; and that, you know, is a double life to one (Eccl 11:1–4).

This water gently purges, and yet more effectually than any others. True, where bad humours are more tough and churlish, it will show itself stronger of operation, for there is no disease can be too hard for it. It will, as we say, throw the house out of the windows; but it will rid us of the plague of those most deadly infections that otherwise will be sure to make us sleep in death, and bring us, with the multitude, down to hell. But it will do no hurt; it only breaks our sleep in security, and brings us to a more quick apprehension of the plague of our heart and flesh. It will, as I said before, provoke to appetite, but make us only long after that which is wholesome. If any ask why I thus allegorize, I answer, the text doth lead me to it.

SECOND. I advise, therefore, in the next place, that thou get thee a dwelling-place by these waters. “The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him, and the Lord shall cover him all the day long” (Deut 33:12). If thou ask where that dwelling is, I answer, in the city of God, in and among the tabernacles of the Most High.

This river comes from the throne to water the city of God; and to that end it is said to run “in the midst of the street of it” (Rev 22:2). If ye will inquire, inquire, return, come. “The seed also of his servants shall inherit it, and they that love his name shall dwell therein” (Psa 69:36). Get thee a dwelling in Jerusalem, in the midst of Jerusalem, and then thou wilt be seated by this river.

In old times, the ancients had their habitations by the rivers; yea, we read of Aroer that stood upon the brink of the river Arnon (Josh 13:9). Balaam also had his dwelling in his city Pethor, “by the river of the land of the children of his people” (Num 22:5). O! by a river side is the pleasantest dwelling in the world; and of all rivers, the river of the water of life is the best. They that dwell there “shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them” (Isa 49:10). Trees planted by the rivers, and that spread out their roots by the rivers, they are the flourishing trees, they bring forth their fruit in their season (Psa 1:3; Jer 17:8). And the promise is that men that take up their dwellings by this river of water of life, shall be fruitful as such trees.

If thou art a Christian, thou hast more than an ordinary call and occasion to abide by these waters; thy things will not grow but by these waters. Weeds and the excellencies of most men we may find in the barren wilderness, they grow under every hedge; but thine are garden, and so choice things, and will not thrive without much water, no, without the water of God’s river. Dwell, therefore, here; that thy soul may be as a watered garden (Jer 31:12; Isa 12:1–3). And when thou seest how those that are loath to die,19 make provision at Tunbridge, Epsom, the Bath, and other places, and what houses they get that they may have their dwellings by those waters, then do thou consider of thy spiritual disease, and how nothing can cure thee but this blessed water of life; be also much of desires to have a dwelling-place in Jerusalem, that thou mayest always be nigh to these waters. Be often also in watering thy plants with these waters. I mean the blessed graces of God in thy soul; then shalt thou grow, and retain thy greenness, and prove thyself to be a disciple indeed. And herein is God, and thy Father, glorified, that thou bear much fruit (John 15:8).

THIRD. My third word is, bless God for providing for man such waters. These only can make us live; all others come out of the Dead Sea, and do kill; there is no living water but this. I say, show thy acceptation of it with thanksgiving; if we are not to receive our bread and cheese but with thanksgiving, how should we bless God for this unspeakable gift! (2 Cor 9:15). This is soul life, life against sin, life from sin, life against the curse, The infatuation, nay, madness of human nature, in its fallen state, is shown by living to hasten the inroads of death; and when he appears, terror-stricken they fly from it to any remedy that is within their reach. How vast the number of suicides by intemperance!—Ed. 19

life from the curse, life beyond hell, beyond desert, beyond thought, beyond desires. Life that is pleasing, life that is profitable, life everlasting.

O my brethren, bless God! who doth good and gives us such rain, filling our hearts with food and gladness.20 When Moses would take the heart of Israel, and took in hand to raise up their spirits to thankfulness, he used to tell them that the land that they were to go to was a land that God cared for, and that was watered with the dew of heaven. Yea, “a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land that flowed with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands” (Deut 8:7; Exo 3:8, 13:5; Lev 20:24; Num 14:8). But yet in his description he makes no mention of a river of water of life; a river the streams whereof make glad the city of God. This river is the running out of God’s heart; the letting out of his very bowels, for God is the living God. This is his heart and soul. “Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly, with my whole heart, and with my whole soul” (Jer 32:41). I say, if ever God’s heart and soul appeared, it showed itself in giving this water of life, and the throne from whence it proceeds. Wherefore [there is] all the reason of the world, that in the reception of it thy heart and soul should run out and flow after him in thanksgiving. See how David words it in Psalm 103:1–5, and do likewise.

FOURTH. By the characters that are given of this water of life, thou art capacitated to judge when a notion, a doctrine, an opinion, comes to thine ears, whether it is right, good, and wholesome, or how. This river is pure, is clear, is pure and clear as crystal. Is the doctrine offered unto thee so? or is it muddy, and mixed with the doctrines of men? Look, man, and see if the foot of the worshippers of Bel be not there, and if the waters be not fouled thereby. What water is fouled is not the water of life, or at least not the water of life in its clearness.

Wherefore, if thou findest it not right, go up higher to the spring-head, for always the nearer to the spring, the more pure and clear is the water. Fetch, then, thy doctrine from afar, if thou canst not have it good nearer hand (Job 36:3). Thy life lies at stake; the counterfeit of things is dangerous; everybody that is aware, is afraid thereof. Now a counterfeit here is most dangerous, is most destructive. Wherefore take heed how you hear, what you hear; for, as I said before of the fish, by your colour it will be seen what waters you swim in; wherefore look you well to yourselves.21 FIFTH. Doth this water of life run like a river, like a broad, full, and deep river; then let no man, be his transgressions never so many, fear at all, but there is enough to save his soul, and to spare. Nothing has been more common to many than to doubt of the grace of God; a thing most unbecoming a sinner of any thing in the world. To break the law is a fact foul enough; but to question the sufficiency of the grace of God to save therefrom, is worse than sin, if worse can be. Wherefore, despairing soul, for it is to thee I speak, forbear thy mistrusts, cast off thy slavish fears, hang thy misgivings as to this upon the hedge; and believe thou hast an invitation sufficient thereto, a river is before thy face. And as for thy want of goodness and works, let that by no means daunt thee; this is a river of water of life, streams of grace and mercy. There is, as I said, enough therein to help thee, for grace brings all that is wanting to the soul. Thou, therefore, hast nothing to do, I mean as to the curing of thy soul of its doubts, and fears, and despairing thoughts, but to drink and live for ever.

SIXTH. But what is all this to the DEAD world—to them that love to be dead? They toss their vanities about as the boys toss their shuttlecocks in the air, till their foot slips, and themselves descend into the pit.

Let this suffice for this time.57

The real Christian, and such only, are in this blessed case; they have the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come. Their Father, the Almighty, supplies all their wants; giving joy and peace, when heart and flesh tremble.—Ed. 21 In proportion to the number of professed Christians who thus obey the gospel by judging for themselves, so will be the happiness of the church, and the hastening on of the kingdom of Christ. No one is a Christian that receives his doctrine from a prelate, priest, or minister, without prayerfully comparing it with the written Word. O man, take not the water of life as doled out by a fellow-man; go to the river for yourself-survey yourself as reflected in those crystal streams. Christ does not say to the heavy-laden, sin-burdened soul, Go to the church; but, Come unto me, and find rest. Blessed is he who loves the river of water unpolluted by human devices, forms, or ceremonies; who flies to the open bosom of his Christ, and finds refuge from every storm.—Ed. 57 John Bunyan, The Water of Life, (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2006), 3:557–559.

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XIII. Prophecies about Babylon.

1 - God musters the armies of his wrath. ~ 6 - He threatens to destroy Babylon by the Medes. ~ 19 - The desolation of Babylon. ¶ The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered togeth er: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. ¶ Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they sha ll be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constella tions thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the pr oud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land. Every one that is found shall be thrust throu gh; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword. Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children. ¶ And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 13 With the thirteenth chapter a new subject begins. A vision of Isaiah against Babylon.

What is meant by the “mountain of the plain” is difficult to say. It appears to refer to some mountain in the neighbourhood of Babylon, the whole country adjacent to which is one vast desert plain. On this God gives command that his ensign is to be exalted, as a signal to

his army to take revenge on Babylon, not here the literal, because that has now been destroyed, but on the mystical Babylon of St. John. The ensign lifted, - the voice of command is given to the army of wrath to come forth: and there is a beckoning with the hand, still further to enforce it. A command is given to some leaders or rulers to open - but who are the leaders, and what is to be opened? The answer, I fear, will startle many; yet the interpretation is from the Scriptures. If there be any meaning in many passages of the Word of God, they certainly declare that in the latter days, when the wickedness of man is come to the full, “seducing spirits,” “devils,” “unclean spirits,” shall be let loose amongst men, as they were in the times of Pharaoh, which we are told were a type of these times. “He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.”

So was it also, as I cannot but believe, at the flood, and that the “Sons of God” were angels, that raised the tide of wickedness to fearful height before that dreadful desolation of the flood, (to which the coming of the Son of Man is compared,) fell upon the whole world. But for further observations on this point, see the “Dissertation on the Rephaim, or Giants!”

If this be granted, then the answer to the question, Who are these thus addressed, and what is that which is opened? will be less incredible. For the reply, then, let us turn to Rev. 9:1, “And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth; and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.” By the star we cannot understand a literal star, because it is added, “to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.” This star thus falling from heaven to the earth is, it would seem, Satan, who shall be cast out of heaven when “Michael stands up for the children of the people” of the Jews. That this war is literal and future, see Burgh on the Revelation. Thus then, to him and his angels is given a charge to open the bottomless pit. “Open, ye princes.” “And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit; and the sun and air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth.” “And it was commanded them that they” should hurt “only those men who have not the seal of God in their foreheads.” In Isaiah these are represented as “giants:” and instead of the agency of Satan in loosing them, which is remarked in Revelation, we are directed to the all-ordaining word of Jehovah in this place as the Mighty One, from whom the design of wrath originally proceeds, and of which Satan is but the instrument.

“I have commanded: they are set apart: And I bring them; the giants come to fulfil my wrath, Exulting and insulting together.”

The passage quoted from Revelation, mentions these as “locusts:” thereby referring us to Joel 1: 1, where the same evil spirits are in like manner described as locusts. “Hear ye this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land” (or of the earth), “Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? That which the palmerworm hath left hath the LOCUST eaten.” That this is not a literal locust, we are led to suppose, both from the question, whether they or their fathers had ever heard of such a thing? which would not be true of the literal locust, and also from the succeeding description. “For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion,” (agreeing with the description in Revelation,) “and he hath the cheek-teeth of a great lion.” In the second chapter this description is continued, and the introduction is so very similar to that of the chapter of Isaiah now before its, that it would perhaps lead to the belief that the

“mountain of the plain” of Isaiah may be Zion, as it expressly is mentioned in this chapter of Joel. “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land” (earth) “tremble.” Then, as in the Revelations it is said, that the “sun and air were darkened by the smoke of the bottomless pit,” so here it is added, “A day, of darkness and of glominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains.” But to return to Isaiah. That the opinion here expressed is not a novel conceit, but a revival of the old belief, may perhaps appear from the comment of Eusebius upon the words, “Open, ye rulers.” “Is this,” says he, “that abyss of which it is said ‘Ye dragons and all deeps.’ Therefore, also, the demons besought the Saviour that he would not send them thither, knowing that there was a time when they must enter it.” Again, he, remarks on the words, “Giants come, exulting and insulting together:” “Thus he calls those avenging Powers by whom his anger and revenge should be executed on the impious.”

Confirmatory is the opinion of Procopius. “By giants, it is probable that we are to understand those whom David (Psalm 78:49) calls ‘evil angels,’ who, from their cruelty, rejoice at seeing us punished, and regard our misery as their enjoyment, who behave with insolence, though they can effect only what God permits. The command, ‘to lift up the standard on a mountain of the plain,’ the prophet put forth as in the person of God, who commands the angels about him to open the closed doors, and to send forth, exhort, and hasten those within to vengeance on the un-godly. In which words it is probable that some region, appropriated to hostile Powers as their prison, is signified. And may not this be that abyss, which is filled with dragons, as it is said, ‘Ye dragons, and all abysses,’ (Psalm 148:7,) whereunto the demons exhorted the Saviour not to send them ‘before the time,’ as well aware that the time would come? And these Powers he calls giants, either as possessing the souls of Giants, or as being of the number of those angels that came down from heaven, of whom ‘the giants’ were born by their connexion with the ‘daughters of men;’ or other revolted Powers, bound there till the time of judgement. But when the judgement of God shall have come, ‘He shall send,’ as he himself says, ‘his angels with a great trumpet, and they shall gather his elect from the one end of heaven to the other,’ and he shall inflict punishments on those who are to be punished by hostile Powers, as by means of executioners. He gives commandment to the angels about him to open their prison that they may depart, and execute vengeance on the ungodly. And he calls some adjacent spot of earth and the whole habitation of man, ‘the mountain of the plain.’ It is manifest that they are enclosed in outer darkness [from the command and exhortation given] whence they could not have issued, had not this Judge commanded them.”

Their mighty sound when gathered together is then described; a point also touched on

by Joel: “Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains they shall leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.” Their commission, as given in Isaiah, is “to destroy the whole earth;” as given by St. John, to “hurt those men that have not the seal of God in their foreheads.” Their time of power, the same authority informs us, shall be “five months:” and why not literally? Is not this time long enough to let loose so fearful a scourge? But there is one point which identifies the three visions here compared together. “Howl ye,” saith Isaiah, “for the day of Jehovah is nigh, and destruction from the Almighty shall come.” “Let all the inhabitants of the land” (earth) “tremble,” saith Joel, “for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” That the day of the Lord must be regarded as near in the vision of Revelation is evident from this, that the

plague of locusts forms the subject of the fifth trumpet; the plague of horsemen (recognised in Isaiah 5:26-30) the sixth; and it is added, “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished.” (Rev. 10:7.)

The effect of this terrible visitation next falls beneath the prophet’s notice; astonishment mixed with terror, and incapacity to resist, rendering men’s faces livid. Even thus the Prophet Joel, “Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.” (Joel 2:6.)

The next striking feature, marking the near advance of that day of the lord, is the signs in heaven, “The sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.” It is usual, indeed, to regard these as figurative; but where is the necessity for so doing? This passage evidently refers us to the prophecy of the Lord Jesus on Mount Olivet, which is conceived in almost the same terms, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.” (Matthew 24:29.) The words in italics discover that the signs in heaven succeed the period of great tribulation in the prophecy of the Lord Jesus, as they do also in Isaiah, forming another powerful link of coincidence between the two prophecies. To the same effect is the vision of the seven seals in Rev. 6. The fifth seal presents to our notice the souls of the slain under the altar, evidently disclosing to us that that is a time of tribulation to the people of God. And the answer that they should wait till the rest of “their brethren that should be killed” evidences the same conclusion. Keeping precisely the same order, the sixth seal reveals the signs in heaven, “The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth;” and the nations are terrified and mourn, as the prophecy of St. Matthew also declares: “for the Great Day of his (the Lamb’s) wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?” (Rev. 6:9-17.) Whoever wishes to see reasons why these signs should be considered literal, will do well to peruse Begg’s “Letters on the Coming of Christ.” Will not the signs in the great luminaries form a far better signal to the whole world than any other that could be devised? But if any tell us that from the discoveries of modern days the thing is impossible, our reply must be, Shall science (so-called) drive God from the government of his own world? Shall the register of his acts of the past, and the journals of the present pleasure of the Almighty so bind him that he cannot fulfil his will? The Christian has a “more sure word of prophecy, whereunto he doth well to take heed.” “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away.” The Christian’s staff must be that which was the Saviour’s sword, “It is written”.

Close following on the signs in the heavenly bodies, as St. Matthew also testifies, is the day of recompense. “I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity.” On which Jerome remarks, that some regarded this as a prediction concerning the consummation of the world (or age). This conclusion is capable of being established on the firmest evidence. The commencement of the vision is, indeed, respecting Babylon’s visitation, but the Saviour’s return follows hard upon it, as we learn from the Apocalypse.

For the eighteenth chapter describes the downfall of the mystical city of Babylon, or Rome; and the commencement of the nineteenth the rejoicing in heaven over her, immediately on which (verse 7) it is said, “the marriage of the Lamb is come;” and again (verse 9), “Blessed are they that are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Jesus himself appears in the

11th verse, going forth “to tread the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” (Verse 15.) Then follows an invitation to the fowls to eat the flesh of kings and mighty men, and the Antichrist and his armies are slain. How truly does all this correspond with the verses of Isaiah now before us! Here we are taught that so great shall be the slaughter that “the remnant shall be more precious than gold, even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir:” where reference is made to the pomp and wealth with which the forces of the Wilful King shall be laden when destroyed at Jerusalem. But the collateral and fully confirming prophecy of Joel must not be forgotten. “The sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army; for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word; for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” (Joel 2:10, 11.)

In the 14th and 15th verses Isaiah appears to return to the more immediate subject of the vision; the effect of the terrible army of spirits, desolating the earth. “Whoever is taken shall be thrust through, and they that are marshalled shall fall by the sword.” The further horrors of their invasion are described in the destruction of the young, the abuse of the women, the spoiling of the houses. A similar threatening is predicted against Babylon in Psalm 137. As the Medes were the avengers on literal Babylon, so these mystical Medes on mystic Babylon. Its desolation is then finely described. It shall never be inhabited, nor even passed through, but birds and beasts that delight in solitude and deserts shall dwell there.

Respecting the signification of the word translated “satyrs,” in our authorized version, there has been much doubt. I have rendered it “daemons,” as do the LXX., Arabic, Eusebius, Syriac, Chaldee, and Old Italic. But all this authority is confirmed with tenfold power by the testimony of St. John. His description of the desolation of Babylon (Rev. 18:21-24), is quite parallel with this of Isaiah; but the words of the angel, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird,” are so exact, as to make it certain that this is the true rendering.58 *** Here then are the sources of her pain. And this attitude is given to, Jerusalem by her own prophets: Is. 13:1-13 shows it. Still more clearly is it discovered to us in Is. 24.- 26.

Chapter twenty-four gives us the great and terrible day of the Lord, when earth’s trial is come: 17-19. Satan and his hosts are punished: 21, 22. Then Christ and his twelve elders (“ancients”), or apostles, shall reign: 23. In the twenty-fifth chapter we have Christ come. He shall spread the feast in Jerusalem: 6. The blindness cast by Satan over all the nations’ eyes shall then be removed: 7. Then is come the resurrection of saints and the consolation of God: 1 Cor. 15: 54. Jesus has appeared in person to those waiting for Him: ver. 8, 9. The twentysixth chapter gives us the song of joy in Judah. Other lords than the Most High have ruled over Israel. But they shall not rise at the resurrection of the just: ver. 13, 14. The nation of Israel is now increased by God: 15. But there is the day of trouble, which must precede.

“Lord, in trouble have they visited thee; they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. Like as a woman with child that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in Thy sight, O Lord.” Then comes 58

Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED,.

resurrection. “Thy dead men shall live; my dead body shall they arise.59 Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust:” ver. 19. Next comes a notice of the other, or earthly escape, by the flight from Jerusalem, which our Lord commands. “Come my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee. Hide thyself as it were for a little moment until the indignation be overpast. For behold the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” The little moment of her hiding is the forty-two months of her residence in the desert, which is the time also of the Great Tribulation. See moreover Micah 4:6, to 5:3.60

The Judgment of Commercial Babylon “And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils (Gr. “Daimon,” demons), and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” (Revelation 18:1-2).

In this chapter we are given the judgment of commercial Babylon. The chapter begins with the words; “…after these things…” In the closing of the chapter above John gave us a prophecy as to how the kings who shall be associated with the Beast will destroy religious Babylon. The wicked religious system is now gone, but the wicked commercial system still remains. It will be headed up in a city called Babylon. There are many things that indicate that this will be the old ancient city of Babylon restored. Some might think that this is contradictory to Isaiah 13:19-22. But if we will read from Isaiah 13:1-22 we can see that this passage has only been partially fulfilled. Let us notice in particular Isaiah 13:4-6 and we shall see that it has a future application. “The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.” The chapter starts out by saying, “The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.”

In Zechariah 5:5-11 we read Babylon is in the land of Shinar. It was in the land of Shinar that men endeavored to build a tower that would reach to heaven. After the Lord had confused their tongues, the place was called “Babel.” See Genesis 11:1-9. The ephah was an ancient dry measure, equal to about 37 quarts. This is a symbol of business, or commerce. Zechariah wrote his prophecy after the Medes had captured old Babylon.

In this city of Babylon will be every form of sin, and vice and abomination. It is likened to a cage full of filthy birds. Wickedness of every sort, greed, deceit, adultery, gambling, sodomy, murder, robbery, cheating and blasphemy will abound. It will be like the city of Sodom. In fact the judgment on the city of Sodom in the days of Lot, prefigured the judgment which would come on Babylon. “…the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” (Luke 17:29-30).

Sodom was a city. The judgment of the flood was worldwide. It did not fall the day Noah entered the ark, but began seven days later. So will the judgment which will come on Babylon be a local judgment, and not one that is worldwide. It will be God’s judgment on a corrupt commercial system which will be headed up in that city at that time.61

In the Septuagint, “They that are in the tombs shall arise.” Much better. So John 5:28.

Robert Govett, Govett’s BAPTISM AND THE KINGDOM, “THE MAN-CHILD. REV. 12.”

61 George Elliott Jones, A Verse by Verse Commentary on Revelation,.

59 60

XIV. Israel’s Taunt.

1 - God's mercifull restauration of Israel. ~ 4 - Their triumphant insultation over Babel. ~ 24 God's purpose against Assyria. ~ 29 - Palestina is threatened. ¶ For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppres sors.

And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, ¶ That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.

Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it ha t h ra ised up f rom their t hrones a ll the kin g s of the na tions. All t hey sha ll speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.

Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD. I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts. ¶ The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: That I will break the

Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, a nd his b urden depa rt f ro m off their shou ld ers. T his is t he purpose that is purposed upon the whole ea rth: and this is the hand t hat is stretched out upon all the nations. For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden. ¶ Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.

What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.

Isaiah 14:12 Is Not the Same As Revelation 12:9 Many will quote Isaiah 14:12 to try to prove that Satan was cast out of heaven in the distant past. “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” Those who quote this passage take it out of its context. If they will go back to the beginning of this chapter and read down to this verse they will find that this verse is a part of a taunting speech that the children of Israel will speak against the king of Babylon when they have been made free from bondage and fear. (Isaiah 14:1-14).

The Space Age This is not a statement of something that has taken place in the past. It is a prophecy of the taunting speech Israel shall take up against the Beast, or antichrist, when he has been overthrown, and they have been safely established in their own land again, and when the whole earth shall be at rest. If we will examine his boast of ascending above the clouds and setting his throne above the stars in the light of the space age in which we are living, the meaning of this prophecy will begin to open up to us. Thus those who quote Isaiah 14:12 to prove that the Devil rebelled against God and was cast out of heaven before the fall of Adam take the passage out of its setting and misapply it. The origin of the Devil and of sin is a subject that is shrouded in mystery and cannot be satisfactorily explained by any man. Many have tried to explain the origin of the Devil and of sin, but no man has ever yet come up with an answer that is anything like conclusive.

Some think that Satan and his followers were the original inhabiters of this earth, and that his rebellion took place between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. Some passages seem to teach this but the proof is anything but conclusive. As this writer sees it the origin of the Devil and sin is veiled in mystery, and we must await the future for a conclusive answer. God has revealed enough for us to know that there is such a person, and He has revealed unto us his nature, his evil tactics, and his ultimate end. Let us be content with what has been revealed and wait on God to further enlighten us after we have seen our Savior face to face.62

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George Elliott Jones, A Verse by Verse Commentary on Revelation,.

Antichrist in the Book of Isaiah When Lucifer Becomes A Man63

Lucifer will possess the Antichrist, but where is this possession mentioned in Scripture? Rarely when I ask this question do I get a response. The answer to this question can be found in Isaiah 14. The ultimate context of Isaiah 14 cannot be ancient Babylon, although ancient Babylon was a type. Isaiah 14:1 declares that this passage is speaking about the return of the Jews to Israel with Gentile believers joining them: “For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob”.

Then in Isaiah verse 25, we have the Assyrian (The Antichrist) who is also called the King of Babylon. The passage refers to this King of Babylon/Assyrian as Lucifer: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” (v. 12).

The passage is clearly speaking about the fall of the angel Lucifer who we often call Satan or the Devil. The passage begins with Lucifer’s rebellion: “I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north I will ascend above the heights of the clouds I will be like the Most High” (v. 13-14).

But then, just a couple of verses later, in the midst of describing Lucifer’s humiliation and destruction, it says: “Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: ‘Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble?’”

When was Lucifer a man? At what time in human history has Satan the cherub ever manifested himself as a man? Clearly, this passage is speaking about the Antichrist who is in essence Satan in the flesh: “Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us?” (v. 10) The context makes it clear that Isaiah is not referring strictly to Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon but rather to the Antichrist of whom Nebuchadnezzar was merely a shadow or a type. Nebuchadnezzar certainly has never fallen from heaven. Nor was Nebuchadnezzar or any Assyrian king ever defeated in Israel: “I will break the Assyrian in My land, and tread him underfoot” (v. 25).

So clearly the primary context of this passage is yet future. It is about the EndTimes. The theme of this is yet-future defeat of the Antichrist by the Messiah in Israel runs throughout the prophecies of Isaiah and Micah.

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GOD’S WAR ON TERROR; Islam, Prophecy And The Bible by Wallid Shoubat; Chapter 56.

This passage also contains the five ‘I wills,’ which are five claims of pride that are made. The mystery of these five ‘I wills’ is resolved by viewing them as coming from the mouth of the Antichrist who will be a man.

“I will ascend into heaven.” Muhammad already claimed to have ascended to heaven in the Isra wa Al-Mi’rajj. It is likely that the Mahdi will also make the same claim.

“I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.” Muhammad already claimed to possess a position that is far above all angels (stars).

“I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north.” The Mahdi or the Antichrist is said to rule from Pergamum (Revelation 2:12-13) which Christ proclaimed would be the future seat of Satan. This is on the sides of the northern lands (Asia Minor / Turkey) as we shall later study in detail.

“I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.” This declaration is essentially a repeat of the first proud declaration: “I will be like the Most High.” Both Muhammad and Mahdi have given themselves or have been ascribed titles that belong to Jehovah alone.

XV. Judgment on Moab.

1 - The lamentable state of Moab. ¶ The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off. In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly. And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard even unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him. My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction. ¶ For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing. Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows. For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto Beer-elim. For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 15 The fifteenth chapter begins a new subject - the judgements upon Moab; but it is so obscure, that it is difficult to say anything with certainty. It is probable that it has yet to be fulfilled: as no great and notorious accomplishment of the prophecy has taken place. It would

also appear likely that it shall be fulfilled by the “Destroyer of the Gentiles,” as Antichrist is called, Jer. 4:7. Yet thus to affirm appears to contradict a declaration of Daniel: “He (the Wilful King) shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but there shall escape out of his hand, even Edom and MOAB, and the chief of the children of Ammon.” (Dan. 11:41.) Yet perhaps there will be no contradiction if we suppose that the “country” of Moab shall, indeed, escape; but that its armies, assaulting him, shall be so utterly destroyed that it shall cause the whole breadth of the country to send up one cry of weeping and wailing. “The city of Jassa,” says Jerome, “borders on the Dead Sea, which is the boundary of the province of Moab. This, therefore, signifies that even to its extreme borders, the howling of the province shall reach.” Procopius adds, “All these cities and villages of Moab which are named, are known even to the present time, all of which were to experience capture by the Assyrians. Ariel also remains (like the rest) to the present day, being the considerable village called Areopolis.”64

Isaiah 15-16 Isaiah 15:1 ~ Moab. The prophecy against Moab (descendants of Lot and inveterate enemies of Israel) occupies Isaiah 15 and 16. The Moabites were often invaded and finally disappeared from history shortly before the first coming of Christ. Their land, currently part of the kingdom of Jordan, is now largely desolate, though once quite fruitful.

Isaiah 15:5 ~ My heart shall cry out. God justly must punish Moab for longcontinued hostility against the God of their father Lot. Nevertheless, His heart was grieved that this was necessary, and He did leave them a “remnant” (Isaiah 15:9) in their land. Also note Isaiah 16:11, 14.

Isaiah 16:1 ~ Sela. “Sela” is the same as “Petra,” the famous rock city of the neighboring kingdom of Edom, so fascinating to modern tourists.

Isaiah 16:4 ~ covert to them. This event will probably be fulfilled in the future flight of the people of Israel from the Beast in the tribulation period, to be sheltered in the wilderness (Revelation 12:6).

Isaiah 16:5 ~ tabernacle of David. See Acts 15:13-17. After the tribulation, the Lord Jesus will rule from the throne of His father David (Isaiah 9:7; Luke 1:32).

Isaiah 16:14 ~ Within three years. Three years after this prophecy, the Assyrians invaded Moab and laid it waste, leaving only a small remnant in the land.65

XVI. Prophecy of Moab’s Devastation.

1 - Moab is exhorted to yield obedience to Christ’s kingdom. ~ 6 - Moab is threatened for her pride. ~ 9 - The Prophet bewails her. ~ 12 - The judgement of Moab. ¶ Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird 64 65

Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED,.

Henry M. Morris, Morris Bible Notes,.

cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon. Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness. ¶ We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so. Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kir -hareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken. For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea. ¶ Therefore I will bewail w ith the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen. And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease. Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kir-haresh. ¶ And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail. This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning Moab since that time. But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 16 “I will send forth the LAMB of Jehovah to be ruler over the earth.” To prepare the way for the following interpretation, let us take the words of Jerome:- “This is the sense: O Moab, against whom the lion will rage, and of whom not even the remnant will be saved, receive this consolation. From thee shall come the spotless Lamb that shall take away the sins of the world, and rule over the whole world.” That Christ should come from Moab he afterwards explains, by noticing that Ruth was a Moabitess, of whose family sprang David, and, through David, Jesus the Lord.

That the opening verse of this chapter should predict the reign of Christ, is perfectly in accordance with what follows in the fifth verse, where the throne is promised to an Exalted One of the seed of David, who should rule in justice That he should be called the Lamb of Jehovah is agreeable with Scriptures, especially with his designation by his forerunner, “Behold the Lamb of God!” His dominion shall be universal, as we read in many Scriptures, especially in the seventy-second Psalm, in which is, exactly parallel with this, “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river even, to the ends of the earth.” (Ver. 8.)

Under the very title given in this chapter is universal dominion ascribed to the Saviour in the Revelation. “Worthy is the LAMB that slain to receive power.” – “Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the LAMB for ever and

ever.”(Rev. 5:12-13.) “These shall make war on the Lamb (the ten kings and Antichrist, their chief), and the LAMB shall overcome them; for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings.”

(Rev. 17:14.)

The second verse refers, I believe, not to the daughters of Moab, but to the daughters of Zion, which is mentioned just before. This appears highly probable, from the preceding and following context. From the preceding; because, if it be proved that the first verse relates to the Saviour’s return and rule, the second will, with far greater probability, refer to the daughters of his people. But from the subsequent context, the argument is far stronger. The same parties here represented as “cast out of the nest,” are addressed as “my outcasts,” which can signify nothing but the Jews - the fellow-citizens of him who is designated, at the commencement of this chapter, as the Lamb of God. As they are described as being “cast out of the nest,” when at the fords of Arnon; this refers with far greater force and beauty to Israel, driven from their own land into that of Moab, than to the daughters of Moab, in whose own native land was the river Arnon. This remark overthrows the hypothesis of those who conceive that this chapter is a supplication on the part of Moab to be received into the land of Israel. But additional and strongly confirmatory evidence is not wanting. If the daughters of Zion be here spoken of then are these also twice mentioned, and once pointedly addressed by the Saviour. But Jesus turning unto them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For behold, the days are coming in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.” (Luke 23:28, 29.) The other passage bears still more directly on the chapter before us. For what is the tenour of the prophecy of Isaiah? For what is the tenour of the prophecy of Isaiah? First, there is a promise that a mighty king shall come; then follows a description of a flight of females from their homes, in consequence of some desolation which has befallen their land. Next, a command to Moab to offer shelter to these destitute outcasts, and not to betray them to the plunderer and oppressor that shall seek their lives. After the destruction of which oppressor, there shall be a glorious and just ruler on the throne of David.

Now, how exactly does this tally with the prophecy on Mount Olivet (Matthew 24.)?

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place [‘and Jerusalem surrounded by armies,’ Luke], (whoso readeth, let him understand:) [‘then know that the desolation thereof is nigh,’ Luke.] Then let them that are in Judaea flee to the mountains: let not him that is on the housetop come down to take any thing out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give such in those days! [‘For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.’ ‘for there shall be great distress in the land (earth), and wrath upon this people,’ Luke.]” Soon after which follows the promise of the Saviour’s appearance, and an intimation of joy to is people, that then is the time for them to rejoice.

The application of this text will be seen more clearly, if it be remarked that the “abomination of desolation,” spoken of by Daniel, is that set up by Antichrist (of which, on a future occasion, I may have somewhat more to say) in the rebuilt temple of Jerusalem. The time of this attempt will be, when he marches suddenly against it, and, as our Lord declares, “shall compass it with armies.” See the clearness with which this is prophesied by Ezekiel, in

his thirty-eighth chapter. ... We see, then, why Israel is to flee. Because Antichrist shall come up against Judaea and Jerusalem, with the mighty armies and nations above enumerated, and shall besiege and spoil the whole land suddenly, swiftly, in a time of peace. For it would appear that Israel has at this time received him for their Messiah, and dwell in security under his expected protection. Hear the Psalmist describing that day of terror, Psalm 55.: “He hath put forth his hands [Prayer-book version, ‘made war,’] against such as be at peace with him; he hath broken his covenant. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.” (Ver. 20, 21.)

In this time of seeming peace, then, he spoils the whole land, and compasses Jerusalem on the north and west. Because of his speedy approach, therefore, unless the Jews flee with all their might at the very first alarm, none will escape. And, because the north and west sides of Jerusalem will be first enclosed, therefore Israel is bid to flee to the mountains, that is, to the west and south, and the nearest point would be to flee to the mountains of Moab. So swift must be this flight, that prayer is to be made that it be “not in the winter, nor on the Sabbathday.” Hence, also, the woe “to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days.” But this the prophecy supposes already accomplished. Some of the daughters of Zion have escaped to the land of Moab, and the fords of Arnon. Because of their desolate condition, ejected from their country in haste, the prophet beautifully likens them to “wandering birds cast out of the nest.” With these outcasts Moab is commanded to deal mercifully, and to conceal them; at mid-day making her shadow of protection like the night, and not, at the charge of Antichrist, delivering up the fugitives. For soon, they are taught, this Wilful King, who is described under his true characteristics as a “destroyer,” “oppressor,” and “spoiler,” and the “ruler that tramples” in scorn “on all the earth,” shall “come to his end, and none shall help him.” It would seem that to this command of Jehovah Moab will attend, and refuse to deliver up the outcasts, not, indeed, from the fear of God, but through “pride.”

(Ver. 6.) Hence Antichrist “enters his coasts,” and “on his vintage and summer-fruits the destroyer” falls; and his armies cause such slaughter, that lamentation and wailing shall be heard in the places mentioned by the prophet. Similar to the interpretation here given is the comment of Jerome on verse 3:- “In the clear daylight and open flight of my people, be thou as night and darkness, and betray not the wanderers. And why he spoke thus, he immediately proceeds to say. ‘Mine outcasts shall dwell with thee. For Jerusalem being laid waste, and all Judaea, which is on the borders of Moab, my people shall flee to thee. Be thou, therefore, their hiding-place, nor fear the assault of the desolator, for as dust he shall soon pass away; and the devastator of the whole earth who trod it down, and subjected it to his feet, with the blowing of the wind shall perish.” He also (which is of material moment) notices that this interpretation of the chapter before us was the one common amongst the ancient Christians, though he affixes to it his mark of displeasure: “Some explain this passage of Antichrist, as thinking that the saints at that time, because of the nearness of the city of Jerusalem, shall pass over to the Arabians, and that now a command is given that they should not betray those who flee to them.” Again he adds, on verse 5, “Others understand this of Christ. The dust of Antichrist being removed, and the desolator being taken away, who trampled on the whole earth, Christ the king shall come, who shall sit on the throne of David, and in the day of judgement shall give to every one according to their deeds.”

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A Place Prepared of God for Israel Revelation 12:6 states that the woman has a place prepared of God for her to hide in that 1260 days in the wilderness. “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore (1260) days.” God prepared this place for this special purpose when He formed the earth. God foresaw each and every need of His people even before He formed the earth, and He has made ample provision for that need to be supplied when the time comes. This place is an old city, not inhabited at the present time, situated in the rocky mountains of old Edom. It is called “Sela” in the Hebrew, and “Petra” in the Greek. See Isaiah 16:1-5. “Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela (Gr. “Petra” or rock,) to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.” That is, to the mountain where the people of Zion shall hide in those days. “For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon. Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. And in mercy shall the throne (of Christ) be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.”

To escape into the place of Sela, or Petra, the children of Israel will have to flee through the old country of Moab. Sela, or Petra, is in Edom, which is just below Moab. The Moabites are admonished not to betray God’s people who are wanderers, but to hide His outcasts, who will be as a small bird which has been cast out of its nest. They are to be a covert to the people of Israel until the spoiler comes to his end.

That spoiler evidently will be the Beast of Revelation.

From the above passage it seems that when Israel flees into hiding that a shadow, like the night, will cover them at noonday. This suggests that the pillar of cloud that led them out of Egypt will accompany them as they flee out of Judaea into the place of hiding God prepared for them when He created the earth.

Petra is enclosed by high mountains on every side. It is entered through a narrow gorge that is only a few feet wide in places, and hemmed in by steep rocky cliffs which rise hundreds of feet on each side. The narrow gorge is about two miles long. It leads into a large open place which is surrounded by high mountains on each side. The open place is large enough to afford a hiding place for thousands of people.

In the sides of the sandstone cliffs in that place there has already been hewn out by some ancient people, places in which to dwell.

This flight on the part of the woman (Israel) will be followed by the return of Christ to earth to overthrow the Beast and to reestablish the tabernacle of David, and sit upon his throne. We find this set forth in Isaiah 16:5.

Another passage which foretells Israel’s flight into this place of Petra in old Edom is Psalm 108:10-12.

“Who will bring me into the STRONG CITY? who will lead me into Edom? Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts? Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.” This is still further proof that God will lead them into the wilderness in this time, as He led them out of Egypt into the wilderness of Sinai. Doubtless the same pillar of cloud will accompany the hosts of Israel as they flee into this place of hiding. Edom and Moab are two of the countries that shall escape the power of the wicked king, or Beast. In Daniel 11:36-45:, we read of the coming of a willful king who shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak great words against the God of gods, and shall prosper until the indignation be accomplished. In the 41 verse we read, “He shall enter also into the glorious land (Palestine), and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.” These last named countries are all east of the River Jordan, and the country is mountainous. God will reserve these places for the children of Israel in that time. st

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Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED,.

Another prophecy which applies to Israel’s flight into the wilderness is Hosea 2:14-15. “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.”

All these passages show us that the woman whom John saw flee into the wilderness represents Israel.

There is not one shred of scriptural evidence to prove that this woman represents the church. That is a man made idea, and many, without looking for any scriptural proof have taken up the tradition and are still teaching the same. Jesus said to some in His day, “Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.” (Mark 7:9).67

XVII. Prophecy about Damascus.

1 - Syria and Israel are threatened. ~ 6 - A remnant shall forsake idolatry. ~ 9 - The rest shall be plagued for their impiety. ~ 12 - The woe of Israel's enemies. ¶ The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.

And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim. ¶ Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel. At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images. ¶ In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: a nd there sha ll be desola t ion. Beca use thou ha st forgotten the G od of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips: In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow. ¶ Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! The nations shall rush like the ru shing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.

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George Elliott Jones, A Verse by Verse Commentary on Revelation,.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 17 The seventeenth chapter refers, it would seem, to the same times. This appears from its being the day of Israel’s trouble and humiliation, “when the glory of Jacob shall fail,” and his numbers shall be so decreased that, in place of being as the stars that cannot be reckoned, and as the sand on the sea-shore, there shall be only a small remnant, such as the gleaner might gather in his hand, or as might be found on the olive-tree, when its fruits have been collected.

This great final devastation of Israel, we are informed in other places, shall take place under Antichrist. “Except those days should be shortened, said the Lord, there should no flesh be saved.” But St. Luke, in a verse quoted before, assures us that there should be “wrath on this people” of the Jews, at the same time that there shall be distress in the earth. Yet this time of the cutting short of Israel’s numbers will be also the time of their returning to him that smote them. Hence the 7th verse declares that “in that day a man shall trust in his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel;” that is, as Jerome observes, to Christ; for “without him was not anything made that was made,” and the apostles several times call him the “Just One.” St. Peter, in particular, quotes, as belonging to the Saviour, the prediction of David which styles him “the Holy One.” But before this day the cities of Judaea shall be desolate, which we have observed was prophesied above in the sixth chapter. And the cause is doubtless to be found in the irruption of Antichrist, and the trampling down of Jerusalem and the whole land, by the Gentile nations under his sway, for the space of three years and a half. Moreover, the circumstance to which the future devastation of Israel is compared, is similar to that here supposed. As the Amorites and Hivites deserted their cities before Israel’s conquering armies, so shalt thou desert thine, O Israel, before the mustered nations of Armillus, {anti-messiah} thy fierce foe! This terrible scourge shall be used because of the rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. “Therefore thou shalt plant faithless plants and an unbelieving seed,” which words refer probably to their preference of the false Messiah to the true; the result of which is their last terrible discomfiture. And this is sublimely and briefly depicted in the concluding verses. “Woe to the multitude of many nations!” saith Isaiah: and we have seen that Armillus comes up against Jerusalem with many nations, just before his last overthrow. The same scene is predicted with like sublimity and exact parallelism by Zechariah, as is noticed by Burgh. “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil (O Jerusalem) shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of my people shall not he cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations.”

(Zechariah 14: 1-3.) The plagues that shall follow and destroy this multitude are described in the 12th and following verses. Similar is the prophecy of Zephaniah: “Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured by the fire of my jealousy.” (Zeph. 3: 8.)

In spite therefore of their vast multitude, and mighty sounds of war, they shall be destroyed with ease. “Before the morning … Antichrist and his army is no more!” as in the overthrow of Pharaoh, “The sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared … and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.” (Exod. 14:27.)

* * *68 Is it not a grand fulfilment of prophecy to see to-day how the Holy Land is being prepared for their occupation! In Isaiah 17: 10, we read that the land will be set with strange slips, so Israelite colonists have sent to America for 500,000 slips of vine with which to plant the land, and in The Morning Star for December 18th, 1894, we may read, “It is reported that these strange slips do far better than the Native slips.” If we are to accept what Dr. K. Kellog says, it would appear that some of the descendants of the ten tribes can be found in Afghanistan, the Ameer of which said, in 1882, “O my tribesmen, it is known to you that you are a noble race, and that your pedigree is traced from Jacob the prophet,” and then followed a resume of their history from the Exodus to their last defeat by British arms. There is also reason to believe that in Arabia are to be found remnants of the ten tribes. Mr. Poole quotes the traveller Wolff, who had a conversation with a man named Moussa, of an Israelite tribe near Mecca. “I asked him,” he said, “Whose descendant are you?” Moussa answered, “Come and I will show you,” and read from an Arabic Bible Jeremiah 35: 12-14. He then went on, “Come, and you will find us 60,000 in number. You see the words of the prophet are fulfilled?” - LT. COL. G. F. POYNDER.69

XVIII. Message to Ethiopia.

1 - God in care of his people will destroy the Ethiopians. ~ 7 - An access thereby shall grow unto the church. ¶ Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people t er rib le fr om their b eg inni ng hitherto; a nation meted out a nd t rodde n down, whose land the rivers have spoiled! All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruninghooks, and take away and cut down the branches. They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.

¶ In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 18 The meaning of this chapter has been very variously given by those who have interpreted it. I prefer that of Bishop Horsley, as the most literal, consistent with itself, and agreeable to the ancient interpretations and general tenour of prophecy. Dr. Henderson’s offends against that great canon of prophecy, which forbids us to regard as of private interpretation that which is of universal import to the church. The following are some of the Bishop’s commencing observations:68 69

Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED,.

D. M. Panton, The Panton Papers.

“I set out with considering every one of these assumptions (that the prophecy regarded Egypt; described a heavy judgement; and that the time was close at hand), as doubtful; and the conclusion to which my investigations bring me, is that every one of them is false. First, the prophecy indeed predicts some woeful judgement. But the principal matter of the prophecy is not judgement but mercy, a gracious promise of the final restoration of the Israelites. Secondly, the promise has no respect to Egypt or to any of the contiguous countries. What has been applied to Egypt is a description of some people or another destined to be the principal instruments, in the hand of Providence, in the great work of the resettlement of the Jews in the Holy Land - a description of that people by characters by which they shall be evidently known when that time arrives. Thirdly, the time for the completion of the prophecy was very remote when it was delivered, and is yet future, being indeed the season of the second Advent of our Lord.”

A summons is uttered to some mighty nation, situated either towards the east or west of Cush (or Ethiopia), and accustomed to send ambassadors by sea (to all nations), and letters on the surface of the waters, commanding her messengers to go forth. Yet it should be noticed that the first characteristic of this nation is given differently by the LXX., according to whom it should be, “Land of the winged ships!”

A commercial and maritime nation is certainly pointed out by these various yet harmonious features. But to whom are the messengers to be sent? Jerome, Horsley, and others, understand the Jews, and it will be seen that the lineaments accord with the historical character of that people. They are “dragged away and plucked” - torn from their native country again and again. They are “a people wonderful from their beginning hitherto.” Moses brings this observation before their eyes in his day. “Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? Or hath God essayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched-out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?” (Dent. 4: 33, 34.) Nor has their singularity and the awe of their history ceased since then. The wonders of Joshua’s day, of the Judges, and the Kings, of the Saviour’s appearance, and their scattering through the world, combined with their present existence still unchanged and unchangeable, confirm their title to be considered the most wonderful people of the earth. To a like effect speaks the Geneva Bible on this clause – “The Jews (are the nation spoken of) who, because of God’s plagues, made all others afraid of the like.” They are also “an always expectant nation.” Perpetually disappointed in the hope of a Messiah yet to come, still in every country and under every disappointment they are expectant, even to the present day. Yet in spite of their hope of one day ruling the world, they are also “trampled under foot.” Who more so than the Jews? Their very name a proverbial expression of insult, their persons despised everywhere, and in former times subjected to every species of ignominy, injury, and death.

“Whose land rivers have spoiled.” That is, according to Bishop Horsley, whose country kings have frequently plundered. This interpretation seems borne out by chapter 8: 6, 7, nor is there need to prove at length that the country of the Jews has been subject to invading armies. In addition, however, the confirmatory words of Jerome may not be unacceptable – “Go swiftly to the nation of the Jews, plucked up and torn by the Assyrian invasion; to a people once terrible, who were under the rule of God, with whose power none may be compared; to a

nation always expecting the aid of God, and nevertheless trodden down by man; whose land, rivers, that is, different kings, have laid waste.”

Nor are the messengers to go to them alone; but their cry is to all the nations of the world, to announce to them the appearing as of a banner on the mountains, and the sound of a trumpet. Now as the appearance of a banner and the sound of a trumpet are the signals for an army to gather, so I apprehend are these. We read of both these signals in the Saviour’s great prophecy of his return; to which time, as Horsley justly observes, this prophecy reaches.

“And then shall they see the sign of the Son of man in heaven,” whatever it be: whether or not, as the Fathers expected, it signify the cross, which is indeed the emblem of the Son of Man. But the Saviour proceeds to declare, “He shall send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from one end of heaven to the other.”

Nor is this all. The coincidence is yet more complete. Isaiah assures us that the message is to all nations. St. Luke, immediately before this prophecy of the sign of the Son of Man and of the last trumpet of the Archangel, places “the distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men’s hearts failing them for fear;” while St. Matthew adds, “And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

Respecting the 4th verse there is so much uncertainty, that though Horsley’s version is retained in the text, that of the LXX. seems almost equally worthy of reception:“For thus said Jehovah unto me, There shall be safety in my city; As a cloud in the mid-day light and heat, And as dew in the day of harvest.”

If Bishop Horsley’s be preferred, the verse will signify a long withdrawal of the miraculous interposition of God in the affairs of the world. He will sit still in his dwelling place until the inhabitants will think that he has forgotten; that he hideth away his face and will never regard what is done on earth, and that, just before God’s vengeance shall burst forth like lightning. This is in entire accordance with the tenour of prophecy. “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.” If the Septuagint version be adopted, the sense will be, that when the banner is thus erected, and the trumpet blown, “Jerusalem shall be a quiet habitation,” and the security experienced shall be the more grateful because of the preceding time of great tribulation, even as a cloud is grateful in the midst of the glare and heat of a tropical clime, and, as Jerome observes, “as the dew is pleasant to the panting reaper.”

Which of these is to be preferred, as both exceedingly well accord with the analogy of prophecy, is left to the reader’s choice.

The 5th verse describes the judgements of God just before the harvest (or ingathering of believers, as the Saviour explains it in his parable of the tares and wheat), upon his professing church. As at the time immediately preceding harvest, when the vine is in blossom, the husbandman prunes it of its luxuriant and useless shoots, so will Christ deal with his church; he will send such troubles and persecutions upon it, that all who are mere professors will be severed from it, as the useless boughs by the pruning-knife. The time will come “that judgement must begin at the house of God.”

This interpretation is made good by the fifteenth of St. John, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.”

Moreover, as Isaiah declares that these useless twigs shall be left to the ravenous bird and the wild beasts, signifying thereby the desertion of the Christian faith by false professors, for the lies and abominations of Antichrist and his seducing spirits, so Paul foretells, that “in the latter days men shall depart from the (Christian) faith,” and the Man of Sin shall gather them to his party and to his own dreadful end. “For this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” In St. Paul their want of faith is ascribed as the reason of their rejection; in St. John the want of those works which are the evidence of faith.

Yet at that time when the wickedness of man has come to the full, the Lord Jesus shall appear, and then shall his ancient people become glorious in the eyes of the Gentiles, who shall bring them by every mode of conveyance to their native land, and especially to the Saviour’s abode on Mount Zion.

The observations of Procopius on this point are here presented to the reader’s notice.

“After ‘the harvest’ of the present life, they that are though worthy of that consummation, shall partake of unmixed divinity, when the separation shall take place of those who are now gathered together in the church of God. And the superfluous branches of the vine shall be cast for food to the avenging Powers; and the fruitful souls shall attain their expectation from God. But who he is that shall take away and cut off, the Saviour himself declares, setting before us under the figure of a vine and its branches, the good and the foolish, saying, ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away.’” Here the writer refers the period spoken of to that succeeding the final judgement, which the concluding words forbid us to admit; for the time specified shall be that of the Jews’ return, both locally to “Mount Zion,” and spiritually in heart to the faith of Christ; and this were impossible in its former part after the earth is burnt up. With this exception the view of Procopius agrees with that given above. * * *70

XIX. Message to Egypt.

1 - The confusion of Egypt. ~ 11 - The foolishness of their princes. ~ 18 - The calling of Egypt to the church. ~ 23 - The covenant of Egypt, Assyria and Israel. ¶ The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Eg y pt sha ll me lt in the mi d st of it. And I w il l set the Eg y ptia n s a g a inst t he Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they sh all seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts. And the wat ers shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up. And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of 70

Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED,.

defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither. The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more. The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish. Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded. And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish. ¶ Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof. The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do. In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it. And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he ha th det erm ined a g a inst it . ¶ I n t ha t da y shall f iv e citie s in t he la nd of Eg y pt speak the langua ge of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction. In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them. And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and obla tion; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it. And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them. ¶ In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

Chapter 19 is wholly future.

It concerns a day never yet seen, when Judah shall be a terror to Egypt (17), though the opposite has often been seen; a day when Egypt, Assyria, and Israel, each and all hitherto enemies, shall be in unity with God and each other, blessed and a blessing in the earth. One of the truly significant facts of this our time is the simultaneous reconstituting of these three

lands, with road and railway connecting Egypt and Palestine, and projected with Mesopotamia.71

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 19 There is one passage in the Apocalypse bearing strongly on the chapter before us, which has received little attention, though on it would seem to depend the true interpretation of many of the prophetic visions. It is found of ISAIAH 11:8.

“The great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.” Now this last clause beyond a doubt fixes the city as that of Jerusalem. That Jerusalem is called Sodom, is certain from the very first chapter of Isaiah. But where is it prophesied of under the name of Egypt? Is it so entitled in this chapter? There is much evidence in support of it, though it must be confessed that there are serious, or perhaps we should say insuperable, objections against it.

It remains then that this foretells Christ’s judgement on the land of Egypt at his return.

Nor should it be forgotten that while most of the other nations that were contemporary with Israel in the early ages of the world have vanished, the Egyptians still remain, and doubtless will subserve a purpose in the future history of God’s dealing with the world. They are not to be condemned, as Babylon, to a final overthrow and desolation, but are to know the Lord and be known and blessed of him. But here the calamities that shall befall them in the last days are revealed. First, civil war - Egyptian against Egyptian, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. And this probably shall take place at that time of which the Saviour speaks, when “nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom,” the first of the signs given of his return: since, from the words that precede, “the end is not yet,” we gather, that those previously spoken received their accomplishment in the Roman destruction of the Jewish temple. * Dr. Henderson on the first verse of this chapter has the following note. “It is common in Scripture to represent any great calamity, or the infliction of a remarkable judgement, under the idea of the Coming of the Lord.” The passages adduced in support of this are, first, Psalm 50: 3. But this psalm is surely as clear a prophecy of Christ’s coming as almost any that can be found. His appearance on Zion (Verse 2). The fire burning before him (2 Thess. 1: 8.) His coming to judge (Verse 4). His gathering the saints (Verse 5; Matthew 24: 3l.) Then Christ’s plea, first with the righteous, and then with the wicked, all clearly betoken the real day of his coming. The passage in Isaiah will be considered soon. That from St. John predicts “no great calamity or remarkable judgement.” And James (5: 8) predicts no “great calamity,” other than the last judgement of the ungodly. (See verses 3, 7, 9.)

Next the prophet unfolds the sway of magical superstition to which Egypt was always and still is addicted. That this will be very general the Scriptures foretell. Next is foretold their delivery into the hand of a “cruel lord and fierce king.” There is no difficulty in deciding him to be the Wilful King prophesied of above. He is called by Daniel a “king of fierce countenance,” who stands up “when transgressors are come to the full.” (Dan. 8: 23.) That he shall be cruel, is seen (to take but one testimony) from Dan. 11: 44. And, which critically confirms the whole, “He shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt” (ver. 43), showing that that country is given into his hand.

71

G. H. Lang: Some Collected Writings,.

A dreadful drought is the succeeding judgement. “The river shall be wasted and dried up.” With what delight and veneration the Egyptians regard their river is well known. Its waters are, according to the testimony of all travellers, peculiarly pleasant. Not only so, almost the existence of Egypt depends upon its annual overflow, as it never rains there; hence the extent of the calamity may well be imagined, should such an event occur; and its effects are here graphically foretold. As once in the days of Moses, its waters “were turned into blood, so that they could not drink the waters of the river,” so in that day, its waters shall be wasted, and fail. And as then, “the fish that was in the river died;” so the same is implied here also from the mourning of the fishermen, whether anglers, or the casters of nets. And as then, “the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the river,” so here it is threatened that “the Egyptians shall drink sea water.” Is not this the time of which it is prophesied in the Apocalypse, “And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many died of the waters, because they were made bitter.” (Rev. 8:10, 11.) But you do not mean to say, that the star shall actually fall, and the waters become bitter? Astronomy has marked out the paths of the stars, and we know their courses, and are confident that such a thing could not take place? It shall be seen one day, whether God is able to accomplish his word or no. “If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be MARVELLOUS IN MINE EYES? saith the Lord of hosts.” (Zech. 8:6.) “Fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.”

At these fearful judgements the heart of Egypt shall fail, and its wise men seek in vain to discover their causes, yet shall not return to him that smote them. “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass.” (Rev. 9:20.) On this passage Jerome remarks, that at Zoan or Tanes the miracles of Moses of old time were wrought. He then proceeds. “That Memphis also was given to magic arts, traces of the old error even to the present time show. And this briefly indicates, that when the Babylonian invasion comes, all the counsel of the magicians and of those who promised the knowledge of future things are convicted of folly.”

But the coming of the Lord Jesus himself, when on a swift cloud he passes through Egypt, and “causes the heart of Egypt to melt within her,” shall produce a lasting effect of good; for then shall the “Spirit be poured out from on high,” and the Egyptians at length shall believe, and the pillar and altar spoken of be erected. And because the tongue of the Egyptian sea is dried up by the hand of God, therefore the highway between the three countries of Egypt, Assyria, and Palestine, will be open. And then will the blessing of the Saviour rest on the land in which for a time he tarried, when the Father “called his Son out of Egypt.” And he shall say, “Blessed be my people, Egypt; And Assyria, the work of my hands, And Israel mine inheritance.”

That the interpretation here given was the original idea entertained by the ancient church, the following comments of Jerome on the 19th, 23rd, and 24th verses will show.

“From this place to the end of the ‘vision on Egypt,’ both Jews and Christians understand the coming of the Christ, but they put off their views to the future, we hold them to be now accomplished.” Then he adds, speaking of the pillar’s erection, “It shall, be for a sign and a testimony, that is, of the Saviour’s passion. Then they who believe, when the Egyptians combat with Egyptians, and a man fights with his brother, and city goes to war with city, when the time of persecution shall have come, (how exactly accordant with the Lord’s prophecy on Olivet!) will implore the mercy of the Lord, and he will send them immediately a Saviour, that is, Jesus; for the word [Saviour] becomes [Jesus] in Latin.”

On the 23rd verse, though as usual he disapproves, he remarks: “Some of our people refer this to the thousand years, and after the Jewish fashion, decide that it shall take place in the consummation of the world, when Antichrist coming from Assyria shall have possessed Egypt and Ethiopia.”

On the 24th verse his observation is as follows: “Then shall it be said by the Lord, Blessed is my people of Egypt, when not Moses, but Christ the Lord ruling, endless thousands of men shall fill the deserts, and Pharaoh being drowned [Antichrist being destroyed as was Pharaoh], they shall say in the desert, ‘Let us sing unto the Lord: for he hath been exalted gloriously, the horse and his rider hath he cast into the sea.’” * * *72

XX. Prophecy about Egypt and Ethiopia.

1 - A type prefiguring the shameful captivity of Egypt and Ethiopia. ¶ In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it; At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 20 The meaning of this prophecy as bearing on the future (for all prophecy not having a notorious fulfilment is, I apprehend, to be considered as having yet a future reference) is by no means evident: yet it is intended probably to foretell to the Jews the certainty of their falling under the power of the Assyrian, the burthen of so many prophecies; in spite of their dependence upon Egypt for aid. This the prophet was directed to make known to those of his day, by walking naked for three years, in the condition in which captives were driven like 72

Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED,.

beasts before their conquerors. This passage is decisive against those who hold the theory that in the announcement of time in prophecy, a day stands for a year, and a year for 360 years. And on this point I am happy in being able to coincide with the learned writer on Isaiah who has just preceded me. “Every statement,” he says, “which has been made to show that Isaiah did not appear in this symbolical state for the space of three years has proved abortive, being contradictory of the plain statement of the text.” It is still more directly contradictory of the Septuagint, which, after all, is probably the true reading. “As my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and sandal-less three years, so for three years shall there be signs and wonders to the Egyptians and Ethiopians.”

Thus was Isaiah to foretell to the Jews that the Egyptians and Ethiopians, on whom they placed their hopes of support, should be led captive by the Assyrian. And how naturally and clearly does their reflection, as given by the Septuagint, follow? “Behold, we trusted to flee unto them for succour, who could not deliver themselves from the King of Assyria; and how then shall we escape?” * * *73

The Bible has become a significant source book for secular archaeology, helping to identify such ancient figures as Sargon (Isaiah 20:1); Sennacherib (Isaiah 37:37); Horam of Gazer (Joshua 10:33); Hazar (Joshua 15:27); and the nation of the Hittites (Genesis 15:20). The biblical record, unlike other “scriptures,” is historically set, opening itself up for testing and verification.74

XXI. God Commands That Babylon Be Taken. {“A sketch of Aeschylean grandeur.”~Smith75} 1 - The Prophet, bewailing the captivity of his people, ~ 6 - sees in a vision the fall of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. ~ 11 - Edom, scorning the Prophet, is moved to repentance. ~ 13 - The set time of Arabia's calamity. ¶ The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land. A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Ela m : b esieg e, O Media ; a ll the sig hing thereof ha v e I ma de to cea se. Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it. My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me. Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.

For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth. And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed: And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights: And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsem en. And he a nswered and sa id, Bab y lon is fa llen, is fa llen; and a ll the Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED,.

Henry Morris, Evidence for Creation,.

75 Of or relating to or in the manner of Aeschylus (c. 525–c. 456 bc); {Greek tragedian; the father of Greek tragic drama[WordWeb.info]} ... best known for his trilogy the Oresteia (458 bc, consisting of the tragedies Agamemnon, Choephoroe, and Eumenides), which tells the story of Agamemnon’s murder at the hands of his wife Clytemnestra and the vengeance of their son Orestes. [Oxford Dictionary of English © Oxford University Press 2010, 2016] 73 74

graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you. ¶ The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of S e i r , W a t c h m a n , w h a t o f t h e n i g h t ? W a t c h m a n , w h a t o f t h e n i g h t ? T h e watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come. ¶ The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim. The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled. For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail: And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the LORD God of Israel hath spoken it.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 21 The first vision of this chapter contains the execution of God’s vengeance against Babylon. It received its first accomplishment in the taking of that city by the Medes and Persians, who are here mentioned by name. But as there is a Babylon yet to be destroyed, so the vision has yet a future fulfilment in the destruction of Rome. This will be seen from the entire accordance of this chapter with the fiftieth and fifty-first chapters of Jeremiah, and the agreement of each of these with themselves, and with the seventeenth and eighteenth chapters of Revelation.

The time predicted is, I suppose, that day when Antichrist, and Rome* as the seat of the Roman Catholic religion, are jointly ruling the earth. But this joint rule will displease the Wilful King, whose ambition will spur him on to universal lordship: and he will command his ten tributary kings to destroy her. He has already begun to scorn and to destroy, but has not yet reached his height of power, nor till this capture of Rome as the seat of an independent power, will he be most probably entitled “the King of Babylon.” So dreadful are these times of trouble, that the prophet compares it to a southern tempest violently sweeping along. The blasphemy and violence and persecution are such, that Isaiah vividly describes his keen pain and anguish at the sight of God’s people mercilessly massacred, both by Rome and Antichrist. For the mystical Babylon just before her overthrow is described as “drunken with the blood of the saints;” as it is also said of Armillus, {anti-messiah} that the “saints were given into his hand.” That these two independent powers will join to destroy the saints, though hating each other in heart, is seen by the example of Herod and Pilate, who “though before they had been at enmity between themselves,” united in putting Jesus to death. *That Rome will yet fulfil the prophecy of Revelation by becoming an immense city of traffic, and will again rule over the world, see Burgh on the Revelation.

But as then, the Most High soon after made the one of these parties execute his vengeance on the other, so will it be in that day. After they have thus agreed to destroy God’s saints for a time, Armillus, as we have seen, becomes jealous of Rome, and designs to put an end to her power.

This is the next scene of the prophetic vision.

“Go up, Elam! besiege, ye Medes!

All the groaning of her captives I have made to cease.

Prepare the table, set the watch; eat, drink; Rise, ye princes: seize the shields!”

How strikingly is this in unison with Jer. 51:11, 27, 28.

“Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: JEHOVAH hath raised up the spirit of the kings (‘king,’ LXX.) of the Medes, For his purpose is against Babylon to destroy it.

Because it is the vengeance of JEHOVAH, The vengeance of his temple.” (‘people’ Sept.)

Ver. 27, 11 “Set ye up a standard in the land (earth), Blow the trumpet among the nations; Prepare the nations against her, Call against her kingdoms, Ararat, Miniri, and Aschenaz.”

The last lines, according to the LXX., run thus “Commission against her the catapults, Cause cavalry to come against her like a multitude of locusts; Enlist nations against her, THE KING of the Medes and of OF ALL THE EARTH, His rulers, and all his generals, And his forces of all the earth.”

In these two remarkably accordant passages, we have the forces arrayed against Babylon, under the command (as Isaiah states) of Princes. In the prophecy of Jeremiah we find that these princes are “rulers” subordinate to the “King of the Medes and of all the earth.”

This is confirmed and expounded yet further by St. John, who foretells that these princes shall be ten in number, who shall rise up at the breaking in pieces of the Roman empire. “The ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no power as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the Beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the Beast. ... And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the Beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked and burn her with fire. For God hath put it into their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.” (Rev. 17:12, 13, 16, 17.)

But the coincidence between St. John and Jeremiah must be drawn yet closer. St. John calls her in the second verse of this chapter, “The great whore, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” Such are also the words of Jeremiah in the same chapter, “Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that hath made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine, therefore the nations are mad.” And as St. John heard a voice bidding the Lord’s people depart out of her, so in the sixth verse of the chapter of Jeremiah above mentioned, an exactly similar command is given. And as St. John declares

that the ten kings “shall burn her with fire,” so does Jeremiah affirm in the 30th verse, “They have burned her dwelling-places: her bars are broken.”

But to return. Whilst thus on his watch-tower, the prophet heard a long narration, which he was not suffered, we may suppose, to write; as St. John was forbidden to narrate what the seven thunders uttered. He is then directed to call Uriah the priest, one of the witnesses to the birth of Maher-shalal Hash-baz. The purport of this is mentioned by Theodoret76: “Take Uriah as your companion, for in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” He then declares that after standing on the watch day and night he beheld the rider of the chariot drawn by the two animals approaching. The charioteer then declares the issue of the expedition of the ten kings.

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon, and all her images, And all the idol-works of her hand are crushed to the earth.”

As this is precisely similar to the announcement of St. John, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication;” which is made by an “angel,” so is it probable that the charioteer of Isaiah is an angel also. A like declaration of God’s wrath upon her is made Jeremiah 51:8, “Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her.” And in Jeremiah 50:2, “Publish, and conceal not; say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.”

“The vision against Idumea.” This prophecy is extremely obscure, but a passage in the before mentioned fiftieth of Jeremiah appears to throw much light on this short vision. After the declared judgement of God on Babylon, and the coming up of the nation from the north to destroy her, it is said, “In those days, and in that time, saith Jehovah, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping; they shall go and seek the Lord their God.” (Ver. 4.) “Unto Zion shall they inquire the way, setting their faces thitherward; and they shall come and flee for refuge to the Lord their God, for the everlasting covenant shall not be forgotten.” (Septuagint translation of ver. 5.) Hence the inquiry appears to be that of the Jews asking of the prophet, whilst captive in mystical Babylon, What is written concerning them; with the prophet’s exhortation to return to Jehovah whom they had so long forsaken. Perhaps it refers to that time of which St. John speaks immediately before the passage last quoted: “I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgement is come.” (Rev. 14:6, 7.) “The morning cometh, and also the night,” thus explained by Jerome, “The morning cometh to my people, and night to the nation of the Edomites: to the one will I give light, you will I leave in darkness.” He mentions also, which is certainly true, that the Jews by Idumea, or Edom, understand Rome, though not as he supposes from the resemblance of the Hebrew letters in the two words: E-D-o-M and R-o-M-e; the D and R being in Hebrew exceedingly like each Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus (c. AD 393 – c. 458/466) was an influential theologian of the School of Antioch, biblical commentator, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus (423–457). He played a pivotal role in several 5th-century, Byzantine Church controversies that led to various ecumenical acts and schisms. He is called "blessed" in the Eastern Orthodox Church,[1] and some Chalcedonian and East Syrian Christians regard him as a saint.

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other. But Raymund Martin in his Pug. Fid more truly remarks, “The Jews call the Romans the sons of Esau. In innumerable places in the Talmud they are called sometimes Esau, sometimes Edom, or Seir, or the sons of Esau, and Rome is called Mount Seir, or the Mount of Esau. In Obadiah, ‘And saviours shall arise on Mount Zion.’ ‘That is,’ says Rab. Solomon, ‘It is to teach that the kingdom of God shall not be perfect till he hath taken vengeance on the impious Esau.’ Rabbi Solomon in his note adds, ‘Titis is Rome.’” Still further, “Kimchi,” remarks De Rossi, “in the ‘Soncinensian,’ Ed. of 1486, and the ‘Ulyssiponentian,' of 1492, reads ‘not Edom but Rome.’ ‘And according to the words of our Rabbins of blessed memory, in the book of Rabbi Meir, they found it written, ‘The burden of Dumah is the burden of Rome.’” In a succeeding note De Rossi further remarks, on finding one of his codices reading. … “It is indeed remarkable that this, which is the ancient interpretation of the Jews, the extreme resemblance of the two letters (… and …), and the great likelihood of mistaking them, should not have occasioned this various reading to be found in more MSS.” The vision of Arabia is, I conceive, a further enlargement of the vision respecting Moab. The vision of Moab presented to us the Israelites driven by Armillus out of their native land. Here they are represented again as on their road to Arabia; and the place of their lodging on their flight is predicted. The Arabians are commanded to bring the weary and thirsty fugitives bread and water: which command Jehovah will doubtless at the time put it into their hearts to fulfil. Because of the omission of this act of kindness and hospitality, God was very indignant against Moab in the days of Moses. “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord, even to the … tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever, Because they met you not with bread and water, in the way when ye came forth out of Egypt.” (Dent. 23:3, 4.) The fugitives here spoken of are represented as escaping because of the multitude of the slaughtered and the horrors of war, as it was shown above, will be the case when the Wilful King makes his treacherous and bloody expedition against Judaea and Jerusalem.

Jerome’s remarks on the 15th verse are as follows: “Therefore it is now predicted to the Jews who shall be able to escape the Babylonian siege, and after the desolation of the whole province, to cross over to the neighbouring desert, that they shall dwell in the solitude of Arabia, in the path which leads to their brethren.”

[Dodanim, he observes, signifies “relations.”] “And again his discourse is turned towards the Ishmaelites, and he exhorts them to mercy, ‘Run ye, and carry water to meet your brethren, weary and in danger of death from burning thirst, for so great is the heat of the sun, that except you aid them, they must perish in the desert; and bring, not only water, but bread to the fugitives, that those whom the siege has ruined, your mercy may relieve.’ And at the same time, he adds the reason why he bids them do these things. They have fled from the sword of Babylon, they have fled from the bows of the Elamites, they have fled from the battle nigh at hand.” * * *77

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Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED,.

WATCHMAN, WHAT OF THE NIGHT? [NOTE. This tract by D. M. Panton was published in his Evangelical Magazine ‘Dawn’ in April 1952.]

One question is pressed on us with the intensity of Scripture. “Watchman, What of the night?

Watchman, what of the night?” (Isaiah 21:12). It is twice repeated. We are watching a changing world, and studying prophecy, and our judgment is challenged. What is the dense darkness settling down on the world?

“Watchman, what of the night?”

The Morning The watchman gives a startling answer. “The watchman said, The morning cometh.” The dawn of our century was probably the most remarkable the world has seen for thousands of years. A little more than a hundredyears ago missionary societies - apart from the Jesuit and the Moravian - were unknown, and there were practically no missionaries. In 1909 there were 19,875 missionaries, scattered throughout all the heathen world.

A little more than a hundred years ago Sunday Schools were unknown: today there are 260,905, with 2,414,757 teachers, and 23,442,993 scholars. It would be difficult to say what was the membership of God’s church when the century dawned; but it is now computed that the membership of Protestant evangelical communions is not less than one hundred anf forty millions. It is possible that eternity will reveal to us that the Nineteenth Century was the richest toward God of any century in the world’s history. Bishop Moule, of Mid-China, says that when he first landed in that Empire, it held less than fifty Protestant Christians: in the first decade of the Twentieth Century there have been, 16,000 martyrs.

The Bible Perhaps even more wonderful is the dawn of the Word of God. A little more than a century and a half ago there was no Bible Society, and very few translations of the Bible: the British and Foreign Bible Society apart from twenty-three other Bible Societies - has issued, in 148 years of its existence, over 375,000,000 Scriptures, in more than a thousand languages. In 1951 it issued 1,470,291 Scriptures. Imagination fails to picture what a river of salvation has thus been set flowing through all the world. A century ago the Bible was a sealed book for four out of every five people in the world: today it lies open to seven out of every ten.

Dawn But never was the greatest dawn the world has ever known so imminent. The Lord Jesus said,-”I am the light of the world” (John 8: 12): His return will illuminate the whole earth, for He is “the light of the world”.

Watchman, what of the night? “THE MORNING COMETH”.

The Night But the watchman said, “And also the night”. The facts are not more antithectical than are the words of the Watchman. “Of no time in the history of the world,” says The Times, “are so many signs of general unrest recorded as those which seem to confront us today”; or, in the words of the Bible Society’s report, - “The horoscope of the future is written over with signs of incalculable change.” The heathen and Mohammedan population of the world counts more by two hundred millions than it did a hundred years ago, while the converts and their families number less than three millions; a sevenfold increase of darkness over light. The annual increase of Mohammedans alone exceeds the yearly harvest of Christian converts; and the conversions of Christians to Islam in recent years far exceed the conversions of Islam to Christ. There are millions more of heathen souls in China today than when the first Protestant missionary landed a hundred years ago: for every convert added to the church a thousand souls are added to Chinese heathendom by mere growth of population.

“If our plans of education be followed up,” said Lord Macaulay in 1835, “there will not be a single idolator among the respectable classes in Bengal thirty years hence” : today there is a false god for every member of the population of India - between two and three hundred millions. In Japan there are four hundred and fifty heathen temples for every single Christian missionary. The closing of China to missionaries is one of the most stupendous events of history, forbidding missionaries to 800,000,000 people.

The church Unutterably solemn is also the night descending on the church. A novelist, whose works sell in hundreds of thousands, writes : - “All things that Christ prophesied are coming to pass so quickly that I wonder more

people do not realise it: and I especially wonder at the laxity and apathy of the Churches, except for the fact that this also was prophesied. Some of us will live to see a time of terror, and that before very long. The blasphemous things which are being done in the world today cannot go on much longer without punishment.

We know by history that deliberate scorn of God and Divine things has always been met by retribution of a sudden and terrible nature - and it will be so again.” Says the Editor of The Freethinker: - ““Tom Paine’s work is now carried on by the descendants of his persecutors; all he said about the Bible is being said in substance by orthodox divines from chairs of theology.” When, towards the close of his life, Ingersoll was asked why he no longer gave his lecture against the Bible, he replied : - ““Because the professors and preachers are doing the work much better than I possible can, and their influence is much greater than mine.” So also in the words of Murdoch Campbell: ““The gigantic spectre of ‘a new World church’, in league with the powers of darkness, is rising out of the mist before our eyes. If this evil thing materialises and matures, the danger to even our physical existence is great.”

Prophecy So now God responds. ““If ye will inquire, inquire ye.” God will back our investigation of the facts, and supremely our study of prophecy: what we see happening is simply what God has foretold. So we study prophecy because the future that God has purposely revealed is the future we ought to know: because without a knowledge of prophecy God’s present working is plunged in hopeless mystery: because prophecy is the searchlight that tells us the pitfalls that lie in our path: because a knowledge of the future is of incalculable importance in the shaping of the present. Prophecy is the profoundest optimism, and the profoundest pessimism: it is a profound optimism of what God is going to do; and it is a profound pessimism of what a Christ-rejecting world will do.

Watch So the word of God sums up His command:- ““Turn ye, come.” The day before the wall of fire rolled down on St. Pierre, blotting out forty thousand souls, the telephone clerk spoke through to Fort de France, saying that the people were fleeing. Next morning, at ten minutes to eight, he was heard to exclaim, - ““My God, it is here!” and he was afterwards found, with the receiver in his hand, burnt to a cinder. ““Little children, it is the last hour” (1 John 2: 18). Dr. Kelman asked an eminent American man of science his solution of the problems of modern city life. “An emperor!” came the answer, swift and decisive. “An emperor?” asked Dr. Kelman, in surprise; “I thought you had done with all that in America. Besides your emperor would need to be a very wonderful man, incapable of mistakes, and extraordinarily competent for leadership.” “Precisely,” was the quiet answer; “and we know the Man; we are waiting for Him, and His name is - Jesus.” “The thrill of that reply,” says Dr. Kelman, “will never leave me.”78

XXII. Valley of Vision.

1 - The Prophet laments the invasion of Jewry by the Persians. ~ 8 - He reproves their human wisdom and worldly joy. ~ 15 - He prophesies Shebna's deprivation, ~ 20 - and Eliakim prefiguring the kingdom of Christ, his substitution. ¶ The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops? Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle. All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far. Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people. For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains. And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and 78

D. M. Panton, The Panton Papers.

Kir uncovered the shield. And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate. ¶ And he discovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the forest. Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.

And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall. Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago. And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die. And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts. ¶ Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say, What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock? Behold, the LORD will carry thee away with a mighty captivity , and will surely cover thee.

He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord’s house.

And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down. ¶ And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of H i l k ia h: An d I w i l l c lo the h im w it h t hy r ob e, a n d st r eng t he n h im w it h t hy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.  And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons. In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD hath spoken it.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 22 This vision begins in the spirited and poetically abrupt manner of many of the prophecies, as if the prophet saw before his very eye the scenes described. He beholds here the whole city of Jerusalem gone up to the house-tops. For what reason? The answer to this must contain a reply signifying the general bearing of the whole. It represents, I apprehend, the great final siege of Jerusalem by the Destroyer. The inhabitants have run to the housetops to see the invader’s troops advancing: which is the very position in which our Lord supposes that some of the inhabitants at that day would be found. “Let him which is on the house-top not come down to take anything out of his house.” (Matthew 24:17.) Yet it is said, that “the slain are not the slain of the sword.” Probably this intimates that many will die outright with

fear: perhaps also with hunger and pestilence, which the Most High may send during the siege. But the next verse describes the capture, the binding together of the rulers and the prisoners of various kinds, with the flight of the men of war, such as took place in the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. (2 Kings 25:4.) That day will be eminently “a day of trouble,” indeed “the day of GREAT TRIBULATION,” especially to Israel, as has before been shown by the quotation from the twenty-first chapter of St. Luke. So Jeremiah 30:5-7, describes it, “For thus saith the Lord; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” It is also a day of wandering on “the mountains:” for thither Christ has directed all those who believe in him to flee in that day, as has been noticed above. Next, the nations by whom the infliction is wrought are brought before the reader; and subsequently their searching into every, house for spoil, and their discovering the measures taken by the inhabitants of Jerusalem to stand the siege.

Yet in spite of this terrible calamity of their being besieged by so many nations, a spirit of recklessness instead of sorrow will seize on the Jews, and they will say in the voluptuary’s despair, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.” A similar desperation appears to have seized that nation during the siege by Titus. Yet such conduct is highly displeasing to God: for such a providence is a call to a people on the part of Jehovah to mourn, and humble themselves. Whence we learn that national humiliation under national judgements is an evident duty. St. Paul, by having quoted this passage in the magnificent chapter on the resurrection, has reproved this mirth of reckless despair. He hath set forth there the life beyond, and the resurrection as the gate that leads to it. Were this life the only existence, then when we fell into deep calamity, we might perhaps be excused for saying, Our life is cut short, and darkness has enveloped its future; let us enjoy the little pleasure which is in our grasp, for to-morrow we shall be no more. “But now hath Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept.” Hence there is a [out] resurrection of the [‘soul’ and the] flesh and a judgement-day, in which the deeds of man shall be finally recompensed.

The 15th verse introduces a new subject: the reproof of Shebna the steward.79 He is accused of unbelief and pride: of pride, in hewing himself a tomb on high in the rock, like one of the kings, and, as Procopius adds, in inscribing over it, “The sepulchre of Shebna,” which seems not improbable. He is also rebuked for unbelief in gathering to himself riches, and priding himself in his dress, and chariots, and a crown, in a land which God had threatened to devastate. Hence he should be cast out into a wide and foreign land, and there should die. This, the Jews tell us, took place soon after the embassy of Rabshakeh to Hezekiah. Shebna was terrified, they say, by the boastful speeches of Rabshakeh, and leaving Jerusalem went over to the Assyrian monarch.

However this be, when his removal should take place, it was foretold that “Eliakim, which was over the household,” should take his office and stewardship.

“Shebna,” who had been “over the house,” was second in power only to the king. However, he had evidently been unfaithful in his responsibilities and thus replaced by “Eliakim,” [who] in contrast to Shebna (Isaiah 22:15-19) was a faithful steward, keeper of the treasury of Jerusalem in the days of King Hezekiah. Because of his faithfulness, he actually becomes a type of Christ. ~ Henry M. Morris, The Defender Bible Notes.

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But this is only the primary and private interpretation. It is easy to see, indeed difficult not to see, that far higher truths are contained herein. The notice of the key of David, which is by our Lord Jesus Christ appropriated to himself (Rev. 3:9), shows that the passage before us is a prophecy of him. Whence it is lawful to argue, that as one is to be cast down, and the other who is to succeed is the Christ, so, by parity of reason, he who is to be cast down is Antichrist; who, like Shebna, shall be remarkable for his crown, and chariots, and shrine (…).

Next the very word Eliakim, as Eusebius notices, conveys an intimation of Christ. “The Lord shall cause him to rise,” is its meaning, and the resurrection of Jesus is the very declaration the part of God that he is the Son of God; - the Son of David that shall sit on his father’s throne, according to the argument of St. Peter in his first sermon.

To none but him can the prophecy allude “And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.“

with the succeeding words. And accordantly with the whole tenour of prophecy, then shall the Traitorous King that has usurped his name and place be cut off, and the glory that was upon him shall utterly perish; for the “Lord shall consume him with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy him with the brightness of his coming.”

“To those of that day,” says Procopius, “was Shebna a type. But Eliakim (which being translated signifies the resurrection of God) was a figure of the new priesthood, which the resurrection of our Saviour hath instituted in his church throughout the world. For Christ is called ‘high priest’ in the place of them, as was Eliakim in the place of Shebna. But Christ being high-priest, no one shall contradict him, as it is written, ‘The Enemy shall not gain an advantage over him, the Son of Wickedness [Man of Sin] shall not hurt him.’” (Psalm 89:22.) * * *80

XXIII. Fall of Tyre.

1 - The miserable overthrow of Tyre. ~ 15 - Her restoration and ~ 17 - their unhappy return. ¶ The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished. And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations. Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins. As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle. Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth. Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength. He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD 80

Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED,.

hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof.

And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest. Behold the land of the Chaldeans; t hi s p e o p l e w a s n o t , t i l t h e A s s y r i a n f o u n d e d i t f o r t h e m t h a t d w e l l i n t h e wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste. ¶ And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. ¶ And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit forn ication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficien tly, and for durable clothing.

Isaiah 23:1, 15.

Tyre. Tyre was a great city of the Phoenicians, noted as the home port of a great fleet of merchant ships. Its decline and eventual destruction were foretold by both Isaiah and, much later, by Ezekiel (see Ezekiel 26–28).

Tarshish. Tarshish is frequently mentioned in Scripture because of its ships plying the Mediterranean (e.g., Jonah 1:3). The city itself was evidently a colony of the Phoenicians, possibly Carthage in North Africa or Tartessus in Spain.

Since the word itself means “smelting place,” it could refer to a region whence the Tyrians obtained their metals, possibly Great Britain or even somewhere in America or the Far East. The fact that the ships of Solomon took three years to go and return from Tarshish with an exotic cargo (2 Chronicles 9:21) would seem to indicate a very long journey. Considerable evidence exists that the sea-going Phoenicians did sail around the tip of Africa and probably even reached America.

Chittim. Chittim (same as Kittim) is believed by many to refer to Cyprus. Both Kittim and Tarshish were grandsons of Japheth, son of Noah (Genesis 10:4). forgotten seventy years. It is interesting that Tyre, like Judah, was to be “forgotten” for seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11-12). Tyre was semi-autonomous under the Assyrians, until conquered by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian hosts. Although it continued to exist after that, and even revived to a degree when Cyrus conquered Babylon, Tyre never regained the power and prestige it enjoyed for many centuries before the Assyrian invasion. It was finally destroyed by Alexander the Great. The “seventy years” may correlate with the approximately seventy years between Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest of Tyre and its revival under Cyrus.81

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 23 As the original and literal Tyre has long ago been destroyed, and her part in the fulfilment of the prophecies long since accomplished, it may be asked by some, what further interest has the church in the prophecies respecting her? To which be it replied, that the Scripture has taught us, that under the name of a city or country of old, a city or country of modern times may be intended. This the Apocalypse asserts respecting Jerusalem and Rome.

In this way only it appears can the intimations left unfulfilled by the literal Tyre be accomplished. But in thus applying the prophecies respecting Tyre to modern times, a great difficulty has been felt, from the apparently opposite statements made respecting her. And though it is certain that the fault is in the interpreter, and not in the prophets, yet the difficulty

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of reconciling them remains the same. With diffidence, therefore, the conclusions derived from investigation of the subject are presented to the reader.

It has been already intimated, that by Tyre we are probably to understand Rome. But against this conclusion a formidable objection will probably at once start up in the mind of the reader. Tyre was the “merchant city” of old time, but Rome has never been noted for her commerce, at least in modern times. Now the same objection applies with equal force against interpreting the “Babylon” of the Apocalypse to signify Rome. And if this objection be overruled by all commentators, and the description be thought nevertheless to apply to her with the most evident clearness, then is the same objection against her description under the name of Tyre overruled also.

But further, those who have perused Burgh’s “Exposition of the Revelation,” and are satisfied with his literal scheme of interpretation, will be apt to think with him, that Rome has yet to become the mightiest of merchant cities, as renowned for traffic, as she was once for arms. If ever again she assumes power over the world, as prophecy seems evidently to foretell, then it would seem necessary or inevitable that she must become great by commerce.

It may be, indeed, apparently absurd to assert this, and contrary to all human probabilities; but surely the very glory of God is to foretell that which the keenest sagacity of man could not discover. It may be safely left thus. If “it is written” it shall certainly be accomplished; and if “Babylon” be Rome, it is certainly predicted that Rome shall be mighty in commerce.

Let us, then, compare the features of Tyre and Babylon as delineated by inspiration, and see if they do not even minutely accord. For thus by proving the prophetic Tyre to be identical with the prophetic Babylon, the end will be attained to all who believed Babylon to mean Rome.

Let us, then, set side by side the twenty-seventh of Ezekiel, and the eighteenth of the Apocalypse. The first point of resemblance is the “lamentation to be taken up for Tyrus,” who is described as “a merchant of the nations for many isles.” This is paralleled in Revelation by the dirge of the angel, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen;” and the announcement, that “the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.” (Verses 2, 3.).

Next note the pride of Tyrus, “O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.” So St. John, “She saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.”

(Verse 7.) Then follows in Jeremiah a description of Tyre apparently under the figure of a ship, represented as composed of the most costly materials. “Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.” This greatly resembles the description of the mystic Babylon, “The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls.” (Chap. 17:4.) Succeeding which, the prophet gives an enumeration of the various nations with which Tyrus had commerce, and the commodities that they imported. This list is wonderfully similar to St. John’s description of the wares brought to Babylon,- “The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and of fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner of vessels of ivory, and all manner of vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and

souls of men.” The same nearly are said to be the commodities of Tyre: “gold” is brought her by the “merchants of Sheba and Ramah” (ver. 22); “silver,” by the men of Tarshish (ver. 12); “precious stones,” by the merchants of Sheba and Ramah; as we also read of Syria bringing “emeralds, and coral, and agate.” (Verses 22 and 16.) “Purple, fine linen, and silk, and scarlet,” are the next commodities mentioned in Revelation. These answer to the “broidered work and fine linen” of Syria, the “blue clothes, and broidered work, and chests of rich apparel” of “Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, and the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad.” (Verses 23, 24.) “The thyine wood, and ivory, and precious wood,” is paralleled by the “horns of ebony and ivory” of verse 15, while in verses 5 and 6 we read of “fir-trees of Senir,” “cedars of Lebanon,” “oaks of Bashan,” and “benches of ivory.” The “brass, iron, and marble,” of the Apocalypse correspond with the “silver, iron, tin, and lead,” of Tarshish, and the “vessels of brass,” brought by Javan, Tubal, and Meshech. (Ver. 13.) “Cinnamon, odours, and frankincense,” answer to the “chief of all spices” of Sheba and Raamah, and the “cassia and calamus” of Dan and Javan. (Ver. 19.) The “wine, and oil, fine flour, and wheat,” are enumerated as the produce of Judah and Damascus in verses 17 and 18. The “beasts, and sheep, and horses,” are found mentioned as the importations of Arabia and Kedar, with those of the house of Togarmah (Verses 21, 14.) That “chariots” are implied also among the merchandise of Tyre is evident from the words of ver. 20 - “Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots;” where the LXX have “in choice beasts for chariots.” There yet remain but two articles of the list unnoticed – “slaves and souls of men.” But here also there is a correspondence - “Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men.” (...)

After this description of the wealth of Tyre succeeds the account of her destruction: and here the parallelism between Ezekiel and Revelation is so striking, that the texts are set side by side for inspection:So complete a coincidence we may safely argue could not be the effect of chance, but the harmonious account of the destruction of the same city by two of the inspired penmen. To this comparison might be added that also of the fifty-first chapter of Jeremiah, which agrees remarkably with the chapter of Revelation referred to, but as this would render the investigation prolix, it is left to the reader’s own discovery.

But by whom is this great catastrophe to be effected? We are informed in the former chapter of Ezekiel, “Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and chariots, and horsemen, and companies, and much people.” (Verse 7.) His military operations are then described, and the result, he shall enter into thy gates; with the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: “he shall slay thy people with the sword.”

(Verses 10, 11.) This prophecy was doubtless fulfilled primarily by the siege and destruction of Tyre under the literal Nebuchadnezzar; but as it has been shown, that one is hereafter to arise of whom Nebuchadnezzar is only the figure, we are justified in assuming that this has yet ultimately to be accomplished by the “Destroyer of the Gentiles.” Nor is the account of the destruction of Babylon in the Apocalypse at all inconsistent with this. That sacred book declares, that the ten kings of the Roman empire in its future divided state, “shall receive power as kings one hour with the Beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the Beast. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the Beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

For God hath put it in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree and give their kingdom unto the Beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.” (Rev. 17:12, 13. 16, 17.) These two predictions are, therefore, easily reconciled. As these ten kings agree with Antichrist, and use their forces to advance every will of his, conjointly with him, therefore Ezekiel notices the destruction of Tyre as the effect of the wrath or ambition of the “Wilful King,” while St. John regards principally the instruments of it; to which let the testimony of Jeremiah 47:2 be subjoined, “Thus saith the Lord; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land (earth), and all that is therein; the city, and all them that dwell therein; then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land (earth) shall howl. At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of bands because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines (‘foreign nations,’ LXX), and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth.” But there is one remarkable part of the destiny of Tyre which has not yet been noticed by any of the passages adduced; her destruction by fire. This is supplied by Zech. 9: 1-11, in which some of the readings of the LXX. are adopted in preference to the Hebrew. “The burthen of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach and of Damascus his sacrifice; for the Lord hath the oversight of man, and of all the tribes of Israel, and of Hamath, with its coasts, Tyre and Sidon, though they be very wise. And Tyrus hath built herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets. Behold, Jehovah will cast her out, and smite her power in (‘into,’ LXX.) the sea, and she shall be devoured with fire. And aliens shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut of the pride of foreigners. And I will take away their blood from their mouth, and their abominations from the midst of their teeth; but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor (‘captain of a thousand,’ LXX.) in Judah and Ekron as a Jebusite. And will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more; for now have I seen (the oppressor) with mine eyes.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh to thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace to the heathen, and his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.”

In this passage more verses are quoted than are absolutely necessary, because the author could not deny himself the pleasure of pointing out to his readers how exactly this prophecy,

in its broad bearing, agrees with the landmarks already laid down. The first and second comings of the Lord are here blended, as is commonly the case: but the part which refers to his meekness, and his sitting on an ass and its colt, is already literally and indisputably fulfilled. It remains then that the rest be similarly accomplished at his second coming. In casting the eye consecutively down the verses adduced, we observe God’s providence ordering all events in the world, and at that time effecting the overthrow of Tyrus by fire: next the great confederate invasion of Judaea is intimated to us by “aliens dwelling in Ashdod, and the pride of the foreigners being cut off,” while their prey is taken from their teeth. On the remnant of Ashdod is poured out the Spirit of God, and they dwell in Judah, and are advanced therein to honour; residing in the land of promise as did Aranuah the Jebusite in the midst of Jerusalem, after it had been conquered by David, and become his own city. At this time Christ shall come and cut off the “chariot, and horse, and battle bow,” for he shall make wars to cease unto “the ends of the earth,” and “his dominion shall be from sea to sea;” while, by the blood of his covenant, the Father sends forth the souls of the just from their present sojourn in Hades - that “pit without water.” As it is noticed in another place, that the destruction of Babylon is the great event just before the coming of the Saviour, so does the destruction of Tyre immediately precede his coming in this instance also, thus completing the correspondence. It should not, however, be forgotten that the prophecy of the “king of Tyrus,” which has been noticed above, so exactly tallies with the prophecy of the arrogance and final fall of the “king of Babylon” on the one hand, and of the “Man of Sin,” and “the beast” on the other; that this also forms another corroboratory evidence.

Yet this view does not embrace the whole of the intimations respecting Tyre. It should be observed, then, that there are two seemingly contradictory statements respecting Tyre: one, declaring that the city shall never be built, nor even found any more, though she be sought for (Ezekiel 26: 21; 27: 36): and the other, the prediction of this chapter, that after seventy years she shall be rebuilt on her old site, and her merchandise laid up for those that dwell before Jehovah. This difference of lot obliges us, it would seem, to adopt the supposition that there are two Tyres: both resembling the city of old time in extent of traffic, commercial prosperity, wealth, and pride; but which shall experience very different destinies.

With this supposition the chapter of Isaiah now in question, together with scattered hints of Scripture, and profane history, and passages of the Psalms, seem to harmonize. For it appears from profane history that there were two Tyres - the one, on the main land; the other, seven hundred paces distant in the midst of the sea. That on the main land was called Palaeo Tyrus, or, Old Tyre, and this was the city which was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. But afterward the city on the island arose, and became both populous and wealthy. Prideaux supposes, that after the fall of continental Tyre, it submitted to Nebuchadnezzar for the space of seventy years. (Vol. i. p. 83.) Its subsequent history will be referred to again.

But, on the supposition of a twofold Tyre, what country or city are we to suppose designated by it? The present chapter addresses Tyre as an “island” without a parallel. “a nation of merchants,” a sea-faring people, and, according to the authorized translation, “a mart of nations.” (Verse 2, 3.) She is described as haughty and ancient, her “merchants as princes, her traffickers the honourable of the earth;” her power “as provoking kings by sea.”

(Verses 7, & 11.) Would, then, the conclusion be devoid of probability, that should consider England to be the state addressed? Do not all these characters meet in her? and, in their

totality, in her alone? Some may, indeed, laugh to scorn the supposition; but it will, perhaps, be easier to laugh at, than to overthrow it by argument. Does not the declaration by the prophet, that Jehovah. of hosts intends, by his counsel in leading Tyre captive, to “wound the pride of all glory, and bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth,” afford further support to the idea? For what, would effect this purpose so fully, so deeply, as the humiliation and servitude of England, boastful of her freedom, power, intelligence, and wealth? And what could humble her more than the destruction of her navy, implied in the succeeding words“Till thou thy land, for no longer Shall ships come to thee from Tarshish; And thy hand that provoked kings, Hath no more strength by sea.”

But how is this to be effected? What power is there, mighty enough to deal the destroying blow? First, Jeremiah introduces us to the counsels of Jehovah. “For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me; Take the wine-cup of this fury at mine hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send upon them. Then I took the cup at the Lord’s hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the Lord had sent me: To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day. … Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon, And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and all the kings of the isles that are beyond the sea. … And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach (Babylon) shall drink after them.” (Jeremiah 25:15-18, 21, 22, 26.) Then follows the threat of punishment on them all, and their gathering together, when Christ shall “shout at his return, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.” (Verse 30.)

In the twenty-seventh chapter the instrument of this vengeance is declared. “Thus saith the Lord to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them on thy neck, And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah; And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Thus shall ye say unto your masters; I have made the earth, the man and beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet to me. And now have I given all these lands into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant [‘to serve him,’ LXX., instead of ‘my servant,’]; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.” The next verse is omitted by the LXX., and appears, in some measure, to oppose the general tenour of the prophecies respecting Antichrist; though it is also true, that in Isaiah 14: 21, he is bidden to “prepare his children for the slaughter.” To reconcile this then, we must suppose that “his son and his son’s son” do not designate successive generations, but cotemporaneous rulers.

“And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, with the sword, and with the

famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. Therefore hearken ye not to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish. But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let still remain in their own land, saith the Lord; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.” (Jer. 27: 2-11.) The duration of this servitude is also specified. “Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and will bring them against this land (of Judah), and against all the inhabitants thereof and against all these nations round about, and will utterly lay them waste (… LXX.), and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and a perpetual reproach. (… LXX.) And the whole earth (… LXX.) shall be a desolation and an astonishment round about; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

And it shall come to pass, that when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.” (Jer. 25:9. 11, 12.) Then follows the list of nations and kings, part of which has been given above, and amongst which is included the “king” or “kings of Tyrus.” Now, how exactly accordant is this last conclusion with the prediction of this chapter, that “Tyre shall be forgotten severity years!” We now see the reason; because, during that time, it shall be under the king of Babylon’s power. But how does the declaration that these kingdoms shall serve the king for “seventy years” accord with other prophecies, which limit the duration of the Destroyer’s rule to “three years and a half?”

Be it answered that, measured from one point of time, it will be seventy years; and from another but three years and a half. For it should be remembered that the 1260 days refer not absolutely to the whole time of his reign, but to the period during which he “sets up the abomination of desolation, sitting in the temple of God at Jerusalem, and showing himself that he is God.” But it may be said, with strong indignation, ‘Who shall presume to think that England, whence the light of God has so long shone forth as a beacon to other lands, shall be so fatally eclipsed as to be subjugated under Antichrist?’ Alas! there is more reason to be apprehensive than to boast. “Be not high-minded, but fear. If God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.” If Jerusalem fell, is England more likely to escape?

“Because of unbelief she was broken off, and we stand by faith” alone. Shall Churches planted by apostles fall away to the delusions of Mahomet, and shall it be thought a thing incredible that our own nation, if it sin remorselessly, should be cast off also?

Nor is that which is here supposed something of which history has given no type. What say the annals of old of insular Tyre? “While Parmenio,” says Prideaux, “took in Damascus and Coele Syria, Alexander marched with the main of his army along the seacoasts towards Phenicia. As he advanced, all yielded to him, and none more readily than the Zidonians. …

But when he came to Tyre, he found a stop. As he approached their territories, the Tyrians sent ambassadors to him, with presents to himself, and provisions to his army: but, being rather desirous to have peace with him as a friend than willing to submit to him as a master, when he would have entered their city, they denied him admittance; which Alexander, being flushed with so many victories, not being able to bear, resolved to force them by a siege; and

they, on the other hand, resolved to stand it out against him. What encouraged them to this resolution was, the strength of the place, and the confidence which they had in the assistance promised them by their allies. For the city stood on an island at the distance of half a mile from the shore, and was fortified with a strong wall drawn round it, upon the brink of 100 feet in height; and the Carthaginians (their colony), who were a powerful state, and then masters of the seas, had engaged to send them succours in the siege. And what gave them this confidence for the war, gave Alexander no less trouble in mastering the difficulties which he found in it: for the city being so situated (as I have said) he had no way of approaching to it, for the making of an assault, but by carrying a bank from the continent through the sea, to the island on which the city stood. And therefore, having resolved, at any rate to take the city, he determined on the making of such a bank to approach it, which he accomplished with unwearied labour in seven months’ time, and by means thereof at length took the city. Had he here suffered a baffle, it would have conduced much to the sinking of his credit, and this might have lessened his success every where else in the future progress of his affairs; of which, being thoroughly sensible, he spared no pains to surmount this obstacle, and, by assiduous application, at last carried his point. To make this bank or causeway, the town of Old Tyre, which lay on the continent, furnished him with stones and rubbish (for he pulled it all down for this purpose), and Mount Libanus, which is so famous in Scripture for its cedars, being near, supplied him with timber for the work. And, by this means, having carried home his causeway from the continent to the island, he then stormed the town and took it.

And that bank or causey is there still remaining even to this day, and of the very same length as anciently described, that is, of half a mile; whereby what was formerly an island, at that distance from the shore, was thereby made a peninsula, and so it hath ever since continued.

The Carthaginians, having troubles at home, the Tyrians could not have from them that assistance which was promised. However, they fainted not in their resolutions of standing to their defence, and therefore, when Alexander sent to them ambassadors, with terms of peace, they threw them into the sea, and went on with the war. But many of them, for fear of the worst, sent their wives and children to Carthage.” He then mentions a dread which they felt, arising from some dream or omen, lest Apollo, their tutelar deity, should go over to the side of Alexander: on which they “chained his statue with golden chains to the altar of Hercules, thinking thereby forcibly to detain this their god from going from them.” He then proceeds:“Old Tyre he wholly demolished, to make his causey to the New; by the means of which, having taken that new town, he burnt it down to the ground, and destroyed or enslaved all the inhabitants; eight thousand he slew in the sackage of the town; and two thousand of those he took prisoners he caused to be crucified. Those who were sent before to Carthage escaped this rein, and a great number (15,000) were saved by the Zidonians, and secretly conveyed away in their ships on the taking of the place; all the rest, to the number of thirty thousand, he sold for slaves. The cruelty to the two thousand who were crucified was unworthy of a generous conqueror. This Alexander did, to gratify his rage for being so long detained before the place, and there so valiantly resisted.” He then informs us that, to palliate this barbarity, he gave out that it was in revenge for an ancient insurrection of the slaves in their city against their masters, whereby, all but one, by name Strato, were massacred; and to make this, “look the more plausible, he saved all the family of Strato, as not being involved in this guilt, and among them Azelmelic, their king, who was of it, and continued the crown still to him and

his family, after he had again re-peopled the place; for, having thus ridded it of its former inhabitants, he planted it anew with colonies drawn from the neighbouring places, and from thence would be esteemed the founder of that city, though in truth he was the cruel destroyer of it. On his taking the city, he unchained Apollo, rendered thanks to him for his intentions of coming over to him, and did a great many other superstitions follies, which were reckoned as acts of religion in those days, and then marched towards Jerusalem.”

How far the parallel in the future scenes of the world will be kept up, cannot be decided, though it seems to invite speculation; for this were to wander from the solid basis of Scripture into the regions of unstable conjecture. All that is intended is, to show that the general scheme of what is here supposed is not without a precedent, and that one of a very close and striking character. The last clause of the quotation from Prideaux, stating that, after effecting the destruction of Tyre, he marched towards Jerusalem, naturally recalls to our notice the fact, that these troubles appear to be sent on Tyre for oppression of Israel, and she is found at last in the Great Confederacy of Nations against the Jews, as several places of Holy Writ declare.

Thus Joel 3:1-6: “For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink. Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine [‘of the aliens,’ LXX.] will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence on your own head. Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things: The children also of Judah, and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from your border.” Then follows a magnificent description of all the nations gathered against Jerusalem, and of the “day of great slaughter, when the mighty fall,” and “the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining,” because the Saviour is come, and “utters his voice” of wrath “from Jerusalem.” (Ver. 9-21.)

Coincident with this is the testimony of the eighty-third Psalm: “Hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up their head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee. The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes: Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines (‘foreigners’) with the inhabitants of Tyre.” Then follows a petition which has the force of a prophecy, that their nobles shall be like the Midianites; like Oreb and Zeeb, and “like Sisera at the Kishon.”

The design of the confederates is further said to be “to take to themselves the houses (‘the sanctuary,’ LXX.) of God for a possession.” For which cause God shall smite them, that the remnants of men “may seek his name;” for thus shall Jesus show that he “whose name alone (not Antichrist’s) is Jehovah, is the Most High over all the earth.”

It should also be observed, in confirmation of what has been laid down in a former part, respecting the two-fold character of Tyre, that “Edom,” in several of the prophecies

which have preceded, and in this instance also, is distinguished from “Tyre,” both being mentioned together, as in the sending round of the cup, and in the prophecy of Amos 1.

Hence, if it has been made out that Tyre does certainly in some places signify the same city as Babylon, it is also proved, that where Edom and Tyre are mentioned together, as Edom signifies Rome, Tyre must signify some other city, and thus the twofold prophetic character of Tyre is confirmed.

Nor should it be forgotten, in further support of this supposition, that the prophecies relating to the Saviour are generally of a twofold construction, referring to times as widely separated and different as his first and second advent; and if this be true of times, may it not hold good of places also?

But the prospect, though sad, is not eternally over-clouded; this duration of Tyre’s humiliation is to last but the length of Israel’s captivity in Babylon; after which she is to be visited by Jehovah, not in vengeance, but in mercy, at the end of the seventy years of the reign of the destroyer, and “her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to Jehovah.” Her provision is to be stored, not for the Tyrians themselves, but for them that minister before Jehovah “in Jerusalem,” is some MSS. of the LXX. add in this place. The interpretation here offered is confirmed by ancient tradition, for Jerome acknowledges that the Jews and Christians of his day both combined to expect the fulfilment of these things after Antichrist in the thousand years.

The incidental notices of Tyre in the Sacred Scriptures confirm this promise of her future restoration. We find mention of Hiram, king of Tyre, as providing liberally for the building of the temple in Solomon’s day of glory, and of Hiram of a Tyrian nation that wrought skilfully the more exquisite portions of its workmanship. Again, in Ezra’s days, we find them employed in bringing timber for the re-building of the sanctuary. The Psalms are still more explicit; for, in the forty-fifth, which celebrates the marriage of the Lord Jesus and the Jewish church, it is said, “And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift.” So, also, in the eighty-seventh, where the restoration of Zion as the city of God is spoken of, we read, “I will make mention of Rabah and Babylon [their destruction] to them that know me, And behold the foreigners, and Tyre with Ethiopia, these were born there.” – LXX. * * *82

Messiah’s Bride Nor will this bride be alone in adoring the King; according to Psalm 45:12, 14, and 15, other virgins, her friends, will also be brought in, and they, too, will share in the joys and festivities. These are, no doubt, the Gentile nations who will be won for Christ by Israel’s testimony when they proclaim His doings among the peoples, and make mention that His name is exalted (Isaiah 12:4, 5).

The friendly and wealthy people of Tyre who assisted in preparing the materials for the Temple are specially mentioned by name as bringing a gift. This is in harmony with another prediction that “her merchandise and her gift shall be holiness unto the Lord: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat to be satisfied, and for 82

Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED,.

durable clothing” (Isaiah 23:18). Similarly we are told that, “The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall render tribute, the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts, yea all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him” (Psa. 72:10, 11). These are the nations who will come up and worship at Jerusalem (Zech. 14:16). “And many nations shall come and say, come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the House of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths; for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Micah 4:2).

Israel’s reproach will then be removed; the mighty nations of the earth will entreat their favour (Isaiah 25:8). “For your shame ye shall have double, and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion; therefore in their land they shall possess the double*; everlasting joy shall be upon them” (Isaiah 61: 7). [* That is, the blessing of a millennial inheritance, due only to God’s Firstborn sons. See Genesis 27:28-29; cf. Hebrews 12:14-17, R.V.). Ponder these words of Christ: “Howbeit when the Son of man cometh, shall he find the faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8, R.V.,).]83

XXIV. Judgment on the Earth.

1 - The dolefull judgments of God upon the land. ~ 13 - A remnant shall joyfully praise him. ~ 16 - God in his judgements shall advance his Kingdom. ¶ Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearte d do sigh. The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in. There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction. ¶ When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.

They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they

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various, THE MILLENNIAL TEMPLE, “The Heavenly King and His Bride” by E. BENDOR SAMUEL.

shall cry aloud from the sea. Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea. ¶ From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously. Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. And it sha ll come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 24 Bishop Horsley, in his commencing note on this chapter, observes, that it “can be expounded of nothing less than the tribulation of the last ages, and the succeeding prosperity of the church in the end of the world.” He remarks justly, that the preceding prophecies have led us over the fortunes of Judah, Babylon, Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Israel, Egypt, the desert of the West, Arabia, and Tyre; and now what remains, but that the prophet should foretell by the Spirit the destiny of the whole world? This is expressly foretold, in characters which he who runs may read, and in terms beautifully accordant with the intimations of other places, both of the Old and New Testament.

First is presented to us the dreadful visitation of vengeance with which the Lord Jesus, on his return, will be constrained to visit the world and its inhabitants, for their gross and open rebellion against him, and bloody persecution of his saints. Therefore he shall lay waste the world, and turn it upside down. Subsequently, the prophet predicts his judgment of its inhabitants: “For we must ALL stand before the judgement-seat of Christ.” People and priest, master and servant, will be alike brought before his bar; for there is “no acceptance of persons with him.” “In the prophetic style, he signifies,” says Eusebius, “the resurrection of the dead. For when the bodies hidden in the earth shall be revealed, all they that are to be Judged shall stand on an equal footing before the great Judge; so that there shall be no difference between those who once, in mortal life, seemed to possess more than others, either in dignity, or birth, or wealth; and the poorest. For all then will stand equally before the judgment-seat of Christ; as the priest, so the people: and all alike: since there is no acceptance of persons with God.” Similar is the exposition of Jerome, indisposed as he is to admit the future reference of prophecy.

The succeeding verses describe the desolation to which the world will at that time, and by that event, be reduced; and the reason is stated why “the curse hath devoured the earth,” even because its inhabitants have “transgressed the law, changed the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.” The Saviour’s rebuke, with flames of fire, is incidentally alluded to in

the sixth verse, which declares that the “inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.” The thirteenth declares that this desolation shall take place in Palestine, “the land that is in the midst of the Gentiles,” as St. Luke also predicts, “there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath on this people.” Jerome notices, in connection with this, the Saviour’s words, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find [the] faith on the earth?” implying that believers shall be few as the gleaning grapes. Again, on the succeeding announcement that the saints of God shall then rejoice and glorify Christ Jesus, he adds, “Those then that remain, and after the vintage and treading of the world, shall have been able to escape the hands of Antichrist, that persecuted them, shall lift up their voices on high, and praise God.” For then to the righteous shall be glory as the Saviour himself promises, when predicting the signs of his coming. “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh.” (Luke 21:28.)

The eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth verses describe the mighty convulsions which the globe itself shall experience on that awful day, when, as Psalm 46 declares, “the earth shall he removed, and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, when the waters thereof shall roar and be troubled, and the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.”

The sentiment of the twenty-first is exactly parallel with that declaration in the Saviour’s prophecy of his return, “And the powers of heaven shall be shaken,” which Greswell understands, with great reason, of Christ’s judgement of the “Prince of the power of the air,” and “his wicked spirits in heavenly places.” In Isaiah the same vengeance against them is threatened, and a distinction evidently insisted on between the mortal kings of the earth, and the immortal host of those on high.

“And it shall come to pass in that day, That JEHOVAH shall punish the host of the high ones in the height, And the kings of the earth upon the earth; And their multitude shall be gathered into prison, And in the dungeon shall they be shut up.”

How exactly the accordance of this with Rev. 20:1-3, “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his band. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut hint up, and set a seal upon him.” Here the judgement of Satan alone is spoken of, though the first verse declares that it shall be “as with the master, so with the servant.” But, in our Lord’s parable of the sheep and the goats, which forms a part of the great discourse respecting his coming, it is said, to the wicked, then living and condemned, “Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matt. 25:41.)

Confirmatory are the words of Jerome:- “In that day, that is, in the day of judgement, the Lord will visit the ‘host’ or the ‘pomp’ of heaven on high, so that he will judge not earthly things alone, but heavenly also.” Afterwards he adds, “These princes, therefore, he will cast into the pit of Hades, and they shall he shut up in prison, according to the words of the Lord.” (Matt. 25:41.) It should be observed, however, that he applies the term, “kings of the earth,” to evil spirits, as supposing that evil angels will then be rulers of the world.

Similar is the interpretation of Bishop Horsley, who contends with reason that the

imprisonment in the pit proves, that Pit proves, that not the stars, but intelligent beings are intended: and he refers to the passages just quoted. “I think,” he says, “the host of the height may be expounded of intelligent beings, the rulers of the darkness of this world.” (Rev. 20.; Matt. 24.)

This view is corroborated by the next announcement “And after many generations shall be their visitation.”

From which passage St. Jerome remarks, that some of his friends drew the inference that, after a long while, even Satan and his angels should repent and be pardoned. But he rightly refutes this idea, by noticing that the word “visitation” is equivocal, signifying as it does the drawing near for judicial decision; sometimes, indeed, in a person’s favour, but also, and more commonly, intending the judicial infliction of punishment. Neither are we left in doubt which is intended here. For, after the binding of Satan for a thousand years, we are informed that, being let loose again, he again deceives the sons of men, and is then finally removed, with his guilty dupes, into the everlasting lake of fire; which the Saviour, and Scripture generally, distinguish carefully from the present place of torment, calling the one by the general name of “Hades,” or the particular one of “death” and “Tartarus,” Rev. 1:18, (where the key of Hades [not “hell”] is distinguished from that of “death,”) and 2 Pet.2:4; but the everlasting place of the lost is uniformly named “Gehenna.” (Mark 9:43, 45, 47.

Unfortunately both places are translated in our version by the one word, “hell.”) The first judgement mentioned in the 21st verse of this chapter of Isaiah, is the judgement of the “quick,” or those living on earth at the Saviour’s return, together with the judgement of the saints, who are to rise at his coming, while “the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the FIRST resurrection.” (Rev. 20:5.) Hence there must be a second. And even so we find it declared in the following verses. After the last deceiving of the world by Satan, his dupes are consumed by fire, and with “the fire that comes down from God out of heaven” (ver. 9), the earth is burnt up, passes away, and is no more found; and then Christ sits on “the great white throne” (ver. 11), and the general judgement of the dead takes place (ver. 12.) Afterwards, the final abode of the righteous is described, “the new heaven and the new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth, were passed away, and there was no more sea.” (Rev. 21:1.) The visitation, then, of those shut up in the pit after many generations, is the general judgment of the rest of the dead, at their rising again with their bodies, and their final doom with that of Satan and his evil spirits.

Similar is the exposition of Theodoret. “These things also declare the end of all. For then, according to the word of the Lord (Matt. 24:29), ‘The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.’ Then the kingdoms of the earth, and they who are worthy of punishment, shall be shut up, as into some stronghold and prison, into the place set apart for those who are to undergo punishment.”

The last verse describes the confounding of the sun and moon, before Christ comes to reign at Jerusalem; an announcement made also by the Saviour, in his prophecy already referred to. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days [the Great Tribulation] shall the sun be darkened. and the moon shall not give her light,” which darkening of these heavenly bodies, we are assured, will take place just before all the tribes of the earth see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with the power and great glory of His kingdom then to be revealed.

Lastly, as in Isaiah 3:14, the Saviour is represented as coming with the “elders of his people” (who in Rev. 5:10, declare, that they “shall reign on the earth”), so here Christ is presented before us as “being glorified in Jerusalem before his elders.” * * 84

The Sixth Trumpet and The Second Woe “And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the FOUR angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the FOUR angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour (1), and a day (2), and a month (3), and a year (4), for to slay the third part of men.” (Revelation 9:13-15).

The River Euphrates is the largest river in central Asia. It rises in Armenia and flows westward for 400 miles. Then it flows southward about the same distance. Then it flows in a southeastern direction for 1,000 miles and unites with the Tigris River and finally empties into the Persian Gulf. This river was the principal means of travel between eastern and western Asia. It is navigable for 1,100 miles. It was one of the four rivers which was in the Garden of Eden. The Ur of the Chaldees, the birthplace of Abraham, was on this river. The walls of the ancient city of Babylon were built over this river. At Babylon it is about a mile wide.

Under the breaking of the first four seals one fourth of the earth’s population will perish. Under the third trumpet many men will perish from drinking the bitter waters.

And under this sixth trumpet one third of those remaining will perish. From this we can see the fulfillment of Isaiah 24:1-20. “Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof…The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.”

“And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.” (Revelation 9:16-19).

In the opinion of this writer this will not be an army of horsemen sent forth by the nations of the earth, but a supernatural army sent forth by the God of heaven. Many think these verses picture a great time of destruction brought about through 84

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airplanes. In either case, it will bring great destruction of human life. The next verse indicates that it will be some kind of plague sent by the Lord God of heaven. ...

Where it says, “…see thou hurt not the oil and the wine” (Revelation 6:6) that is simply a command to be careful how the oil and wines are used. The oil under consideration here will not be fuel oil. That comes out of the earth and its flow is in no wise affected by droughts and rains. It can only refer to vegetable oils and animal fats. In Isaiah 24:1-21 we find a prophecy of the awful time on earth during the great tribulation period. There we read, “The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh. The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth…There is a crying for WINE in the streets…”85

XXV. Song of Praise for God’s Favor. {A Song of Triumph. (Exodus 15)} 1 - The Prophet praiseth God, for his judgements, ~ 6 - for his saving benefits, ~ 9 - and for his victorious salvation. ¶ O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built. Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee. For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low. ¶ And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. ¶ And it sha ll be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill. And he shall spread forth his ha nds in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands. And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.

“a feast of fat things” There is, besides this, another blessing that comes to us by this living water, and that is, the blessing of communion. All the warmth that we have in our communion, it is the warmth of the Spirit: when a company of saints are gathered together in the name of Christ, to perform any spiritual exercise, and their souls be edified, 85

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warmed, and made glad therein, it is because this water, this river of water of life, has, in some of the streams thereof, run into that assembly (Jer 31:12, 13). Then are Christians like those that drink wine in bowls, merry and glad; for that they have drank into the Spirit, and had their souls refreshed with the sweet gales and strong wine thereof. This is the feast that Isaiah speaks of, when he saith, “In this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined” (Isa 25:6). This is called in another place, “the communion of the Holy Ghost” (2 Cor 13:14). Now he warmeth spirits, uniteth spirits, enlighteneth spirits; revives, cherisheth, quickeneth, strengtheneth graces; renews assurances, brings old comforts to mind, weakens lusts, emboldeneth and raiseth a spirit of faith, of love, of hope, of prayer, and makes the Word a blessing, conference a blessing, meditation a blessing, and duty very delightful to the soul. Without this water of life, communion is weak, flat, cold, dead, fruitless, lifeless; there is nothing seen, felt, heard, or understood in a spiritual and heart-quickening way. Now ordinances are burdensome, sins strong, faith weak, hearts hard, and the faces of our souls dry, like the dry and parched ground.86

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 25 The twenty-fifth chapter is evidently a continuation of the twenty-fourth, and describes the joyousness of the saints at the first resurrection. “The Jews,” says Jerome, in commenting on the 18th verse, “think that this is the voice of the saints, and the believing people, when God shall have performed against the whole world what is spoken above, and the prophecies of all the prophets are completed; and they interpret the overthrown city (ver.

2) to signify Rome, which is to be utterly destroyed; and the mighty people who shall praise Jehovah, and to whom Jehovah hath been a strength in their trouble and distress, they refer to Israel who shall be freed from the persecution of the Gentiles.” In this opinion they are confirmed by St. John: for describing the fall of Babylon, he subjoins a call to joy, Rev. 18:20, “Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets: for God hath avenged you on her;” and still more pointedly in the succeeding verses. For after declaring her utter desolation because that in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, he adds, that then he “heard the voices of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgements: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.” Immediately after which is described the return of Jesus in glory already noticed, thus identifying it in point of time with this prophecy of Isaiah. Theodoret thus comments on the 3rd. verse, “He calls the pious the poor people that exercise chastened thought. For them the Lord blessed, saying, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’” And a little while after, as Isaiah speaks of the trouble endured by the saints before that day of glory, the same father appropriately refers to Matt. 5:10, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

But the correspondence in verse 4 is still more remarkable. “The four and twenty elders and the four beasts,” saith. St. John, “fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.” And thus Isaiah, - “Thou hast performed wonderful deeds, even thy ancient counsel of faithfulness. Amen, Jehovah!” where the “Amen” of St. John is paralleled by the “Amen” of Isaiah.

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Eusebius, commenting on the words, “Thine ancient counsel,” beautifully refers to Matthew 25: 34, - “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” and to Eph. 1:4, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.” He proceeds to say, - “That therefore was an ancient counsel. And in truth these were the wonderful things foreseen by me before the foundation of the world, but to be fulfilled at the completion of the ages. This counsel, then, was ‘ancient’ on account of the foreknowledge and ordaining of God; and ‘true’ because of the issue at last.” “Which blessings,” says Procopius, “the prophet desiring to see as speedily as possible, offers as his prayer, ‘So be it, Lord!’”

The 6th verse describes that meeting of the just of which the Saviour spake, when he said, that “many should come from the east and from the west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God.” Nor was this the only occasion on which he mentioned it; his parables set it before us in words nearly the same as those of Isaiah, as the “marriage feast” made for the king’s Son; and in his farewell words at the Last Supper, he predicted this, the Feast of his Return. “With desire have I desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And again, “I will not drink ‘henceforth’ of this fruit of the vine till the day when I drink it, new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Luke 22:15, 16; Matthew 26: 29.) And strongly corroborative are the words of St. John in the nineteenth chapter of Revelation, so often before alluded to. “Write, Blessed are they that are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:9.)

At this time Isaiah assures us the vail shall be taken away from all nations, which covers the glory of the Gospel from their eyes. And the reason has been given above: for why is “the Gospel hidden to them that are lost?” “Because,” says the apostle, “in them the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” But in the former chapter it was declared that Satan should be removed and shut up during this blessed period, and the Spirit of God poured out. Then also shall be destroyed the vail that covers the face of Israel, as saith St. Paul, “But their minds were blinded; for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament. Even unto this day when Moses is read, the vail is on their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.” (2 Cor. 3:14-16.)

And then shall “death be swallowed up in victory.” For then, according to the apostle’s declaration in the fifteenth of the 1st Corinthians, “This corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality; and then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’” For the risen saints shall then have put on their glorious bodies, and then shall in them be fulfilled the words of the Lord, “They that are accounted worthy to attain that world (‘dispensation,’ …), and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: neither can they die any more: but are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection” (Luke 20:35-36); which last words show that this is the first “resurrection of the Just” alone, else it would not be true that they would be “the children of God,” because “the children of the resurrection.” To a like purpose saith St. John, “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power.” (Rev. 20:6.)

Then, and not till then, shall the offence of the cross cease: for then “all shall know the Lord from the least to the greatest,” and out of the Saviour’s kingdom will the reaping angels have gathered all things “that offend and those that do iniquity.”

It should be noticed here that one of the Greek interpreters has translated differently th the 7 verse, and gives it thus,“And he will destroy on this mountain The face of the Ruler that ruleth over all nations.”

On which Jerome observes, “Some will have Antichrist to be signified who is to be consumed on Mount Olivet.” He adds, “According to the LXX. a feast of joy is prepared for all nations on Mount Zion, in which they shall drink wine which the Lord hath promised he will drink with his saints in the kingdom of his Father.” And again, “When death shall be swallowed up for ever, the people of God who shall have been freed from the power of death shall say to the Lord, ‘Behold, this is our God, whom the Infidels thought to be a man only, and we have waited for him; that is, we have believed his word, because he will accomplish his promises, and save us.’” These words of that ancient father forestall any further comment upon the 9th verse.

The conclusion of the chapter foretells God’s vengeance on Moab, which we have seen predicted before. * * *87

He “made a Marriage-Feast for His Son” {continued} The Theocratic Kingdom from Moses to the last king on David's Throne, previous to the Babylonian Captivity, was a type, or was intended to be a type of Messiah's Kingdom; and it was so to a very considerable extent during the reigns of David and Solomon--but only a type. How unwise, and indeed wicked, to deny the literality of the Anti-type.

As we have already remarked, the first call was given by Moses and Aaron; and it was an effectual call. The aim of the prophets in Israel was to keep alive the Messianic Hope, but it was a difficult task owing to the materialistic and polytheistic tendencies of the people. Listen to Isaiah: “And in this mountain (Jerusalem) shall Jehovah of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all peoples, and the wail that is spread overall nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and Jehovah God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people (Israel) shall He take away from off the earth for Jehovah hath spoken it.” Isa. 25:6-8.

The second call, if accepted, would have accomplished all this for the Jews. Alas! how blind the people were and hence the lament of the prophet: “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for Jehovah hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me. The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider.”~ Isa. 1:2.

But the servants of the King who gave the second call to the Marriage-Feast, as no longer now a thing of hope and prophecy, but as at hand, were the Twelve Apostles and the Seventy along with a few others, Yea, and even the Master Himself, for He took the place of a servant. Isa. 52:13. What supreme delight, what infinite felicity lay bound up in that call; and what centuries of unutterable sorrow the nation of the Jews might have been

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spared had they accepted it! Who could foresee it all but He who uttered the parable; but He did. Who shall ever fathom the depth of pathos contained in the words: “Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. Behold your house is left unto you desolate.”

Alas! how desolate the City, the Land, the People, for these nineteen hundred years. But the third call is just at hand, and it will not be given to the dispersed of Israel by servants (douloi), but by Messiah Himself: “And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east”, “and I will pour upon the House of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.” Zech. 14:4; 12:10.

Till then the vail will remain on God’s ancient People, and till then the covering will remain on the eyes of the Gentile nations. 2 Cor. 3:14; Isa. 25:7. There is absolutely no deliverance for the latter except through converted and restored Israel, and no conversion of Israel till they literally look upon Him whom they pierced.88

XXVI. Song of Trust in God’s Protection.

1 - A song inciting to confidence in God, ~ 5 For his judgements, ~ 12 and for his favour to his people. ~ 20 An exhortation to wait on God. ¶ In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength: ¶ For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust. The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy. The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just. Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD. LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them. ¶ LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. O LORD our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only w ill we make mention of thy name. They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth. LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. Like as a woman with child, that draweth 88

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near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD. We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. ¶ Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhab itants of the ea rth for t heir iniq uit y: the ea rth a lso sha ll disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 26 In the twenty-sixth chapter the same subject continues. Here is given the very song that shall be sung “in that day,” showing that if the promise of the swallowing up of death, quoted by St. Paul, refers, as beyond a question it does, to the resurrection,* so does this song to the time immediately following. The strong city here is evidently Jerusalem, “the city,” as the Saviour called it, of himself “the Great King.” Into it the righteous enter and praise his name. All might opposed to him is here declared to be then overthrown, and “the feet of the humble” tread down the lofty city; for then shall be brought to pass the Saviour’s words, “Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.” Then shall nothing be heard but praise and joy. Because “the Wicked One (Antichrist) hath been removed, that he see not the glory of Jehovah.” For that “Wicked (One) the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his mouth,” and the fire hath devoured the adversaries of Christ. He is the “other” Lord here spoken of that ruled over the Jewish nation, and deceived them to their ruin. But at this time he and his assistant rulers are “dead and shall not see life,” when the “dead in Christ rise first.” In the 17th verse is exhibited that figure which is not unfrequently met with in the Scriptures, but appears to have a special reference to the scene described by St. John, “There appeared a great wonder in heaven, a WOMAN clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars, and she being with child, cried travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.” (Rev. 12:1-2.) She is explained by Burgh on good scriptural grounds to signify the Jewish church; and the birth of the child, “who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron,” - the second appearance of Jesus, before whose coming shall be the great tribulation of the Jewish church, followed by their belief in him. The similar application of the figure in Gal. 4: 19 confirms this. * It is gratifying to be able to quote on this passage the following excellent remark of Dr. H.,-”By, his (Paul’s) inspired authority I deem it the only wise, because the only safe course, in this and all similar cases to abide.” Would that it had been so always!

Thus, then, the dead in Christ shall rise; not all the dead, but as they are beautifully called, “thy dead,” O Christ! “for the dew from thee is healing unto them.” Perfectly accordant is the explanation of Theodoret, “For as the rain vivifies the seeds covered with earth, and as it were buried, so thy word, like the dew, shall call men to arise.” Again and again does the Saviour declare it as the peculiar blessedness of each believing member, “I will raise him up at the last day.” Here is the prediction reiterated, and its peculiar significance defined. But, when destruction shall come on “the giants,” - the Powers of evil gathered against the Lord - the people of Jehovah shall be caught up in the air, and “hide

themselves a little moment,” till the indignation of Jehovah is overpast, “For, behold, Jehovah cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.” As when the world perished by the flood, Noah was caught up into the chamber of the ark, and “the Lord shut him in” till he came forth into the new world, so shall it be in this day of vengeance; the saints shall “shut their door about them” till the woes on the wicked are inflicted. And as the children of Israel first passed through the Red Sea before the waters overwhelmed Pharaoh’s host, and Lot was led forth out of Sodom before fire and brimstone was rained on those evil cities, so shall the righteous be removed from the world before the wrath descends. Christ’s “coming out of his place” is also beautifully confirmed by the words of the hundred and tenth Psalm, “Sit thou at my right hand (in heaven) TILL I make thy foes thy footstool.” The closing declaration that the “earth shall reveal her blood and shall no more cover her slain,” is well illustrated by Eusebius in his notes on a former verse, “But who are ‘his dead’ but his holy martyrs? The dead of Jehovah are they who, for his sake, have suffered every calamity, even unto death.” Coincidently St. John sees those “beheaded for the witness of Jesus” in especial glory at the millennium. And on the expression, “they that are in the tombs shall awake” (LXX. translation), he remarks, they shall “awake,” that implies, that they are not dead but asleep, ‘fallen asleep in Christ.’” By the earth disclosing her blood he rightly understands Christ’s avenging the blood of the saints on their persecutors. In confirmation of his opinion he refers to the “Song of Moses,” which we are told shall then be sung; “Rejoice, O ye Gentiles, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants; and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful to his land, and to his people.” (Dent. 32: 43.) To the same period does Procopius refer this prophecy, “They shall be ashamed,” observes he, referring specially to the 11th verse, “when they see him coming in the glory of his Father, when they that have been honoured only for their fathers’ sakes, (for theirs ‘were the promises, and the giving of the law, and the covenants,’) are shut out from the bride-chamber.”

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XXVII. Deliverance of Israel.

1 - The care of God over his vineyard. ~ 7 - His chastisements differ from judgements. ~ 12 The church of Jews and Gentiles. ¶ In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea. In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together. Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.

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He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit. ¶ Hath he smitten him, as he smote those that smote him? or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him? In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind. By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; w hen he ma keth a ll the stones of the a lt a r a s cha lkst ones t ha t a re b ea ten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up. Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.

When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour. ¶ And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 27 The twenty-seventh chapter is connected with the twenty-sixth by precisely the same bond as the twenty-sixth with the twenty-fifth. “In that day” is the connecting phrase, which shows that this chapter refers to the same time of Christ’s advent, - of vengeance to his enemies, and joy to friends.

By the punishment of Leviathan, the crooked serpent, is evidently intended the punishment to be inflicted on Satan, who is in the Revelation called, “The great dragon, that old serpent, the devil, and Satan.” Thus Procopius, “And after all these things (for this is the meaning of ‘In that day’) God shall bring to bear his holy and powerful sword, (instead of ‘holy,’ the others translate it ‘sore,’) which never having been used against any other, was kept for a degree of wickedness proportionate to his, who overthrew Adam in Paradise, and cast him down from his condition before God. Of whom it is written, ‘Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts that are in the earth.’ He, after that he had deceived our first parents and their posterity, is rightly named ‘the serpent,’ as creeping on the ground, and lying in wait for the feet of men, that he may inject into them the same venom, and turn them aside from the right way that ‘leadeth unto God.’” The time of his overthrow will be the time of the flourishing of Israel - the vineyard of Jehovah. For the sake of his elect among that people, he will keep it and watch it day by day. In spite of their last great enemy Armillus, {anti-messiah} “Israel shall bud and blossom, and fill the face of the world with fruit.” On the promise to Israel that his sin should be pardoned, Procopius thus observes, “For even his transgressions shall in time be pardoned. And this is what is signified by the words ‘his blessing.’ For were God to demand an equivalent penalty, then could not the promise to Abraham be fulfilled, ‘Blessing, I will bless thee; and multiplying, I will multiply thee;’ after

his posterity’s numerous transgressions. But when, saith the prophet, shalt thou be free from thy sins? When they that are called by faith oppose the ancient error, blotting out its every remnant, agreeably with the words of the apostle: ‘When the fulness of the Gentiles is come in, then shall all Israel be saved.’” The Destroyer is addressed in the next verses, and is assured that with the same measure that he metes to Israel, it shall be measured to him again.

He is rebuked for his savage and rebellious thought in attempting to destroy those whom God has declared he will preserve, for it would appear (from ver. 8) that his design will be utterly to root out the nation of Israel, in fear lest the future predictions of God with regard to that nation should come to pass. In order, therefore, that the Adversary do not magnify himself and conceive that he has prevailed against God by the destruction of Israel, as well as for other weighty reasons in the mind of Jehovah, the iniquity of Jacob shall be purged, and their altars to false gods for ever cut down, and their images ground to powder.

At the tenth verse a new subject apparently begins, a description of the desolation of Jerusalem, the defenced city abandoned by God. After the time of the Saviour’s ministry, there was “nothing green in it because it was dried up.” As he himself testified when on his way to crucifixion, “If they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?”

And these words formed part of an address to the “daughters of Jerusalem not to weep for him, but for themselves.” Hence Isaiah in the next words beautifully, by the Spirit, addresses these very “women” to come forward and testify to the Jews, - that “people of no understanding” - what they had seen at “the spectacle” of the Saviour’s crucifixion and resurrection. Thus it was not without a view to the fulfilment of this prophecy that St. Matthew noticed, that “many women were there which followed Jesus from Galilee:” and these were witnesses of the rending of the rocks, the darkening of the sun, and the loud voice of Jesus when he gave up the ghost. Nor of this “spectacle” alone: for women were the first witnesses of the resurrection also. Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of Joses, and Salome, were the first discoverers of the stone rolled away from the sepulchre, and ran to testify to the disciples that his body was not to be found. Mary Magdalene was also the first to behold the risen Saviour and to declare it to the apostles. Next came the general company of the women from Galilee bearing the spices, to whom the angels committed the message to the disciples, “He is not here; he is risen; remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” Thus WOMEN were made witnesses to the Jews, and to the apostles, of the great spectacle of the accomplishment of redemption. And that it was “a people of no understanding” to whom their testimony was to be delivered, was evidenced by the behaviour of the Jews, and even of the apostles. For of the apostles it is said that the witness of the women “seemed to them as idle tales, neither believed they them.”

Moreover, the Lord reinforced this charge. “He appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.” (Mark 16: 14.) Similar was his rebuke of those at Emmaus. In corroboration of this view, the following passage of Procopius is presented to the reader. “Having spoken of the desolation of the Jews, because none worthy of salvation were found amongst them, he calls upon ‘women’ to bear witness to his marvellous works, that they should come and enlighten a people dwelling in darkness, and their now deserted city. Therefore, according to Aquila’s translation, ‘The women coming, enlighten it;’ and,

according to that of Synimachus, ‘The women come and manifest it.’ But notice we who these were. The Evangelist saith, ‘There were there many women beholding afar off, who followed him from Galilee, and ministered unto him,’ whose names he details. And Luke saith, ‘Certain women followed him, who came with him out of Galilee, and they, beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid;’ who having learned the circumstances of the Saviour’s resurrection, returned from the tomb and told these things to the apostles. Since, then, ‘the people without understanding’ would not believe the preaching of the apostles, although the Gentiles received the word; for this cause the Holy Spirit calls on the ‘women.’

For they accused the apostles of stealing the Saviour’s body by night; therefore he calls on unsuspected witnesses to convict the foolish. For the Jews alone disbelieve, though they behold Churches in all the world around them, being blind to the divine virtue of the preaching of the Gospel. But ‘women’ first believed in the resurrection, because the woman was first deceived by the serpent. For through this mission they are able to repel the heavy charges brought against them in Scripture.” The mission here alluded to is doubtless that on which the angels expressly sent the women that came to the sepulchre. First, observe the angel’s words to the three Maries. “Go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him.” (Matt. 28: 7.) And secondly, the testimony of the general company of the women from Galilee, “And they returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest.”

(Luke 24:9.) Also Christ’s words to the other Mary and Salome. “Go tell my brethren, that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.” And to Mary Magdalene, “Go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend to my Father and to your Father.” (Matt. 28:10; John 20:17.)

But as the Jews would not believe this testimony - this last effort of God’s mercy on their behalf, therefore the Most High should show no mercy on them, but give them up to the Roman conqueror and to the various evils of succeeding ages. But when “the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled,” and the “day of great slaughter” shall have come, the Lord shall make a highway for his people through the bed of the Egyptian sea, and the river Euphrates, and they shall be gathered one by one. In that day “the great trumpet” of the Archangel shall be blown, of which the jubilee trumpet was the type, and Israel shall return to their own land.

Then, according as we read, “those who were ready to perish,” or “those who have perished,” so shall we understand the captive Israelites, or the martyrs for Christ’s sake; who shall return to worship Jehovah on the holy mount at Jerusalem. “In this passage,” says Jerome, “The Jews promise themselves that in the consummation of the world when Antichrist shall have come, the people dispersed shall be gathered from Assyria, and the land of Egypt, and come to Jerusalem, and after rebuilding the temple, adore the Lord their God.” * * *90

XXVIII. Ephraim’s Captivity Predicted.

{Bible Study} 1 - The Prophet threatens Ephraim for their pride and drunkenness. ~ 5 - The residue shall be advanced in the Kingdom of Christ. ~ 7 - He rebukes their error. ~ 9 - Their untowardness to

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learn, ~ 14 - and their security. ~ 16 - Christ the sure foundation is promised. ~ 18 - Their security shall be tried. ~ 23 - They are incited to the consideration of God’s discreet providence. ¶ Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine! Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand. The c rown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet: And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.

¶ In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people, And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. ¶ But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean. ¶ Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a litt le, and there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. ¶ Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

¶ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. ¶ And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning s ha l l i t p a s s ov e r , b y da y a n d b y n i g h t: a n d i t sh a l l b e a v e x a t i o n o n l y to understa nd the report. F or the bed is shorter tha n tha t a m an

ca n st ret ch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth. ¶ Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech. Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground? When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and rie in their place? For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him. For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen. This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 28 In the present chapter a new subject opens, discovering in its first verses the Jews’ treatment of the Saviour and the treachery of Judas. The words, “Woe to the crown of mockery!” refer to the “crown of thorns” with which the Jews in mockery encircled the Saviour’s forehead. “And when they had platted a CROWN of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and MOCKED him, saying, Hail, king of the Jews!” (Matt. 27:29.) This then, was the “crown of insult,” or “mockery,” against which the prophet justly predicted the woe of God. By “the hirelings of Ephraim” are signified the chief priests, Scribes, and Pharisees, because of their mercenary transaction with Judas. “Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the Chief Priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.” (Matt. 26:14-15.) By “the flower falling from its glory,” both Eusebius and Jerome understand Judas, “who was of the apostolic choir,” remarks Eusebius, “but his mind being turned to evil, he became the flower falling from glory.” So Jerome, “Judas - of the tribe of Ephraim, and of one of its villages Iscariot, sold the Lord for a price, who truly being a ‘flower’ of the apostolic glory, fell upon the most fertile valley, or, according to the Hebrew, on ‘the valley of the fat ones’ (Gethsemanim), in which even the name of the place is signified in which Judas betrayed the Lord.” “Which word,” (Gethsemane) says Eusebius, “I have heard one of our beloved explaining, and saying that it was the place, called in the Gospel Gethsemane, where the betrayer coming on the Saviour wrought the betrayal.” On the expression, “Ye drunkards, but without wine!” Jerome observes, “But the betrayer was drunken, not with wine, but avarice, and the incurable venom of asps, and the food of the devil, who after the sop entered into him, he was utterly devoured.” Nor is this drunkenness to be predicated of Judas alone, but of all those who had a hand in the Saviour’s seizure, humiliation, and death. That evil spirits were engaged throughout, intoxicating their victims, seems evident from the Lord’s declaration that Satan had obtained permission (…) to “sift the apostles as wheat.” The same inference seems derivable, from the Saviour’s agony, and the disciples’ slumbrousness in the

garden, and more evidently from the words of Jesus to his betrayer, and the multitude that apprehended him, “This is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

In consequence of this, the great crime of the Jewish nation, fastened upon them by their own voluntary demand, that his blood should be “on them and their children,” the anger of Jehovah should violently descend like a violent flood and sweeping hail-shower, which was most truly fulfilled by the Roman devastation of Judaea.

Jehovah proceeds to declare that this, their attempt to insult his Anointed, shall be utterly overthrown; because, in spite of the heathen’s rage and the vain imagination of the people, Christ shall be set as king on the holy hill of Zion.

Then follows the denunciation against Judas, that he should be like the first ripe fig, easily shaken off, and no sooner coveted than despatched. “He became of such a character,” says Eusebius, “as to be compared to the first ripe fig, an imperfect fruit, beautiful indeed and pleasing to the sight, but otherwise useless, because of its not being fit for food.

Wherefore he that is the Calumniator of the good seeing the premature one (…) hastily seized him; so that he desired to devour him before he laid hands on him; thus indeed prevailing, he also did devour him.” “After the sop, Satan entered” into Judas Iscariot, and incited him to the treason, which was quickly accomplished, and as soon did his fruitless repentance follow, and then his suicide, all probably occurring in the compass of less than a single day.

Yet it is worthy of remark that this prophecy, though primarily accomplished, appears to be constructed with a twofold reference, not merely as a denunciation of the treason of Judas, but also of Antichrist; of whom, as the ancient fathers believed, Judas was a type. The “crown of insult,” or “mockery;” will then signify the presumptuous insolence of the Destroyer, in professing himself to be the Messiah, and crowning himself as such. Thus St. John, “Upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.” (Rev. 13:1.)

Then will Israel or Ephraim be “drunken, not with wine,” for God “will send them strong delusion, that they may believe a lie.” Then the Wilful King, bright and glorious as a flower, shall fall from his glory on the top of Gethsemane - for then shall the Saviour return to judgement, “His feet shall stand that day on the Mount of Olives.” And then shall descend the indignation of the Lord, the wrath of the Lamb, “with tempest, and scattering, and hailstones.” And Antichrist’s crown of glory shall be trodden under foot, and all his power and his might of three years and a half shall be, as the early fig, devoured in an instant.

In “the day” above mentioned of the Saviour’s return, so much insisted on in the former chapters, the Lord Jesus shall be a crown of glory to the residue of his people, and for a spirit of judgement to those whom he shall appoint to judge the nations, when war shall be no more. With that glorious time is contrasted the state of the Jewish people forsaken by Jehovah, for this their chief provoking iniquity. A curse is also denounced on their counsel against Jesus, as being for covetousness; “If we let him alone, said they, all men will believe on him, and the Romans will come and take away our place and nation.”

Such, then, being the state of the Jews, to whom should the Gospel be preached? Who would endure evils for the Saviour’s sake? Not those who were yet “babes,” “in bondage under the elements of the world,” who were yet “children in understanding,” “fed with the milk” of the Jewish rites and ceremonies: but those sustained by the Holy Spirit with the strong meat of the Gospel.

On the 10th verse Jerome comments as follows. “He is speaking to the choir of apostles and of all believers, to prepare themselves not for one, but many trials; that when they are troubled and depressed they should still hope, and hold hope after hope. And if the promise should tarry a little, not to be unbelieving. ‘For yet a very little while, and the promise shall come.’” He quotes also, very appropriately, Romans 5:3-5, “We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience: and patience, experience; and experience, hope; And hope maketh not ashamed.”

The 11th verse being cited by St. Paul, presents us with an index enabling us to discover whether the present interpretation be just. In 1 Cor. 14:21, we read, “In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them which believe not.” Whence we gather, that God sent the gift of tongues to convince the unbelieving Jews that the Gospel was from him: which indeed was implied in St. Paul’s sermon at Pentecost; and yet the Most High knew full well that it would not prevail on the nation to receive the doctrine. St. Paul’s quotation proves that this passage has been mutilated and corrupted, both in the Hebrew and the Septuagint, most probably wilfully in both, by the unbelieving Jews: but by means of it, as restored by the Holy Spirit, writing by the hand of Paul, it may be readily seen how well it agrees with the tenour of the interpretation here given. For the chapter opens with a cry of woe against the crime of the Chief Priests, Pharisees, the people generally, and Judas in particular, in the betrayal, seizure, condemnation, mockery, and death of Christ Jesus. For this reason God should send his vengeance on the Jews in general with mighty and irresistible violence; and afterwards a woe on Judas especially, which the Saviour himself confirmed: “The Son of Man goeth indeed as it is written of him, but woe unto that man by whom the Son of. Man is betrayed; good were it for that man if he had never been born!” And on him the curse was speedily fulfilled; in a few hours after the taking of the sop, Satan had devoured him like the first ripe fig seen and eaten at a mouthful. But a day should come in which the Saviour should be glorified in his people, spite of the outrageous blasphemies and iniquities of the Jews. In despite of their eager zeal to destroy the religion of Jesus of Nazareth, the message should be declared, and believed among those who were weaned by the power of the Spirit from the now valueless rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic law. These were to expect trouble from their brethren, even though God should gift them with the power of working miracles, and especially the speaking with foreign languages; in despite of all this evidence, they would not believe. Surely this establishes the justness of the interpretation, since it falls in exactly with the train of the apostle’s argument.

The words which occur between the parts of the apostle’s quotation, contain the proclamation, made to the Jews by means of the miraculous tongues, that in the Gospel of Christ was offered God’s rest to the weary, as said the Saviour himself, “Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest:” and that Jesus of Nazareth was his Holy One,* agreeably with the declarations of the prophets of old, and the voice of the Father at his baptism and transfiguration.* Theodotion’s translation.

But because they would not listen, Jehovah could predict to them nothing but woe after woe, one false hope after another, in the various lying personations of the Messiah who arose to delude the Jews. As it regarded the real Christian; the very same oracle was not evil,

because “all things work together for good to them that love the Lord,” and because of the promise that in the day of his return Christ would be a diadem of beauty to them; but to the unbelieving, the sentence bore “That they might go and fall backward, And be broken, and snared, and taken.”

The prophet then proceeds to predict that though they trusted in supernatural aids, and in an agreement with superhuman beings that death should not seize them, nor God’s vengeance light on them, yet that if they, the master-builders, refused Christ, the foundationstone elect and precious laid by the Father, their devices should be vain; and their destruction inevitable. This, though it may have had a primary fulfilment in some of the Jews of the apostle’s days, has yet probably a future bearing, and regards those times when men in general, and especially the Jews, will seek to provide themselves with supernatural and forbidden aids. At that time Jehovah will arise against his enemies as he did in Mount Gibeon and at Baal-perazim. The references here are probably to the history of Joshua, chapter 10., and that of David, 2 Sam. 5:17. In the first of these narratives, we are informed that a great confederacy of kings sought to destroy the Gibeonites, whom Joshua had taken under his protection. They in terror sent word to him, and earnestly desired his help against this powerful conspiracy. Joshua accordingly came and “slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon,” and “the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them:” “they were more which died with hailstones, than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.” On that day also, at the word of Joshua the Lord showed signs in the sun and moon; “And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed until the people had avenged themselves on their enemies.” How signal a figure is this of the second advent of Jesus (the true Joshua) against the Great Confederacy of kings mentioned in Revelation! “I saw the Beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.” Again, as in answer to the Gibeonites’ prayers, Joshua came up and discomfited the confederate kings; so at the prayers of his people, oppressed by Antichrist, Christ will descend and destroy those nations: “And I will rain upon him,” saith the prophet, “and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.” (Ezek. 38:22.) So, as at Joshua’s coming, signs were in the sun and moon, yet more remarkably shall the immediate coming of the true Joshua be foreshown by signs in the sun, moon, and stars, and the “light of the moon be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun be sevenfold as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.” The very words of Scripture appear to have a future and prophetic reference to this very time. “And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened to the voice of a man: (Christ comes as Son of Man:) for the Lord fought for Israel.” Nor is the reference to 2 Sam 5. less striking. There we are informed, that when the Philistines heard how David had been appointed king over Israel, they came and gathered themselves in the valley of Rephaim (giants), and upon David’s inquiring if he should march against them, the Lord encouraged him so to do, because he would give the Philistines into his hand. David therefore smote them, and said, “The Lord hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters. And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.”

Now the Lord Jesus informs us in his parable of the nobleman (by whom he evidently intends himself), that while he was in the far country, “his citizens who hated him, sent a message after him, We will not have this man to reign over us.” By this is intended the Great Confederacy of the nations and their kings against the Saviour. As then, the appointment of David (or the Beloved) over Israel, excited the indignation of the Philistines (or the foreigners), and induced them to gather together to fight against him, so the appointment of the true David, - the Beloved of the Father, over not Israel alone, but the whole world, will excite the rebellious spirit of the nations against him. Moreover, as, at the Lord’s word, David went forth and smote his enemies, so when the time comes that Jehovah shall make Christ’s “enemies his footstool,” he shall send forth the rod of his power out of Zion, that he may rule in the midst of his enemies. And as David burned the idols left by the conquered host, so we are informed that at the Lord’s coming they shall carry them into the holes of the rocks, to the moles and the bats; and “the idols,” says our authorized translation, “he shall utterly abolish.” Thus shall be finished “his decreed and brief work upon all the earth.”

The latter part of the chapter is rather obscure in its meaning, but appears to signify that the providential dealings of God are all with as definite an end, and will obtain as triumphant a completion as the toils of the husbandman. But in order to the harvest there must be various kinds of labour; not always the labour of the plough; not perpetually the sowing; but each in its season furthering the great result. The various means also of collecting the seed, according to the nature of the grain and its coverings, appear to have reference to the different methods which Jehovah is using, and will use, with regard to the various nations from whom he is gathering in his elect, and the varying style of his dispensations towards individuals. All have their ultimate design in gathering the prepared seed into the garner of the Lord, and that which is not known now, we shall know hereafter.

So with especial reference to Israel, God’s judgements on that nation, however severe, will not be for ever: but “the time to favour Zion, yea, the set time will come.” * * *91

XXIX. Jerusalem Is Warned.

1 - God’s heavy judgement upon Jerusalem. ~ 7 - The unsatiableness of her enemies. ~ 9 - The senselessness, ~ 13 - and deep hypocrisy of the Jews. ~ 18 - A promise of sanctification to the godly. ¶ Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices. Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel. And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise fo rts against thee. And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust .

Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.

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¶ And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion. ¶ Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not w ith w ine; they stag ger, but not w ith strong drink. For the L ORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. ¶ Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

¶ Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? ¶ And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought. Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.

But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shal l fear the God of Israel. They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 29 This chapter contains a prophecy concerning the destruction of the temple and city of Jerusalem by the Romans; the character and condition of the people of the Jews, previous to it; the calling of the Gentiles, by the preaching of the Gospel; the ruin of antichrist, and the conversion of the Jews, in the latter day. The siege and destruction of

Jerusalem are described in Isa 29:1 the disappointment of their enemies, notwithstanding their taking and destroying it, Isa 29:7 the stupidity, judicial blindness, and hardness of the Jews, which brought on their ruin, are predicted, Isa 29:9 the ignorance of their learned, as well as of their unlearned men, with respect to the Scripture, and the prophecies of it, Isa 29:11 their hypocrisy and formality in worship, Isa 29:13 a blast upon all their wisdom and prudence, who thought to be wiser than the Lord, and too many for him, whose folly and atheism are exposed, Isa 29:14, and a great change both in Judea and the Gentile world, by the removal of the Gospel from the one to the other, Isa 29:17 the effects of which are, deaf sinners hear the word, dark minds are enlightened, and joy increased among the meek and poor, Isa 29:18 the fall of the Jews, or else of antichrist, is foretold, Isa 29:20 and the chapter is closed with a promise and prophecy of the conversion of the seed of Abraham and Jacob, Isa 29:22.92

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 29 In this chapter the siege is predicted of some city, which a number of concurring intimations prove to be the city of Jerusalem. That by Ariel is meant Jerusalem, Eusebius tells us that the Jews of his day allowed. It was also the city which David besieged and took from the Jebusites as we read in 2 Samuel 5: 6-8. The explanation of the words “Gather the fruits, year after year,” is thus given by Eusebius: “While you have time, use these years for the good of your souls: since the time is near that ye shall be deprived of the food of the Word. In these words he seems to denote, in a mystery, the time of the Saviour’s preaching: according to which the Saviour sojourned among them, and preached the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of retribution. And perhaps he seems to have conversed with them a second or even a third year.

That same year, then, during which he afforded them the teaching respecting the kingdom of heaven, he signifieth when he says, ‘Gather the fruits; year after year eat ye.” But, since this the Saviour’s preaching was in vain, therefore should Jerusalem be besieged. And strikingly does such interpretation accord with the Gospel history! “And when he came near, he beheld the city and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knowest not the time of thy visitation.” (Luke 19:41.)

The extreme desolation of Jerusalem following on the siege is presented to us in the 4th verse. And yet while in this, her state of desolation, her oppressors shall be destroyed, and pass away like the dream of a night vision, when they are visited if the Lord of Hosts, with “Thunder, earthquake, and a mighty voice, Sweeping storm, and flame of devouring fire.”

These characteristics point out that time as the day of the Saviour’s second advent.

Moreover, as the enemies of Jerusalem are in the 7th verse stated to be “a multitude of all nations,” this proves that the siege here spoken of will take place at the time of the Great 92

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Confederacy, so often alluded to. If the reader will compare this chapter with the twelfth and fourteenth chapters of Zechariah, he will discover the most evident harmony in the siege of Jerusalem there predicted; in its besiegers being “all nations,” in the issue, - their utter discomfiture; and that too, after they have taken the city, carried captive its inhabitants, and divided its spoil. The 9th verse apparently describes the amazement of the hostile armies at the Lord’s appearing. Similar is the declaration of Zechariah 12:4, “In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness.”

But the succeeding verse certainly describes the blindness of the Jews: for it is quoted

by St. Paul to show that God for their unbelief should judicially visit the whole Jewish nation, except the elect of grace, with a spirit of blindness; by taking from them the Holy Spirit. We may conclude, therefore, that this account of the siege had a primary reference to that by Titus.

Because of such withdrawal of the Spirit, though his prophets predicted with the utmost accuracy events occurring under their eyes, and fulfilled in their very ears, still they should not understand: but the book should be to them as completely sealed, as though a clasp were on its leaves, or as though they were unable to read its letters. Thus also said Christ himself. “For judgement am I come into the world, that they which see not might see, and that they which see might be made blind.” This verse is also well illustrated by Eusebius, “Because they had heard the Lord when he was present with them as a man, and saw him with their eyes, but not with the sight of their soul, and made dull their ears that they might not hear, Jehovah shall give them to drink of the spirit of drowsiness.”

The 14th verse being quoted by the Saviour in reproof of the Pharisees for their outside show of religion whilst destitute of the spirit, furnishes another proof of the correctness of the application of the chapter to Jerusalem, and the preceding verses to the obstinacy and blind unbelief of the Jews. Since that nation preferred the teaching of their wise men, and the traditions of their rabbies to the Scripture, therefore Jehovah would again proceed to carry them captive, and would “destroy the wisdom of their wise men, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” This passage is adduced by St. Paul in the Epistle to the Corinthians, where he proves that it was the design of God to abase the lofty, and to exalt things weak and contemptible, “that no flesh might glory in his presence.” Nor can any doubt that God’s threat against the Jewish rabbies has been fulfilled who have read their writings, which are filled with all manner of puerilities and absurdities.

But there is yet a future accomplishment awaiting them in the rest of the chapter. The woe to the secret counsel of wickedness appears to be yet future. The absurdity of such an attempt to hide anything from God is shown by the reference to the clay, over which the potter has unlimited power. A daring spirit of blasphemy seems to be reproved in those words cited by St. Paul, “Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?” wherein the apostle argues with justice the absolute right of the Creator over the creature, in consequence of his being the work of the Most High. Now, as the apostle rebukes so impious a spirit in the words, “Nay, but O man, who art thou that repliest against God?” it would appear to be implied by the passage before us, that at the period here prophesied of, such daring blasphemy against the wisdom and power of the Creator should

not be uncommon. But, let men refuse or rebel as they will, the purposes of the Almighty shall all be accomplished. And “in that day” of the Son of Man’s advent, the Jewish nation shall understand their prophets, then no longer veiled by prejudice and pride, but illuminated by the [Holy] Spirit that gave them. Then the despairing saints almost ready to faint at the prosperity of the wicked, and their own sufferings, shall be glad in the Holy One of Israel: for then “the Lawless One shall be cut off,” and with him all that abetted wickedness, and sought to “wear out the saints of a the Most High.” Then also shall the promised blessings to Abraham Isaac, and Jacob be fully accomplished, nor shall they thenceforward fall into sin; but shall recognise Jesus as their Messiah, in his mighty works at his return; and because the Spirit of the Lord is poured out, men shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, “and the murmurers shall learn to obey.”93

MATTHEW 5-7.

The Sermon on the Mount gives principles and precepts for the present observance of all subjects of the kingdom of the heavens. It promises trials in this age, but sets all in the light of that coming Day. The believer is directed to heaven as the place of reward (Matt. 5:12), "great is your reward in heaven." Peter tells us later that this reward will be received at the revelation of Jesus Christ from heaven (1 Peter 1:13; 4:13). Disciples are taught to offer the prayer "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth," which further links the sermon to the second advent of the King. And all conduct is to be tested at that great day which will fall as a tempest to test each man’s building, a figure borrowed from O.T. prophecies of the Day of the Lord (Psalm 18:9-16 Isaiah 28:2; 29:6, etc.).94

Show Them the Life After having spoken about these three vital steps - to love, to pray and to witness, the apostle stresses the importance of Christian living. Many will agree wholeheartedly and say: “Yes, this is most important! Israel suffered much. We must show them sympathy, kindness and friendliness!”

Some have gone so far as over-emphasizing the works of love but leaving out the Christian witness.

They put all their efforts into material and physical help and neglect the spiritual blessings, not showing them the way to eternal salvation. This is not sufficient!

When Paul speaks about Christian living he means our life must confirm our words of testimony, the glad tidings of peace, the report about Jesus Who took our sins upon Himself that we might have peace (Romans 10:15-16; cf. Isaiah 40:9; 52:7; 53:1; 61:1). He who found righteousness, justification and new life through faith in the Messiah cannot keep quiet about it. “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10; Psalm 40:9-10; 2 Corinthians 4:13). Through this glorious message comes faith also to those who hear it (Romans 10:17).

But they shall not only hear! Lip-service is not enough! (Isaiah 29:13-14)*. They must see in us the new life showing that we are redeemed and obey the gospel (Romans 10:16). Otherwise they may say: “What you are, speaks so loud that I do not hear what you are saying!” O, that we would understand what a great responsibility we have toward the Jewish people! Paul asks: “...Did not Israel know?...” And he refers to the Word of God through Moses: “I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people: and by a foolish nation I will anger you.” Romans 10:19; Deut. 32:21.

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*{Mt 15:8 "draweth nigh unto me with their mouth" is left out. According to Isaiah 29:13 it belongs in because Isaiah prophesied of these hypocrites exactly that way.95} Unfortunately, more have been angered than provoked to jealousy. How angered? Through anti-Semitism, crusades and inquisitions, blood accusations and pogroms, and other persecutions.

There are many who lost all relatives through the holocaust in Europe.

Words are not sufficient to convince them. They must see the changed life of those who profess to know the Saviour. “The fruit of God’s Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22). Jesus says: “By their fruits ye shall know them!” (Matthew 7:16). “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35). Yes, a life that shows the fruit of God’s Spirit, the character and attitude of Jesus, will make a deep impression on the Jewish people. I know a Jewish doctor who was provoked to jealousy by a nurse who reflected the life of Jesus. One day he asked her: “Tell me, why are you so different?” She gave no long explanation but said: “It is through Jesus, doctor!” This made him inquisitive. He wanted to know more about Jesus. So he got a New Testament and discovered how wonderfully prophecy has been fulfilled. He became a sincere believer in his Messiah and Saviour Jesus.

God says: “I WILL PROVOKE THEM TO JEALOUSY!” For that very purpose we received Jesus into our lives. The name Jesus means “Saviour” “Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Paul says that salvation has come to the gentiles to provoke the Jews to jealousy! (Romans 11:11) They will say: “What happened to them? How could their life be so changed? This could not happen by their own will-power. There is a new Spirit within them. Indeed, they have found the answer in Jesus!

I wish to find Him too!”

Yes, God has given a great responsibility and vocation to all gentiles who know the Saviour.

He will work through them to provoke the Jews to jealousy. Like Paul let us say, “Lord, if you will provoke them to jealousy, then I will too. Please do it through me!”

“I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.” Romans 11:13-14 Paul wished to save them by all means. Love is inventive. It will find a way, some new method to bring salvation to the Jews (I Corinthians 9:20-22). Today we have more possibilities than Paul ever had: think of the many tracts, Christian books, tapes, radio programs, films. The question is: Are we willing to use these means? Or rather, are we willing to be used by God to fit into His program to provoke the Jews to jealousy?

Dear friend in the Lord, God says: “I WILL PROVOKE THE JEWS TO JEALOUSY!” How can the Lord do this? The apostle Paul says: “Lord, use me! that by any means I may provoke them to jealousy!” May I ask you: “Are you also prepared to make God’s will your own?” Then pray: “Lord, take my life and make of me a Christian who will provoke the Jews to jealousy!”

God expects our help in His great plan to bring salvation (Jesus) to the Jewish people, and He beseeches us to be equipped for the task. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul says:

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Bible Doctrines Affected by Modern Versions by Paul L. Freeman.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1-2.96

XXX. Judah Warned against Egyptian Alliance.

The Prophet threatens the people, for their confidence in Egypt, ~ 8 - and contempt of God’s word. ~ 18 - God’s mercies towards his church. ~ 27 - God’s wrath, and the people’s joy in the destruction of Assyria. ¶ Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen t hemselv es in the st reng th of P ha ra oh, a nd to trust in the s ha dow of Eg y pt ! T h e r e f o r e s h a l l t h e s t r e n g t h o f P h a r a o h b e y ou r s h a m e , a n d t he t r u s t i n the sha dow of Eg ypt your confusion. For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. The b urden of t he b ea st s of the south: into the la nd of troub le a nd a ng uish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them. For the Egyptians shall hel p in v a in, a nd t o no purpo s e: therefore ha v e I cried conce rnin g this, T heir strength is to sit still. ¶ Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a b o o k , t h a t i t m a y b e f o r t h e t i m e t o c o m e f o r e v e r a n d e v e r : T h a t t h i s i s a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon: Therefore this iniquity s h a l l b e t o y o u a s a b r e a c h r e a d y t o f a l l , s w e l l i n g o u t i n a h i g h w a l l , w h o s e breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit. For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: a nd, We will ride upon the swift; Take the GOSPEL to the JEWS, This slightly edited piece is from: "Must Read - Articles” of: ©1997-2011 Hope Of Israel Baptist Mission, Inc. | PO Box 1700 | Powder Springs, GA 30127 USA; A List of Most Famous Messianic Jews; Introduction to The Collected Writings of Rabbi Isaac Lichtenstein (1824-1909); Why I Believe that Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah; 2011 and “ISRAEL MY GLORY” Israel’s Mission, and Missions to Israel by John Wilkinson The Founder and Director of the Mildmay Mission to the Jews; accessed July 2011.

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therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill. ¶ And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get th ee hence. Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan. And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound. ¶ Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire: And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err. Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel. And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod. And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it. For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 30 The commencement of this chapter is obscure, probably because it is yet to be accomplished. It predicts the Jews’ trust in a power adverse to God, which shall not profit them, however great be their confidence therein. But who is this king of Egypt on whom Israel shall put their trust? Probably the “king of the south,” of whom Daniel speaks so frequently in Daniel 11., as the opponent of the Wilful King. In the king of Egypt or of the south, it would appear, that Israel shall trust as a protector against the mighty power of

Antichrist or the king of Babylon: as of old they trusted in the kings of Egypt for aid against Assyria and Babylon. But this trust shall be in vain, as it was in ancient time: for Daniel implies what Ezekiel expressly declares, that the king of Egypt shall be delivered into the hand of Antichrist. For thus saith Ezekiel,- “And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.” (Ezek. 29:6-7.) The reason of the failure of his assistance is afterwards given, - “Thus saith the Lord God; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.” (Ezek. 30:1011.) And again, - “I have delivered him into the hand of the Mighty One of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness. And strangers, the terrible of the nations have cut him off, and left him.” (Ezek. 26:11-12.)

The Septuagint, in the 4th verse, reads thus, - “For there are at Tanais evil angels as rulers,” which is not improbably the true reading: on which Eusebius comments in the following terms, - “He openly declares that there were then daemons in Egypt, whom he calls evil angels, who wrought many things in that city of Egypt, which is called Tanais, where Pharaoh’s palace was. But even, saith he, these evil angels shall not profit those who flee to them for succour and implore their aid.”

It is signified in the following verses that the Jews, in order to escape from this “Terrible One of the heathen,” shall flee into Egypt, carrying with them their treasures. A similar instance is related in Jeremiah. Ishmael of the seed royal slew Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the small remnant of the people that he permitted to remain in the land. Hereupon Johanan and the rest of the Jews who were not accessory to this unprovoked murder, were minded to flee into Egypt lest Nebuchadnezzar should in revenge put them to death. However, before executing their purpose, they came to Jeremiah to know what was the Lord’s will concerning their future steps, promising to abide by the word of Jehovah. But when the Lord bid them remain where they were, because he would protect them against the wrath of the king, they refused so to do, and after abusing Jeremiah, as if he had falsified the word of the Lord, followed their own counsel by going down into Egypt. For this cause the Most High sentenced them to die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, and that they should be an execration, and an astonishment, and a reproach, and a curse, nor ever see their land any more.

Similar is the prophecy in this place. The iniquity of the Jews at the time foretold, is precisely that of which they were guilty in the day of Jeremiah. They would have been glad had he not “spoken to them right things,” but declared “smooth things and prophesied deceits,” and “caused the oracle of the Holy One of Israel to cease before them.”

At the same time is offered to our notice the state of the Jewish people in their own land, just before the wrath of God sends against them the mighty Assyrian, with whose coming, under various names, prophecy is so burthened. Nor let it be esteemed wearisome or suspicious that a commentator is obliged thus frequently to speak of Antichrist; for since Christ is the testimony of all prophecy, it is not wonderful that he who is the traitorous likeness of the Christ - he who shall assume his power and authority, and by his miracles

deceive all but the elect, should be so frequently spoken of, in order that the people of God may be forewarned and prepared against his blasphemy and delusion.

Yet, in spite of all their disobedience, Christ Jesus shall be merciful to their nation, and be a joy to all them that wait for him, for “an holy people” shall, at his second advent, “dwell in Zion.” And though before this they eat the bread of adversity, yet after that great tribulation their teachers shall not be removed any more, nor shall they be deceived any more, for the Lord’s own voice shall teach them the way.

Then shall the idols with which Antichrist made them to defile themselves be cast forth with abhorrence. For that men in the last days shall worship “idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and wood, which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk,” and that they shall make an image of the Destroyer which all must worship under pain of death, the Revelation of St. John once and again affirms, Rev. 9:20; 13:15.

But this day past, to Israel thenceforward shall be only plenty and joy. Yea, the earth itself shall undergo a blessed transformation; rivers and streams springing forth during those great convulsions which shall attend the Saviour’s advent. It is here called the “Day of Great Slaughter,” when the towers (or, as Symmachus renders it, (“when the mighty”) fall. This statement will be illustrated fully when we come to chapter 34. The words of Eusebius hereupon will suffice for the present, “When shall be the Great Slaughter, and when shall the great ones fall, but at the time of the universal judgement, which shall be after the end of this age?”

The 27th verse represents the Saviour as coming from afar, as he said himself, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return!”

(Luke 19:12.) His coming is a day of wrath to his enemies, “The great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?” “By the name of Jehovah,” says Eusebius, “Christ is indicated. And when he cometh and revealeth his second glorious appearance, then shall follow those avenging Powers whom the present passage calls the anger and wrath of God, by whom punishment will be inflicted on the wicked. His wrath shall be like the sudden overflowing of a torrent in a narrow ravine, whose waters speedily enclose the traveller, and reaching even to his neck soon drown him.” “The bridle in the jaws of the people causing them to err,” is the delusion of the Man of Sin, who shall cause men to trust in him as God, as saith the apostle, “For this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” Coincident are the words of St. John, “I saw three unclean spirits like frogs, come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them together to the Battle of that Great Day of God Almighty.” (Rev. 16:13-14.) Here the reason of the delusion is specified - because the Gentiles will then have rejected nationally the revelation of Christ, therefore will he send them this potent deceiver. Prime movers in the delusion shall be evil spirits “working miracles,” to gather together all nations against Jerusalem, as is here represented by Isaiah. That dreadful day is further described in its terrible artillery of wrath, mighty voices, as the archangel’s trumpet, devouring fire, thunder and hailstones. So St. John, describing the seventh and “last trump,” when “the kingdoms of this world became the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ,” “when the nations are angry and his wrath is come,”

adds, “And there were lightnings and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail” (Rev. 11:15-19.)

By this terrible coming shall the Antichrist be smitten by the voice of Jehovah and the “rod of subjugation.”

But what is signified by the warring against him “with tabrets and harps?” It is not easy to explain this unless we adopt the Septuagint translation, and the comment of Eusebius thereon. The Septuagint gives the verse in question thus, “And it shall come to pass that on all sides of him, They from whom came the expectation of succour, Whereon he trusted, shall [far from rendering aid], On the contrary, make war on him with tabrets and harps.”

On which the note of Eusebius is as follows, - “Then (saith he) those who smote and beat them (the people of God) shall be punished; for the daemons that stand round them (i.e., Antichrist and his host), shall punish them. And who ‘they’ are he reveals, when he says, ‘From whom came the expectation of succour Whereon he trusted.’

The hope of the impious was in their gods: that is, the Antagonist Powers and Evil Spirits. To these they applied themselves; in these they placed their hopes of succour, not knowing that these shall be their punishers; for the indignation and wrath sent on the wicked shall take effect by means of wicked spirits. ‘They on the other hand with tabrets and harps shall make war on him:’ as delighting themselves in calamities; ‘for from friends they shall become enemies.’”

That this is the true interpretation is confirmed by the succeeding verse.

“For Tophet is ordained of old; Yea, for The King is it prepared; He hath made it deep and large, The pile thereof is fire and much wood, The breath of Jehovah like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it.”

Tophet is a valley near Jerusalem towards the south. It was called also the valley of the sons of Hinnom or Gehenna; whence the name of the everlasting place of torment is derived.

This valley Isaiah declares shall be appropriated as the place of punishment for Antichrist and his host, “for the King is it prepared;” and the anger of the Lamb shall be perpetually manifested there. To this, in all probability, the Saviour alluded when, after describing the joy of those who should sit down with him at his return, he commands the unprofitable servant to be “cast into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” To this Isaiah certainly refers in his last chapter, where he says, “And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me in Jerusalem, saith Jehovah. And they shall go forth and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither their fire be quenched: and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.” Here it is foretold that when nation after nation comes up to worship Jesus at Jerusalem, they shall also pass on to

Tophet, and see the punishment of the Lawless One that usurped the authority and name of the true Christ. * * 97

XXXI. Help Not in Egypt but in God.

1 - The Prophet shows the cursed folly, in trusting to Egypt, and forsaking of God. ~ 6 - He exhorts to conversion. ~ 8 - He shows the fall of Assyria. ¶ Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD! Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together. For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof. As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it. ¶ Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.

For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. ¶ Then shall the Assy ria n fa ll w ith the sw ord, not of a mig hty ma n; and t he sw ord, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited. And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 31 The subject of this chapter so nearly resembles that of the preceding, that a few observations will suffice. The same warning is given against the help of Egypt, with a prophecy of its disastrous consequences. Yet even in the midst of this ruin Jehovah will appear. As the lion regards not the multitude of the shepherds gathered against him, so shall Christ Jesus laugh to scorn the Great Confederacy against him, “though the heathen rage, and the nations imagine a vain thing, yet shall he have them in derision, and break them in pieces as a potter’s vessel; yet shall he sit as king on the holy hill of Zion.”

Then shall Israel return, and acknowledge him as their Messiah and King, and shall say, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,” according to the command of the 6th verse: while all idols shall be utterly demolished.

On that day shall be the destruction of their last enemy, Armillus, who shall be smitten, not by man, but by the Lord himself; and his chosen men shall be discomfited. For they shall be caught in the rocky valley of Jehoshaphat, as Joel declares (Joel 3:12), and there be destroyed by the just wrath of Jehovah.

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Robert Govett, ibid.

How well this accords with the preceding need not be noticed. The words of Jerome may now be added in confirmation. “The Jews understand this of Gog and Magog, of whom Ezekiel speaks more fully.” In illustration of the sixth verse he writes, “The Nazarenes understand this passage thus: ‘O sons of Israel, who, by a most wicked design, have denied the Son of God, return to him and his apostles.’98

“... Egypt, a hotbed of theological heresy.”

The Greek text underlying the modern versions can be traced to Egypt in the early centuries following the death of the apostles. It is called the Alexandrian text after the Egyptian city of Alexandrian, which was a center of learning during the early centuries of the church age. The article “Textual Criticism and the Alexandrian Text” at the www.earlham.edu web site summarizes the standard view of modern textual criticism as follows: This text arose in Egypt and is generally conceded to be the most important one.

Westcott and Hort, who named this the Neutral Text, thought that Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus had preserved a pure form of the Alexandrian type of text.” Jacobus Petzer admits: “… the vast majority of textual scholars today agrees that the Alexandrian text is most probably the closest representative of the original text available today” (Petzer, “The History of the New Testament Text,” New Testament Textual Criticism, Exegesis and Church History, edited by B. Aland and J. Delobel, 1994, p.25). And Peter van Minnen, in Dating the Oldest New Testament Manuscripts, concludes: “It is to be noticed that all the manuscripts listed above come from Egypt. The papyri … Sinaiticus … B [Vaticanus] … We owe the early Egyptian Christians an immense debt.

Egypt is not the place where the Spirit of God gave the New Testament Scriptures.

God chose to deliver the Scriptures to churches in Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, and Europe.

Not one book of the New Testament is associated with Egypt.

Beginning in the book of Genesis, the Bible warns about Egypt. The first mention of Egypt is Genesis 12:10-13 — “And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.

And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.”

This was a step of Disobedience on Abraham’s part, for there is no record that God spoke to him about this. God had told him to leave Ur and go to Canaan, and when he did this he was walking in faith and obedience, because “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). But when Abraham turned aside and went down to Egypt, he was walking by natural sight and disobedience.

Abraham’s disobedience quickly led to Deception. Thus the very first thing that we see about Egypt in the Scriptures is that it is associated with disobedience and deception. We know that the principle of “first mention” is important, and that this is therefore an important spiritual lesson. “Going down to Egypt” in the first two references of Scripture were times of disobedience and deception.

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Robert Govett, ibid.

“Does God have a lesson here for us? The New Testament tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:11 that ‘…all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.’ I believe He does have a lesson here and it concerns faith in His preserved Word and Words. Why do some, including some of our fundamentalist brethren, go to Egypt when it comes to recovering the manuscripts underlying our New Testament Scriptures?” (David Bennett, Preserved in Egypt or Preserved in God’s Churches, 2004, p. 1).

Abraham’s journey to Egypt also represented a Misplaced Trust. Another important reference to the danger of Egypt is Isaiah 31:1 — “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!” Instead of trusting in God, the Israelites were trusting in man. And this is exactly what we see in modern textual criticism. Its theories were not founded on faith in God’s promise of preservation. Rather, its theories were gathered from unregenerate men in secular fields. It trusts not in God’s promises but in the manuscript record.

After the death of the apostles there was a vicious satanic attack upon the Scriptures.

Heretics multiplied and they were not afraid of tampering with the New Testament.

It is no less true to fact than paradoxical in sound, that THE WORST CORRUPTIONS TO WHICH THE NEW TESTAMENT HAS EVER BEEN SUBJECTED, ORIGINATED WITHIN A HUNDRED YEARS AFTER IT WAS COMPOSED … the African Fathers and the whole Western, with a portion of the Syrian Church, used far inferior manuscripts to those employed by Stunica, or Erasmus, or Stephen, thirteen centuries after, when moulding the Textus Receptus (F.H.A. Scrivener, A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, II, 4th edition, 1894, pp. 264, 265).

John Burgon, who did extensive research into the history of the Bible, proved that the manuscripts favored by modern textual critics (e.g., the Sinaiticus and Vaticanus) contain corruptions introduced by heretics in those early centuries.

In the age which immediately succeeded the Apostolic there were heretical teachers not a few, who finding their tenets refuted by the plain Word of God bent themselves against the written Word with all their power. From seeking to evacuate its teaching, it was but a single step to seeking to falsify its testimony” (John Burgon and Edward Miller, The Causes of the Corruption of the Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels, 1896). “we know that Origen in Palestine, Lucian at Antioch, Heschius in Egypt, ‘revised’ the text of the N.T. Unfortunately, they did their work in an age when such fatal misapprehension prevailed on the subject, that each in turn will have inevitably imported a fresh assortment of monstra into the sacred writings. Add, the baneful influence of such spirits as Theophilus (sixth Bishop of Antioch, A.D. 168), Tatian, Ammonius, &c., of whom there must have been a vast number in the primitive age,—some of whose productions, we know for certain, were freely multiplied in every quarter of ancient Christendom:—add, the fabricated gospels which anciently abounded … and we have sufficiently explained how it comes to pass that not a few of the codices of ancient christendom must have exhibited a text which was even scandalously corrupt” (Burgon, The Revision Revised, pp. 29, 30).

Egypt in particular was a hotbed of heresy and fanaticism. Prominent Gnostics were associated with Alexandria. “Egypt was soon filled with religious and philosophical

sectaries of every kind, and particularly that almost every Grecian sect found an advocate and professor in Alexandria.”99

XXXII. Glorious Future. {Messianic} 1 - The blessings of Christ’s kingdom. ~ 9 - Desolation is foreshown. ~ 15 - Restauration is promised to succeed. ¶ Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful. For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand. ¶ Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech. Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for t he vintage shall fail, the gathering sha ll not come. Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins. They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the j oy ous city:

Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks; Unt il t he spirit be poured upon us from on hig h, a nd the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful f i e l d . A n d t h e w o r k o f r i g h t e o u s n e s s s h a l l b e p e a c e ; a n d t h e e f f e c t o f righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places; When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place. Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 32 The present chapter opens with a declaration of the blessedness of those who shall then be written among the living in Jerusalem; as saith Daniel: “Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five - and- thirty days. But go thou thy way till the David W. Cloud, FOR LOVE OF THE BIBLE: The Battle for the Authorized Version and the Received Text from 1800 to Present, (Way of Life Literature, 2008).

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end be: for. thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.” (Dan. 12:12-13.)

Such also is the declaration of St. John, “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection.”

It should be noted, that this chapter is a continuation of the last; for the destruction of Christ’s foes is the time of his commencing reign. The gathering up of the tares and binding them in bundles to burn, is the time of the ingathering of the wheat into the garner.

Who, then, is the king that shall in that day rule righteously, but Christ? Who “his princes,” but the twelve apostles? For thus did the Saviour promise them, “Ye which have followed me, in the Regeneration (or restoration of all things) when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Matt. 19:28.) At the Last Supper the promise was reiterated as expressly: “Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptation, and I appoint unto you a kingdom as my Father hath appointed unto me, that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Luke 22:28-30.)

Again, as this blessedness is to be at Zion and Jerusalem, so does it show that the apostles were selected to the number of twelve, that each might rule a tribe of Israel.

Then shall take place that moral renovation of man, which the mighty power of God is always able to effect. “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power.” No false names any longer shall be used to gloss over iniquity, but all the workers of wickedness shall be cut off.

The ninth verse reverts to the time of great tribulation, in which the condition of females shall be peculiarly helpless and sad; and the desolation of Judaea is depicted, as it was also foretold in the former chapters, especially the sixth and seventh. The desolation shall last “Until the Spirit be poured out from on high.”

Of the Spirit’s outpouring, Joel testifies.* “And it shall come to pass afterwards, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” And in a following verse he gives the signs which shall precede the Saviour’s coming, in words nearly resembling those of our Lord. “I will show wonders in the heaven above, and in the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and terrible day of the Lord come.” (Joel 2:28. 30, 31.) * That this was not fulfilled on the occasion in illustration of which St. Peter quotes it, I hope on a future occasion to show.

The world being thus restored to the purity of Eden (not by the gradual extension and improvement of the preaching of the Gospel, and the means now in use, but by the miraculous outpouring of the Spirit at Christ’s second coming,) then, as the world shall be full of holiness, it shall be also full of peace. For God shall shower down most plenteously his physical blessings on those who have received his spiritual mercies; and it will be seen, with complete evidence, that sin is the great curse of the world, and that all schemes for the regeneration of man, which are not schemes for the destruction of sin, and restoring him to the image and love of God, are fruitless folly. * * *100

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The Curtains of Rams’ Skins.

To go over and cover the tent of goats' hair curtains there was made a covering of rams' skins dyed red.

This was the third layer of curtains. Nothing is said about how long or how wide this covering was. It is just stated, “And thou shalt make a covering of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of badgers' skins.” Exodus 26:14.

In order for this covering to be made there had to be death on the part of the animals from which these skins came. These skins were dyed red. This suggests the shedding of blood. So in the covering of rams' skins we have a picture of death and the shedding of blood. In Hebrews 9:22 we read, “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission.”

The death of the rams which furnished the skins for this covering speaks of atonement. On the Day of Atonement a ram was used for a burnt offering. Leviticus 16:2-3. Thus, these were representative of the atoning blood of Christ.

This covering of rams' skins dyed red was laid over the tabernacle showing that all who are in Christ are under the blood. This covering of rams' skins together with the covering of badgers' skins, sheltered all that was beneath from any rain, wind, hail, or storms that might come. Even so, the death of Christ shelters all who are in Him from the storms of God's wrath and judgment. “A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest: as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” Isaiah 32:2. That MAN is the MAN Christ Jesus.101

XXXIII. Judgment of God. 1 - God’s judgements against the enemies of the church. ~ 13 - The consternation of sinners, and privileges of the godly. ¶ Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee. O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for t hee: b e t hou their a rm ev ery morning , our sa lv a tion a lso in the time of trouble.

At the noise of the tumult the peo ple fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered. And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them. The LORD is exa lted; for he dw ellet h on hig h: he hath filled Zion w ith j udg ment and righteousness. And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure. Behold, their valiant ones sha ll cry without: the ambassa dors of peace shall weep b itterly. The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man. The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits. Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself. Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.

And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire. ¶ Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfuln ess hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh

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uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off. Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers? Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand. Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us. Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey. And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 33 Again is the great Persecutor of the Church brought before our notice in the present prophecy. He is represented as injuring those who offer him no in injury in return, but quietly submit to the terrors, pains, and death, he is able to inflict. A warning, with a view to ensure this temper, is given in the thirteenth of Revelation, which treats of the rise of the Beast. “He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and faith of the saints.” Parallel with this is the prophetic announcement of St. James: “Ye have condemned and killed the just, and he doth not resist you. Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” (James 5:6-8.)

In exact accordance therewith, Isaiah, in the next verse, furnishes us prophetically with the prayers of Christ’s waiting saints for his return, and the speedy answer to their petitions; for the reign of the destroyer shall last but three years and a half - the 1260 days of prophecy.

“At the voice of thine angel,” it is said, “the nations fled:” doubtless that “voice of the archangel and trump of God” with which Christ shall come, “and at whose lifting up of himself the Gentiles shall be scattered.” Then follows the description of the glories of Christ’s reign.

The seventh verse, though its readings are by no means certain, discovers by its general tenour that it is spoken of “the destroyer of the Gentiles,” before whose wrath many nations are cut off; who makes the highways lie desolate, “breaks his covenant” (as was noted above, and corroborated by the testimony of the Psalms); and “regardeth no man.”

What wonder, that he who blasphemes God should disregard man! By the weeping of the messengers of peace, one of the fathers understands the departing of the angels from the nations of which they are the guardians: as at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, a voice was heard in the temple crying, “Let us depart hence!”

Yet, at this very height of his enemy’s power, shall Christ come, and with “flaming fire” take vengeance on him and his host:

“And the nations shall be burned up as lime; As thorns in a field, cut up and burned.”

To which last line the reference of the parable of “the tares bound in bundles to burn them,” is not improbably intended by our Lord. So the destruction of Christ’s enemies in the fire of Tophet is alluded to in those terrible words of warning, “Who among you can dwell with devouring fire?

Who of you can dwell with everlasting burnings?”

Then follows the blessedness of the ransomed, even as the Saviour, in his interpretation of the parable of the tares, adds, “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” So Isaiah,- “Their eyes shall behold the King in his beauty.”

What is meant by “the land that is afar,” is not apparent; the Chaldee understands it of those going down into punishment. The remark of Procopius upon it is as follows:- “Some refer the words ‘afar off’ to the wicked, - that they shall see ‘the land’ of promise at a distance, not to dwell in it themselves, but to inherit consuming fire, who, being in fear of their own condemnation, will be cast away afar from that land. Whom he rebukes, because they obeyed evil instructors, saying, ‘Where are they that knew only the letter of the law?’ To whom the Saviour said, ‘Woe unto you, Scribes, and Pharisees, hypocrites!’ ‘For where will these appear, saith he, in the day of judgement, who flatter their disciples, instead of giving wholesome counsel?’”

Then shall all the wisdom and might of the world be scattered, according to the passage of Paul (who probably quotes Isaiah, though, if so, the last words of the quotation have undergone much variation) : “Were is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” - words, which agree exceedingly well with the scope of this passage: for in that day will it be seen that no counsel can prosper, no wisdom avail, against the design of Jehovah; that “the foolishness of God is wiser than man, and the weakness of God is stronger than man.”

The succeeding portion of the chapter describes the millennial blessedness, and the security then to be enjoyed.

The last two verses are obscure; but they probably intend the great humiliation of Jerusalem before her final exaltation, under the figure of a vessel in a storm, its tackling torn, its mast ready to fall, its flag displaced. Till she shall have been spoiled herself she shall not take the prey. But then, as the four lepers of Samaria plundered the camp of the Syrians, when the Lord made the host to flee (2 Kings 7.), so “then many lame shall take the prey.”

In that happy time, there shall no more be sickness in Jerusalem, as it is said, “Himself bare our sicknesses and carried our infirmities;” and of this delightful freedom from pain, the Saviour’s healing of multitudes at his first coming was a pledge and a figure. This blessing shall be granted because sin shall be forgiven; a connexion which the Saviour so frequently and significantly remarked. “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee:” “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee:” “Go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” May not, it may be asked, the promise of victory over everything deadly and harmful (Mark 16:17, 18) be referred to this time? And shall not the words of the Saviour, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are

written in. heaven” (Luke 10:18-20), then receive their entire accomplishment, not in the persons of the seventy disciples only, as then: but in a fuller and broader sense fulfilled in all the believers in Christ in that day? “These signs shall follow them that believe” universally! * * *102

The present Place of the Wicked Dead.

“Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” ~ Isaiah 33:14.

I have been trying to show that the Scriptures teach us that the final punishment that will be inflicted on the impenitent at the general judgment at the last day, is expressed in language peculiarly severe, and warrants the conclusion that the intermediate punishment of the wicked dead is more tolerable than that which awaits them in the penal fires of gehenna. If I have not proved that this severity clusters around future and final punishment, then I know not when a, proposition is proved from the Scriptures.

May not this distinction be seen in the Scripture heading this chapter? May not the “devouring fire” refer to present or intermediate punishment, and “everlasting burnings” to future punishment? I think there are other Scriptures that support this idea.

Permit me to restate with emphasis that according to the Scriptures, when the lake of fire, or gehenna, is entered, it is with both soul and body; while the soul separate from the body is never thus represented, but invariably assigned to a place represented by distinct terms, which the Scriptures will not allow us to use as synonymous with perdition, for we find them used in contradistinction to the others. These we will briefly notice.

Some confess their belief in an intermediate state, but deny an intermediate place. This is unscriptural. Jesus tells us the rich man died and lifted up his eyes in hades, and the rich man did not want his five brothers to come into that place of torment. Judas also went to his own place. Then hades is a place, and is finally to be depopulated and abolished, for at the judgment, hades is to deliver up the dead that are in it, and death and hades are to be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. At the first death the body is buried (Luke 16:22), and the soul goes to hades (v. 23), which is a place, and there remains until death holding the body, and hades the soul, deliver up the dead that are in them, then soul and body are cast into the lake of fire. Vain are our reasonings, when the plain declaration of Scripture will not suffice. I verily believe there would be no controversy on this subject if we had a faithful translation. Perhaps our translators were driven to this by the equally absurd Catholic doctrine of purgatory. They could have successfully met and overthrown that mercenary hope of gain, with the Word of God, and there was no necessity for them to oscillate to the other extreme, and abolish the Intermediate state of the dead with a reckless translation. Neither is it necessary to overthrow Universalism, by putting hell in forty Scriptures where the Holy Spirit did not. Indeed, the word hell could be expunged from the Scriptures, and then Universalism could be ground to powder.

Sheol translated hades, and that translated hell, is unfortunate, and this, I believe, is the testimony of nine-tenths of the scholars of the world. Dr. Smith, in his Bible Dictionary, says, sheol is always the abode of departed spirits, like the Greek hades. Consequently he says, “It has been the prevalent, almost universal notion that Hades is an Intermediate State, between 102

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death and the resurrection, divided into two parts, one the abode of the blessed, and the other of the lost.” Dr. George. W. Clark, so strongly endorsed by Dr. J. A. Broadus, says on Luke 16:23 of Hades: “Not the place of the final punishment of the wicked, which is expressed by another word (see or ch. 12:5), but the abode of departed or disembodied spirits.”

Professor McGarvey, on Acts 2:28, says: “The term hades designates the place of disembodied spirits.”

Watson, in his Bible Dictionary, says: “The confusion that, has arisen on this subject, has been occasioned not only by our English translators having rendered sheol and gehenna by the term hell, but also hades, which ought never to have been done.”

Dodridge, on Luke 16:23, says: “Both the rich man and Lazarus were in hades, though in different regions of it.”

Josephus, who wrote about the same time the apostles did, says: “Now as to Hades, wherein the souls of the righteous are detained, it is necessary to speak of it. Hades is a place * * * wherein the light of the world does not shine. * * * This region is allotted as a place of custody for souls, in which angels are appointed as guardians to them; who distribute to them temporal punishments, agreeable to every one’s behavior and manners.

“These are now indeed confined in hades, but not in the same place wherein the unjust are confined. * * *. But as to the unjust, they are dragged by force * * * no longer going with a good will, but as prisoners driven by violence; * * * They are struck with a fearful expectation of a future judgment, and in effect punished thereby; and not only so, but where they see the place of the fathers, and of the just, even hereby are they punished; for a chaos deep and large is fixed between them; insomuch that a just man that hath compassion upon them can not be admitted, nor can one that is unjust, if he were bold enough to attempt it, pass over it. This is the discourse concerning hades wherein the souls of men are confined, until a proper season which God hath determined, when he will make a resurrection of all men from the dead.”

For further testimony concerning hades, I refer to dictionaries, lexicons, new translations and the scholarship of the world in general, and especially to its Bible usage, and to the teaching of our Lord, who, in company with a regenerated sinner, went from the cross to Paradise-the blissful abode of the saints, and after comforting by his own infallible testimony those who died before Moses and the Prophets did write, it seems he crossed the impassable gulf and descended into abussos-the bottomless pit, not gehenna (Rom. 10:7; Eph. 4:9), and subjugated its authorities-spoiling principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in himself (Col. 2:15). Entering into the strong man’s house, he first bound the strong man, and then spoiled his house. Through death he destroyed him that hath power over death, that is the devil. He took the keys from the king of the bottomless pit, and led captivity captive.

And now having the keys of death and hades, he can shut and none can open, and open and none can shut. All I am to establish at this time is-that hades is not hell-the final and eternal abode of the wicked, but the abode of disembodied spirits. After noticing the terms used to designate the spirit world, and their distinction from those used to express the places of final and eternal perdition, we will endeavor to learn something of their present state in hades. I close with an article I wrote for the Western Recorder, and which explains itself:

HADES. “At the close of the discussion of the ‘Intermediate State’ at Hopkinsville, a good brother stated that someone had put to record his faith in the hell of King James’ Version, and that he wished to record his faith in the heaven of the same version. The brother, I thought, spoke his feelings rather than his mind, and I suppose only meant to indorse the translation of hades in King James’. Perhaps he was not the only brother of that feeling, and they must know that the mind of the scholastic world is against their feeling. Is the translation of hades in King James’ Version defensible? Then Christ’s soul was in hell during his sepulture, as in Acts 2:27-31.

Then hell is to be triumphed over at the resurrection, I Cor. 15:55, and is to be finally abolished, Rev. 20:14. Again, Christ’s soul was in hades, Acts 2:27-31, and his soul was in Paradise, Luke 23:43; therefore paradise is in hades. But it is further claimed that paradise and heaven are one.

Then heaven is in hades. Christ was certainly in hades, and Christ was certainly in paradise.

That is paradise is in hades; and if paradise is heaven, then heaven is in hades. But hades is also claimed to be hell, therefore heaven is in hell, and the conclusion is logically irresistible.

If this is the heaven and hell of King James’ Version, then I would record my disbelief in them. I believe in the hades, paradise, heaven, and hell of the inspired Scriptures of Godnothing more, nothing less.

If hades means paradise, heaven and hell, then according to Hosea 13:14, all are, to be destroyed; and according to Rev. 20:14, all are to be destroyed but the lake of fire or hell.103

“The King in His Beauty” This chapter contains an account of God's judgments upon the enemies of his people, and of the peaceable, comfortable, and happy state of the church in the latter day. The judgment denounced, Isa 33:1 a prayer of the church for safety and protection, which it promises itself from what God had heretofore done, Isa 33:2 an answer to it, declaring the spoil of the enemy, and the happy times the people of God should enjoy through his appearance for them, Isa 33:4 though previous thereunto there would be very distressing ones, Isa 33:7 when the Lord resolves to arise and exert his power in the destruction of the people, who should be burnt up like stubble, thorns, and lime, Isa 33:10 persons far and near are called upon to take notice of this, Isa 33:13 which would issue in a different manner, in the surprise and terror of hypocrites, and in the safety and plenty of provisions for good men, who are described, Isa 33:14 and then follow promises to them, of seeing the King in his beauty, and beholding a distant country of reflecting on past terror with pleasure, being freed from it, and in no danger of a foreign enemy, Isa 33:17 and the chapter is concluded with a famous prophecy of the peace, prosperity, and safety of the church, and of the healthfulness of its inhabitants, under the protection of Christ, its King and Lawgiver, its enemies being also an easy prey to it, Isa 33:20.104

“Long, long has this great consummation been delayed - so long that even pious men begin to doubt whether it ever shall come. But the word of Jehovah is out; He cannot recall it; He must fulfil it. Soon it will be here. Soon shall Messiah come in His glory and set this imprisoned and down-trodden world at liberty. Soon shall the Son of Mary stand upon the Mount of Olives and plant His throne upon the hill of Zion. Soon shall the glorified saints supplant besotted politicians, and the swelling tide of righteousness and peace overflow the earth. Soon shall the new-born nations send up their delegations to Jerusalem to worship the

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King in His beauty and go forth with joy in the blessedness of obedience to Him.” - The Messiah’s Kingdom-Daniel 7:13-14 By Joseph A. Seiss.105 “one in us ... . may behold my glory”. John 17:21, 24 The prayer for unity is repeated five times (John 17:11, 21-23) and is thus very important. However, it has been misused by ecumenicists to try to amalgamate true Christians and pseudo-Christians. True unity must be both unity of the Spirit and “unity of the faith” (Ephesians 4:4, 13). God will surely answer this prayer of His beloved Son. Thus we can be absolutely sure that, if we truly belong to Christ through faith in him, we shall one day “see the king in His beauty,” and “shall behold the land that is very far off” (Isaiah 33:17). And then, “when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).106

The Heavenly Glory “Christ will grant to the victors eternal glory. They will see the king in His beauty. They will reign with Him for ever. They will worship Him as His priests in the heavenly sanctuary. They will radiate brightness as the stars in the kingdom of their Father.

As regards the majesty of God, their portion will be holy worship. As regards the nature of God, His image will be perfectly revealed in them. As regards the life of God, their sonship will be made manifest in glory. As regards the creation of God, they will rule over the universe for ever.

‘As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.’

(Revelation 3:19-22 KJV).

This is the full content of the victor’s prize. It is the inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, unfading, which by God’s power is reserved in heaven for faith to attain (1 Pet. 1:4). As yet we live here below in weakness and imperfection: “It is not yet made manifest what we shall be.” But: “We know that, if He shall be manifested, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him even as He is” (1 John 3:2). And “when Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with Him be manifested in glory” (Col. 3:4). “Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1). “And every one that hath this hope set on Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure” (1 John 3:3). ~ Erich Sauer, In the Arena of Faith.

Thine Eyes Shall See! “Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.”

Thine eyes shall see! Yes, thine, who, blind erewhile, Now trembling towards the new-found light dost flee, Leave doubting, and look up with trustful smileThine eyes shall see!

From The Last Times And The Great Consummation. As far as we aware, this book is presently out of print.

As found in "The Coming Day" - a publication by: SEARCHLIGHT E-mail: searchlight@onet.co.uk.

106 Henry M. Morris, Morris Bible Notes,.

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Thine eyes shall see! Not in some dream ELysian, Not in thy fancy, glowing though it be, Not e’en in faith, but in unveiled vision, Thine eyes shall see!

Thine eyes shall see! Not on thyself depend God’s promises, the faithful, firm, and free; Ere they shall fail, earth, heaven itself, must end: Thine eyes shall see!

Thine eyes shall see! Not in a swift glance cast, Gleaning one ray to brighten memory, But while a glad eternity shall last, Thine eyes shall see!

Thine eyes shall see the King! The very same Whose love shone forth upon the curseful tree, Who bore the guilt, who calleth thee by name; Thine eyes shall see!

Thine eyes shall see the King! The mighty One, The many- crowned, the Light enrobed; and He Shall bid thee share the kingdom He hath won, Thine eyes shall see!

And in His beauty! Stay thee, mortal song, The ‘altogether lovely’ One must be Unspeakable in glory, - yet ere long Thine eyes shall see!

Yes! Though the land be ‘very far’ away, A step, a moment, ends the toil for thee; Then, changing grief for gladness, night for day, Thine eyes shall see! ~ Poetical Works by F. R. Havergal.

The Title of “Branch.” “¶ In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, (margin: “beauty and glory”). and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.”

(Isaiah 4:2).

From which passages we learn that the Branch, i.e., the Messiah, shall be a glorious and beautiful sight for Judah. “Thine eyes shall behold the King in His beauty: they shall behold the Land that is very far off” (lit., far-stretching, not limited in space as now, but of greater extension). By the statement ‘that DAY’ the Branch of the Lord shall be “beauty and glory,” surely we are to understand that at the conversion of the returned Jews, - [we have the beginning of new “day” - God’s introduction to, and His establishment of the promised “rest” (Heb. 4:1, 9), and of our long-awaited Messiah’s MILLENNIUM, (2 Pet. 3:8; Rev. 20:4)] - Messiah will shine forth to them as one much desired: “... Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. ” (Isa. 25:9). This will be “in that day,” namely “When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, ”

(Isaiah 4:12), and when He shall be Beauty and Glory to them who are escaped of Israel.

Escaped from what? Doubtless from the Great Tribulation. This will be the time of “Jacob’s Trouble.” This will be that fearful time of punishment and judgment of which the Master said: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matt. 24:21). But, we are assured, Jacob “shall be saved out of it”; his seed, the servants of God, shall be sealed in their foreheads, and after they shall have escaped shall doubtless join in that ascription of praise and glory: “A m e n: Bl e s si ng , a n d g l o r y , a n d w i s do m , a n d thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.”107 “Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty.”

The more you know about Christ the less will you be satisfied with superficial views of him; and the more deeply you study his transactions in the eternal covenant, his engagements on your behalf as the eternal Surety, and the fulness of his grace which shines in all his offices, the more truly will you see the King in his beauty. Be much in such outlooks. Long more and more to see Jesus. Meditation and contemplation are often like windows of agate, and gates of carbuncle, through which we behold the Redeemer. Meditation puts the telescope to the eye, and enables us to see Jesus after a better sort than we could have seen him if we had lived in the days of his flesh. Would that our conversation were more in heaven, and that we were more taken up with the person, the work, the beauty of our incarnate Lord. More meditation, and the beauty of the King would flash upon us with more resplendence.

Beloved, it is very probable that we shall have such a sight of our glorious King as we never had before, when we come to die. Many saints in dying have looked up from amidst the stormy waters, and have seen Jesus walking on the waves of the sea, and heard him say, “It is I, be not afraid.” Ah, yes! when the tenement begins to shake, and the clay falls away, we see Christ through the rifts, and between the rafters the sunlight of heaven comes streaming in.

But if we want to see face to face the “King in his beauty” we must go to heaven for the sight, or the King must come here in person. O that he would come on the wings of the wind! He is our Husband, and we are widowed by his absence; he is our Brother dear and fair, and we are lonely without him. Thick veils and clouds hang between our souls and their true life: when shall the day break and the shadows flee away? Oh, long-expected day, begin!108 “Come quickly, Lord Jesus.” Prepare these eyes for seeing the King in his beauty; these ears for hearing the sound of blessed voices and golden harps; these feet for the golden streets, these hands for the palms of victory, this brow (often wet with the sweat of the curse) for the crown of righteousness; and above all, this heart for loving thee who lovedst me and gavest thyself for me! In that day, “the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak THE RESTORATION AND CONVERSION OF ISRAEL [with emphasis placed on millennial truths and events throughout] BY REV. GEO. A. B. CHAMBERLAIN, M.A. Vicar of Hook, Yorks.* [*From: ‘Things To Come,’ Vol. XXI. JANUARY TO DECEMBER, 1915.] "With regard to the title of these articles, a word or two may not be deemed amiss. In the first place, the articles will deal with the Restoration, then Conversion, not Conversion and subsequent Restoration. We call particular attention to this, because in time past - we do not think it has many adherents now some students of the Word, taking certain passages which seem to imply that Conversion will precede Restoration, insisted that such would be the order of events."

108 C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings, (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896).

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plainly,” while with all saints they ever speak of the King, on whom they gaze, and into whose image they are changed. And only then shall every faculty find itself satisfied always, and yet ever bewildered in the blessed attempt to understand the “breadth and length, and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ that passeth knowledge.” Hallelujah!109

Jerusalem: God’s Capital City.

Another significant reason why Christians should rejoice in Israel’s physical restoration and strongly support her continued existence in the Middle East is the prophesied future of her ancient and modern capital city, Jerusalem. Holy writ reveals that Zion is to be the very seat of the Messiah’s earthly reign. The nations on earth will come up to visit Jerusalem when Jesus rules from the holy city as King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

This is revealed in several Scriptures: “Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3).

“Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet home, A tabernacle that will not be taken down; Not one of its stakes will ever be removed, Nor will any of its cords be broken.” (Isaiah 33:20).

“Thus says the Lord, ‘I will return to Zion, And will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, The Mountain of the Lord of hosts, The Holy Mountain.’”

(Zechariah 8:3).

“I will not give sleep to mine eyes, Or slumber to mine eyelids, Until I find out a place for the LORD, an habitation for the Mighty One of Jacob...For Your servant David’s sake, Do not turn away the face of Your Anointed...For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place. ‘This is my resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it’” (Psalm 132:4-5, 10, 13-14).

“Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and MOVE NO MORE; nor shall the children of wickedness oppress them any more, as previously” (2 Samuel 7:10).

It is evident from Scripture that the Sovereign Lord of Creation has chosen the city of Jerusalem as His earthly capital. This decision was made by the very same God who promised to restore His covenanted Jewish people to the sacred city and surrounding land in the last days before the Second Coming. How can Christians look for and welcome Jesus’ prophesied return, and not rejoice in and actively support the Jewish return that was foretold to at least partially precede it?

God described the details and boundaries of the land in Genesis 15:18: “On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates.” This was a royal land grant, perpetual and unconditional. Genesis 17:8 “Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” Genesis 28:13: “the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.” God has never revoked Abraham’s title deed to the land, nor has He given it to anyone else.

The spot where God confirmed His covenant is an area north of Jerusalem between Bethel and Ai. It is in the heart of what is called the West Bank, or Judea and Samaria. (The United Nations refers to this as “occupied territory,” and demands that Israel relinquish it.) An inalienable right is one that cannot be given away. The Bible declares this to be so in Leviticus 25:23. The people were forbidden to sell the land because, ‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.”

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From W. Tindles website article: THE MILLENNIAL TEMPLE, various authors,.

Jerusalem is the only city God claims as His own; it is called the City of God and the Holy City in Scripture. He declared to Solomon in 2 Chronicles 33:7, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever.”

In October of 1991 the Middle East peace conference was convened at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain. I was sent by God to be a witness there. I was the first person to speak after Secretary of State James Baker concluded his remarks. I asked, “Why can’t America recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital? Secondly, we are moving a military presence into the Arab world for security. Why can’t we have a military presence in Israel to help its security? It has suffered so greatly, and has especially paid a dear price during the Persian Gulf War.” Baker was incensed by my remarks and said he refused to be entangled in a fruitless debate and that the status of Jerusalem should be determined by negotiations.

To this day, America has refused to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. This is a grave mistake. I have shouted this warning from the White House in Washington to the Royal Palace in Madrid as I rebuked world leaders with the words, “God does not recognize America’s non-recognition position!”110

XXXIV. God’s Wrath against Nations.

1 - The judgements wherewith God revenges his church. ~ 11 - The desolation of her enemies. ~ 16 - The certainty of the prophecy. ¶ Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and a ll t ha t is t he rei n; the w or ld, a n d a l l th ing s tha t come forth o f it . F or t he indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. And all the ho st of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it sha ll come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land sha ll be soaked w ith blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. ¶ And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. ¶ But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owl make Mike Evans, Why Christians Should Support Israel & Facts You Need to Know., Copyright 2011 by Mike Evansiof Jerusalem Prayer Team and Fuel For Truth.110.

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her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures a lso b e g a thered, ev ery one w ith her ma te. ¶ Seek y e out of the b ook of the LORD, and read: no o ne of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 34 The opening verses of this section of Isaiah are an appeal to “ALL NATIONS” to listen. It is, therefore, some prophecy that concerns the whole world. Therefore it is yet future, since nothing has occurred that at all comes up to the descriptions of the text. Those who suppose it fulfilled in the destruction of the literal Edom are obliged to talk of its expressions “being in the highest degree hyperbolical,” and “merely adequate to meet the expectation of a patriotic Jew in reference to the infliction of Divine judgement on those who had been the ancient and most inveterate enemies of his country.” Alas for inspiration! It is obliged strongly to colour, as it is softly called, the poverty of its themes with hyperboles, in order, by the false and foolish arts of weak and vain man, to give dignity to its subject! The word of truth and holiness is bound to pander to the hatred of a patriotic Jew against the enemies of his country! Where, then, we ask in vain, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? But, repudiating so deadly an hypothesis, let us see if it will not admit a future and literal interpretation. Is there not some time of universal concernment, when the wrath of God shall be poured upon all nations? Does not Joel attest it, and Daniel confirm it, and St. John mightily summon our attention thereto? Assuredly: the Saviour in his far-reaching prophecy, declares that the time shall come when “all the tribes of the earth shall mourn.” (Matt.

24:30.) It has been already spoken of as the “Day of Great Slaughter,” a feature of that great day which is here reiterated in the second verse. Nor does the book of Revelation fail to attest it, in speaking of that mighty day of the wrath of God. “The wine-press [‘of the wrath of God,’ ver. 19] was trodden without the city [of Jerusalem], and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horses’ bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.”

(Rev. 14:20.) How parallel is this with the awful announcement of the text, that the “mountains shall be watered with their blood, and the dust made fat with their fatness.”

But the signs that accompany this dreadful day of the Great Slaughter identify it beyond a doubt. “All the powers of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and the stars shall fall as a leaf falleth from a vine, and as the falling fig from a fig-tree.” It is, I know, generally considered as a thing to be taken for granted by commentators, that these signs in the sun, moon, and stars, mean only convulsions in kingdoms and nations, - an opinion most unfounded, and utterly destructive of prophetic clearness and simplicity. On the contrary, whenever these signs are spoken of, they refer to the one great day of the Saviour’s advent, and are literally to be fulfilled. Hence the passage before us refers to that same time in the prophecy of the Saviour on Olivet, when “the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken” (Matt. 21:29) - words almost identical with those of Isaiah just adduced. Such, also, is that passage of the Revelation, “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became

black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together.” (Rev. 6:12-14.) The succeeding verses determine that it is the time immediately preceding the Saviour’s appearance to all the world. This is the time indicated by Isaiah likewise.

But what is meant by the powers of heaven? Doubtless the same beings that are meant in Eph. 3:10: “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God.” Doubtless those mentioned also in Col. 2:15: “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” According to the testimony of St. Paul (Eph. 6:12) the Christian wrestles “against principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness (or the ‘wichedness of spirits’) in high places.” Such passages prove that the “Powers of heaven” are intelligent spirits, against whom Christ and his host shall make war and overcome. Thus Jerome and Eusebius understood it, and it was, in all probability, the interpretation of the early Church. But be that as it may, the Scripture proofs remain. The immediate object of this terrible denunciation is Edom, which (as the ancient Edom is desolate and its inhabitants not to be found) is, with great probability, if not with absolute certainty, to be understood of Rome; and that by the united testimony of Jews and Christians. For thus writes Jerome: “The Jews, as we have before mentioned, contend that this prophecy regards the Roman empire, and that, for the avenging of Zion, the devastation of a once most powerful kingdom is foretold; which the majority of Christians also, taking things literally, think is also predicted in the Apocalypse of St. John.”

Accordingly, we find that the destruction of Babylon is that great event, immediately after which the Saviour comes. (Compare chapters 18. and 19. in Revelation.) So is it also intimated by Isaiah. When the Saviour is presented before us as returning in all his majesty, with his garments dipped in blood, whence does he come? “From Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah.” (Is. 63.)

The whole of the argument from Aaron Pick (late Professor of Hebrew and Chaldee in the University of Prague), to prove that Edom signifies Rome, cannot be given; the reader will find it in his commentary on Obadiah. A hundred years before the destruction of the second temple, Johnathan ben Uzziel, in his Targum, (or interpretation) of the prophets, paraphrased Edom by Rome. The words of the ninth verse, “And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch,” he parallels thus, “And the streams of Rome shall turn into pitch.” He adds, “In an ancient MS., received as authentic both by Hebrew and Gentile writers, called the Chronicles of Moses, we read that Zepho, son of Eliphaz, son of Esau, was the first Edomite who settled himself in Italy, and this is confirmed by several of the Hebrew commentators.” Again he observes, “Abarbanel, who was one of the greatest historians and literary men amongst the Hebrews, relates that when he visited the library at Rome, which as a Spanish Don he was permitted to do, he read, in a MS. roll of parchment there, that Rome was formerly called Bozrah.”

The succeeding verses of this chapter contain an account of its future desolation, answering to the prophecy in Rev. 18.; and the assertion is again made, that “the demon shall there call to his fellow,” for Babylon or Edom must “become the hold of every foul spirit,” because the Lord hath spoken it.

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XXXV. Zion’s Happy Future.

1 - The joyful flourishing of Christ’s Kingdom. ~ 3 - The weak are encouraged by the virtues and privileges of the Gospel. ¶ The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God. ¶ Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. ¶ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.  And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 35 The thirty-fifth chapter is a continuation of the preceding. For the time of the vengeance on Babylon shall be the time of the glory of the Lord and his kingdom. Thus in the commencement of the nineteenth of Revelation, after the two first verses have described the rejoicing of the saints over Babylon judged and overthrown, the announcement immediately succeeds, that “the times of refreshment” are come when the Saviour shall reign. “I heard the voice of a great multitude saying, Alleluia! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice!”

In accordance with this, the first two verses represent the renovated beauty of the earth when Christ shall come: parts now desert and incapable of affording habitation and sustenance to man, shall rejoice “and blossom as the rose.” “The wastes of Jordan” are especially noticed; for that part of Judaea where the Saviour was baptized at his first advent shall be conspicuous for its beauty and fertility.

In expectation of these things believers are commanded to be strong, to endure patiently till the time of Christ’s appearing, as also saith St. Peter: “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet. 1:13.)

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Robert Govett, ibid,.

In the time of trouble that shall try all the saints before the coming of the Saviour, the motive for patience is his speedy appearing “Behold, your God shall come with vengeance, Even God himself with recompense shall come and save us.”

Thus St. James prophetically encourages believers. (James 5:5-8.)

At his coming diseases and disorders shall depart, of which the Saviour gave a type at his first sojourn on earth, by his “opening the eyes of the blind, and unstopping the ears of the deaf, and bidding the lame man leap as a hart.” For, that the accomplishment of the prophecy did not take place, except partially in the point alluded to, is evident from this, that Christ did not come “with vengeance or recompense,” as he expressly declared that he came at that time, not to judge, but to save the world. The blessings of the earth, renovated as the garden of Eden, are described in the fifth and sixth verses. After which the joys of the redeemed, in “being ever with the Lord,” are specially insisted on, with the absence of everything that could affright or annoy; and the locality of their joy is specified as being Mount Zion. “The cause of the security and steadfastness” (then felt), remarks Jerome, “is, that Christ shall come, to whom the Father hath committed all judgement, and he shall render to every man according to his work.” * * *112

XXXVI. Sennacherib Invades Judah. {Historical Interlude ~ The Book of Hezekiah.(chapters 36-39)} 1 - Sennacherib invades Judah. ~ 4 - Rabshakeh sent by Sennacherib, by blasphemous persuasions solicits the people to revolt. ~ 22 - His words are told to Hezekiah. ¶ Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.

And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field. Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah’s son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph’s son, the recorder. ¶ And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost tho u trust, that thou rebellest against me? Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. But if thou sa y t o m e, We t rust in the LO RD our God: is it not h e , whose hig h places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for

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Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED,.

horsemen? And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. ¶ Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews’ language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall. ¶ But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you? Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be ab le to deliver y ou . Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not. ¶ Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

Isaiah 36–39 is essentially identical to 2 Kings 18:13–20:19. Also see 2 Chronicles 32:1-33.

Isaiah 39 is essentially the same as 2 Kings 20:12-19. No explanation is given as to why the compiler of 2 Kings simply copied in 2 Kings 18–20 most of Isaiah’s account in Isaiah 36–39. {maybe that’s why it’s in the prophets} Whatever may have been the practical reasons for this duplication, as well as many similar duplications in the parallel accounts in the books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles, the Holy Spirit was ultimately responsible because all of it was given by inspiration (2 Timothy 3:16). Perhaps His reasons were more applicable to the ancient readers of the as-yet-incomplete Scriptures than to us. There is also pedagogical merit in repetition in different settings. In any case, we can rest assured that the divine Author has good reason, whether or not we understand it yet.

The invasion of Judah by the Assyrians began in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign. Eight years earlier (2 Kings 18:10, 11), Israel had fallen to the Assyrians and had been carried captive into Assyria. Although Shalmanezer initiated the siege of Samaria, Assyrian records indicate that he was murdered.

His brother Sargon then became the king who finally took Israel into captivity. An inscription in Sargon’s palace even states the actual number of Israelites that he carried into Assyria. Shalmanezer, king of Assyria when Israel was first besieged, had died before his campaign was finished, and Sargon II had finished the conquest. Then Sargon had died and was succeeded by his son Sennacherib, who wanted to take Judah also. Interestingly, Sargon is only mentioned once in the Bible by name (Isaiah 20:1). Although it is not mentioned specifically, this invasion no doubt caused many refugees from the northern kingdom to flee south into Judah, a factor which would have contributed still further to the permanent representation of all twelve tribes of Israel in the land of Judah. Because of Hezekiah’s revival, however, the wicked Assyrian hordes would not be allowed by God to conquer Judah as they had Israel.

Until this time, the Assyrians had been so occupied with conquering Israel and other nations in the region that Hezekiah had been able more or less to ignore them. His father Ahaz had tried unsuccessfully to bribe Tiglath-Pileser into an alliance, paying much tribute in the process (2 Chronicles 28:21), but Hezekiah had “rebelled against the king of Assyria (2 Kings 18:7). In Hezekiah’s fourteenth year, however, the Assyrians were ready to attack Jerusalem and Judah (2 Kings 18:13).

As his father had done, Hezekiah attempted now to pay belated tribute to Sennacherib, but this was not what the Assyrian wanted (2 Kings 18:14-16).

Probably the latter was expecting eventually to invade Egypt and would need to control Judah to do so. The Assyrian records left by Sennacherib confirm this payment of tribute to the Assyrian monarch by King Hezekiah.

Remains of Hezekiah’s outer wall have been excavated in recent times, thus confirming still further the historicity of the Biblical records.

In 2 Chronicles 32:7, {which usually fills in details of a more “esoteric” nature or God’s point of view, it mentions} “more with us.” Hezekiah had perhaps heard or read about Elisha’s host and the miraculous deliverance of Samaria. These names are actually titles. Tartan, Rabsaris and Rabshakeh mean, respectively, “Tribute Officer,” “Chief Eunuch” and “Chief Butler.” conduit of the upper pool.

Ironically (or providentially), this was the same location where Ahaz had received, and then ignored, the testimony of the prophet Isaiah some thirty years before, even including the great promise of the coming virgin birth of the Messiah, Immanuel (Isaiah 7:3, 10-14). fuller’s field. The field where cloth was cleaned and bleached.

The Syrian language was Aramaic, which was only then beginning to be used as an international language in the Middle East. The Jews’ language, of course, was Hebrew. his own vine. The Assyrians were not only grossly cruel and licentious but also bold liars. The Jews were well aware that these tempting promises would be completely ignored if they surrendered. The vicious treatment of other peoples captured by the Assyrians was well known. Note also the obvious lie that the Lord

had told them to destroy their land (2 Kings 18:25). gods of the nations. This equating of “the God of Jerusalem,” who is the true God of creation, with “the gods of the people of the earth,” who are evil spirits and whose images are mere constructs of men’s hands or men’s philosophical speculations, is actually blasphemy, and such action cannot go unpunished forever. It is forbidden in the very first of God’s Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-5). The Jews well knew, despite the arrogant and obscene boasting of Rabshakeh that “the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens” (Psalm 96:5).

In 2 Kings 19 is the first mention of Isaiah in the books of Kings. However, he had been prophesying in Judah for some forty years, ever since the days of King Uzziah (Isaiah 1:1). This is the second mention of “the remnant” (Hebrew sherith) in the Bible. The first was in Genesis 45:7, when Joseph assured his brothers that God had sent him to preserve for them a “posterity” in the earth. The doctrine of the remnant is prominent in the writings of Isaiah and the other prophets. Note also 2 Kings 19:31, as well as Romans 11:5 in the New Testament. Even among God’s chosen people, as well as among professing “Christians” in this age, there is always only a “little flock” (Luke 12:32) that inherit the kingdom. spread it before the Lord. The Lord certainly did not need to read the blasphemous letter of the Assyrian king in order to know what it contained.

Nevertheless, it pleases Him when we “remind” Him of His promises and of our dependence on Him. The cherubims at Eden’s gate (Genesis 3:24) and their replicas over the mercy-seat in the tabernacle (Hebrews 9:5) indicated the presence of God as He came to meet with His people on earth. We can, like Hezekiah, enter His presence on His heavenly throne through the amazing privilege of prayer.

Despite the insulting blasphemies of Rabshakeh, insinuating that Jehovah was only one “god” among the many “gods” of the heathen, Hezekiah realized (as should we!) that He is the very Creator of the universe. When “the heathen rage” against the God of creation, as Sennacherib did, and as modern humanists do, we need not be fearful; God knows all about it and will eventually “have them in derision” (Psalm 2:1, 4).This prophecy was literally fulfilled later when Sennacherib was slain by two of his own sons (2 Kings 19:36-37). This event is also found described in an Assyrian inscription. For two years the people of Judah would be sustained by the natural growth from crops previously planted. Then the Assyrians would suddenly depart (2 Kings 19:36) and then they could resume normal farming operations.

A number of naturalistic explanations have been proffered in an attempt to account for this extraordinary event, but none can suffice. The sudden death of 185,000 soldiers without assistance from any human or other natural agency cannot possibly be explained except as a supernatural event. The phrase “the angel of the Lord” commonly applies to a theophany, God Himself (in the person of the pre-incarnate Christ) manifesting Himself in this capacity. He who is the Giver of

all life can surely take it away. An account of Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah and siege of Jerusalem has been found on an Assyrian clay prism. The famous “Sennacherib Prism” contains the boast of Sennacherib that he had conquered forty-six cities of Judah. However, he only could claim that he had “besieged” Hezekiah like a “caged bird” in Jerusalem. It mentions Hezekiah but, significantly, says nothing about his own catastrophic defeat at Jerusalem. His assassination by his sons (2 Kings 19:7, 36-37) is mentioned in another Assyrian inscription.113

XXXVII. Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Help.

1 - Hezekiah mourning, sends to Isaiah to pray for them. ~ 6 - Isaiah comforts them. ~ 8 Sennacherib, going to encounter Tirhakah, sends a blasphemous letter to Hezekiah. ~ 14 Hezekiah’s prayer. ~ 21 - Isaiah his prophecy of the pride, and destruction of Sennacherib, and the good of Zion. ~ 36 - An angel slays the Assyrians. ~ 37 - Sennacherib is slain at Nineveh by his own sons. ¶ And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not streng th t o b ring fort h. It m ay be the LO RD thy God w ill hea r the w ords of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left. So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ¶ And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. ¶ So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. An d when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? ¶ And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the 113

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kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth. Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God. Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, a nd their countries, And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O LO RD our G od, sa ve us from his hand, that a ll the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only. ¶ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria: This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast tho u exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel. I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places. Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps. Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up. But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this. Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the L O R D . F o r I w i l l d e f e n d t h i s c i t y t o s a v e i t f o r m i n e o w n s a k e , a n d f o r m y servant David’s sake.

Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. ¶ So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pa ss, a s h e wa s w orshipping in the house of Nisroch his g od, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 36 & 37 If it be inquired why the two chapters under discussion were twice inserted in Holy Scripture, - once in the history of the Kings, and once in the prophecies of Isaiah, the just answer would probably be, that they have both an historical and a predictive force. In one point of view they are a part of the history of the Jewish nation; and in another, they refer onward to a time and circumstances which shall nearly resemble them. So nearly, indeed, do the times and destinies of the Man of Sin accord therewith, that prophecies which speak of the final overthrow of the last “destroyer of the Gentiles,” have been supposed to be fulfilled in the destruction of Sennacherib.

Let us, then, endeavour to gather up and present in one view those parts of the history before us which have a predictive force, in which Sennacherib and Rabshakeh and Hezekiah stand only in the light of types.

First, then, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, is the type of the Great Assyrian, whom the Lord shall tread under foot on the mountains of Israel. With him, through terror of his vast power, Hezekiah made an effort to be reconciled; and paid, as the price of his friendship, “three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold.” Yet, in spite of the agreement, Sennacherib “came up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.” Herein, therefore, he was a type of him who after his league made with Israel, shall yet “break his covenant,” and, coming stealthily and secretly upon the cities of Judaea, shall seize and destroy them, as has been already illustrated from Ezekiel. But the chief point of Sennacherib’s attack was Jerusalem, as it shall be that of the usurping king hereafter. Arrived at that city, he sends Rabshakeh, with an insulting, boastful, and blasphemous message, to the king of Israel. Now, of what is Rabshakeh a type? Doubtless of the “False Prophet” who is seen, in Rev. 13.,to play so conspicuous a part in bringing all men into subjection to “the Beast.” Of this false prophet it is said, that “he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first Beast before him, and causeth the earth, and them which dwell therein, to worship the first Beast!” (Rev. 13:11-12.) This is precisely what Rabshakeh does in the instance before us. He utters insolence, blasphemy, and boasting - “he spake as a dragon;” and “the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, unto king Hezekiah, with a great army,” – “he exerciseth all the power of the first Beast.”

The next feature of strong resemblance is the boasting and blasphemous message to Hezekiah. Multitudes of passages attest that proud blasphemy shall be the peculiar characteristic of the last ages, and especially of Antichrist. Thus Psalm 52., “Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, thou mighty man? The goodness of God endureth continually. Thy tongue deviseth mischief, like a sharp razor” (compare Is. 7:20, where the Assyrian is also compared to a ‘razor;’) “working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good, and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou false tongue.”

His predicted end, in the next verses, sufficiently corroborates this conclusion. Such is also the testimony of Psalm 12 with regard to the times of Antichrist generally. But Daniel’s attestation to the pride and blasphemy of the Man of Sin in particular, is full and explicit. He had a “mouth speaking great things.” “Because of the great words which the horn spake, I beheld even till the Beast was slain.” “And he shall speak great words against the Most High.” (Dan. 7:8, 11, 25.) “He shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods.” (Dan. 11:36.) Similarly St. John: “There was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and

blasphemies and he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.” (Rev. 13:5, 6.) Observe also, how he exalts himself, as St. Paul foretold his antitype should, “above every God:” “Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?” (Isa. 36:18.) But one special point of his boasting is the many nations he had destroyed. This feature of the Wilful King has been presented before, with great distinctness and beauty, in the tenth chapter of Isaiah (Isa. 10:7-14). Another point of resemblance is the intended captivity of Israel in general, and of Jerusalem in particular, which is declared by the speech of Rabshakeh to the Jews of the city. This captivity shall be actually accomplished by the Wilful King, as Zechariah testifies: “And half of the city shall go into captivity.” (Zech. 14:2.) Such is also the prediction of our Lord: “And they shall be led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles (the three years and a half) shall be fulfilled.” (Luke 21:24.)

But at that time the Jews shall return and repent, and their prayer and humiliation, typified by the prayer and humility of Hezekiah, shall bring down a gracious answer, as the prayer of Hezekiah received the glorious prophecy of Jehovah by the mouth of Isaiah. That prophecy notes, first, that God used Sennacherib solely as his instrument, and that his mighty deeds were only because the Almighty for their iniquities had given the nations into his hand.

Parallel with this is the declaration in the tenth chapter of Isaiah already referred to. “Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither does his heart think so,” and the noble rebuke of his vain boasting is added, in which God compares his pride to the axe exalting itself against him that heweth therewith. He shall resemble him also in the deception he shall himself experience.

Sennacherib was drawn away from the attack of Jerusalem by a rumour that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, was come to fight against him. And even thus is it prophesied of the Great Destroyer. “But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him, and he shall go forth with great fury to destroy” (Dan. 11:41-44), and that too, after his having “entered into and overthrown the glorious land.” Still more particularly the rumour that deceived Sennacherib was caused by an evil spirit, “I will send a spirit upon him.” Thus Procopius, - “I will send a spirit upon him by whom he shall be deluded and return.” And this was exemplified in the case of Ahab, whose prophets and himself were deceived by an evil spirit commissioned by Jehovah to delude both him and them. This deceiving spirit is Satan, as it is written, “Set thou an ungodly one (not ‘man’) over him, and let Satan stand at his right hand.” (Psalm 109:6, which see.) So in the thirteenth of Revelation, which describes him minutely, it is said, “The dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.”

(Rev. 13:2.) But it may be objected, if Satan thus uphold, how can he deceive him? Be it answered, that all this generosity on Satan’s part is only to serve his own ends, and that he knows what will be the fearful result to his miserable dupe, when he shall turn upon him, and by the commission of God become his tormentor, as it is well said of him that he is “First a tempter, then an accuser.”

Next follows in the 30th and following verses of the consolatory message to Hezekiah, a prophecy of the continued prosperity of Israel from the time of his destruction, which has yet to be fulfilled when the Assyrian of future times shall be destroyed. Then the remnant of Judah shall blossom and fill the face of the world with fruit.

The last point of evident and especial resemblance is the sudden destruction of the Assyrian’s host by night, to the amount of 185,000 men. This was effected, we are told, by “The Angel” (or messenger) of the Lord, a name referring so evidently to Christ in many passages, that no proof is here attempted. In like manner shall take place the slaughter of the armies of Antichrist so often noticed above: the Lord shall go forth and suddenly destroy them, coming upon them “as a thief in the night.” * * *114

XXXVIII. Hezekiah Healed. {Hezekiah’s Sickness} 1 - Hezekiah, having received a message of death, by prayer has his life lengthened. ~ 8 - The sun goes ten degrees backward, for a sign of that promise. ~ 9 - His song of thanksgiving. ¶ In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. ¶ Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city. And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken; Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down. ¶ The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness: I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years. I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall beho ld man no more with the inhabitants of the world. Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.

What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul. O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.

Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: 114

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the father to the children shall make known thy truth. The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD. For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover. Hezekiah also had s aid, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?

In those days.

This phrase probably includes the whole period of Hezekiah’s involvement with the Assyrians. This is the only place in the Bible where a righteous man was told by God that he had only a short time to live, and there must be a reason for it. The most likely reason was God’s expression of disapproval of Hezekiah’s compromise in giving the gold and silver in the temple to Sennacherib in the unsuccessful hope that this would keep him from invading Judah. Then when Hezekiah prayed—probably including repentance and confession—God not only healed him but promised to deliver the city from the threatened invasion by the Assyrians (2 Kings 20:6).

This would mean that the events of 2 Kings 20:1-11 had actually occurred before the events of 2 Kings 18:17– 19:37. the boil. Presumably this boil would have developed an infection that would have proved fatal, had God not intervened miraculously, using a poultice of figs as symbolic of His healing touch. ten degrees backward. sing my songs. On the possibility that these songs of Hezekiah have been preserved in the book of Psalms, see notes on Psalms 120–134. The fifteen songs of degrees are the “songs of degrees,” fifteen short psalms supposedly sung by pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem to sacrifice and worship in the temple. Five psalms were written by David (Psalms 122, 124, 127, 131, 133); the other ten are anonymous. It could well be that Hezekiah was the author, as the word “degrees” (which appears in each superscript) is the same as the “degrees” on the dial of Ahaz (Isaiah 38:8). As a sign to King Hezekiah that He would add fifteen years to his life, God had supernaturally caused the shadow on the sun dial to go back ten degrees (Isaiah 38:5,7). In commemoration of this gracious miracle, Hezekiah promised to “sing my songs...all the days of our life in the house of the LORD” (Isaiah 38:20). It would be appropriate for him to compose ten songs, one for each degree moved by the shadow, then add five of David’s songs to make fifteen, one for each year added to his life. The word for “degrees” actually means “stairs.” The unique “dial” of Ahaz evidently indicated the time of day by the particular step which the shadow had reached on a flight of stairs. The method of producing this remarkable miracle is enigmatic. If the reference to “the wonder that was done in the land (2 Chronicles 32:31) was meant to apply to this miracle rather than to the destruction of Sennacherib’s army, it would suggest a local, rather than worldwide, phenomenon. There is no reference to atmospheric disturbances, which would probably be severe if the earth had reversed its rotation for a time (note the storm associated with Joshua’s long day, as reported in Joshua 10:11-14), nor is there any corresponding account found in the ancient astronomical records of other nations, as in the case of Joshua’s long day. The dynamics of this miracle—causing the sun’s shadow somehow to reverse itself in this particular location—must remain unknown, but the Creator who made the sun and its radiations and the media through which they must pass in reaching the earth is fully able to control them to accomplish the desired result.115

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 38 In this account of Hezekiah’s sickness and recovery there is no particular difficulty. Its prophetic import is, probably, that his sentence of death and recovery typifies the death of the righteous, according to the sentence on Adam, and their resurrection at the appearance of Christ. Hence his song of recovery has a probable reference to its future use by the risen saints.

The reason of Hezekiah’s affliction, as the rabbies say, was because after so mighty a deliverance as God vouchsafed him, he did not compose a song of thanks, as did Deborah, Moses, and David. His great fear of death is also accounted for by Jerome and Eusebius on the consideration that as yet he had no son; hence his hope that the Messiah should spring 115

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from his family was cut off. For as Jerome remarks, after his death, which occurred fifteen years after, Manasseh his son was only twelve years of age, whence it follows that he was born in the third year of Hezekiah’s restored life.

His song describes his despair because he should “not see the salvation of God (or the Saviour of God) in the land of the living.” This is of no private interpretation, but refers to the Church at large. A like feeling was experienced by the ancient Christian Church. After St. Paul had declared that Christ was speedily to come, the Thessalonian believers mourned over those who died, because they would not be witnesses of Christ’s coming in glory, nor obtain their reward “in the land of the living,” that is, amongst the elect in his kingdom.

In his Epistle to that Church, therefore, St. Paul meets this very difficulty, and dissipates it: “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

{Paul} shows that, so far from the dead saints not being participants of Christ’s glory, those living at his coming should not even “prevent” or get the start of them; but that “the dead in Christ should rise first;” “then they which are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet him in the air, and so be ever with the Lord. Wherefore,” saith he, “comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thess. 4:13-18.)

Now as the command to Abraham to slay Isaac, and his intention to do so, rendered that act a figure of the resurrection of the dead, “from whence also he received him in a figure,” so God’s command to Hezekiah to prepare for death, and his sentence to that effect, renders his recovery a just figure of the death and resurrection of our Surety Christ Jesus, and of his people through him. But the resemblance as regards the Lord Jesus is yet more exact, Hezekiah was told that he should recover “the third day,” and “go up to the house of the Lord.” How evident, then, that the Spirit intended Hezekiah, that king of matchless piety, to be a type of the Saviour! The very words in which his character is couched are also applicable to the Messiah, Christ Jesus. “He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him were none like him among all the kings of Judah (‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews’), nor any that were before him. For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, as the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him.” (2 Kings 18:5-6.) Surely a greater than Hezekiah is here, one who, in all the strictness of the expression, fulfilled the commands of Moses, and swerved not one jot from cleaving to the Lord! The Saviour’s rising again “the third day,” was intimated by the recovery of Hezekiah on that day, as at a former time the same truth was intimated by the three days {cf. Gen. 22:1-4} that elapsed between the sentence on Isaac (who was from that time legally dead in the sight of Abraham. and of God), till the Most High, in both instances, restored the life he claimed.

But the reader will trace its further application for himself, as some remarks must now be made on its applicability to believers in general. The first part of the ode describes the

risen believer’s desire for the kingdom of Christ, his death before its appearance, and his desire even whilst in the state [and place] of the dead: as we read in the Revelation, of “the souls under the altar” crying to God, “How long, O Lord, holy, just, and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” which vengeance, as we have seen, is to take place at Christ’s coming.

The 16th verse records the answer to this prayer, “O Jehovah, respecting this did I tell thee, And thou didst raise up my spirit.

Thou hast rescued my soul that it should not perish, And thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.”

Here, then, the saint praises God in Christ Jesus, because his spirit and soul are rescued from Hades, and his body from the grave, and because his sins are thereby shown to be utterly forgotten of God. “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: over such the second death (that of sin) hath no power,” because their sins are forgiven.

As regards the statement that those “in Hades will not praise God, nor can those that go down to the pit hope for God’s mercy,” this, understood of those times, presents a strong confirmation of the above interpretation. For at that time the “dead in Christ” shall all rise and be delivered from Hades, while they that are left there, will be the wicked dead alone, and they who at that time “go down to the pit,” will be the servants of the Man of Sin, whom Christ will slay at his coming. Just such is also the statement of Psalm 115. After affirming the vanity of idols, with especial reference to those of Antichrist, the risen saints mention the blessedness they have received from Jehovah Christ, and then add, “The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence. But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and for evermore.” Even thus does Hezekiah in this place, after speaking of the Impossibility of the dead expecting the mercy of God, subjoin, “The living, the living, he shall praise thee as I do.” * * *116

“Certain Biblical statements {seem to} prove the unconsciousness of the dead.”

—Most of these statements may be found in the poetry of the Old Testament—e. g., Eccl. 9:10; Isa. 38:18, 19; Ps. 6:6; 30:10; 115:17; 146:4. But in these passages the change which death makes in one’s relations to the present world is spoken of. The work of the artisan is arrested, the voice of the singer is hushed, the sceptre of the king falls. The body returns to the dust, and the praise of God in this world ceases forever. But there is one passage which seems to go further than this. In Ps. 88:10–12, we read these words (Revised Version): “Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? Shall they that are deceased (= the shades) arise and praise thee? Shall thy loving-kindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction? Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?” Yet the context (read vs. 3–7, 15–17) shows that Heman looks upon himself as suffering the extreme displeasure of God. If the divine wrath continues to burn, he can see nothing before him but the depths of Sheol, a home with the lost after death. From that dark and silent realm he imagines all interest in the works of God among men, and all participation in his praise, to be cut off. ... It appears, then, upon careful examination, that none of the objections which are urged against the

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consciousness of departed spirits are at all conclusive. It must therefore stand as the testimony of Holy Scripture that the souls of men are alive and active after death.117

XXXIX. Hezekiah Shows His Treasures.

1 - Merodach-baladan sending to visit Hezekiah because of the wonder, has notice of his treasures. ~ 3 - Isaiah understanding thereof, foretells the Babylonian captivity. ¶ At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladen, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered. And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his prec ious t hing s, the silv er, a nd the g old, a nd the spice s, a nd the preciou s ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not. ¶ Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon. Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them. ¶ Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.

in my days.

This is supposed to be the end of the writings of the “first Isaiah,” with the “second Isaiah” being the author of the later chapters. However, this idea is a humanistic invention, with no warrant in the Hebrew text itself.

Even the Dead Sea Scrolls, in common with other extant texts of the Hebrew Scriptures, show no break at 118 all between Isaiah 39 and 40.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 39 After the recovery of Hezekiah, the king of Babylon and his wise men, struck with astonishment at the preternatural lengthening of the day, which they could not account for upon astronomical principles, sent messengers and a present to him to congratulate him on his restored life, and to inquire of him the reason of the miracle which was exhibited on his behalf. This had a tendency to tempt Hezekiah to pride, as being the subject of a special embassy and inquiry on the part of so great a king as the king of Babylon. In this time of trial he fell; vain-gloriously puffed up, he showed the ambassadors all his greatness and treasures, that they might marvel rather at himself than at the God who had done such great things for him. But his rebuke was nigh at hand. The prophet Isaiah was sent to predict that all the

117 118

Alvah Hovey, Biblical Eschatology, (Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1888), 95.

Henry M. Morris, Morris Bible Notes,.

treasures and glory of his house, yea, and his sons also, should be carried captive to Babylon; which was fulfilled in the days of Nebuchadnezzar.

Hezekiah is, therefore, presented to us as another instance of the frailty of man. But the lesson is beautifully expanded to the plenitude of the believer’s experience under the Gospel, by the concluding remark of the inspired writer of the Chronicles: “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death, and prayed unto the Lord, and he spake unto him, and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him, for his heart was lifted up: therefore was there wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah. Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.” (2 Chronicles 32:24-26, 31.) We are here introduced, therefore, to the reason, or, more strictly speaking, to the occasion of his fall.

God withdrew his Holy Spirit - the “Spirit of grace,” that is, bestowed according to his free pleasure, being a gift, which can be claimed of original right by none. And that grace withdrawn, vain man, left to his own inherent strength, falls at once. How necessary, then, to pray that we be “not led into temptation!”* How merciful the promise to the believer, that no trial shall seize him greater than the grace given him; and withal, a way opened for escape! {Mt. 6:13; 1Cor. 10:13} [* See also Psa. 51:10-12: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit in my inward parts. Cast me not away from thy presence; and remove not thy holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of thy salvation: establish me with thy directing Spirit.” LXX.] * * *119

Part 2: Isaiah chapters 40—66: “The Comfort of God for All Nations.”

“That we will better understand the grace of God extended to all nations and realize the special place Israel has as God’s covenant nation.” ...Nevertheless there are those of whom I can affirm that they will have a second chance. ... The Jewish Nation will have a second chance. Isa. 40—66; and Rom. 9—11. 2. At least ninety per cent of the actual ;membership of the Christian Church of this dispensation will sorely need a second chance; and they will get it.

Not a second chance for the gift of eternal life, nor yet a second chance for the prize; but a second chance to fit themselves for the presence of a Holy God. Heb. 12:14. But by the time they are ready for such high honor the Messianic Kingdom proper shall have run its course.120 {See also: He “made a Marriage-Feast for His Son”}

119 120

Robert Govett, ibid. ibid, from “Chapter 5: Human Destiny or the Sheep and the Goats; A Gospel of Sanctified Optimism.”

Because the Lord and King will remove a New Testament churches candlestick.

As the office of His Holy Spirit in all kingdom activities (John 14:23-26; Acts 1:47,8;2:1-4,16-19; Revelation 2:5); this effectively leaves each member shut out (Matthew 25:10-13), cast out (Matthew 22:11-14) and beaten with stripes accordingly: thus He will burn up (Matthew 13:30) or “will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers” those that do not love Him (Luke 12:46-49; 2Timothy 4:4-7,8; John 14:15-18) and His people (Matthew 25:44-46), at the Judgment seat of Christ (1Peter 4:15-19) on His Return (Luke 12:31-53; 1Corinthians 3:13-16). ** NOTE: In our LORD'S final commands & warnings for those who are to "occupy" His kingdom,(Luke 19:13; Revelation 2; 3) in what we nowadays would call a “Risk Assessment / Management / Missions” statement(or maybe a “State of the Kingdom” address); He said, and in order of priority, I believe FIRST: “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”-- Rev. 2:4-5. Isn't it obvious that Israel is His "First Love"? Shouldn't we love what He loves and hate what He hates? Maybe it's high time to reevaluate our Jewish outreach programs--if we have any. YA THINK???121

“I Ams” in the Second Book of Isaiah (None in the First Book).

Twenty-eight others, for a total of thirty-five.122 {5 (Grace) x 7 (Perfection) = 35 (Hope)}  I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he. (Isaiah 41:4).  Yea, before the day was I am he (Isaiah 43:13).  I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. (Isaiah 43:25).  I am the LORD that maketh all things (Isaiah 44:24).  And even to your old age I am he (Isaiah 46:4).  I, even I, am he that comforteth you (Isaiah 51:12).  I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. (Isaiah 60:16).

XL. Greatness of God. {The Purpose of Peace.} 1 - The promulgation of the Gospel. ~ 3 - The preaching of John Baptist. ~ 9 - The preaching of the Apostles. ~ 12 - The Prophet by the omnipotency of God, ~ 18 - and his incomparableness, ~ 26 - comforts the people. ¶ Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Spea k y e com fo r t a b ly t o Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.

Take the GOSPEL to the JEWS, This slightly edited piece is from: "Must Read - Articles” of: ©1997-2011 Hope Of Israel Baptist Mission, Inc. | PO Box 1700 | Powder Springs, GA 30127 USA; A List of Most Famous Messianic Jews; Introduction to The Collected Writings of Rabbi Isaac Lichtenstein (1824-1909); Why I Believe that Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah; 2011 and “ISRAEL MY GLORY” Israel’s Mission, and Missions to Israel by John Wilkinson The Founder and Director of the Mildmay Mission to the Jews; accessed July 2011. See also: The 3 Stages of the Kingdom~Church~Bride of Our Lord Christ,.

122 Henry M. Morris, Morris Bible Notes,.

121

¶ The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as t he flow er of the field: T he g ra ss w ithereth, the flower fa deth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. ¶ O Zion, tha t b ri ng est g ood tid ing s , g et thee up into the hig h mount a i n; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.  He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.  ¶ Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very l i t t l e t h i n g . A n d L eb a non i s n o t s u f f i c i e n t t o b u r n , n o r t h e b e a s ts t h e r e o f sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. ¶ To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. ¶ Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

¶ Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they tha t w a it upon the LORD sha ll renew their streng th; they sha ll mount up w ith wings as eagles; they shall run, and not b e weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 40 This chapter is signalized by being thrice quoted in the New Testament; and inspired quotations are of singular service in enabling the interpreter to discover whether his explanation is correct.

The first is that in Matt. 3., who declares that the passage (ver. 3, 4) was fulfilled in the preaching of John the Baptist in the wilderness of Judaea. The Baptist also himself declared that this was his ministry to those sent from the National Council to inquire the nature of his mission. But there is much in the prophecy which will not admit of the supposition that either the whole of it, or even the passage above referred to, received its final accomplishment then.

For, first, it arises as a fatal objection to any that would so interpret it, that it foretells Jerusalem’s “humiliation as accomplished, and her sin pardoned,” while her greatest humiliation had yet to take place, and her greatest sin to be committed. The same proof is further strengthened by another equally powerful arising from verse 10; for Christ at his first appearing did not come with might or sovereignty, nor bestow his reward, but was beheld in the feebleness of infancy, and at that time only committed the talents to his servants, leaving the recompensing of their deeds to his second coming.

Whence we conclude that in this chapter, as in many, indeed in most prophecies of the Saviour’s appearance, his first and second advents are closely bound up together. But the prediction here bears principal reference to the second; which will be seen as we proceed.

For then Jerusalem shall be comforted, and her “humiliation” then and then only, accomplished, and “her iniquity pardoned,” when she acknowledges Jesus of Nazareth as her Messiah.

So also as John Baptist heralded the first coming of Christ “in the spirit and power of Elias,” shall Elijah himself herald the second coming in conjunction with Enoch [or possibly Moses]: as it is written of him, “Behold, I will send unto you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.” (Mal. 4:5.) And he shall cry “in the wilderness” as one of the Two Witnesses: for thither shall the Jewish Church be driven, as we have seen in the remarks on chap. 16. This testimony is confirmed by the twelfth of the Apocalypse, where we read that the woman (the Jewish Church) “fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days” (the three years and a half of the reign of Antichrist). In the desert, therefore, (as well as in Jerusalem, where they are represented as standing in chapter 11.,) shall the Two Witnesses, and Elijah in particular, declare the speedy second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. The second voice that is commanded to cry is, therefore, that of Enoch - translated as well as Elijah - that he should not see death till he hath been brought again to suffer it at the hands of the Man of Sin. The testimony of this witness is, that all the attempts of man to render void the promises of God are futile and vain, and that the Wilful King and

all his collected host shall fail when once the Spirit of God bloweth upon it. But though heaven and earth fail, “the word of the Lord shall endure for ever, and the thoughts of his heart from generation to generation.” This passage is adduced by St. Peter soon after the verse mentioned in a former part, in which he exhorts them to hope for the blessedness of Christ’s appearing. He then justly contrasts the permanence of the word of God above the thoughts of man by observing, that the design of God in the manifestation of Christ was “foreordained before the foundation of the world.” Thus majestic is the foreknowledge of God from all eternity! Set side by side with such counsels, what is man? The insect of a day!

Generation after generation must pass away before Christ should appear the first time; generation after generation must, in the counsels of God, pass away before his second coming in glory. Well, therefore, may he compare the short-lived duration of the one, with the permanence of the good tidings (…) of the word of God both in the Old Testament and the New; a counsel which, as it began from all eternity in the foreknowledge of God, so shall it last to all eternity in its execution. These good tidings of Christ’s second coming the witnesses above spoken of shall then proclaim to Jerusalem, as John the Baptist proclaimed those of the first advent. John the Baptist spoke of Christ in his first character of meekness as “the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world,” answering to the well known description of the Saviour given in the 11th verse, as “feeding his flock like a shepherd.” This the Lord applied to himself in his beautiful parable of the shepherd and his flock.

But he has yet to be proclaimed as the “Lord Jehovah coming with might, when his arm shall rule with sovereignty, and his reward be with him, and the work of every man before him,” words which, as Eusebius perceived, must be spoken of his second appearing.

Then shall also his gracious character of a shepherd be manifested in its full blessedness to his risen saints, and the inhabitants of the world living under his rule.

The greatness and Divine Majesty of the Lord Jesus is then set forth, in his creation of the world, and the augustness of his presence, before whom “all nations are the drop of a bucket.”

The depth of his understanding who is the Wisdom of God, is next announced in the bold and sublime verses quoted by St. Paul “Who hath known the mind of JEHOVAH? Or who hath been his counsellor?

Or who hath first given to him?

And it shall be recompensed to him again!”

In the first of these questions, the depth of his plans is implied as far beyond the comprehension of any created being, so that, if we find difficulties therein, it becomes us to wonder and adore. In the two last clauses, his sovereign right as Creator - the bestower of all benefits, the receiver of none, is set forth; on the ground of which he justly challenges the absolute right of disposing of them as he pleases.

Such being his majesty, with what force of argument and eloquence is he contrasted with the pitiful image of dumb and motionless wood, to which the blinded idolater would liken him! In the 23rd verse, his power in “bringing princes to nought,” alludes to the overthrow of the Anti-christian faction. Indeed the whole picture is designed with a special view to the encouragement of the believers, in particular those of the Jewish Church, in their last great conflict with the enemy, when their faith is almost failing, because they see the

wicked in such prosperity, and themselves as sheep appointed for slaughter, and shall almost begin to conclude that God has forsaken the earth; a state of mind which is beautifully and prophetically depicted in the seventy-third Psalm, to which the reader is referred. Still, in spite of their trials, that they should think that “their way is hidden from Jehovah,” is derogatory to his justice, and the truth of his promises. The Creator fainteth not, neither is weary; his plan from eternity once settled is never altered: in effecting it, “he fainteth not, neither is weary.” Nor can his wisdom, in thus severely trying the patience and faith of his saints, be understood by man. And if faith be ready to fail, he is able to strengthen it: the door stands always open: the believer is “to pray always and not to faint,” for “shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you, he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh shall he find [the] faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:7-8.) Yet the few that are found to believe, shall at the Saviour’s voice, “mount up with wings as eagles, shall run, and not be weary; shall walk, and not faint;” as saith the apostle in a verse quoted before, “Then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” * * *123

God Says We are to Comfort Israel.

“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem...” (Isaiah 40:1-2, KJV).

This prophetic word is a God-given mandate to Christians to offer comfort, encouragement, and emotional and financial support to the suffering House of Israel. If this Scripture is not for Christians then for whom? Nation after nation has turned its back on the Jewish people.

God said, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah cried out, “Here am I; send me.” The Lord is saying, one million praying Christians can win the war that is being fought right now in the Bible land.

Wake up, the mighty men; wake up, the mighty women! Wake up the Esthers and Nehemiahs! “But the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits” (Daniel 11:32, KJV).

We as Christians are called to show God’s love to the suffering House of Israel as Corrie ten Boom did.

25 years ago in September of 1986, I went to Holland, purchased and restored the ten Boom clock shop. It was opened as a witness of the love of Christians for the Jewish people. Corrie and her family saved 800 Jewish lives! As the Apostle Paul said, “concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:28-29).

If Christians who are able to bless the house of Israel withhold that blessing, especially by not reaching out toward those who are suffering from terrorist attacks such as the ones that happened during the Holocaust, how will Jews ever know that real Christians are different than those who name His name but kill Jews? To comfort the house of Israel is our duty, and our privilege.

“But when He saw the multitudes (the Jews), He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36) “But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations. Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.”(Psalm 102:12-13)124

Jehovah Jesus It would be impossible to thus present in one chapter the many thousands of occurrences of this name in the record of God’s dealings with men. We merely cite again the text previously quoted, “There is 123 124

Robert Govett, ibid.

Mike Evans, Why Christians Should Support Israel & Facts You Need to Know.

one mediator between God and men.” Since God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and His Person is unchanging regardless of the name He bears, Jesus was Jehovah {“the LORD” small caps in KJV} and Jehovah is Jesus. This alone would be sufficient proof to establish the deity of our Saviour.

When we thus state that Jesus is Jehovah, we must expect to present proof for this startling and significant statement. Such proofs are easy to produce. In fact they constitute one of the most entrancing series of studies to be found in the Bible.

We may begin such a study by noting how the New Testament apostles who knew the Lord Jesus Christ, applied the Jehovah texts of the Old Testament to His Person and works. The significance of this is seen when we remember that the apostles were godly Jews. The name of God was sacred to them, and they would never have been guilty of such blasphemy as applying the divine name to one who was purely human. Take your Bible and note how frequently the apostles cited the Old Testament passages describing Jehovah and applied them to the Person of Jesus.

The first text that we note is Isaiah 40:3: “¶ The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. ” The reader will note that the prophecy states that the God whose name is Jehovah is expected to visit the earth, and that He will be preceded by a forerunner. Now read what the apostle Matthew says in Matthew 3:3 {cf. John 1:23}: “For this is he that was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in he wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, Make his paths straight.”

Matthew thus states that the coming of John the Baptist as forerunner of Jesus was the final fulfillment of this prophecy of Isaiah. Therefore Jesus is the God whose name was Jehovah and of whom Isaiah was speaking.125

Isaiah 40:3–8, 13 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, And every mountain and hill shall be made low: And the crooked shall be made straight, And the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together: For the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: Because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: Surely the people is grass.

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: But the word of our God shall stand for ever. ... Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or being his counseller hath taught him?

“This is he that ...”

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. ... As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall 125

Harry Rimmer, THE MAGNIFICENCE OF JESUS: The Coming King.

prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. ... He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. ... As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. ... For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. ... For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? ... For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. 126 { We always hear “Blood before Water” i.e., trust in Jesus’ work to save you and not any works of your own, like getting baptized; but here He shows us “Water before Blood”—a “trail of blood”... “This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.” ~ 1John 5:6-9}

“And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.”

Under the judgment of the sixth seal (Revelation 6:12–14), the earthquakes were so great that “every mountain and island were moved out of their places.”

The earth’s crust became so unstable that, for a time at least, it was slipping across the deep mantle. The relative motion involved was such that, to people at certain points on the earth, “the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together.” The worldwide devastation was terrible.

Nevertheless, the mountains and islands (which are undersea mountains) were still in existence when the earth movements ceased. The topography was vastly changed, and many of the highest mountains had been broken up. The accelerated desiccation of lakes and rivers, and even ocean bodies, with the prolonged drought of the tribulation years, had contributed further to subsurface landsliding, so that submarine sediment deposition was occurring at the highest rate for thousands of years. The topography was rapidly being smoothed out, with the high elevations cut down and the deep basins filled up.

H. David Philipps, Old Testament Quotes in the New Testament. {Isaiah 40:3-8, 13 = Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:2–3; John 1:23; Luke 3:4–6; 1 Peter 1:24–25; Romans 11:34–35; 1 Corinthians 2:16 KJV}.

126

But what had been only a rapid change, now, {in Revelation 16:20}under this last great plague, will become cataclysmic. Before, the mountains and islands had only moved out of their places. Now, “every island fled away, and the mountains were not found!” The great mountains and islands of the world will vanish, with all their great masses of granite and limestone and sandstone broken up and transported to the bottom of the sea. The deep ocean basins, conversely, will be built up, thus restoring sea levels to their former higher elevations, but with much of their previous waters now elevated above the troposphere, spread out in a great canopy of water vapor as it had been back at the time of creation (Genesis 1:7).

These, indeed, were traumatic changes for those on the earth, both for the tremendous armies arrayed against Jerusalem in the great phalanx from Armageddon to Idumea, and also for the multitudes still scattered around all the continents. Nevertheless, the new effect of all these changes on the earth’s surface was ameliorative, preparing it for the beautiful environment of the millennial age soon to come.

The great prophecy of Isaiah was being fulfilled. “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it” (Isaiah 40:4-5). {see also Note on Exalted Zion and “Rivers in High Places”} The gentle rolling topography of the world as originally created will be restored. No more will there be great inaccessible, uninhabitable mountain ranges or deserts or ice caps. The physical environment of the millennium will be, in large measure, a restoration of the antediluvian environment. This is discussed more fully in Chapter 20. Though it will be of great benefit to the world’s future inhabitants, these terrestrial convulsions will be incredibly fearful to its present inhabitants.127

Did Not Jesus Pay for Our Sins at Calvary?

Jesus paid for all our sins, past, present and future, as far as eternal salvation is concerned. No sin can ever rob a believer of eternal life on the Last Day (after the millennium). Yet, there are sins that Christians commit as children of God. And God’s children are held accountable for their faults (if they do not confess their transgressions and seek mercy in fear). Almost all modern Christians allow Jesus the right to reward good works. Shall He not also reward the bad deeds? If Jesus is not free to judge unfaithfulness at the judgment seat, He is not free to judge it in this present life. Yet, almost all commentators admit that the Lord judges His saints in this life (1 Corinthians 11; Hebrews 12). The distinction in Scripture is therefore between temporary and eternal judgment. Christians can never be judged eternally for their sins since Jesus has paid the full price for them on the Cross. Yet, the sins of [regenerate] believers can bring 127

Henry M. Morris, The Revelation Record, (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 1983), 320–321.

temporal judgments, and the millennium is temporal. The forgiveness of sins in regard to believers is not automatic, and it must be maintained (Matthew 6:15; 18:35; 1 John 1:9). The God who measured the earth and waters in exact proportion (Isaiah 40:12) has also ordained the exact measure of chastisement for unfaithful saints. Yet, many claim that Jesus may chastise saints (and even kill them, as in 1 Corinthians 11:30) as long as He remains INVISIBLE to our physical eyes. However, if He APPEARS as JUDGE, they claim He is no longer allowed to cause harm or affliction. This idea is preposterous (Luke 12:46)!128

Science in the Bible.

The Bible offers many specific examples of amazingly accurate science, and science has uncovered many amazing evidences that the universe and earth are young, as the Bible describes.

Astronomy.

• Stars are innumerable (Genesis 22:17; Jeremiah 33:22) • Stars differ in glory (1 Corinthians 15:41) • Stars follow a predictable pattern (Jeremiah 31:35) • Earth is round, not flat (Isaiah 40:22; Psalm 103:12) • Earth hangs on nothing (not built on pillars) (Job 26:7) • Scientific evidence of a young universe: 1) Spiral galaxies 2) “Missing” supernova remnants 3) Short-lived comets 4) Moon moving away from Earth.129

“He restoreth my soul: ...” {Ps. 23:3} David, the shepherd Psalmist, is doubtless thinking of the refreshment that comes to the soul from browsing or meditating in the green pastures and by the still waters of the Word of GOD, and of the exhilaration and inspiration that comes from being alone with GOD with an open Bible and on bended knee. Every true child of GOD knows the strength and blessing that comes from such fellowship and communion. “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall; but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:30-31).

But the Psalmist is referring more particularly, perhaps, to the restoration of the soul from a spiritual lapse or backsliding, resulting from failure to “lie down.” We well know from what we have read regarding the Oriental shepherd life, that the shepherd must needs be a physician as well as a guide. A sheep is a most defenseless creature. A cat, horse, cow or a dog will defend itself -- a sheep cannot. Sheep have a genius for going wrong. A sheep is said to have less brains than any other animal of its size. If lost, it cannot find its way back unaided. A dog, a cat, a horse can, but not a sheep. “All we, like sheep, have gone astray.” If the Good Shepherd had not gone after us we would not have been in the fold today.

Have you ever looked into a sheep’s eyes? They look for all the world like glass eyes. A sheep can see practically nothing beyond ten or fifteen yards. It recognizes persons by sound and not by sight. JESUS said, “My sheep hear my voice; a stranger will they not follow, for they know not the voice of strangers.”130 J. D. Faust, The ROD: Will GOD Spare It? “The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.”

129 How Do We Know Anything Is True? An excerpted article by Andrew A. Snelling March 9, 2011 at AiG. 130 William Evans, THE SHEPHERD PSALM. 128

The Order of the March The journeying of Israel in the wilderness was governed by the pillar of cloud and fire. “At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud rested upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents. And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and journeyed not. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed. And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up they journeyed.” Numbers 9:18-23.

Let the reader study closely every word in this passage. It is full of meaning for us. The movements of the children of Israel were governed by the pillar of cloud and fire that abode upon the tabernacle. When it was God’s will for them to move on that cloud lifted from the tabernacle and moved on to the place where God wanted them to camp, and there it stopped. It might be lifted by day. It might be lifted by night. But whether day or night the children of Israel had to break camp and follow. So are we to be ready to follow the Spirit both when and where He leads. It is not ours, but His, to choose the time and place for us. If the cloud abode on the tabernacle the children of Israel were to abide where they were. They were not to take up and move of their own accord. The Lord determined whether they should go or stay. It is not ours to say when we go or when we stay.

All that is for the Lord to determine. The cloud might tarry two days, or a month, or a year, but however long it might tarry, or however short a period it might tarry, the movements of Israel were to be determined by the Lord. We may accomplish what the Lord has for us to do in a certain place in a short time. Again, it may take us a longer time. But whether long or short, we are to go or stay as His Spirit leads. To move when the cloud did not move was to be disobedient to the Lord. To stay when the cloud moved was also to be disobedient to the Lord.

Then another lesson we get out of this is that we sometimes serve the Lord better by not doing, than by doing. On the other hand we may serve better in doing, than in not doing. If the Spirit does not lead us to do, then we had better not do that thing. There is a great deal of so-called “Christian Activity” among us today that is just so much energy of the flesh and of the will of man. This amounts to less than nothing. It confuses, misleads, and destroys. There is too little service rendered in the power of the Spirit. There is also too little waiting on the Spirit. Sometimes the Lord would have us cease from our activities and wait upon Him. Much feverish activity apart from the Spirit only serves to weary and confuse us. The Lord says to us, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalms 46:10. He also says, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

Isaiah 40:31.

The reason so many soon grow weary is that they have not first waited upon the Lord, to be renewed in strength. They start out in the energy of the flesh and soon grow weary and faint. Let us pray that we may learn this lesson.

Then, on the other hand, the Lord would have us to go forward. As He said to Moses, “Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward.” To refuse to go forward when the Spirit leads is to lose, like Israel, a golden opportunity to go up and possess the land, and to be turned back to wander for years in the wilderness of confusion. Many a church has come face to face with a golden opportunity to accomplish great things in the name of the Lord. The Spirit was pointing the way, but through the influence of the wrong leadership, or through doubts and fears and a lack of faith, they have let that opportunity slip from them, and they are today floundering around in strife, confusion, discord and defeat.

Let us pray earnestly to know the will of God. Let us have our hearts open to know and do His will, then have faith to move forward. If we are doubtful of His will, let us, like Gideon, put out the fleece, until God shows the way. Judges 6:36-40.

Neither is it ours to choose the time when we shall take our departure from this world. That belongs to the Lord. It may be soon, or it may be long. It may take place by day, or it may take place by night131

XLI. Israel Encouraged {“Fear Not”} {JeHoVaH’s Contest with Idols.} 1 - God expostulates with his people, about his mercies to the church, ~ 10 - about his promises, ~ 21 - and about the vanity of idols. ¶ Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment. Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet. Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.

The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came. They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage. So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved. But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee fr om t he c hi e f me n th e reo f, a nd sa id unt o t he e, Thou ar t my s er v a nt ; I ha v e chosen thee, and not cast thee away. ¶ Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with t hee shall perish.

Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the H oly O ne of I s ra el. Behol d, I w il l m a ke t hee a new sha rp t hresh ing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.  Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it. ¶ Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let 131

George Elliott Jones, The Teachings of Elder G. E. Jones, “Christ Revealed in the Tabernacle”.

them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together. Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you. I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treadeth clay. Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words. The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word. Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 41 The subject that engaged us in the former chapter did not conclude there. In the present, the Saviour, now returned, sends forth his command that the earth be renovated, and that the remnant of the nations that came not against Jerusalem shall again multiply and fill the face of the earth. Then is heard the voice of God the Father demanding who effected all this, who set his Just One “upon the holy hill of Zion? who made the nations yield before his face, and bid him rule over kings?” By his “passing safely a way not trodden with his feet,” is signified that the advent of the Saviour shall be from heaven, and in a cloud, not upon the earth, as the false Messiahs who assume his name and arrogate his powers.

It has been supposed by many critics that the 6th and 7th verses are out of place, and should succeed the 20th verse of the former chapter. But it is probable that the prophet’s introduction of the manufacture of an idol is not misplaced: though, whether the 5th verse belongs to what precedes or follows is not evident. I take it to refer to what follows: and consider it a brief and spirited description of the times of the Man of Sin. This idolmanufacture is different from any that the world has yet seen. It is produced by the joint design and workmanship of all nations, induced thereto, as the 5th verse tells us, by astonishment and fear. Just such a scene is presented in the Apocalypse during the times of the Beast. The same astonishment is there predicted. “And all the world wondered after the Beast …. And the worshipped the Beast, saying, Who is like unto the Beast? who is able to make war with him?” “And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the Beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” Besides this, we are informed that the false prophet, by his great power and wonders in causing “fire to come down from heaven in the sight of men,” shall deceive the world, and cause them by fear to obey his command: “saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the Beast, which had the wound by a sword, and live.” (Rev. 13:3-4, 11-15; 17:8.) That fear shall be an ingredient in this service is also clear from his mighty power and miracles, especially those of giving “life to this image, enabling it to speak, and causing that as many as would not worship the image of the Beast should be killed.” (Verse 15.)

But, turning from this scene, the Lord (as in Psalm 115.) addresses his faithful people, and discovers to them his power and protection of them. Even though their adversaries shall

rule the whole world, yet shall they “be as nothing and perish.” Though all the earth join “hand in hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished.” The day shall come that Jehovah shall make Israel his battle-axe and weapons of war, therewith to smite the horse and his rider: and Judah shall “glory in the Holy One of Israel.”

The 17th verse depicts, as appears most likely, the condition of the Jewish believers ready to perish in the wilderness, after their flight from Antichrist. To relieve them in the first stages of their journey, the inhabitants of Teman were commanded to bring water to meet the thirsty, and bread to support the hungry. But in this place it would appear, they are introduced in the wide howling wilderness. Therefore when human aid will not avail, Jehovah will, as of old, exert his miraculous powers in supporting them. So, when in the desert, which ever since the flood has been barren, and parched, and desolate, there shall spring up evergreens and trees of lofty stature, all men must see and be obliged to confess (though then they will do it willingly) that not some abstract thing, distinct from God and binding him, - a something called “The Laws of Nature,” - but solely the good pleasure of the Most High, has effected all things.

The remainder of the chapter contains an argument for the divine origin of Scripture prophecy drawn from the inability of any supernatural beings to predict the things mentioned there. And in the challenge of the Almighty it is implied that evil spirits are directing and deceiving the men of that day; as it is written, “In the latter days men shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines (teachings) of devils speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” (1 Tim.4:1-2.)

In the command to “do evil or good,” the Supreme taunts them with their impotence, however much their worshippers may admire their power and put their trust in them. For, as we see from the Scripture, Job could not be touched, nor the very swine injured, without the special permission of the Most High; on the other hand, we observe the apostles from the very first gifted by the Saviour with the power of casting them out through his name. But though they are unable to predict, Jehovah has foretold all that shall be. He it is that shall raise up “one from the north,” - even the Wilful King; - and one from the east - that is, Christ.

For that by “One from the North” is meant the Wilful King, is clear, from the eleventh chapter of Daniel, where he is entitled the “King of the North.” So also from Jeremiah 1:1315, where the prophet, looking forth by the command of God, sees “a seething-pot; and the face thereof is toward the north. Then Jehovah said unto me, From the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land (earth). For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith Jehovah; and they shall come, and set every one his throne at the entering in of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judaea.” It will be seen at once that this answers to the description of Antichrist’s Great Confederacy of Kings against Jerusalem and Judah.

But one more proof shall be given from the same prophet, Jeremiah 4:6-7, “Set up the standard towards Zion: retire (hasten, LXX.), stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. The lion is come up from his thicket, and the DESTROYER OF THE GENTILES is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land (the earth, LXX.) desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.” How exactly this agrees with the foregoing expositions of the Wilful King’s terrible expedition against Palestine and Jerusalem, and the Saviour’s command to flee at once, because that shall be the

time of the desolation of Jerusalem, need not be further explained. That by “one from the rising of the sun” is meant Christ, will appear from Isaiah 46:11; “Calling an eagle from the east, From a distant land the man of my counsel:” and in the succeeding clauses of verse 13, “And my salvation shall not tarry; But I will set salvation in Zion For Israel my glory.”

That Christ is the “man of Jehovah’s counsel” needs no proof; that he is called an eagle would seem to be because of the speed with which he shall come, and his end in coming judgement. Perhaps to this passage the Saviour alluded, when, upon his disciples asking where all the signs he mentioned should take place, he replied, “Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” But another proof is apparent from the first reading of Ezekiel 43:2, 4, “And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the East: and his voice was like the noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. And the glory of the Lord came into the house (the rebuilt temple) by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the East.” This is identified with the coming of Christ by a comparison of it with Zech. 14:4-5, “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east.” That Christ is there spoken of, is evident from the whole chapter (which the reader is requested to peruse for himself, as one of the most explicit and graphic statements of prophecy), and especially from verse 5, “And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.” (“With him,” LXX., as it evidently should be.) But perhaps this proof, that the “one from the East” signifies Christ, is less needful, than the proof of the other point; as this verse declares that he shall be called by the name of Jehovah, which can belong to none but the Lord Jesus. Finally, his destruction of princes is that so often before insisted on and foretold (amongst many other places) with great clearness in the second Psalm. * * *132

“rivers in high places” The awful physical trauma through which the earth had just passed during the seven years of its tribulation will not only have purged it of its human and demonic corruption but also, in considerable measure, of its natural deformities.

Thus it will be prepared to serve appropriately as the physical setting of the great millennial messianic kingdom.

The violent earthquakes and upheavals will have leveled all the polluted cities of a sinful world, the better to facilitate the erection of new, clean, peaceful communities at the beginning of the millennium. These great land movements will also have eliminated the great mountain ranges and islands of the world, filling up the ocean depths and restoring gentle, globally habitable topography and geography all over the world, as it had been in the antediluvian age, before 132

Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED.

the cataclysmic upheavals of the great Deluge. As Isaiah the prophet had foretold, “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain” (Isaiah 40:4).

This reversal of the topographic upheavals of the Flood, however, will not send waters over the continents again, since much of the waters of the oceans will already have been re-elevated above the atmosphere, restoring in some measure the antediluvian “waters above the firmament.” The worldwide drought of the first half of the tribulation, the cataclysmic splashdowns of bodies from the heavens during the trumpet judgments and the intensified solar radiations of the bowl judgments will all have contributed to the translation of vast quantities of water vapor far into the skies.

Quite probably, the immense tectonic movements, eruptions, and landslides may also have trapped vast quantities of water beneath fresh sedimentary and volcanic deposits, reinstating in partial degree the primeval pressurized reservoirs of “the great deep,” facilitating the birth of copious artesian springs, including one which will feed the vast river emerging from the millennial temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 47:1–12; Zechariah 14:8).

Thus the seas of the millennial world will be relatively narrow and shallow once again, as in primeval days. Furthermore, the restoration of the vapor canopy should, in large measure, restore the globally pleasant warm climate of the antediluvian period to the earth again. No longer will great atmospheric movements generate violent rainstorms, blizzards, hurricanes, and tornadoes, because the uniform temperatures of the global greenhouse will inhibit air mass movements of more than local extent.

In the original world, the only rains were gentle mists, from localized daily evaporation and precipitation (Genesis 2:5), keeping the world everywhere at comfortable temperatures and humidities, and supporting an abundance of plant and animal life in all regions of the globe. There were no deserts or ice caps or uninhabitable mountain heights. It was all “very good” (Genesis 1:31). The cataclysm of the great Flood destroyed that beautiful world, but the global upheavals of the great tribulation will restore it, at least in measure.

For example, note Joel’s prophecy: “Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month” (Joel 2:21–23; see also Hosea 6:3, and Zechariah 10:1).

The redistribution of earth’s topography and restoration of its vapor canopy will soon result in an elimination of many, if not all, of its wastelands and deserts: “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the

desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.… for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water” (Isaiah 35:1–7; note also Isaiah 30:23; 32:15; 51:3; Ezekiel 34:26; 36:33–35; etc.).

Somehow there will also come a great healing of the lands and waters of the earth. Before the great Flood, the soils were rich in all needed nutrients, and the drinking waters all came pure and fresh from artesian springs fed from deep underground reservoirs. The destruction of these deep fountains and the devastating land erosion of the great Flood largely destroyed God’s primeval terrestrial ecology, leaving the lands depleted and waters polluted. Originally all animals, as well as man, were to derive nourishment only from plant foods (Genesis 1:29-30), but under the far more rigorous conditions of the postdiluvian environment, God authorized man to eat animal flesh as well (Genesis 9:2-4).

Evidently for the same reason many animals also had to become carnivorous.

These conditions were further aggravated during the long centuries after the Flood, with the lands becoming further impoverished and the waters further contaminated, requiring increasingly great expenditures on fertilization and purification. The traumatic upheavals of the tribulation period had brought these conditions to a climax, with devastating famine conditions and with terrestrial waters so depleted and poisoned that all the animals of the sea had perished. Had such conditions been allowed to persist much longer, all life on earth would soon have become impossible.

In some marvelous way, however, God will use the physical convulsions of that awful period of purging to cleanse the lands and waters of the earth as well as its moral and spiritual climate. Possibly the tectonic and volcanic upheavals, and perhaps even the atmospheric bombardments, will implant new supplies of needed nutrients and trace elements in the soils. Even the multitudes of dead animals and plants in the lands and oceans, as well as the skeletons of the millions of dead men and horses at Armageddon and elsewhere, may well become fertilizing agents for the lands as their remains are scattered far and wide.

The unprecedented global earthquakes and eruptions will trigger vast and violent landslides and showers of dirt and rocks, entrapping tremendous volumes of ocean waters beneath great overburdens of solid materials which will rapidly become pressurized, lithified, and partially sealed.

This will likely produce at last two important effects. In the first place, the sea bottoms will be raised to higher elevations than at present, compensating for the great losses of water caused by the restoration of the atmospheric canopy and by the entrapment of vast volumes beneath the huge landslides and rock showers. The entire crust itself will, to some unknown extent, have shifted and slipped over the earth’s mantle, rearranging the various continental plates to a

more nearly uniform distribution of land and sea surface areas, but with relatively greater land areas than at present.

Second, this extensive rearrangement of topography and formation of large pressurized subterranean water pockets will facilitate the development of a new terrestrial system of springs and spring-fed rivers, the waters of which will be purified by the processes of heating and percolation. “I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water” (Isaiah 41:18).

Whether or not the ocean population of fishes and other marine organisms will somehow be replenished is uncertain. The second bowl judgment (Revelation 16:3) had caused the death of “every living soul … in the sea,” so that at least those fishes requiring a marine environment had apparently been eliminated from the so-called food chain. The third bowl judgment had similarly affected the fresh waters, except that no reference was made to death of fresh-water organisms (Revelation 16:4) so that probably many of these had survived, and they would be more important for the future millennial economy.

In the description of the great millennial river in Jerusalem, for example, the following intriguing statement appears: “And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh” (Ezekiel 47:9). This river will emerge from the new temple (Ezekiel 47:1) and may well contain health-giving minerals acquired from source beds deep under the city. Perhaps also it may be artificially purified and fortified as it issues from its spring in the temple, using the knowledge and ingredients obtained from the accumulated research of the greatest minds of the ages, now redeemed and perhaps instructed by Christ Himself.

The scenario inferred in the foregoing is bound to be incomplete and may well be incorrect in many respects. Further study and research on these fascinating possibilities are in order, but the most important point is to realize that God is somehow going to revitalize this tired old planet and make it ready for the glorious kingdom of Christ on earth.

And, in order to do all this, the god of this present age, the old dragon, Satan, must be completely restrained from continuing his nefarious and baleful influence over the earth. He must be bound, and then the dominion usurped by him can be unbound. “No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house” (Mark 3:27). “Because the creature [better translated as “creation”] itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).133 133

Henry M. Morris, The Revelation Record, (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 1983), 409–412.

THEY ARE ALL FOUND WANTING I had always asked myself why Muslims were so specifically focused on attacking the integrity of the Bible and today, not only Muslims, but also the whole world. Even at most of the bookstores I visit, so many of the popular books are those that attack the historical Jesus and the reliability of the Bible. But rarely does one find a book that attacks the historical Buddha, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Book of Mormon, the Yazidi Al-Jilwah Black Book, or the Why should they? For these lack any history or substance that is worthy of attack. Only a few Christians, who will probably be called ‘bigots,’ expose these books and show the lack of real evidence that they have.

So who is standing alone?

Who truly believes in The One God? And who is uniting behind so many other gods?

Can we derive real historic accounts from the Book of Mormon?

Is there a single shred of evidence to prove the reality of any account in it?

The also lacks any detail to derive much of the history it supposedly documents. Instead, it only borrows apocryphal verses and old folk tales.

I also asked myself this question: If the Jews were not truly God’s people, then why did so many satanic empires and groups throughout history repeatedly make attempts to destroy them?

Muslims all over the world spend so much time repeating and hammering the claim that Israel does not belong in the land, that the Bible’s history is fabricated, or simply that the Jews are evil.

Why is there so much focus on attacking and destroying the Jews?

And why are Muslims and Satan on the same side in this regard?

Why is it that one of goals is to win converts from among the Christians and Jews, primarily by casting doubts on the reliability of the Bible?

Why doesn’t the Mahdi focus on the Hindus or the Buddhists?

I have but one challenge to the false gods of all non-Biblical faiths: “declare us things for to come .” (Isaiah 41:22) If I may give the full challenge: “¶ Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together. Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you. ” (Isaiah 41:21-24) Then the Lord continues: “Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. ” (Isaiah 42:9)

Can the

show the former things?

Can the Book of Mormon show the former things? Not a shred of evidence for the claims they make about the Americas can be established. Regarding the Book of Mormon, the Smithsonian Institute stated that it “has found no archaeological evidence to support [ ] claims.”

The National Geographic Society, in a letter to the Institute for Religious Research, stated “Archeologists and other scholars have long probed the hemisphere’s past and the society does not know of anything found so far that has substantiated the Book of Mormon.”

If the Smithsonian had the courage to say so, would they make similar statements about the Is there any proof for the existence of the peoples of Ad and Thamud “Irama that-il-I’tad” (the giants) as spoken of in the On the contrary, when archeology and Islam come together, we find more evidence of a Moon-god connection and old myths than to any real history.

Archeologists in the Middle East contribute to a publication called Biblical Archeological Review that monthly, through its challenges of the Bible, also finds much evidence attesting to historic confirmation of Scripture.

Where is the Archeological Review?

What happened to the Archeological Review?

Have there been any Nephites and Lamanites found?

I challenge anyone to come up with such an institute and it will be short lived.

Indeed it has. Take Thomas Ferguson, a Mormon Archeologist who had been trying to find evidence for the Book of Mormon; the evidence he had desired to find to support the Book of Mormon did not turn up. In response to a letter Hal Hougey wrote in 1972 which reminded him that he had predicted in 1961 that the cities would be found within 10 years, Mr. Ferguson sadly wrote: “Ten years have passed…I sincerely anticipated that Book-of-Mormon cities would be positively identified within 10 years—and time has proved me wrong in my anticipation.” (Letter dated June 5, 1972) The same goes for the Muslims. Why would the Muslim authorities put such a tight lid on the volumes of the oldest found in Al-Masjid Al-Kabeer in Yemen? If I wish to purchase a facsimile copy of the Codex Vaticanus, I may do so.

Why are copies of the Topkapi Manuscript, considered one of the oldest manuscripts, still sitting unexamined in the Topkapi Museum in Turkey? What are they afraid of? Why can’t the oldest manuscripts face the same kind of critical examination that the most ancient Biblical manuscripts have endured for centuries?

I will tell you the reason: Because numerous aberrations from the standard text are found in all of these older manuscripts. Such aberrations, though not surprising to textual historians, are troublingly at odds with the orthodox Muslim claims that the has reached us today exactly as it “came down” to Mohammed without a jot or dot missing. Why would the Yemen and Turkish authorities close the door on the research?

The Dead Sea Scrolls were found to validate the authenticity of the Bible. In style, typical Muslim challenge, may I say What about the future of mankind? Can the or the Book of Mormon provide 8,362 verses of a prophetic nature?

Yet a prophecy from the Bible is fulfilled and the world goes mad over it—how can anyone explain Israel’s return? “Fear not, for I am with you, I will bring your descendants from the East, and gather you from the West; I will say to the North ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 43:5-6) While the Arabs kept them away for so long, eventually they failed. Russia held them back, and they finally gave up. While the Arabs tried to destroy them, they failed, and even Allah could not destroy Israel.

The Arabs alone gave up 850,000 Jews from their lands.

Did Christians orchestrate this event to fulfill Scripture?

Allah is no savior, Jehovah is: “I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior.” (Isaiah 43:11) and Israel is Jehovah’s testimony “‘Therefore you are My witnesses’ says the Lord, ‘that I am God.’” (Isaiah 43:10) It is this God that I serve, the one who “says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited, to the cities of Judah You shall be built.’” (Isaiah 44:26) God promised to restore Jerusalem and Israel and He is doing it.

We live in a world that overlooks evils far beyond anything that Israel does. God forbid that Israel should set up road closures, check points, or destroy a bomb factory in order to protect themselves from killers, yet Israel is the cause of a collective worldwide false testimony. Bookstores are filled with unfair critical analyses of Israel and the Bible. But the only books one can find that criticize the come from like me. ~ Walid Shoebat134

XLII. God’s Promise concerning His Servant. {The Servant of JeHoVaH & His Work.} 1 - The office of Christ, graced with meekness and constancy. ~ 5 - God’s promise unto him. ~ 10 - An exhortation to praise God for his Gospel. ~ 13 - God will manifest himself, and check idolatry. ~ 17 - He reproves the people of incredulity. ¶ Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.  He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.  A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. 

God’s War on Terror: ISLAM, PROPHECY AND THE BIBLE. A fresh understanding of Biblical prophecy from an Eastern perspective as viewed by an ex-Muslim terrorist. By Walid Shoebat and Joel Richardson.

134

¶ Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;  To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.

Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands. ¶ The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies. I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once. I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools. And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

¶ They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods. ¶ Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD’S servant? Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not. The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will m a g n i fy t he la w , a nd ma ke it ho nou ra b l e. But t h i s is a p eo p le r o b b ed a n d spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore. Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come?

Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 42 The present chapter is connected with the former in the following manner. After God the Father had in the preceding verses rebuked the spirits of evil, and defied their powers of foresight to predict, and their powers of performance to do, aught beyond what “his hand and counsel hath before determined to be done,” he presents to their notice the Messiah of his appointment.

The first verse of this chapter having been quoted by St. Matthew, presents us with an infallible guide as to their subject. He assures us, that the commencing words were fulfilled

by Jesus in an especial manner, when, after that the Pharisees were so enraged against him as to take counsel to put him to death, he retired to the sea of Gennesaret, and healed great multitudes of them who came to him, but forbid them to make him known. The words quoted were then truly fulfilled by Jesus, as a glance at the prophecy will show. For it declares that the Messiah should be one on whom the Lord would put his Spirit. This was fulfilled openly at the Saviour’s baptism. Also, that he should “show judgement to the Gentiles:” which, whether it signify the teaching of Christ’s doctrine to the Gentiles, or his judging them at the last, is equally certain of fulfilment.

But the 2nd verse contains the pith of the Apostolic quotation. Herein he teaches us that the Saviour should not contend with those that contended with him, nor loudly revile those that reviled him, but meekly give way. “He shall not strive nor cry!” Hence, when the Pharisees were enraged against him and sought his death, he did not oppose them on their own ground and dispute their power, but meekly retired from Capernaum to the neighbourhood of the sea. Again, unlike the Pharisees, who made their prayers audible in the street, and sounded a trumpet before them to give notice of their alms-giving, the Lord retired most frequently to desert places, and there taught the multitudes. Nay, so far from seeking the admiration of men, by lifting up his voice in the streets, he even defrauded himself of honour justly his due, by forbidding those whom he healed to make him known. Moreover, the assertion, that he should “not lift up his voice in the streets,” is literally true: various are the places in which the Saviour is said to have taught: but never in the street. If he taught in a city, it was either in a house, or the synagogue, or the temple. That he should “not break the bruised reed” was evidently fulfilled from his gracious demeanour to Mary Magdalen and others: but this part of prophecy is fulfilling still. The concluding words, however are often forgotten. The Saviour’s meekness and inoffensiveness are not for ever to last, but only “till he send forth justice unto victory.” There is a time when his mercy shall cease, and his justice must take the helm: a time when he shall put off the meekness of his first appearance, and show that “the Lord is a man of war.”

“The hiring of the labourers at different hours of the day represents the calling of the Gentile nations at different periods in the gospel dispensation. The Gentile nations are well represented as standing ready to hear the gospel call; and they have been hearing and accepting it all through the gospel age, and been received into the Master’s service; and it is true that some have been waiting all the day long uncalled. How true is it that China, and Japan, and South America, and Mexico, and Cuba, are now even anxiously waiting for the gospel to be preached to them! And, at the eleventh hour, thousands of their people are gladly receiving it; and, according to prophecy, ‘the isles of the sea are waiting for His law.’”

(Isaiah 42:4.)135

In the 6th verse the Father again addresses his Son, and declares, that he had “given him for a covenant to the people (Israel) and for a light to the Gentiles.” The latter has been already partially fulfilled: the former yet awaits its accomplishment, at that time when “there 135

J. R. Graves, GRAVES’ LANDMARKS,.

shall come the Deliverer out of Zion, who shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” How does this passage prove that the prophecies came not by the will of man! For here the Messiah is made a “light to the Gentiles,” whereas the Jew, in his narrow mind, would have confined the prophecies to his own nation, had his own will or fancy been their origin. We cannot fail to observe, from the narrative of the Acts, how hard it was even for apostolic eyes to discover that “God had to the Gentiles also granted repentance unto life.”

The opening of the blind eyes, promised as part of the Messiah’s office, refers probably to the taking away the veil of prejudice and unbelief from Jewish minds. The “bringing out the prisoners, and those that sit in darkness from the dungeon,” I believe to be spoken of Christ’s raising again his dead saints to life, as Bishop Horsley also supposed. For in St. Peter we read of “the spirits in prison,”* or safe custody, as it may be translated; whence we learn that Hades is, in a certain sense, a prison, though the souls of the righteous in Abraham’s bosom are in joy and felicity. So the apostle teaches us that though the soul be redeemed here, yet that our “adoption” is yet to be “waited for,” and will come only with the arrival of the Lord Jesus, and the “redemption of the body.” * That this is spoken of the dead, and not the living - that in short it is to be taken literally as it stands, is evident from the same Epistle, chap. 4:6.

“Both the Bible and history weave together in seamless harmony, as though the Creator ordained this plan and recorded it in Scripture even before it unfolded in history. And that’s exactly what the Bible claims took place! God says that He alone can declare the future (Isaiah 42:9), and hundreds of His prophetic predictions have been fulfilled with absolute precision, while others await fulfillment.” 136

The command to those that “go down to the sea” to declare the praises of the Lord, the fathers understood of the apostles, originally fishermen, whose business was at sea, but were called by Christ to preach his Gospel. But it has a yet future and universal reference to the times of the renovated earth, which is called on in the succeeding verses to rejoice. {See APPENDIX for “Of Seas & Songs”} “The Scriptures tell of nine137 “new songs,” and each one speaks of a glorious theme specifically designed for the singer of the song. The first six are in the book of Psalms (Psalm 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1) and one is in Isaiah 42:10. One of the new songs was that sung by the redeemed host at the throne of the Lamb when He received earth’s title deed (Revelation 5:9). The last new song is here on this occasion . One other song is mentioned in Revelation, but it is not a “new song,” being identified rather as “the song of Moses, and of the Lamb”. HMM138 As God requires outward and inward worship, so a spiritual frame for inward worship may be forwarded by the outward composure. Gazing drowsiness hinders the activity of the soul, but the contrary temper furthers and helps it. Singing calls up the soul into such a posture, and does, as it were, awaken it. It is a lively rousing up of the heart. [Singing God’s praise] is a work of the most meditation of any we perform in public. It keeps the heart longest upon the thing spoken.

Prayer and hearing pass quick from one sentence to another; this sticks long upon it. ~ John Lightfoot (1602–1675)139 How Do We Know Anything Is True? {NINE in Scripture is the “Fruit of the Spirit” and singing is such: “let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” Hebrews 13.} 138 Henry M. Morris, The Revelation Record: (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 1983), 260.

139 Elliot Ritzema and Elizabeth Vince, Eds., 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Puritans, 2013.

136 137

The 13th verse presents us with another of the noble prophecies of the second advent of our blessed Lord; so that in this chapter, as on former occasions, the first and second advent are blended in one prophecy. His meekness and patience are noted, “Long time have I held my peace.”

And yet that his forbearance must have its limit, “But shall I for ever be silent and forbear?”

That such is the meaning of the passage, was perceived by Jerome, who observes, “The prophetic word describes the glorious advent of the Saviour, and compares him to a mighty man, who is to fight with his adversaries, and stir up his courage.” In the 16th verse is a promise that he will lead again the Jews to their own land, removing all impediments; whilst the adorers of idols shall be confounded. The Jews are then addressed as both blind and deaf: and well may they be so characterised, being possessors of the prophecies that testify of Jesus of Nazareth and his twofold coming, yet obstinately rejecting him. In the conclusion, their state in the times of their foe Armillus140 is described, when they shall be snared and plundered, while none can deliver. Yet in spite of every warning, only a remnant will discover that God had predicted this, and given them up for their sins; the majority madly perishing in their rebellion, as in the Roman siege of Jerusalem. * * *141

XLIII. Israel Redeemed.

1 - The Lord comforts the church with his promises. ~ 8 - He appeals to the people for witness of his omnipotency. ~ 14 - He foretells them the destruction of Babylon, ~ 18 - and his wonderful deliverance of his people. ~ 22 - He reproves the people as inexcusable. ¶ But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia a nd Seba for thee. Since thou wa st precious in my sig ht, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and ga ther thee from the w est ; I w ill sa y t o t he no rth, G iv e up; a nd to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him. ¶ Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, it is truth. Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe Armillus: (Hebrew: ‫סולימרא‬‎‎) is an anti-messiah figure in medieval Jewish eschatology, comparable to medieval interpretations of the Christian Antichrist and Islamic Dajjal, who will conquer Jerusalem and persecute the Jews until his final defeat at the hands of God or the true Messiah. His inevitable destruction symbolizes the ultimate victory of good over evil in the Messianic age. ~Wikipedia 141 Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED. 140

me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I , am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God. Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it? ¶ Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea , and a pat h in t he m ig hty wat ers; Which b ring eth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow. ¶ Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise. ¶ But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. T hou hast not brought me the sma ll cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. I, even I , am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified. Thy first father hath sinned, a nd thy tea chers ha v e t ra nsg ressed a g a inst me. T herefore I ha v e profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 43 But after the outpouring of the wrath of God on the rebellious of his nation, Jehovah shall be gracious to the remnant. “The Jews,” as Jerome informs us, “understand this of the second advent of the Saviour, when after the fulness of the Gentiles, all Israel shall be saved.” ...

“Then I saw in my dream, that Christian was in a muse a while. To whom also Hopeful added these words, Be of good cheer, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole.

And with that Christian brake out with a loud voice, Oh, I see him again; and he tells me, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.” Isa. 43:2. Then they both took courage, and the enemy was after that as still as a stone, until they were gone over. Christian, therefore, presently found ground to stand upon, and so it followed that the rest of the river was but shallow. Thus they got over.”142

142

John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress: From This World to That Which Is to Come.

... Their restoration, after being carried captive into all parts of the earth, is predicted in the 5 and 6th verses, for they will be the elect of God among that rebellious people, even every one “that is created for his glory.” ...

Created th

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D. “But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: ... Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.” (Isaiah 43:1-7).

There are three main verbs used to describe God's work of creation in Genesis. These are “create” (Hebrew, bara), “make” (asah), and “form” (yatsar). The three words are similar in meaning, but each with a slightly different emphasis. None of them, of course, can mean anything at all like "evolve," or "change," on their own accord.

All three are used in Genesis with reference to man. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. . . . And the L ORD God formed man of the dust of the ground” (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7).

Although the subject of creation is commonly associated with Genesis, it is mentioned even more frequently by the great prophet Isaiah. The words bara and yatsar are used twice as often in Isaiah as in any other Old Testament book and are applied uniquely to works of God. All three verbs are used together in Isaiah 45:18 {see piece below}in order to describe, adequately, God's purposeful work in preparing the earth for man: “For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.”

God created, formed, made, and established the earth, that it might be the home of men and women. But what was God's purpose for the people who would inhabit it? Our text answers this most fundamental of questions, and once again, all three key verbs are used: “I have created him . . . I have formed him, . . . I have made him . . . for my glory.”

This Biblical perspective alone provides the greatest of all possible incentives to live a godly and useful life. The reason we were created is to glorify God! HMM

... Again, the nations are challenged to find one that could reveal the future, and thence a triumphant argument is drawn, that he who alone could foretell these things must be the only God, the Maker and Disposer of all events and persons.

The ransomed Jews, and the Lord Jesus, exalted “above every name,” are next appealed to as evident witnesses that such deeds are the work of Jehovah alone. ...

The Scriptures teach that there is but one living and true God. This statement is rarely called in question by any person familiar with the sacred record; for it represents the prevailing tone and spirit of that record. It is the deep underlying assumption which supports every message of every prophet; and it is often expressed. With all the emphasis possible Moses cried: “Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.” (Deut. vi. 4.) With no less assurance Malachi asks: “Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us?” (ii. 10.)

And the Most High declares by the pen of Isaiah: “I am Jehovah, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another.” (xlii. 8). “Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am Jehovah, and besides me there is no Saviour.” (xliii. 10, 11.) “I am the first and the last, and besides me there is no God.” (xliv. 6.) If further evidence is needed, a large part of the fortieth chapter of Isaiah may be read; for it is a passage of wonderful majesty, asserting that Jehovah, in contrast with idols, is the only God, the Creator, the Preserver, and the Ruler of all things. And this doctrine of one God, so clearly announced by the prophets, became at last the settled creed of the Jews, and was made by them an excuse for rejecting Jesus Christ as a blasphemer, instead of receiving him as the Son of God. Yet the Saviour himself taught that

there is but one true God, (e.g. Mark x. 18); and while he claimed to be strictly divine, he so identified himself with the Father that the unity of God was maintained.143

... In the 14th verse our blessed Lord speaks as the Deliverer of Israel and their King, and thence continues his address to the end of the chapter. For his people’s sakes he declares that he smote the mystic Babylon and its inhabitants; and that it was by his providence that the horses, and chariots, and armies of the Destroyer came against them: but they are now cut off for ever: war hath ceased out of the earth. A similar picture is presented in the forty-sixth Psalm, “The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath wrought in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.” And the seventy-sixth Psalm specifies the locality of this great achievement. “In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling in Zion.

There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, the sword, and the battle.”

Then follows a command to Israel not to remember the Lord’s former deeds in bringing them up out of Egypt, in comparison of what he would effect in their last journey through the desert to their own land. Of old time he shaded them with a cloud, but left the desert after they had passed it as parched and barren as before: but now a “new thing” is promised, that God would make a highway through the wilderness, and bid perennial rivers flow through the desert to be a joy even to the animal creation.

After these signal instances of his mercy, the Saviour beautifully contrasts with it their ingratitude towards him. Yet in spite of all, he “would blot out their transgressions for his own sake, and not remember their sins,” especially their crowning sin in putting him to death “with wicked hands.” ***

XLIV. Blessings of Israel.

1 - God comforts the church with his promises. ~ 7 - The vanity of idols, ~ 9 - and folly of idol makers. ~ 21 - He exhorts to praise God for his redemption and omnipotency. ¶ Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses. One shall say, I am the LORD’S; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, and surname himself by the name of Israel. Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them. Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.

C. A. Jenkens, Baptist Doctrines, “The Biblical Doctrine of the Trinity” by Rev. Alvah Hovey, D.D., President of Newton Theological Institution, Mass., 401–402.

143

Âś They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own w itness es; they see not, nor know ; t ha t t hey ma y b e a sha med. Who ha th formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together. The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint. The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house. He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god. They have not known nor understoo d: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand? Âś Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel. Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the ea rt h b y my s e l f; T ha t f ru st ra t e th th e to ke n s of t he lia r s, a nd m a k et h di v in er s ma d; tha t tu r net h w i se m e n b a c kw a rd , a n d ma k et h t h ei r kn ow le dg e foolish; That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers: That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 44 The first verses of this chapter describe the blessedness of the Millennial reign, when the Spirit shall be poured out upon all flesh, and all shall be anxious to dedicate themselves to Jehovah. ... “the deed of solemn dedication” One of the earliest and most important signs of love to Jesus is the deed of solemn dedication of ourselves, with all we have and are, most unreservedly to the Lord’s service.

Dr. Doddridge has recommended a solemn covenant between the soul and God, to be signed and sealed with due deliberation and most fervent prayer. Many of the most eminent of the saints have adopted this excellent method of devoting themselves in very deed unto the Lord, and have reaped no little benefit from the re-perusal of that solemn document when they have afresh renewed the act of dedication. The writer of the present volume conceives that burial with Christ in Baptism is a far more scriptural and expressive sign of dedication; but he is not inclined to deny his brethren the liberty of confirming that act by the other, if it seem good unto them. The remarks of John Newton upon this subject are so cautious and sententious, that we cannot forbear quoting them at length:—“Many judicious persons have differed in their sentiments with respect to the propriety or utility of such written engagements. They are usually entered into, if at all, in an early stage of profession, when, though the heart is warm, there has been little actual experience of its deceitfulness. In the day when the Lord turns our mourning into joy, and speaks peace, by the blood of his cross, to the conscience burdened by guilt and fear, resolutions are formed which, though honest and sincere, prove, like Peter’s promise to our Lord, too weak to withstand the force of subsequent unforeseen temptation. Such vows, made in too much dependence upon our own strength, not only occasion a farther discovery of our weakness, but frequently give the enemy advantage to terrify and distress the mind. Therefore, some persons, of more mature experience, discountenance the practice as legal and improper. But, as a scaffold, though no part of an edifice, and designed to be taken down when the building is finished, is yet useful for a time in carrying on the work—so many young converts have been helped by expedients which, when their judgments are more ripened, and their faith more confirmed, are no longer necessary. Every true believer, of course, ought to devote himself to the service of the Redeemer; yea, he must and will, for he is constrained by love. He will do it not once only, but daily. And many who have done it in writing can look back upon the transaction with thankfulness to the end of life, recollecting it as a season of peculiar solemnity and impression, accompanied with emotions of heart neither to be forgotten nor recalled. And the Lord who does not despise the day of small things, nor break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, accepts and ratifies the desire; and mercifully pardons the mistakes which they discover, as they attain to more knowledge of him and of themselves. And they are encouraged, if not warranted to make their surrender in this manner, by the words of the prophet Isaiah:—‘One shall say, I am the Lord’s, and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his hand to the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.’”Isaiah 44:5144

144

C. H. Spurgeon, The Saint and His Savior: The Progress of the Soul in the Knowledge of Jesus.

... But at the 6th verse the subject changes, and the Redeemer appropriates to himself the name of “the First and the Last,” which in the Apocalypse he rightfully assumes. (Rev. 1:11.) A third time he challenges any to predict the future as he has done, and on the strength and clearness of the proof arising from prophecy, he bids the believer to rest. The assertion, several times repeated, that there is none other God but he, refers doubtless to the blasphemous assumption of the Man of Sin, commanding that all worship him as God. So the consolation, “Fear not,” has relation to the terror that his prowess and miracles will enkindle even in the saints. The scene of idolatry which succeeds, is beautifully and with intense power of argument painted in its mingled folly and wickedness, and has reference to the image of the Beast and the adoration of it by all but the elect of Jehovah.

Following thereon, is the declaration of the Most High to Israel, at which all the earth shall rejoice.* In that day shall “the signs of magicians” and the “tokens of diviners” be seen to be frustrated by Jehovah, whilst the truth of the prophecies, declared of old by the appointed ministers of God, shall be confessed to have been evidently fulfilled: so that even Jerusalem, so long hopelessly desolate, shall be restored, and with her all the waste places of the land, or more generally, of the earth. * By “the lower parts of the earth” is signified the souls of the righteous dead. Thus we find in Rev. 5:13, “And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth ... heard I saying, Blessing and honour ... be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever.” So Psalm 72:20, and Psalm 63:9. ...

The LORD and King Cyrus

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D. “That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. ” (Isaiah 44:28)

T

his is a remarkable prophecy, one of the main stumbling blocks of liberals who use it as an excuse for their completely wrong notion of a "second Isaiah." Long before Jerusalem was invaded and its temple destroyed by the armies of Babylon, Isaiah was already prophesying its rebuilding!

Furthermore, the great Persian emperor, Cyrus (whose nation would eventually conquer Babylon), was here named by God about 150 years before he was born and 175 years before he would fulfill Isaiah's prophecy by giving Ezra authority to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:1-2).

Since liberal scholars do not want to believe in miracles and fulfilled prophecy, they have decided that this prophecy could not have been written by the original Isaiah, but by some later writer living after Cyrus.

The truth is, however, that God controls the future and can reveal it if He chooses, using this very fact as proof that He will keep His other promises. “Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus . . . I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou has not known me” (Isaiah 45:1, 4).

God had also named King Josiah before he was born (1 Kings 13:2; 2 Kings 23:15-16), with the specific prophecy concerning him waiting to be fulfilled for over 300 years after it was first spoken.

It may take a long time, but God will surely do all He has said. “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:” (Isaiah 46:9-10). HMM

... In the last verse is a prophecy of Cyrus by name: a most wonderful instance of the omniscience of God. The prophecy of his giving command to rebuild Jerusalem and its temple was literally fulfilled. But it is not difficult to see that a greater also than Cyrus is here:- “that Great Shepherd of the sheep,” by whom (as by Solomon his type) the temple shall be rebuilt after the fashion predicted by Ezekiel.

* * *145

XLV. God Uses Cyrus.

1 - God calls Cyrus for his church’s sake. ~ 5 - By his omnipotency he challenges obedience. ~ 20 - He convinces the idols of vanity, by his saving power. ¶ Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I , the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. ¶ I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth.

Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth? ¶ Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of t h i n g s t o c o m e co n c e r n i n g m y s on s , a n d c o n c e r n i n g t h e w o r k o f m y h a n d s command ye me. I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I , even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my capt ives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts. Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God. Verily thou art a God that hidest thy se l f, O G o d o f I s ra e l , t he Sa v io ur . T h ey sha l l b e a sh a me d , a nd a l so confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye sha ll not b e a shamed nor confounded world w it hout end. F or t hus sa ith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.

145

Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED,.

¶ Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, e v e r y t o n g u e s h a l l s w e a r . S u r e l y , s h a l l o n e s a y , i n t h e L O R D h a v e I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 45 The prophecy respecting Cyrus proceeds: predicts his taking of Babylon with its hundred brazen gates, conquering the Syrians, Assyrians, Arabians, Cappadocians, both the Phrygias, Lydians, Adrians, Phoenicians, and Babylonians; and taking the treasures of Babylon and Sardis with the wealth of Croesus. All this was done for the sake of God’s people Israel, that they might be liberated from their captivity in Babylon without fee or reward. Jehovah called him by his very name, that all might know that he was the One True God that had predicted all this.

The Magian religion (that of Cyrus) which adored two nearly equal and antagonist beings, one good, named Ormuzd; the other evil, named Ahriman, is here reproved, by the declaration that the blessings and the evils of the world both spring from the same one source.

At this point the prophecy drops the mention and notice of Cyrus, and passes on to him of whom Cyrus was a type. The clouds are bidden to usher him, and “he shall come with the clouds of heaven;” and the earth to bring him forth, as it is written, “The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” (Rom. 8:19, 21, 22.)

But this decree of God, to exalt Christ Jesus and his people Israel, the Gentiles endeavour to render null and void. Hence a woe is denounced against them that strive with their Maker; and their folly is strikingly compared to the earthenware striving against the potter. Shall the thing formed dare to say to the Maker thereof, “Why hast thou made me thus?” If an earthly parent will not be commanded respecting his family, what excessive folly and presumption to dictate to the Most High who shall or shall not be his elect! And here the following remarks of Procopius are commended to the reader, as equally apposite and just:- “See you not the potter’s clay, how it is formed and reformed at his will, and never accuses his shaping hand of not possessing the knowledge necessary for moulding it? And neither does the infant inquire if it shall be born; why, then, will not ye concede to the Maker of all things the knowledge necessary for that creation of which Nicodemus spake to the Saviour, ‘Can a man that is old enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?’ If, then, the clay rebuke the potter, or the unborn demand why it should be born, do ye

demand also of ME, ye who in the fitting season will be my sons and daughters, in what way this shall take place? ‘Do ye command me respecting the works of my hands?’ words which signify, Do ye order me what to do, as if I were ignorant? Wherefore we must tacitly reply with Paul, ‘O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!’” It should be observed here, that the doctrine of the Millennium is closely connected with that of election: first because the elect risen saints are chosen to be partakers of it; and next, because to be born upon earth during that happy period when the Spirit’s influences are poured on all, is to be one of the elect: nay more, it is to enjoy all the glories promised, without “bearing the burden or heat of the day.” But this God claims as his prerogative, to determine respecting the numbers and destination of all men, and especially of his sons. ...

Formed to Be Inhabited

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D. “For t hus s ait h t he LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.” (Isaiah 45:18) This verse is the key proof-text for the "gap theory," which attempts to accommodate the evolutionary "ages" of geology by placing them in a hypothetical gap between the first two verses of Genesis. Genesis 1:2 states: “The earth was without form” (Hebrew, tohu), but Isaiah says, “he created it not in vain” (same word, tohu). Thus, it is argued that the earth became "tohu" long after the primeval creation, as a result of Satan's rebellion in heaven supposedly allowing the geological ages to be inserted between these two events.

Actually, the meaning of tohu is very flexible; it occurs 20 times and is translated 10 different ways, depending on context. In our text above, Isaiah was not writing about the initial state of the creation, but the purpose of the creation, that purpose being to provide a beautiful and appropriate home for mankind.

The translation ‘in vain” was required by Isaiah's context, just as “without form” best fits the context in Genesis 1:2. There is no conflict, since the two passages are dealing with two different subjects, and Isaiah's message simply extols God's ultimate and certain goal for His creation.

When God first created the space/time universe, only the basic elements of the earth (Genesis 1:1) were created, with neither structure nor inhabitant, but that was not its full purpose. God had merely “created” the heavens according to this verse. But then, with great care, He formed the earth, made the earth, and established the earth, and all this was done to make it ready to be inhabited by men and women who would share His image and know His love. HMM

How the Waldenses Recant The next morning, according to the duke’s order, they must choose between the mass and the penalty annexed to refusal. A neighboring church — one of those which had been taken from them — stood ready, with altar decked and tapers lighted, for the Vaudois to hear their first mass. Hardly had the day dawned when the expected penitents were at the church door. They would show the duke in what fashion they meant to read their recantation. They entered the building. A moment they stood surveying the strange transformation their church had undergone, and then they set to work. To extinguish the tapers, pull down the images, and sweep into the street rosary, and crucifix, and all the other paraphernalia of the popish worship, was but the work of a few minutes. The minister, Humbert Artus, then ascended the pulpit, and reading out as his text Isa. 45:20, “Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save,” — preached a sermon which struck the keynote of the campaign then opening.146

146

J. A. Wylie, History of the Waldenses, Chapter IX “THE GREAT CAMPAIGN OF 1561”.

... As Cyrus set Israel free from the literal Babylon, so shall Christ set them free from mystic Babylon, and in like manner, without fee or reward. Then shall all nations honour the Jews, because Jehovah hath honoured them, and shall confess that the God of the Jews is the only true God. In that day shall the Israelite also confess of Jesus, “Thou art God, and we knew it not; O God of Israel, our Saviour!” for “he came unto his own, and his own received him not.” But then shall they say, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!” ...

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, whose name is a household word the world over, is the most remarkable minister of Christ now living, taking all things into the account. He was born at Kelvedon, Essex, June 19th, 1834. His father and grandfather were Congregational pastors, and his mother was an uncommonly earnest Christian, who took great pains to form the character and seek the salvation of her children. Charles’s aunt, whom he named ‘Mother Ann,’ loved him tenderly and fostered him as her own child. Early he had a passion for books and pictures, and at the age of six delighted in Bunyan. The likeness of Bishop Bonner, whom he called ‘Old Bonner,’ stirred his dislike because of his cruelty; and as a child he manifested great self-possession, decision, strong passions and will. His education was limited, being confined chiefly to a private academy at Colchester, kept by Mr. Leeding, a Baptist, and to a year in an agricultural school at Maidstone. His parents pressed him to enter Cambridge, but he refused, on the conviction that duty called him to active life. At fifteen he became deeply interested in his salvation, and was converted on hearing a sermon preached from Isa. xlv, 22, {Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.} by an unlettered Primitive Methodist local preacher, in a little country chapel. He then became deeply interested in Bible baptism, and laid the matter before his father. Becoming convinced that it was his duty to be immersed on a confession of Christ, he walked from New Market to Isleham, seven miles, on May 3th, 1850, where Rev. Mr. Cantlow buried him with Christ in baptism. His mother mourned his loss to the Independents; and told him that she had prayed earnestly for his conversion, but not that he should be a Baptist. He replied: ‘Well, dear mother, you know that the Lord is so good, that he always gives us more than we can ask or think.’147

... That this chapter is rightly interpreted of Christ we have the sanction of inspired authority. “For we shall all stand,” says St. Paul, “before the judgement-seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then, every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”{Romans 14:11} From which verses we learn that the present is a prophecy of Christ’s judgment, and of the submission of all authority and power to him, either voluntarily or by compulsion. And “then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and hath given him a name that is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

(Phil. 2: 9-11.)

Then also shall all “the seed of Israel” rejoice in Jehovah, not that only which is of natural descent, but that which is of the faith of Abraham; for “the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” * * *148

147 148

Thomas Armitage, A History of the Baptists, (Roger Williams Heritage Archives, 1886), 596–597.

Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED.

XLVI. Babylon’s Idols and the True God. {The Overthrow of the Gods of Babylon.} 1 - The idols of Babylon could not save themselves. ~ 3 - God saves his people to the end. ~ 5 Idols are not comparable to God for power, ~ 12 - or present salvation. ¶ Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast. T h e y stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.

¶ Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb: And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you. ¶ To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like? They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship. They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in h is place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble. Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.

¶ Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 46 This section of the prophet is similar in its tenor to some before delivered. It discovers the folly of idolatry in another point of view, showing that the idols must needs be borne by men or cattle, if the land be threatened by invading armies, so that far from protecting their worshippers, their worshippers must protect them, lest they should fall into captivity.

Contrasted with this is the power of Jehovah, whereby Israel is declared to have been borne and protected by the Almighty from their commencement as a people till the close of their history.

The 11th verse predicts the advent of Christ under the emblem of an eagle, a bird swift of wing to come from afar, and to pounce upon the prey. He is promised as “the man of Jehovah’s counsel,” as said the apostle, “He hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance in that he hath raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:3l.) And he shall be the righteousness and salvation of God, as it is written, “I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgement and justice in

the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is the name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness.” (Jer. 23:5, 6.) * * *149

The Glories of Israel.

“It is not easy,” says McCheyne, writing on Mount Carmel, “to pray really for Israel; it needs you to have much of the peculiar mind of God.” Now that mind unchanged (for Paul uses the present tense) is revealed in nine glories which God has given irevocably to Israel. Rom. ix. 3-5.

1. — Israelites.

Not Jacobites, but Israelites: not men’s supplanters, but wrestlers on their behalf with God; princes by conquest in intercession. “Thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed” (Gen. xxxii. 28). It was Israel’s glory to be God’s intermediary: the Temple was “the house of prayer for all the nations”(Mark xi. 17).

Rom. xi. 18. Isa. lxi. 6.

2. — The Adoption.

Ex. iv. 22, Jer xxxi 9 The Church receives an adoption as sons (Gal. iv. 5); Israel received an adoption as a people; and it is a national adoption confined to Israel for ever. “Hath God assayed to go and take Him a nation . . . according to all that the Lord your God did for you?” (Deut. iv 34) “He hath not dealt so with any nation” (Ps. cxlvii 20) Israel God’s solitary and peculiar people, — the only nation to whom the Messiah personally ministered (Matt. xv 24), and the only nation, as such, for which He is said to have died. John xi. 50.

3. — The Glory.

God’s Shekinah Fires never dwelt in the midst of any nation except Israel. “He made thee to see His great fire; and thou heardest His words out of the midst of the fire” (Deut. iv. 36). From a burning Bush Israel was called; by a burning Cloud Israel was led; on a burning Mercy Seat God dwelt in the midst of His people: Israel is the sole nation that has ever beheld and contained the devouring fires of Deity. Num. xiv. 14.

4. — The Covenants.

Apart from Noah, God has never entered into a covenant with any man but a Jew. Eight covenants were made with Abraham; one with Moses; at least two with Israel; and the New Covenant, the blood of which has been shed (Luke xxii. 20), and the ministers of which have been appointed (2 Cor. iii. 6), has yet to be made with the Houses of Israel and Judah (Heb. viii. 8). Covenants between God and man belong only to the blood of Abraham.

5. — The Law. Jehovah’s descent in person on Sinai, with a Decalogue written by the fingers of Deity, is an unique glory of Israel. “He showeth His word unto Jacob, His statutes and His judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for His judgments, they [the nations] have not known them” (Ps. cxlvii. 19). The mind of God was distilled in the Law, ministered through angels, and deposited at last in the hands of the Jew.

6. — The Worship.

‘Jew’ means ‘praise’ and God’s liturgy the sole mode of ritual access into His presence under the Law, was revealed to the Jew only. “Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;” (Rom. ii. 17). God planned every knob and tent-pin in Tabernacle and Temple, and no Gentile ever crossed the threshold of the Holy Place, much less ministered in the divine ritual.

7. — The Promises.

All promises are held in germ in one promise to Abraham; — “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen. xxii. 18). ‘Thy seed’ is a Jew: whether, therefore, by way of circumcision, or through

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faith, salvation is of the Jews, because salvation is from a Jew. So also the promise of the Spirit was first given to the Jew. Gal. iii. 14. Acts i. 3 9.

8. — The Fathers.

God’s providence never leaves the Jew because His love never leaves their fathers. “Because He loved thy fathers, therefore He chose their seed after them” (Deut iv 37). No man ever gave God a name but a Jew: He is not known as the God of Adam, or the God of Noah; but, — “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Ex. iii. 6). No nation ever had divine priests but Israel (except Melchizedek): for two thousand years none other had divine prophets (except Balaam): no other nation has had divinely anointed kings: and there is no author of divine Scripture but a Jew (except Luke). Rom. iii. 2.

9. — The Christ.

In Bethlehem lies Israel’s consummate distinction. “Of whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever.” The Son of a Jewess, of the seed of David (Rom. i. 3), of the tribe of Judah (Rev. v. 5), the Word tabernacled in flesh of Israel. Heb. ii. 16. Eternity can hold no racial glory so unique.

Here, then, is the mind of God. None of these glories sprang from natural excellence, but all from supernatural grace, so revealing how peculiarly God has isolated Israel in honor, as “the dearly beloved of My soul” (Jer xii 7), “Myglory” (Isa. xlvi. 13). Oh, for more of this mind of God! He who had it most fully could say, — “I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren’s sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Rom.ix. 3).150 {See also this from the “Preface” to a must read: “Israel My Glory” by John Wilkinson, 1889}

XLVII. Lament for Babylon. {The Overthrow of Babylon the Mistress of Kingdoms.} 1 - God’s judgement upon Babylon and Chaldea, ~ 6 - for their unmercifulness, ~ 7 - pride, ~ 10 - and over-boldness, ~ 11 - shall be unresistible. ¶ Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man. As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.

¶ I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. ¶ And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.

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¶ For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me.

Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me. ¶ Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put if off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the powe r of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 47 This is another of the sentences against Babylon, both the literal and the mystic. The one has been fulfilled; the other tarries till its time shall be accomplished.

Babylon is here personified and commanded to descend from her throne and take the laborious part of an inferior slave. So great is God’s wrath against her, that none shall be permitted to intercede on her behalf, because of her cruelty towards Israel. As regards Rome, she has always been a persecutor both of the natural and spiritual children of Abraham, and yet greater persecution by her is foretold in prophecy, together with a mighty increase of power and wealth. For Babylon, as seen by St. John, is the great mart of the world at her fall; whence it follows that Rome has yet to become great by trade and commerce before her final fall. Her proud boast, “For ever shall I be a potentate, I am and there is none else, I shall not sit as a widow, nor experience bereavement,” is paralleled by St. John, “She saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.” (Rev. 18:7.) As Isaiah also declares that “these two things shall come upon her in one day, bereavement and sorrow, and widowhood;” so St. John adds, “Therefore her plagues shall come in one day, death (pestilence), mourning, and famine.” And as Isaiah reproaches her with her sorceries and enchantments, so St. John declares that “by her sorceries all nations were deceived,” and that in her hand was a “golden cup full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication!” Yet these shall not prevail to deliver her, when her iniquity is full and her hour of judgement arrived. Her end is the same as that predicted by St. John. Isaiah foretells of her wise men, that they “all shall be burnt up as stubble in the fire,” and of Babylon that she “shall have coals of fire to sit upon.” St. John, “she shall be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God that judgeth her.” And again, “the ten horns (kings) shall burn her with fire.” (Rev. 17:16.) From which and similar passages the proof is convincing that the Babylon of the Old Testament is identical with that of the New.

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THE POWERS OF DARKNESS Evil powers do not always appear as powers of darkness. The contrary idea is a grave error into which Spiritualists are peculiarly apt to fall. Evil which is bluntly evil repels; and it is strangely inadequate to suppose “the depths of Satan” (Rev. 2:24) incapable of a nearly impenetrable veil of hypocrisy.

Directly the reverse is asserted in the Scriptures. Satan can dazzle as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). His ministers can pose as ministers of righteousness (2 Cor. 11:15). The onset is foretold of demons who seduce by hypocrisy (1 Tim. 4:2). Judas betrayed with a kiss; and Satan, in the presence of Christ, handled the pure Word.

Thus it is insufficient proof of the purity of the spirits to cite “the administration of consolation, the pouring out of heavenly counsel, the setting forth of elevating thoughts concerning life and God.”* For these can be joined, and in history have been joined, with immoralities and infidelities.

Closer proofs are required. God’s definite tests (1 John 4:2-3; 1 Cor. 12:3) must be plied; careful note must be taken of the doctrines propounded (Gal. 1:8); and the lives and works of “mediums” closely scrutinised (Matt.7:15-20). Probably every Spiritualist who reads this has met cases of flagrant hypocrisy in the powers of the seance. Such are widely confessed in spiritualistic works. But a brief consideration of the ranks of darkness may shed further light. There are principalities world rulers of this darkness,** powers, wicked spirits active in our firmament (Eph. 6:12). These are not angels; for the apostles distinguish between angels, principalities, and powers (Rom. 8:38, 39; 1 Pet. 3:22); but probably holders of a delegated authority in the air, such as certain angels sinned by leaving (Jude 6), and such as is still held alike by fallen (Eph. 6:12) and unfallen (1 Pet. 3:22) spirits. Air, water, fire, are probably under their partial control and guidance. So Christ rebuked the wind and the sea (Matt. 8:26: cf. Rev. 7:1). We read of an “angel of the waters” (Rev. 16:5), and of another who hath “power over fire” (Rev.14:18).*** Angels, that troop with Satan through heaven (Job 1:6); principalities and powers, stationed in our firmament; demons, that haunt earth’s surface:- all are marshalled under Satan, as prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2). * * * * Even national affairs appear to be modified by angelic influence (Dan. 10:13; cf. Deut. 32:8, LXX.; 2 Kings 6:16). So real is the power of elect (1 Tim. 5:31) angels, and of the rebellious holders of delegated (Luke 4:6) authority, that they are called Elohim. Jehovah’s is no fantastic title “God of gods and Lord of lords” (Deut.

10:17; cf. Ex. 15:11; Psa. 1.1; Dan. 11:36; 1 Cor. 8:5). Elohim, because agents of God, as our Lord explains (John 10:35); shining ones (Matt. 28:3), as seen by the woman of Endor; comforters of the dead (1 Sam. 28:13), as invisible ministrants of the living (Heb. 1:14), saints; living fires of God (Heb. 1:7); yet not by nature gods (Gal. 4:8; cf. Deut. 32:17); but themselves worshippers of the One who alone inhabiteth eternity (Psa. 97:7).

How awful the ambition of that great (Rev. 12:4) host which will not fall before the God of gods! “Evil spirits act as a combination of the maddest and most wicked persons in existence, but all their evil is done with fullest intelligence and purpose. They know what they do, they know it is evil, and they will do it. They do it with rage, and with the full swing of malice, enmity, and hatred. They act with fury and bestiality, like an enraged bull, as if they had no intelligence, and yet with full intelligence they carry on their work, showing the wickedness of their wickedness. They act from an absolutely depraved nature, with diabolical fury, and with an undeviating perseverance.”(War on the Saints, p. 38) [* These words occur in Light's (August, 1895) comments on the first Present-Day Pamphlet. “After a time,” writes one, once a “medium,” “the spirits obtain such control over the minds of those encouraging them that an infatuation for the thing is induced which constantly puts reason in the second place. ... The communications we received appeared much more beautiful to us at the time we were mixed up with spiritism than they do now.” Seven Weeks with the Spirits, P. 13. Cf. 2 Thess. 2:8-12. ** Darkness, not night; a characteristic distinction throughout Scripture. There will be night outside the city of God (though not within, Rev. 21:25); but no darkness, native to unclean spirits; for the sun shall be sevenfold greater in light, and the moon as bright as our sun (Is. 30:26). Mr. S. C. Hall writes:“Darkness, though by no means essential at ‘sittings,’ is often a valuable accessory and auxiliary: to some 151

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mediums it is a necessity; others decline to be thus aided.” Use of Spiritualism.p. 67. Darkness is the haunt and atmosphere of all demons. “The effect of demon-possession in its fullest climax is darkness; nothing but darkness; darkness within, darkness without; intense darkness; darkness over the past, darkness enveloping the future; darkness surrounding God and all His ways.” War on the Saints, p. 123;

by Mrs. Penn-Lewis and Evan Roberts: London, 1912. *** Though the article points to a charge only over the altar’s fire. Says Mr. Crookes of Mr. D. D. Home:- “I once saw him go to a bright wood fire, and, taking a large piece of red-hot charcoal, put it in the hollow of one hand, and covering it with the other hand, blow into the extempore furnace till the coal was white-hot and the flames licked round his fingers. No sign of burning could be seen then or afterwards on his hands.” Journal, S. P.R., vol. 6., P. 341. So also, in honour of heathen gods, children were “passed through the fire” (2 Kings 23:I0) - a supernatural art classed by inspiration among magical sorceries (Deut. 28:10), Satan’s counterfeit miracle of “quenching the power of fire” (Heb. 11:34). Such also was the recent experience of Mr. B. P. Ghose, an Indian deputy magistrate. “At the Thakur’s touch we felt as if our whole frame were completely cooled down. We then got upon the pyre and crossed the fire two or three times. The fire had lost its power. My friend threw a piece of paper which he had in his pocket into the fire, and it was reduced to ashes in a moment.” Hindu Spiritual Magazine, Jan. 1912. But this power will not make the sorcerer proof against the final Fire. “THEY SHALL NOT DELIVER THEMSELVES FROM THE POWER OF THE FLAME” (Is. 47:14). **** May not microbes be used by the possessor of death’s power (Heb. 2:14)? Cf Job. 2:7; Ex. 9:9; Luke 13: 16. He is Beelzebub, “the lord of flies.” Infliction of disease, after Satanic permission had been obtained (Saducismus Thiumphatus, P. 354), was frequent in witchcraft. Storm, germ, beast all the manifold agencies of destruction form part of “the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19); weapons of “the god of this age” (2 Cor. 4:4). But not ever so; for beast shall lose his passion (Isa. 11:6-9), and thorn shall pass (Is. 55:13), and miasma lurk no more in stagnant waters; and “they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain” (Isa. 11:9).]152

XLVIII. Israel’s Obstinacy.

1 - God, to convince the people of their foreknown obstinacy, revealed his prophecies. ~ 9 - He saves them for his own sake. ~ 12 - He exhorts them to obedience, because of his power and providence. ~ 16 - He laments their backwardness. ~ 20 - He powerfully delivers his out of Babylon. ¶ Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Isr ael, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name. I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not ; yea, from

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that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast ca lled a tra nsg ressor f rom the w omb . ¶ F or m y na me’s sa ke w ill I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. Behold, I hav e refine d thee, b ut not w it h silv er; I ha v e cho sen thee in the fu rna ce of a ff lict ion . F or mine ow n s a ke, ev en for m ine ow n sa ke , w ill I do it: fo r how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another. ¶ Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things?

The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be o n t h e C h a l d e a n s . I , e v e n I , h a v e s p o k e n ; y e a , I h a v e c a l l e d h i m : I h a v e brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. ¶ Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I : and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me. Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me. ¶ Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob. And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 48 This chapter is addressed to the Jews supposed to be quietly seated in their own land, yet still in unbelief. For they are characterized as making mention of “the God of Israel, but not in truth or righteousness.” The same conclusion follows from the 4th verse, where they are described as still “obstinate,” and, moreover, worshippers of idols; possessed of the prophecies, but ignorant of their meaning. A reason is now given why the predictions respecting the latter days were uttered so long ago, lest it should seem as if the events as they occurred were the product of human or demoniacal power. Their true meaning was also kept secret from Israel lest they should say, I knew them.

“Very many Christians,” writes Jerome, “think that this prophecy is concerning the advent of Christ, because he shall come suddenly when not looked for;” agreeably with those words of the 3rd verse, “I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.” That Christ is the speaker is evident from the expression in the 12th verse, “I am the first and the last,” and from the declaration of his creative power in the succeeding, for “all things were created by him and for him.” The announcement of the 16th verse confirms this conclusion, and shows that this chapter had a primary fulfilment in the Redeemer’s first advent, for then Christ taught them profitable doctrine, and besought them to hearken unto him. Had they believed, their “peace had been as a river, and their offspring multiplied; nor should their city and country

have been desolated by the Roman invasion.” But it has also yet a future plenary accomplishment. For at the Saviour’s first presence on earth the Spirit was not sent together with himself. “But now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me and his Spirit.” Before the Lord “showed them things profitable,” but then he shall “make them to go in the way wherein they should walk,” and the blessings promised conditionally shall then be fulfilled, in the security of their nation, and their increase as the stars of heaven, according to the promise to Abraham.

The command also to go forth of Babylon, in connexion with the former verses, fixes this to the latter times, and is exactly paralleled by St. John: “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” That this does not signify the return from Babylon in the time of Cyrus, is proved not merely from the reiteration of the prophecy by St. John (according to the principle, “For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spohen of another day”), but because of the miracles that shall accompany their return, in Jehovah’s bidding rivers to gush for them through the desert. I am not unaware, indeed, of Bishop Lowth’s rebuke of Kimehi on this very passage, for taking things literally which in truth are the mere flowers of “prophetic style” and mean nothing; but with due deference to his authority and that of most commentators, I prefer the prophetic principle of interpretation laid down by the Saviour, that “no jot or tittle shall pass away till all be fulfilled.” It has been thus of old. Did not the Lord open the rock for them in the wilderness in the days of Moses? Is it too difficult for him now? “Is the Lord’s hand shortened” since that day?

Did he do it before he promised it, and shall he not perform it now that he has? Did he make it a fact, when his word did not even seem to declare it, and shall he treat it as “a figure of speech,” now that he has so plainly asserted it? * * *153

“the first and the last” {4th of 7 in Bible} n Revelation 1:11. I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

The voice repeats the “I am.” Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, so that this incomparable claim incorporates all existence, all knowledge, all reality. Furthermore, it is the same claim made by God Himself three times through Isaiah (Isaiah 41:4; 44:6; 48:12).

Then came the command: “Write what you see in a book.” Just as there was a book of the generations of Adam (Genesis 5:1), so there is to be a book of the last generations, both serving to anchor and guide all other generations. Initially this book (Greek biblion, from which we get our word “Bible”) was to be sent to seven churches among whom John had evidently ministered. The churches were all in southwest Asia Minor, more or less facing the Isle of Patmos on which John was imprisoned. They are enumerated in clockwise order, beginning at Ephesus on the coast, then northward to Smyrna and Pergamum, east to Thyatira, and southeast to Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, the latter due east and inland from Ephesus154

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XLIX. Salvation Reaches to the End of the Earth.

1 - Christ being sent to the Jews, complains of them. ~ 5 - He is sent to the Gentiles, with gracious promises. ~ 13 - God’s love is perpetual to his church. ~ 18 - The ample restauration of the church. ~ 24 - The powerful deliverance out of captivity. ¶ Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.

¶ And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.

And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. ¶ Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.  Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, e v e n b y t h e s p r i n g s o f w a t e r s ha l l he g u i d e t h em .  A n d I w i l l m a k e a l l m y mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim. ¶ Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. ¶ Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far

away. The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.

Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been? Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the ea rth, a nd li ck u p the dust o f thy feet; a n d t hou sha lt know t ha t I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. ¶ Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

“And let us not forget that the names of all Jews who came out of Egypt, actually under the blood of the Passover lamb, are still borne on the breast of the Great High Priest in Heaven; and in God’s sight,, who sees the end from the beginning; and “counteth the things that be not as though they were”, the twelve stones shine with undimmed lustre and fascinating prophetic brilliancy. Ex. 28:15-21; Isa. 49:14-16; Rom. 11:11-24. So will it be with all who fail God as to their state in this Gentile Age. The ultimate Salvation of all believers is absolutely assured.”155

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 49 The same speaker continues his exhortation in this chapter, and is clearly proved to be the Christ by the character laid down. From the womb Jehovah called his Son, sending an angel to announce his birth and make “mention of his name.” “Thou shalt bring forth a Son, and shalt call his name Jesus.” “And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel, before he was conceived in the womb.” (Luke 2:21.)

Concurrent is the application of the passage by Theodoret, “This is said in the person of Christ, who is the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, by whom the Gentiles received the promise; and he informs us how before his birth he received the name, for the holy Gabriel brought the name from on high, and said to the Virgin (Luke 1:31), ‘Behold, thou shalt bring forth a son, and call his name Jesus.’”

Christ’s hiding in the shadow of God’s hand like an arrow in a quiver, is understood by Eusebius of the humiliation of the Saviour and the concealment of his dignity at his first advent; but it appears also to have an intended reference to the Lord’s present concealment

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from the world, in the presence of the Father, like an arrow hidden in the quiver till the time come that it be placed on the string, and emitted with power and swiftness from the bow.

The prophet then presents him as the servant of Jehovah, and giving him the name of Israel (“Prince of God”), predicts that in him will Jehovah be glorified. How truly this is spoken of him “who took on him the form of a servant, and whom the Father is determined to exalt,” needs not any laboured discussion. The unbelief of the Israelites is strongly marked in the words that follow, wherein the Messiah, looking round on the fruits of his three years’ labours and miracles, complains that his strength had been spent in vain. Yet a hope is expressed of a more glorious sequel of his work, in the consciousness that his Father would provide.

So Theodoret, “This is said in the person of Christ, grieved at the unbelief of the Jews; for neither saith he, have they profited by my so great humiliation. Yet he adds, though they have received no benefit, yet I have fulfilled my proper work, and this is manifest to God.” The intention of the raising up of Messiah is stated to be that God might “restore Israel unto him,” and this is true whether it be regarded as spoken of the literal or the spiritual Israel; whether we consider it as equivalent to the expression of St. John, “that he might gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad,” or whether we understand it of the restoration of the Jews to their land. From what follows it would appear that Israel is taken in its literal acceptation, since the Saviour is also promised as a light to the Gentiles. And the succeeding verse declares the meaning whereby the restoration of both Jew and Gentile was to be effected, through the Messiah’s noble disregard of his life, as he said, “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself.” Therefore the Father calls on all men to “hallow” or “reverence” him as holy who thus for man’s salvation should yield up his life. For thus said our blessed Lord, “Therefore doth the Father love me, because I lay down my life.”

On this passage the words of Jerome, after giving Symmachus’s translation of this passage, are well deserving of notice. “‘Thus saith Jehovah ... to him that disregardeth his life, Who is an abomination to the nation, a servant of rulers.’

This evidently accords with the person of Christ. He was the Good Shepherd (John 10.) who gave his life for the sheep and despised it, who is an abomination to the nation of the Jews, whom thrice every day under the name of the Nazarene they curse in their synagogues; who was the ‘servant of princes,’ and so lowly as to stand before Annas and Caiaphas, and when about to be crucified was sent to Pilate and Herod. Yet though thus despised at first, when he cometh again kings shall worship him. For thus it is written, ‘The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.’” (Psalm 72:10, 11.)

Similar is the explication given by Procopius, “Hallow ye him that despiseth his life.”

– “For by how much he humbleth himself to death, and that the death of the cross, so much the more glorify ye him, and ‘hallow him;’ and this word signifies, regard him as worthy of veneration, and holy, for while we were yet sinners, he suffered for the ungodly, who said, ‘The Good Shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep.’ Confess him, then, to be ‘holy,’ an attribute belonging to God alone. For a resemblance of holiness accrues to others from

communion with him; as he who is light says, ‘Ye are the light of this world.’ But the prophet adds, ‘Him who is abhorred by the nations,’ the unbelieving nations; that is to say, for they abhor, and ridicule his death. And when he was delivered to Pilate, some of the soldiers abhorred him, spitting on him, and smiting him, and crying in scorn, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ But even all shall worship him, then chiefly when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the angels, and the throne of his glory to judge the living and dead. And they shall worship him for his Father’s sake, for he shall be glorified as Son of God, for ‘Faithful is the Holy One of Israel that hath chosen him.’”

On this passage Theodoret observes, “The nature of the Lord according to the flesh was that which is common to all men, but peculiarly and in an especial manner he was an Israelite. Hence, therefore, he came in person to Israel, but enlightened the Gentiles by his apostles.”

The next verse is quoted in the Hebrews to show that all times are not alike acceptable with God, that he has set for everything a season: a time for the Saviour’s humiliation, a time for his exaltation; and also (which was the point at issue in the apostle’s argument on that place), a time for the repentance of the sinner, which is the present moment. “Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.”

This acceptable time to the Messiah is that day in which he shall “establish the earth and its desolate heritages” - the period, in short, of the “restoration of all things.”

It is a time, also, when he shall be a light to the Gentiles, as it is written in the second Psalm, “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession.” The command to “the prisoners to go forth, and to those that are in darkness to show themselves,” refers to the resurrection of the just from the custody or prison of Hades. (See Job 10:21, 22.) The correctness of this interpretation is evinced by the following context, where it is promised of those thus rescued that “they shall not hunger or thirst, neither shall the heat smite them, nor the sun, for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them.” This is affirmed in the Apocalypse of those sealed of God that came out of “the Great Tribulation” in the times of Antichrist. (Rev. 7:16, 17.)

Therefore doth the Saviour bestow on them a reward proportionate to their sufferings, as it is said, “If we suffer we shall also reign with him.” ...

I beheld then, that they all went on till they came to the foot of the hill Difficulty, at the bottom of which there was a spring. There were also in the same place two other ways besides that which came straight from the gate: one turned to the left hand, and the other to the right, at the bottom of the hill; but the narrow way lay right up the hill, and the name of the going up the side of the hill is called Difficulty. Christian now went to the spring, Isa. 49:10, and drank thereof to refresh himself, and then began to go up the hill, saying, “The hill, though high, I covet to ascend; The difficulty will not me offend; For I perceive the way to life lies here: Come, pluck up heart, let’s neither faint nor fear.

Better, though difficult, the right way to go, Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe.”156

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... The promise that many shall come “from the north, and from the west,” at a time when the earth shall be full of joy because the Most High hath comforted his people, doubtless refers to that period of which the Lord Jesus spoke when he foretold, that “many should come from the east, and from the west, and sit down with Abraham Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God.” And this kingdom of joy will arise when even believers will be ready to say, The Lord hath forgotten me, and the promises to Judah and Jerusalem will appear almost impossible to be accomplished. But to support the hope of God’s mercy it is affirmed here that it is stronger and more unchangeable than the most powerful maternal love, and graven on the palms of the Lord Jesus, by the marks of the nails at his crucifixion.

Accordant with this are the words of Procopius, “Some conceive that these words refer to the piercing of Christ’s hands on the cross. For how should he forget us for whom he suffered? for he hinted partly at the whole of his passion. But the same may be said also in another point of view. For it is said, that all believers are in the Father’s hands. For Christ said of his own sheep, ‘None shall pluck them out of my Father’s hands,’ signifying their protection therein.”

When the “set time to favour Zion” shall have come, she shall be built by those who once destroyed her. All her scattered sons shall return to their land:- a promise which refers to the restoration of the ten tribes, as is evident from the surprise expressed by Jerusalem at their numbers, and from her ignorance of their locality. “These, where have they been?” For whither the ten tribes have been removed, is a question which has baffled ancient tradition and modern research; though perhaps we may venture to affirm that some are in those countries to which they were led captive at the first, and Mr. Simons has rendered it probable that the American Indians constitute the majority of the lost tribes of Israel.

In this place, also, is reiterated the prophecy that the Gentiles shall be the instruments of bringing them back to their land, and that the kings and queens of the Gentiles shall honour and caress them, because of the glory of the Lord Jesus, as the exalted head of their nation.

Yet to all these promises there will in that day appear an almost insuperable objection.

“Shall the prey be taken from the giant?” Shall Israel, carried captive by the “Destroyer of the Gentiles,” swaying all power in earth and seemingly in heaven also, be delivered from his power? Yea, saith Jehovah, the power of the Usurper-Christ I will overthrow by mine own arm, and rescue my sons by my outstretched hand. * * *157

THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL WILL BE RESTORED. This is found in Isaiah 49:5-6, “And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.” The same thing is taught in Matthew 19:28, “Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” It is also shown in Ezekiel 47:13 to 48:29 where we find a second division of the

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land according to the twelve tribes of Israel. “Thus saith the Lord GOD; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL…” (Ezekiel 47:13).

Those 144,000, who shall be sealed of the 12 tribes of Israel, will be the special servants of the Lord in the tribulation. They are called “…the servants of our God” in Revelation 7:3. The reader may have noticed that the names of Dan and Ephraim are not found in Revelation 7:4-8. But the names of Joseph and Levi are brought in instead of Dan and Ephraim. Perhaps the reason why Dan and Ephraim are not found in Revelation 7:3-9 is that these two tribes introduced idol worship into the country of Israel. See Judges 18:30 and 1 Kings 12:25-33. They will not have the honor and protection bestowed on the other tribes.

Evidently Revelation 7:3-8 will take place after the fullness of the Gentiles had come in. Paul tells us that blindness happened unto Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” (Romans 11:25). Dr. Williams’ translation reads, “Temporary insensibility has come upon Israel until the full quota of the heathen peoples comes in.” So God will be dealing with Israel again in Revelation 7:3-8. After Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead many of the Jews believed in Him. “…many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.” (John 11:45). The resurrection of Lazarus pictures the resurrection of the sleeping saints. When that takes place, many of Israel will believe and be saved.

Some say that the genealogy of the tribes has been lost, and therefore the tribes of Israel cannot be restored. That is simply reasoning from a natural standpoint. We are admonished not to think above that which is written. “I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written…” (1 Corinthians 4:6). The Bible plainly states in Isaiah 49:5-6 that the tribes of Jacob will be restored. And Ezekiel tells us that the land will again be divided among the 12 tribes. There has never been as yet but one land division among the tribes. That division was made in the times of Moses and Joshua. No Bible map can be found which shows Benjamin having any land on the east side of Jordan. But according to Obadiah, Benjamin shall posses Gilead, which is on the east side of Jordan, which was given to the half tribe of Manasseh in the first division. “…and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions…And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.” (Obadiah 17-19). “And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt therein.” (Numbers 32:40).

That the time of the great tribulation will be a time of salvation for Israel is made plain by Deuteronomy 4:29-31. After foretelling Israel’s dispersion throughout the world Moses said to them, “But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in TRIBULATION, and all these things are come upon thee, EVEN IN THE LATTER DAYS, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant (Abrahamic covenant) of thy fathers which he sware unto them.”

The Bible tells us they will do this very thing in the latter days. “…the children of Israel shall abide MANY days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God…and shall fear the LORD and his goodness IN THE LATTER DAYS.” (Hosea 3:4-5).158

A Pre-Tribulation Rapture.

3. Of this escape and preservation there are two pictures as there are two promises.

In Rev. 12 is a vision of (a) a woman; (b) a man-child whom she bears; (c) the rest of her family. Light on this complex figure may be gained from Hosea 4 and Isa. 49:17-21; 50:1. Israel and Zion, viewed as corporate systems in continuity, are a “woman,” a “mother”; 158

George Elliott Jones, A Verse by Verse Commentary on Revelation,.

individual Israelites at any one time are the “children.” This usage is the same as when an individual Romanist calls the church his “mother.” The “mother” is that system continuing through the centuries; yet in one sense, the woman at a given hour is composed of her children.

As to this “woman” the dominant fact is that at one and the same time she is seen in heaven arrayed with heavenly glory and on earth in sorrow and pain. This simultaneous and contradictory experience is true of the church of God only (comp. Eph. 2:6 with 3:13 and 6:10-13; and 1 Pet. 1:3-5 with vv. 6, 7). In Scripture Israel corporately has no standing in the heavens:her destiny and glory are earthly. The national divisions of earth do not continue in heaven.

As to the Man-child, his birth and rapture, as with the whole of this book from c. 4:1, pointed to events which the angel distinctly said were future to the time of the visions. There is no exception to this, and therefore there is no possible reference to the resurrection and ascension of Christ. Nor, in the fact, did our Lord at His birth escape from Satan by rapture to the throne of God:on the contrary, the Dragon slew Him in manhood and only thereafter did He ascend to heaven. Nor at the ascension of Christ was Satan cast out of heaven. Thirty years later, when Paul wrote to the Ephesians, he and his servants were still there (Eph. 6:12), and another thirty years later again, when John saw the visions, his ejection was still future (Rev. 12).

The identity of this Man-child is indicated by the statement that he “is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron,” for this is a repetition of the promise (Rev. 2:26, 27), “And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth My works unto the end [comp. the keeping the word of My patience, as above], to him will I give authority over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron.” This promise is given only to Christ and the overcomers of the churches. As it cannot here (Rev. 12) apply to Him it can only apply to them.

This removal of the Man-child cannot be the event foretold in 1 Thess. 4:15-17, for those there in view will be taken up only as far as to the air around this earth when the Lord descends thereto from heaven, but this removal takes the Man-child to the throne of God, which is where Christ now is, in the upper heavens. This fulfils the promise that such as prevail to escape shall “stand before the Son of Man.” As we have seen, the Lord does not descend from heaven till the close of the Great Tribulation, not before Satan is cast down. Moreover, this one child can be only a part of the whole family, not the completed church in view in 1 Thess. 4 * and 1 Cor. 15. The “woman” out of whom he is born remains on earth, and after his ascent the “rest of her seed” are persecuted by the Beast; but his removal is before the Beast is even on the scene or Satan is cast out of heaven. Thus those who will form this company escape all things that will occur in the End-times, as Christ promised; and the identification with the overcomers declares that they had lived that watchful, prayerful, victorious life, upon which, as the Lord said, that escape will depend.

Consequent upon this removal of the watchful, Satan is cast out of heaven, and presently brings up the Beast, who persecutes the rest of the woman's family (12:17, 18; 13:7-10). So that one section of the family escapes the End-times by being rapt to heaven, and the rest, the more numerous portion, as the term indicates, go into the Great Tribulation.

These latter are such as “keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus”

(ver. 17). In Rev. 14:12, such are termed “the saints,” which in New Testament times, was the term regularly used by Christians of one another; and among their number John had already included himself (1:2, 9). It covers therefore the church of God, of which he was a leader.159

L. God Helps His Servant.

1 - Christ shows, that the dereliction of the Jews is not to be imputed to him, ~ 2 - by his ability to save, ~ 5 - by his obedience in that work, ~ 7 - and by his confidence in that assistance. ~ 10 An exhortation to trust in God, and not in our selves. ¶ Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer?

Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst. I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

¶ The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. ¶ The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, a nd I w a s not reb ell ious, ne it her t urned a w a y b a ck. I g a v e my b a ck to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. ¶ For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up. ¶ Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 50 The subject of this prophecy is the rejection of the Jewish nation for their sins, especially their great sin, the rejection of Christ Jesus. The 2nd verse seems to show that it is spoken of the same time as the preceding chapter, - the captivity of the Jews to their last great foe, for the Lord inquires why there is none to rescue, and then reproves them for not trusting in him. Did they doubt whether he had power to deliver or not? Then follow some of the wonders to be accomplished by the power of the Lord, as the drying up of rivers, and the smiting the heavenly bodies with darkness.

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The threat that the heavens shall be clothed with blackness, Theodoret understands of the three hours’ darkness at the crucifixion, and this was probably its primary accomplishment; its plenary fulfilment being postponed to the time of the smiting of the sun and moon, as predicted by the Lord.

The Saviour next adverts to his first coming of humiliation, when the Father sent him to declare his words of wisdom kept secret from the foundation of the world. He remarks his meekness in suffering “such contradiction of sinners against himself,” his endurance of scourging, smiting on the face, and spitting, all which were literally fulfilled. “And when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.” “Then did they spit in his face, and buffetted him, and others smote him with the palms of their hands.” “And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face.” (Matthew 27:27, 26:67; Luke 22:64.)

The same view is presented by Procopius, - “But return we to Christ, who saith to the Jews, Though ye indeed after being invited refuse, yet will not I disobey my Father who desires to gather together all things in me. And humbling myself, I suffered the most shameful possible treatment, knowing that I do not suffer shame by obedience to my Father.

Though, therefore, Pilate scourged me, and one of the servants smote me, and others spit on me, I set my face as a hard rock. For it was of Divine power that I endured. For I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.”

But now the Saviour speaks in the majesty of his return, when the Father having justified him by raising him from the dead, he and all his members may well defy all their accusers and enemies. “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? it is God that justifieth.” Hence they shall all pass away, despite their power, and boasting, and persecution; and the Redeemer encourages the persecuted still to wait for him and expect his return. For as for all the various devices of those who seek to fulfil their own counsels, and are opposed to the plans of the Almighty, their fire shall not be a light to them, but they shall receive the wrath of God and lie down in sorrow. The figure employed appears to be taken from the travellers through the desert, who are obliged in consequence of the coldness of the night, even in those tropical regions, to light a fire for the purpose of warmth and light and to keep off wild beasts. Yet these their devices should not prevail to ward off the judgements of an angry God. * * *160

Fulfilled Prophecy.

by Dan Hayden March 9, 2011.5

Among the many amazing evidences that confirm the Bible’s divine origin, surely the wealth of fulfilled prophecies is near the top. Just a few examples should suffice to dumbfound all but the most hardened critics.

Accurate predictions of future events that have virtually no probability of occurring by coincidence are spectacular precisely because they seem so suprahuman. Popular prognosticators like Nostradamus have entertained generations with their elaborate fortune-telling, despite their pitiful track records of inaccuracy.

But biblical prophecy is different from all other predictions. With incredible detail, forthright clarity, and impeccable accuracy, the Bible has consistently unveiled the future for centuries.

Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED. Dan Hayden holds a Th.M. from the Dallas Theological Seminary. He continues to educate and entertain on his Internet podcast, A Word from the Word, while serving as the director of ministries at Sola Scriptura. Keywords: claims-of-scripture; prophecy.

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Critics of the Bible, for instance, have squirmed over the prophetic insights of Daniel, the sixth-century BC Jewish prophet in Babylon. With eye-opening precision, Daniel interpreted two sets of dreams, one by a pagan ruler (Daniel 2) and the other by the prophet himself (Daniel 7), thereby forecasting the entire course of Middle East history over the next five centuries.

Daniel describes the exact ebb and flow of four empires from Babylon to Medo-Persia to Greece to Rome. He even foresaw the meteoric rise to power of the Greek conqueror Alexander the Great, as well as the final division of his Greek empire by four of his surviving generals (Daniel 7:6, 8:5–8, 11:2–4).

Desperate to counter the implications of this prophetic phenomenon, nineteenth-century skeptics concocted dating schemes that placed the time of Daniel’s writing after the events. Careful research by modern textual scholars, however, has validated the early origin of this prophecy, establishing Daniel as the authentic author.6 Daniel’s prophecy is a genuine “Wow,” which clearly gives evidence of the Bible’s divine nature.

Historical Prophecies.

Yet the Bible is filled with other amazing, supernatural predictions, just like Daniel’s, that can be verified by historical records. Historical prophecies that spoke about the future at the time of writing but later came true are particularly effective as an evidence of Scripture’s trustworthiness.

Your ability to point to Ezekiel’s prophecy of the destruction of the Phoenician city Tyre (Ezekiel 26) or Isaiah’s amazing prediction concerning the coming reign of the Persian King Cyrus—two hundred years before his birth (Isaiah 44:28)—will certainly give you an advantage in any discussion on the Bible’s authenticity as a divine book. Only the true God can so consistently predict such distant events, as God Himself asserts (Isaiah 41:21–23, 48:3–5).7

Messianic Prophecies.

Just as effective are Messianic prophecies that were validated in the New Testament. Even though the fulfillment of these predictions hundreds of years later is documented within the Bible itself rather than secular history, the impact is still impressive.

Sharing details about any one example should suffice to make your point. Consider Micah, the seventhcentury BC prophet who foretold that Christ would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Christ’s parents, Mary and Joseph, lived in Nazareth, which was nowhere near Bethlehem. So God used a Roman census for taxation to send Jesus’s earthly parents south on an arduous journey to the little town of His birth.

Yet Micah accurately predicted this event over six hundred years before it occurred. Jesus could not have manipulated these events, nor could Luke, the historian who recorded its fulfillment. More than sixty fulfilled Messianic prophecies like this validate the Bible as the Word of God. As you familiarize yourself with these categories of amazing biblical predictions, you will certainly be equipped to give amazing evidences that the Bible is God’s impeccable truth for mankind. Perhaps it will even add to your own excitement about your faith.

The Old Testament is filled with dozens of specific messianic prophecies that were miraculously fulfilled. Every believer should memorize the most obvious and memorable of these prophecies. They include specific PROPHECIES ABOUT HIS LIFE: born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18), born in the small town of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1), and a healer of the blind and needy (Isaiah 35:5–6; Matthew 11:5). PROPHECIES ABOUT HIS SACRIFICIAL DEATH: beaten and spat upon (Isaiah 50:6; Mark 14:65), crucified with sinners (Isaiah 53:12; Mark 14:65), and buried with the rich (Isaiah 53:9; Matthew 27:57–60). PROPHECIES ABOUT HIS VICTORY OVER DEATH: His resurrection from the dead (Psalm

Josh McDowell, Daniel in the Critics’ Den (Orlando, Florida: Here’s Life Publishers, Campus Crusade for Christ, 1979).

7 Sources for historical and Messianic prophecies: Dan Hayden, “Prophecy: Were the Biblical Prophets Accountable for Their Accuracy?” in Did God Write the Bible? (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2007) and Erwin Lutzer, “Reason Three: A Prophetic Reason” in Seven Reasons Why You Can Trust the Bible (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1998).

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16:10; Mark 16:6), His ascension into heaven (Psalm 68:18; Mark 16:19), and His exaltation at God’s right hand (Psalm 110:1; 1 Peter 3:22).161

LI. Israel Exhorted.

1 - An exhortation after the pattern of Abraham, to trust in Christ, ~ 3 - by reason of his comfortable promises, ~ 4 - of his righteous salvation, ~ 7 - and man’s mortality. ~ 9 - Christ by his sanctified arm, defends his from the fear of man. ~ 17 - He bewails the afflictions of Jerusalem, ~ 21 - and promises deliverance. ¶ Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.

For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. ¶ Hearken unto me, my people; and give ea r unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.

My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. ¶ Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation. ¶ Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. I, even I , am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared “Q: How Do We Know Anything Is True? A: Even though lots of other evidences confirm the Bible (and you should discuss them), your conversations aren’t likely to get very far unless you address the deeper question: “How do you know anything is true?” When debating ultimate questions, everyone must eventually appeal to an ultimate standard. We can’t keep appealing to a higher and higher standard because the stairs must end somewhere. Even secular logicians recognize this problem. Every philosophical system must start with presuppositions—starting points or assumptions—that cannot be proven from anything more basic, but are accepted up–front as the foundation for all subsequent reasoning.” ~ April 26, 2014 a weekly look at answersingenesis.org 161

continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor? The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.

But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name. And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people. ¶ Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out. There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up. These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee? Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of thy God. ¶ Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine: Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again: But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 51 An address is now made to believers both of the natural and spiritual Israel to consider the small beginnings whence the Jewish nation arose. “Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.” (Heb. 11:12.) From this retrospect an argument is drawn as to the future merciful dealings of God with Israel, when fertility and beauty without, shall answer to thanksgiving and holiness within; when a law shall go forth from Zion, and a light to the Gentiles, and the Saviour’s arm shall judge (or rule) the nations, and on him shall all the Gentiles trust. Of the 6th verse it is difficult to say whether the signs attendant on Christ’s advent are there spoken of, or that period when, after the “delivering up the kingdom to the Father,” the earth also itself “shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements melt with fervent heat.” It is probable that both are combined: the signs before the millennium constituting the commencing fulfilment; the signs attendant on the general judgement, the plenary. For though the heavenly bodies seem to us the types of eternity, in their perpetual unchanging planetary or immoveable sidereal steadfastness, yet are they as nothing compared with the duration of the salvation of Jehovah, and the righteousness of Christ wrought out for believers. Nor should it ever be forgotten, that the millennium is not the final state of the blessed, but only preparatory to the “new heaven and new earth,” which shall be created of Jehovah expressly for their habitation.

In hope of this “kingdom not to be moved,” believers are exhorted to hold fast their steadfastness, and not to regard the laugh or reproaches of men. For yet a little while, and the “arm of Jehovah” shall awake “as in ancient times, as in the generations of old,” when Israel passed through the sea, before the face of their enemies. So again shall the miraculous power of God be exhibited in the latter days; after a long time of apparent slumber, it shall awake

and do valiantly. And then shall the risen saints “come to Zion with singing,” and the restored Jew return thither with gladness, and “sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

Again is added an exhortation against the fear of the Man of Sin, showing how terrific will be his power, how great the dread of all men, that the believers have need of perpetual warning against his subtlety, and encouragement against his power. Yet, mighty as he maybe, he “shall die;” “his breath is in his nostrils.” The remedy for the fear of man is to fear Jehovah, as said the Redeemer, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him, who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.” (Matt. 10: 28.) Soon shall his day pass, and his fury vanish, and it shall be said, “Where is the fury of thine oppressor?”

On the fourteenth verse, Jerome has these remarks:- “Symmachus thus interpreted it, ‘Soon shall Hades be opened, and he shall not die into corruption,’ where Christ is understood, who, in the fifteenth Psalm says, ‘Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.’” But does it not also refer to the resurrection of the saints from Hades? For thus spake the Lord, “On this rock will I build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it:” that is, My people shall be delivered from the custody in which they are at present held, and shall attain “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body.”

This shall be the time when God’s wrath against Jerusalem shall be accomplished; in the preceding time of trouble, her sons shall not be able to deliver her; but, as in the Roman siege, “desolation and destruction, famine and the sword,” shall overwhelm them. They are beautifully compared to an oryx, an animal of the antelope kind, taken in a net, and fiercely, but vainly, struggling to get free. Yet is added the gracious promise that, this period of wrath fulfilled, the Lord will not put the cup of trembling or terror into her hand again. But the afflicters of Israel shall feel the vengeance of God, as those who, out of malice against God himself, inflicted injury on his people. * * *162

Unparalleled Prosperity Theirs.

God will make manifest the blessedness that will be the portion of Israel through their being His peculiar people, by bestowing on them, in a distinguishing way, temporal and material prosperity. While yet, in the far past, Israel was in Egypt, they were, we read, “fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.” This marked them as it did not mark the Egyptians, and was theirs as a distinctive favour from God. And, similarly, it will happen to Israel throughout the millennium, above and beyond (one would gather) what will happen to any other nation.

God will keep on fulfilling His words: “I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it” (Ezekiel 36:10). “Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit” (Isaiah 27:6). “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered” (Hosea 1: 10). The LAND of Israel also shall be made a specially delightsome land. “The LORD shall comfort Zion: He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD” (Isaiah 51:3). There shall be, and continue to be, outstanding national prosperity and glory for Israel, God’s holy nation, far exceeding the prosperity and glory under Solomon’s reign. 163

162 163

Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED,.

D. M. Panton, The Panton Papers, gathered from www.TheMillennialKingdom.org.uk/.

The Deserts Will be Reclaimed Another thing that will take place in that age will be the reclaiming of vast stretches of desert land, which will be turned into farms, beautiful forest and dwelling places. “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.” (Isaiah 35:1). “For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like EDEN, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.” (Isaiah 51:3). This will take care of the overcrowded condition seen above. It will bring Edenic conditions to earth again.164

LII. Cheer for Prostrate Zion.

1 - Christ persuades the church to believe his free redemption, ~ 7 - to receive the ministers thereof, ~ 9 - to joy in the power thereof, ~ 11 - and to free themselves from bondage. ~ 13 Christ’s kingdom shall be exalted. ¶ Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money. For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed. Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I. ¶ How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion. ¶ Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. ¶ Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward. ¶ Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:  So shall he sprinkle many

164

George Elliott Jones, A Verse by Verse Commentary on Revelation,

nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. 

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 52 The command given at the commencement of this chapter shows, that God’s time of favour to Jerusalem is come.

That it is not the restoration from the literal Babylon which is spoken of in this and the preceding chapters, is clear from the declaration there that Jerusalem should “no more” drink the cup of the Lord’s wrath; and in this place, that from the time of the promise, no more “should the uncircumcised or unclean enter into her.”

But after the promise, her sins against God are enumerated, and the captivities to which she was and will be subjected. The next scene presents them as in subjection to their last oppressor; and the Lord assures them, that to him they have been delivered up, because “through them his name was blasphemed amongst the Gentiles.” This passage is quoted by St. Paul, in Rom. 2:24, where he proves that the Jews, “wherein they judged another, condemned themselves,” and both foolishly and impiously supposed, that their privileges would redeem them from the wrath of Jehovah, when their deeds were such, that occasion was given even to the unbelieving heathen to slander through them the God whom they pretended to worship. This passage in the Hebrew has been wilfully corrupted by the Jews, because of their hatred to the prophet’s testimony against them, and still more to St. Paul’s pointed quotation of it, condemning thereby their nation, from the very books they professed to believe. But, though corrupted in the Hebrew, it is very nearly correct in the Septuagint, being less liable to alteration in a book open to the ancient Christian Church; and it is restored by St. Paul’s quotation, with which those of the fathers very nearly accord. St. Paul’s words, “as it is written,” show that he quoted exactly; hence the reference is not to the passage of Ezekiel, which some have supposed to be referred to, but to the present chapter of Isaiah. (See note.)

In that day Israel shall know the name of the Lord Jesus, both in delivering them into trouble, and rescuing them from it, and then will he in person be present. How joyful shall then the announcement of Christ’s [millennial] reign be! How glorious, even now, is the preparatory “preaching of the Gospel of the kinqdom,” and its tidings of peace!

“When the Lord bringeth again the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel be glad.”

The eleventh verse is, perhaps, cited by St. Paul, in 2 Cor. 6:17. If so, this is greatly altered, both in the Hebrew and Greek. Certain it is, that St. Paul’s words, inserted here, would correspond far better with the context than those now found as the text. After having forbidden the marriage of believers with unbelievers, because “ye are the temple of the living God; ” he adds, “as God hath sa id, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father

unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. ”

Then follows a prediction of Jesus, and a comparison is instituted between his first and second coming. As many were astonished at his marred countenance when he came in

humility, so “when he shall be exalted, and lifted very high,” many nations shall admire him, as did St. John, when he beheld him in his glory, and as Solomon in his Song prophetically describes him. The ancient fathers testify, that Christ’s figure and countenance had nothing in it beautiful or very remarkable; he emptied himself of all glory at the first appearance, but he shall be surrounded with all his rightful honours at the second. ...

“Now and then a peculiar person is found who thinks he sees the shadow of an argument in Is. 52:15 — ‘So shall he sprinkle many nations.’ But let us bear in mind that the word ‘sprinkle’ never means baptize in Scripture, and never has the slightest reference to it. The passage has allusion only to the Old Testament ceremonial purification, whether of water or blood, and finds its fulfilment in the shed blood of the Atonement of Jesus. And besides, the term ‘nations’ cannot be understood to refer to infants as a class in the passage any more than in Psalm 9:17 — ‘The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.’ Are infants turned into hell?165

... The last verse is adopted by St. Paul as his reason for preaching the Gospel, “not where Christ was named, lest he should build upon another man’s foundation; but as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of they shall see, and they that have not heard shall understand.” Hence we learn that the preaching of Christ Jesus to distant heathen nations was a commencing fulfilment of this verse; but it has yet a future plenary aspect when, as Job professed, “He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, and though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” * * *166

Take the GOSPEL of the Kingdom to the JEWS How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion,

Thy God Reigneth!

Isaiah 52:7

“This Scripture verse has often been quoted when messengers of the gospel were sent into foreign countries. But who ever considered that it speaks before everything else of the glorious ministry of those who bring peace and salvation to the Jewish people? The apostle Paul used this verse in its correct application. Referring to the Jews he asks: “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:14-15).

Unfortunately, for centuries the Jewish people have been neglected by most ministers of the gospel. Scattered among the nations they experienced indescribable trouble and suffering. This was the result of unbelief and disobedience to God, as it is written: “And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee....And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, [even] wood and 165 166

C. A. Jenkens, What Made Me a Baptist, (Roger Williams Heritage Archives, 1901), 70–71.

Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED.

stone....And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:”- Deu 28:37,64-65.

Many Jews had early in life bitter experiences of persecution. Rabbi Isaac Lichtenstein† wrote in “Der Judenspiegel” (The Jewish Mirror): “Many

a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:

Psa 129:1.

Mockery, scorn, blows, and all manner of humiliation, have been our portion even at the hands of Christian children. I still remember the stones which were thrown at us as we left the synagogue, and how, when bathing in the river, and powerless to prevent it, we saw them cast our clothes, with laughter and insult, into the water ... It is no wonder that I came to think that Christ Himself was the plague and curse of the Jews - the origin and promoter of our sorrows and persecutions. In this conviction I grew to years of manhood, and still thinking so I became old. I knew no difference between true and merely nominal Christianity”. † {LICHTENSTEIN, Isaac, Rabbi (?-1909). A Hungarian Rabbi, he preached Messiah Yeshua to his Jewish Hungarian congregation in Tapio-Szele who refused to dismiss him in spite of persecution for years, saying “I shall most willingly retract if you can convince me that I am wrong.” Later witnessed in many parts of the European for twenty years about the truth of Yeshua til his death. He died on Oct. 16, 1909, leaving writings explaining how he read a copy of the New Testament after 40 years of work as a rabbi in Hungary and was impressed by "the greatness, power, and glory of this book, formerly a sealed book to me. All seemed so new to me and yet it did me good like the sight of an old friend.... I had thought the New Testament to be impure, a source of pride, of selfishness, of hatred, and of the worst kind of violence, but as I opened it I felt myself peculiarly and wonderfully taken possession of. A sudden glory, a light flashed through my soul. I looked for thorns and found roses; I discovered pearls instead of pebbles; instead of hatred, love; instead of vengeance, forgiveness; instead of bondage, freedom." A letter to his son, a doctor, reports that "From every line in the New Testament, from every word, the Jewish spirit streamed forth light, life, power, endurance, faith, hope, love, charity, limitless and indestructible faith in God." Others, hating the idea of a long-term rabbi turning "renegade," attack Lichtenstein. His reply: "I have been an honored rabbi for the space of 40 years, and now, in my old age, I am treated by my friends as one possessed by an evil spirit, and by my enemies as an outcast. I am become a butt of mockers, who point the finger at me. But while I live I will stand on my watchtower, though I may stand there all alone. I will listen to the words of God." ~ esn}

How tragic that throughout these years Rabbi Lichtenstein had not heard the gospel of peace. Even believers showed little sympathy and understanding. Where was the Christian witness? where the messengers of salvation? Why did they not obey God’s injunction: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people! Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem!”

(Isaiah 40:1-2)? {See more.}

LIII. {The Sufferers’} Suffering Servant {Saviour}. {Messianic.} 1 - The Prophet complaining of incredulity, excuses the scandall of the cross, ~ 4 - by the benefit of his passion, ~ 10 - and the good success thereof. ¶ Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

¶ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lam b to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.  He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.  And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.  ¶ Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.  He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.  Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, a nd he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. 

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 53 The fifty-third chapter, by the confession of all rightly-minded Christian authors, relates most perspicuously to Jesus of Nazareth. Indeed, it is hard to conceive how any can admit the inspiration of the Scripture, and interpret it of any other, as the New Testament writers, by various quotations of its text, authoritatively apply it to the Saviour.

It commences abruptly by a strongly implied charge of disbelief of the Christ, brought against the Jewish nation by the apostles and messengers of the Gospel.

It is adduced, most justly, by St. John, amongst his closing observations on the public ministry of our blessed Lord, and its results, as regarded his nation. “But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him; that the saying of Esaias [Isaiah] might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?” This propheey, therefore, was fulfilled by the general unbelief of the Jews, and the fewness of those who believed the Saviour’s miracles and doctrines.

It is foretold that the Messiah should grow up before the Father as a tender plant, or, as the Septuagint translates it, “as an infant;” and “as a root out of a dry ground,” alluding, probably, to the unbelieving state of the Jewish people, and also to the lowly and degraded state of the family of David, whence the Lord was to spring. He was to possess no outward comeliness; and this was true, as far as tradition can inform us. Nor does there need any proof that he was despised and rejected of men, or that his people hid their faces from him. The Evangelist Matthew quotes the next verse in the following connexion: “When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils; and he cast out the spirits by his word, and healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” From which we learn, that our blessed Lord’s curing of diseases was the fulfilment of this verse.

The vicarious nature of the Redeemer’s suffering is next opened to our view. The prophet teaches the atoning nature of Christ’s death. His afflictions were not for any sin of his own, but for our transgressions, because he bare the penalty of them, that by his “stripes we might be healed.” Because “we like sheep have gone astray, the Lord hath made to light on him the iniquities of us all:” in which words the extent of his atonements is made equal to the extent of man’s sinfulness: or as the New Testament Scriptures phrase the same truth, “He is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world.”

The next feature commended to our notice is his silence under judicial accusation, and in the presence of his enemies. This is discovered to be more worthy of regard, if we consider that “he endured such contradiction of sinners against himself,” who hates all sin: that the accusations were false, an aggravation felt with peculiar force by men in general: still further, that it was at any time in his power to have destroyed his false accusers; “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to the Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” And lastly, that these false accusations were the return for his mighty benevolence and boundless beneficence of word and of miracle - that they who thirsteth for his blood were those whom he came to redeem by the sacrifice of himself! This point was literally fulfilled, as the Evangelists discover to us in their sacred narrative of his trial. “Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. And the High Priest arose, and said, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace.” Again, when he stood before Pilate, we read, “And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word: insomuch that the Governor marvelled greatly.” (Matt. 26:59-63; 27:12-14.) So noble an example St. Peter commends to our imitation. (1 Pet. 2:21.)

The passage now before us is, in another place, by evident implication of the strongest kind, interpreted by inspiration of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is cited in the Acts as read by the Eunuch of Candace Queen of Ethiopia, and this quotation enables us to restore the true text, which has undergone alterations in the Hebrew, but is exactly correct in the Septuagint, and its various readings. At the Eunuch’s question to Philip, “I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.” (Acts 8:34-35.) It is therefore evidently implied in the strongest manner that Jesus is the subject of this passage.

“In his humiliation, his judgement” was indeed “taken away,” for all justice was abandoned at his trial - and even he who decreed that he should be crucified, and he that betrayed him to death, confessed his innocence. On which verse the words of Procopius may not be unacceptable.

“The ensuing declaration is therefore perfectly true, that ‘In his humiliation his judgement was taken away.’ For they gave their vote against him carelessly, as respecting a person of no importance: so that the prophet intends to remark their unlawful and unjust ‘judgement’ of him. And though he was judged in his humility, yet he was by nature, God. Whence, he adds, ‘Who shall declare his generation?’ And the difficulty of declaring it lies

alike on both his generations. In a certain sense he was born of God, and in a certain sense of a virgin. For thus much alone we know, on the one hand that he is God of God, Light of light; and on the other, that ‘the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.’ On each side, therefore, the question, What is his generation? is ineffable. For ‘his life is taken away from the earth;’ that is, the economy thereof and his life according to the flesh is higher than the earthly. And in another point of view, the essence of the only-begotten is above every created thing. But some say, that the words, ‘he is taken away from the earth’ declare his glory after his resurrection; for experience showed the Divine value of the economy instituted here below; for though he was himself subjected to death, yet by his grace he made us alive unto incorruption, and by faith in him are we redeemed. But wherefore was he ‘who knew no sin’ subjected to the penalty of death? The Father makes reply, ‘For the transgressions of my people he was led to death:’ either signifying, vicariously suffering for their sins, or because they in their transgression slew him.”

The question, “Who shall declare his generation?” refers doubtless, as Procopius observes, to his mysterious eternity as Son of the Father. Jerome hereupon refers to Prov.

8:25, “Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I set forth.” There is likewise a reference to the Saviour’s birth of a virgin by the mysterious operation of the Holy Spirit.

The translation of the 9th verse is that of Dr. Kennicott, and by the transposition of two words, clearness is restored to that which was before obscure. Such a transposition has before occurred in the words “sheep” and “lamb” in the 7th verse: as is proved by the Evangelist’s quotation. Moreover, it is but the natural order of events to speak of the Saviour’s death before his burial. The natural order of his life has been followed hitherto, beginning with his infancy: why should it not be followed here? But to one who believes the Scriptures there is a still stronger proof, arising from its thus corresponding exactly with fact. He was “lifted up,” as he himself prophesied, “signifying what death he should die” - and with wicked men - the two thieves crucified on each side of him. With the “rich man moreover was his sepulchre;” as the Evangelist notices. “When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple. … And when Joseph had taken his body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb.” (Matt. 27:5760.) His suffering accomplished, it is predicted that the Lord shall behold a “seed that shall prolong its days,” to be accomplished in that day when all shall know the Lord, and when, as Isaiah subsequently prophesies, the days of the Lord’s people shall be as the “days of a tree;” or as the Septuagint has it, as “the days of the tree of life.” A passage similar to this is found at the end of the twenty-second Psalm, in which the Saviour describes his crucifixion; and then adds, “My seed shall serve him, it shall be counted unto the Lord for a generation.* They shall come and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, whom the Lord hath made.” (Prayer-book version.) But its final reference is certainly to the eternal life of his people - the “life and immortality brought to light by the Gospel.” * Better punctuated with the LXX., “The coming generation shall be counted as Jehovah’s.”

“The pleasure also of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand,” for then shall be accomplished all that the Most High designed, even to give into the hands of Christ Jesus all

power in heaven and earth, and openly to subdue all things to his will, thereby completing the prophecies uttered by his servants.

Because “he humbled himself, even to the death of the cross,” God shall also highly exalt him: and give him the souls of his people, even all those that are justified through the knowledge of the Just One. He shall inherit the earth and all its inhabitants by the Father’s gift, both Jews and Gentiles; as the second Psalm, with many other passages, declare. Such shall be his reward, for patiently enduring the agony of the garden, the treachery of Judas, and the ignominy of his trial and of his crucifixion in company with malefactors. For through this “bearing of the sins of many,” and his present intercession at the throne of God, is satisfaction made to the justice of the Most High, and a way opened to the holiest through the blood of Jesus. * * *167

the “Dualism of Eternal Life” as I find it in the word of God, especially in the New Testament.

By the above heading I mean to convey the thought, the truth, that the phrase “Eternal Life” is used in a dual or twofold sense, in the Scriptures. In the Former it designates the free gift of God to the soul that believes on Jesus Christ as the only Savior from sin. In the second sense it means, no longer the free gift, but the prize of which Paul speaks in Phil. 3:7-14. This prize is the gracious privilege granted to believers who like Joshua and Caleb, like John and Paul, wholly follow the Lord, of sharing in the glory of the first resurrection and the unspeakable blessedness of Christ's Messianic-Theocratic-Millennial Kingdom in the age to come (Matt.

19:27-30).

The gift of Eternal Life contains potentially the prize; but that potentiality may never be developed in the present period of the believer’s probation; and if such be the case he will miss the Kingdom and its glory in the coming age.

Dualistic combinations run all through the Bible. They take various forms as to moral character. They may be synthetic, or antithetic. In this chapter we emphasize the former. As examples we may take Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca. In the New Testament we have Christ and His Bride; the Spirit and the word; Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Examples of antithetic dualism are found in Abel and Cain, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, the Church and the World, Grace and Law. There is one special point, under the head of synthetic dualism, where the leaders of the people both in the Jewish and Christian dispensations have, at fearful cost, failed God. This is the grand synthesis of the two advents of Christ. The Jewish outlook on the future saw but one advent of Messiah and that in glory to establish His Kingdom and deliver the children of Abraham from Gentile thralldom. They had no room for a humble, suffering Messiah preparatory to the glory of His Messianic Rule. The Levitical offerings, as well as passages like Isa. 53, ought to have saved them from this error. The Old Testament everywhere presents the Messiah as reaching His throne through suffering (Psalms 22 and 89). So also the people of God in this dispensation have no room for the thought of the same Christ still suffering for the truth's sake in the members of His mystical body. The loss to vital Christianity has been enormous, as carnal Christians will discover to their sorrow when they stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 2 Cor. 5:10.

167

Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED.

The Church admits the two advents but so completely disassociates them from their historical and prophetic settings as to rob them of their synthetic beauty, power, and glory; and also of their spiritual and eschatological significance.

Associated with this, and growing out of it, comes the subject of the present volume, where it seems to me the Christian Church has made the greatest mistake in her whole career. This is her failure to recognize and emphasize the “Dualism of Eternal Life” and its corollaries. When the Church lost this truth, so central and vital to both Testaments, I do not know. It is doubtful, however, if the date is later than the third century A. D. It is perfectly clear to the mind of the writer that our exegesis of Luke 18:18-30, as presented in Chapter 1, has established the fact that the Young Ruler is not a sinner seeking salvation from the guilt of sin, and possession of the free gift of eternal life; but a real son of Abraham seeking how he may be assured of a place in Messiah's coming Kingdom. And it is equally certain that Peter's question and Christ's reply (Matt. 19:27-30) constitute an extension and amplification of the subject introduced by the Ruler. In addition to this Christ’s two replies indicate that “eternal life” and the “Kingdom of God”, are here synonymous expressions. ...168

More of “Take the Gospel of the Kingdom to the Jews” Some Christians think: “God has cast away His people!” But the apostle Paul objects: “God forbid. For I also am an Israelite... God hath not cast away his people..” (Romans 11:1-2). On the contrary: Not God but the Christians have cast them away! Some argue: “They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them”- (Luke 16:29). But how can they know that Messianic prophecy has been fulfilled, if they never see it in the New Testament? - others say: “Leave them alone! They are God’s people and now back in the land!” Yet, according to the Bible it is not enough to be in the land. They must return to God. If they want to be called God’s people, they have to come into a personal relationship with Him! Peter, the apostle to the circumcision, writes to Jewish believers in the Lord Jesus: “In time past ye were not a people, but now ye are the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. For ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls” (I Peter 2:10,25; cf. Hosea 1:6-10; 2:23; Isaiah 53:6). Jesus said to the unbelieving Jews: “Ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:26-27).

Every Christian knows that the great commission of our Lord to make disciples of all nations {not merely began, but} begins with the Jewish people (Luke 24:47). He said: “Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

How can we fulfill our Lord’s command to bring salvation to the Jewish people? To answer this question let us consider four guiding principles from the letter to the Romans.

1. LOVE THE JEWISH PEOPLE If we want to help people we must first of all love them and be concerned about their salvation. Maybe you find it difficult to love a person because of one reason or another.

Then remember: God hates and abhors sin, but He loves the sinner. You must also distinguish between the person and his attitude, not condoning the evil, though loving 168

Stephen Speers Craig, THE DUALISM OF ETERNAL LIFE, (Stephen Speers Craig; Rochester, N.Y., 1916).

the person. {Jude1:22-23} God desires that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (I Timothy 2:4).

The apostle Paul had a great love for his own people. He writes: “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites...” Romans 9:1-4

Paul wished to be cut off and banished from Christ for the sake and instead of his fellow-countrymen. How did he come to such a love? He was set aflame by Calvary: God’s love was shed abroad in his heart because Messiah died for sinners (Romans 5:5-8). The love of Christ constrained him (2 Cor. 5:14).

We see this love for Israel also in the Old Testament: MOSES, the servant of God, was willing to sacrifice himself for his people so that they might be saved. He pleaded with God: “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them Gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin-; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written” (Exodus 32:31-32). DAVID, the man after God’s own heart, said a similar prayer: “Let thine hand, I pray thee, O Lord my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued” (I Chronicles 21:17).

If Paul, Moses and David loved the Jews, how much more does JESUS love them. The prophet Isaiah speaks of this love, saying: “He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people (the Jews) was he stricken” (Isaiah 53:8). When Jesus saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed, and scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd (Matthew 9:36). He said: “I lay down my life for the sheep (the Jews). And other sheep I have (the gentiles), which are not of this fold: them also I must bring” (John 10:15-16).

Do you love the Jews? God loves them with an everlasting love! (Deuteronomy 7:7-8; Jeremiah 31:3). Should we not also love them? It is amazing how many Christians will tolerate the Jews but do not really love them.

A certain Christian who did not love the Jews once dreamed that he had died and was carried into heaven. It was glorious beyond expression. Angels led him into a wonderful mansion prepared for him. But after some days he felt uncomfortable for he asked himself: “Where is Joseph whose story in the Bible I liked so much? Where is David the sweet psalmist of Israel? Where is my beloved apostle Paul? And above all, where is our blessed Lord and Saviour?” He asked one of the angels for an explanation. And the angel said: “O my dear, we thought you did not like the Jews. Therefore we placed you in a part of heaven, where you would never see them.” This gave him such a shock that he woke up. Suddenly he realized that these men and most writers of the Bible and the Lord Jesus Himself were Jews. He was pleased that he could still change his attitude toward the Jewish people.

Yes, when we think of the Jewish writers of the Bible and the blessings which they brought to us (2 Peter 1:21; Jeremiah 15:16; Psalm 119:72, 97, 127); when we consider that salvation was given to us through the blood of the King of the Jews (John 4:22; 19:19); when we realize that we gentiles became partakers of the wonderful blessings in the New Covenant which God had made with Israel (Jeremiah 31:31; Romans 9:4; 11:17-

20; 15:27; Ephesians 2:11-13; 3:6), then we shall show true gratitude to the Jewish people: We will love them as Paul did.

2. PRAY FOR THEIR SALVATION Paul loved his kinsmen not only in words. He was concerned about their eternal wellbeing. Therefore he gave himself to fervent intercession. He says: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.” Romans 10:1.

He knew that the majority of his people were lost and in need of salvation (Isaiah 53:6; Matthew 7:13-14). “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Nobody can save himself by his own efforts and good works. How often have Jews (and also gentiles) tried to outweigh their sins with deeds of kindness, being zealous to establish their own righteousness before God and not willing to submit themselves to God’s righteousness? (Romans 10:3). However, we receive forgiveness and justification as a gift from God, and that only through Messiah Jesus (Isaiah 45:25; 53:11). He is our salvation and righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6; Isaiah 49:6). “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10: 13; cf. Joel 2:32).

Christians are known as those who call on the name of the Lord (I Corinthians 1:2; Acts 9:14, 21).* Paul speaks from personal experience. But how did this violent opponent become ready to call upon the name of Jesus? He had thought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus (Acts 26:9) This furious persecutor of the Church could never have changed except the believers had loved him and pleaded for his forgiveness. * {"It is as binding on the Church now to preach the Gospel to the Jew for the conversion of “the remnant according to the election of grace,” (Rom 11:5) as it is binding on the Church now to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles “to take out of them a people for His name.”-(Act 15:14) An election of individuals now—Jews and Gentiles—to form a new body—the Bride of Christ; then the blessing of the nations in millennial times, after the return of the Lord."-- from "ISRAEL MY GLORY” Israel’s Mission, and Missions to Israel by John Wilkinson The Founder and Director of the Mildmay Mission to the Jews.---esn}

Fervent prayer is needed! Many Jews are still opposed to the gospel as Paul was in his ignorance and unbelief (1 Timothy 1:13).The apostle says: “As concerning the gospel, [they are] enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, [they are] beloved for the fathers' sakes.” (Romans 11:28). What an astonishing statement: Enemies of God and at the same time beloved of God. Yes, God loves His enemies! He loved us while we were yet enemies (Romans 5:8,10). Do you love those who try your patience and oppose the gospel?

Paul experienced most persecutions from his own people and yet he loved them (Acts 9:23-24, 29; 13:45, 50; 14:2, 19; 17:5, 13; 18:12; 20:3, 19; 21:11; 23:12-14). For Jesus says: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Jesus practiced what He taught. On the cross, mocked and insulted, He prayed: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do!” (Luke 23:34). Paul had seen this Divine love which forgives and prays for the persecutors (Acts 22:20). When Stephen was stoned Paul watched over the clothes of the witnesses. And then he saw the love of this wonderful disciple of Jesus who knelt down, and cried with a loud voice: “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge!” (Acts

7:58-60). Surely Paul could not have been saved if the disciples had not obeyed the Lord’s command: “Love your enemies, ... bless them, ... pray for them!”

Are you praying for the Jews? Even for those who are not interested in the gospel: your neighbour, the grocer, the chemist and doctor? Would you not share with them the blessings which are yours in the Messiah? God promised to bless them that bless the descendants of Abraham, the Jews! (Genesis 12:3). Pray for their salvation! “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6).

3. TELL THEM OF THE SAVIOUR Because we received salvation through the Jews and because the first pioneers, who brought the glad tidings to the gentiles, were Hebrew Christians, many of us realize that we are deeply indebted to the Jewish people. While some of us pray daily for them to call on the name of Jesus for their salvation, this is not enough! Paul says: “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” Romans 10:14 We must introduce our blessed Lord and Saviour to them. How? Through the Word of God! Jesus says “Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me!” (John 5:39). No one can be born again and receive eternal life without the living and abiding Word of God (I Peter 1:23-25; John 1:12-14; 1 John 5:11-12).

You may know noble and charitable Jews of whom you think they have no need of being born again. But is it not significant that the Lord Jesus spoke of the necessity of the new birth to a high-ranking theologian, a pious rabbi and member of the ecclesiastical court: “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” (John 3:7).

Did you ever consider that the well-known verse John 3:16, the gospel in a nutshell, was first spoken to this rabbi: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”? The apostle Peter said to the Jewish leaders: “Be it known unto you all, and to all people of Israel ...

Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:10-12). Yes, they must be born again! If any Jew believes in Jesus, he shall not perish but have everlasting life. But Jesus said: “If you believe not that I am He (the Messiah and Saviour), ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24).

Therefore the gospel must be preached to them. Scripture says: It should be brought to the Jews first (Romans 1:16): “it is the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (i.e. the gentile). Did we bring it first to the Jews? We cannot reverse God’s sequence: To the Jew first! This is taught in God’s Word: 1) God loved them first of all (Exodus 4:22; Deuteronomy 7:7-8).

2) To them He entrusted His oracles (Romans 3:2).

3) His judgments come first upon them (Romans 2:9).

4) First to them His grace is revealed (Romans 2:10).

5) The Saviour was sent first to the Jews (Matthew 15:24).

6) Jesus came to bless them first (Acts 3:26).

7) He sent His disciples first to them (Matthew 10:6).

8) The great commission begins with the Jews (Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8).

9) The gospel is to the Jews first (Romans 1:16).

10) Paul went always first to the Jews (Acts 26:20; 13:46; 14:1).

Take your Bible and read to them the gospel in the Old Testament: That Messiah is born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14); the Seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15); coming out of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2); the suffering Servant of God (Isaiah 52:13-15; 53:1-12); the crucified One (Psalm 22:14-18). Show them the types which speak of the Messiah: Isaac carrying the wood and being laid on the altar (Genesis 22:6-9); the Paschal lamb dying that the first-born might live (Exodus 12:21-30); the sign of the uplifted serpent which saved everyone that looked up in faith (Numbers 21:6-9). Point out to them how clearly it is fulfilled in the New Testament. Give them the testimony of a Jewish person and tell them how you found the Saviour. And while you give to them the Word pray for them that their blind eyes may be opened to see that God’s Word is fulfilled: Salvation has come!

“Arise from the dust! Put on your beautiful garments, my people. Through the Son of Jesse from Bethlehem comes salvation to your soul!” (From the Jewish prayer book: Inauguration of the Shabbat).169 {For # 4 “Show Them the Life”}

LIV. Fertility of Zion.

1 - The Prophet for the comfort of the Gentiles, prophesies the amplitude of their church. ~ 4 Their safety, ~ 6 - their certain deliverance out of affliction, ~ 11 - their fair edification, ~ 15 and their sure preservation. ¶ Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; a nd thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, a nd ma ke the desolate cities to be inhabited.

Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. ¶ For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, w hen thou w a st refuse d, sa ith t hy G od. F or a sma ll m om ent ha v e I forsa ken t hee; b ut w ith g rea t merc ies w il l I g a ther thee. I n a lit t le w ra t h I hid m y fa ce from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so This excerpt of slightly edited pieces from: "Must Read - Articles” of: ©1997-2011 Hope Of Israel Baptist Mission, Inc. | PO Box 1700 | Powder Springs, GA 30127 USA; A List of Most Famous Messianic Jews; Introduction to The Collected Writings of Rabbi Isaac Lichtenstein (1824-1909); Why I Believe that Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah; 2011 and “ISRAEL MY GLORY” Israel’s Mission, and Missions to Israel by John Wilkinson The Founder and Director of the Mildmay Mission to the Jews; accessed July 2011. {See also: The 3 Stages of the Kingdom~Church~Bride of Our Lord Christ} 169

have I sworn that I would not be wroth wit h thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath m er cy on thee. ¶ O t hou a ffli cted , tossed w ith tem pest, and not com forted, b ehol d, I w ill la y t hy st ones w ith fa ir co lors, a n d la y thy founda tions w ith sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.

Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. ¶ No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 54 An inspired comment on the 1st verse of this chapter enables us to decide upon the intention of this prophecy. “Abraham, had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondmaid was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.” (Gal. 4:22-27.)

From this passage it appears that the present chapter is a description of “Jerusalem which is above,” the mother of all the true children of God. For the apostle declares, that Abraham’s wives and their sons were intended by God to furnish forth an allegory of the two covenants: Hagar answering to Mount Sinai, and the earthly Jerusalem; Sarah to Mount Zion, and the heavenly Jerusalem. For, as Luther observes, “As Hagar the bondmaid brought forth to Abraham a son, and yet not an heir, but a servant; so Sinai, the allegorical Hagar, brought forth to God a son, that is, a carnal people.” “Notwithstanding this only is the difference, Ishmael was born of a bondmaid after the flesh, that is to say, without the promise, and so could not be the heir.”

The sons of Hagar (that is, the Law) answer to Jerusalem the earthly, whose sons are ever in bondage under the curse of God. But Sarah, as the mother of the child of promise, answers to the Gospel, and the heavenly Jerusalem, the abode of the Church triumphant, as described in the last chapters of the Apocalypse. For a long while she was barren: the promise given, but no child of promise appearing. The Saviour was announced, but he did not present himself. Instead of him and his promise appeared the law and her children. This answers to the fact in Abraham’s history,

that Sarah, despairing of issue, gave Hagar to Abraham. To this transaction correspond the words of the apostle, “Whereunto then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made.” Until Christ’s appearance therefore all were children of Hagar, sons according to the flesh, that is, seeking salvation in the way in which man seeks it always when left to himself - by his own merits, and worthy deeds in keeping the law. But all such were slaves: under the fear of damnation, but not heirs of God, unable to merit anything but a curse. And these, in their final state, answer to the earthly Jerusalem, to which belong only temporal promises; for the law could offer no other to man’s deserts. But at the time appointed of God, Sarah obtained the promise, and now the preaching of the Gospel is raising up children to God, who are “born not after the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God,” heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Their final estate of triumph and glory is depicted in the present prophecy, and in the two closing chapters of the Revelation. As St. Paul calls it “Jerusalem which is above,” so St. John describes it as “the holy city new Jerusalem, coining down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Now as, after the destruction of the present world it comes down from God, therefore at present it is with him, as said the Redeemer, “In my Father’s house are many mansions; I go to prepare a place for you.” To a like purpose St. Paul to the Hebrews, “But now they desire a better (country), that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” (Heb. 11:16.) And again, “For he looked for the city (…) that hath the foundations (those described in Revelation), whose builder and maker is God.” (Heb. 11:10.) But this will be entered into more fully in the succeeding verses. The prophet now calls on this New Jerusalem to rejoice, because of the multitude of her sons, and the perpetuity of her bliss. Though long time barren, till the promise came, now her seed is without number. Though long possessing no husband, yet her heirs are greater in number than those of the Law. For the sons of the Law are but bondservants, and it is written, “Cast out the bondwoman, and her son:” a sentence reaffirmed by the Lord himself. “The servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.” Here the distinction appears to refer to the blessedness of the millennium, which shall be the consummation of the promises of fertility, security, and rest, promised under the law, and which the Saviour has merited for all his saints, by his having kept the law for them; but this blessedness of the law lasts but a thousand years - it “abideth not for ever:” but the glory of the “New Heavens and New Earth,” with its “New Jerusalem,” as it is the life and immortality promised by the Gospel, and is “the city” prepared by promise of God, endureth for ever. “The Son abideth ever.”

Jerusalem the earthly is the married wife, whose husband is “the law,” as St. Paul discovers to us in the seventh chapter of the Romans; - a husband to whom all are naturally subject, and to whom it was necessary that we should be dead, through the death of Christ, that we may be no longer under its curse, being loosed from the law of our outraged husband.

But the new Jerusalem is the Lamb’s destined bride, desolate indeed, and despised at present, but after the Lamb’s marriage attaining eternal [age-lasting] unchangeable glory.

Now, therefore, the prophet addresses her, and bids her to enlarge the place of her tent; for the Gentiles, as well as the Jews, shall be her children, and perhaps the inhabitants of other worlds, even all the elect of God, as saith the Scripture, “Ye are come unto Mount Zion,

and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven.”

These, the sealed of God, are taken from every tribe of the literal Israel, and from the Gentiles also, as it is written, “After this (numbering of Israel), I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, with white robes and palms in their hands.” (Rev 7:1-9.)

At the Association at Nottingham, May, 1792, Carey preached a sermon on Isaiah 54:2-3. He divided his discourse in two heads: 1. Expect great things from God. 2.

Attempt great things for God. Of this sermon Dr. Ryland said: “If all the people had lifted up their voice and wept, as the children of Israel did at Bochim (Judges 2), I should not have wondered at the effect; it would only have seemed proportionate to the cause, so clearly did he prove the criminality of our supineness in the cause of God.”170

Yet, though this chapter strictly, and in a plenary manner, refers to the new Jerusalem, it has also a commencing fulfilment in the last glorious state of Jerusalem, as dwelt in by Christ, which will afford an apt figure of the beauty, security, peace, and holiness of the final state of the redeemed. Then shall the shame of the Church’s youth pass away, as it is said in another place, “The rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth!” This rebuke shall cease, because the Most High shall be her husband. ...

“Israel is represented as a wife who has been put away by her husband, to be reconciled to him later. “Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy WIDOWHOOD any more. For thy maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name,” Isaiah 54:4-5. If a man married a woman and lived with her ten years and was separated from her ten years and then they were reconciled and lived together five more years, they would have had fifteen years of married life together, but those fifteen years would not have been consecutive years. Now, let Mr. Kempin tackle this illustration and I get it from the Scriptural relationship between God and Israel, as set forth by Isaiah and other writers.”171~ G.E. Jones

... Accordingly, we find St. John writing thus, “There came unto me one of the seven angels … and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.” (Rev. 21:9-10.)

Illustrative of the same point is a passage of the Ephesians, “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church, and he (Christ) is the Saviour of the body.

This is a great mystery; but I speak (I mean that) concerning Christ and the Church.” (Eph. 5:23, 32.)

Though, then, the members of the invisible Church of God, the “first-born, whose names are written in heaven,” are now despised, - though they have at various past times suffered, and have yet at a future period to suffer, persecution, yet “with everlasting J. W. Porter, The World’s Debt to the Baptists, (Roger Williams Heritage Archives, 1914), 111.

The Teachings of Elder G. E. Jones: The Millennial Issue; Mr. Kempin’s Thirteenth Objection: “The Millennial Doctrine Breaks the Continuity of Daniel’s Seventy Weeks.”

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mercies” shall they be “gathered” at last. This promise rests, moreover, on the oath of God, “that by two immutable things (the promise and oath of God) we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.” (Heb. 6:18.)

This oath of Jehovah is compared to his covenant with Noah, that the waters should no more destroy the earth and its inhabitants. As, then, the faithfulness of the Most High has been seen in thus remembering his promise to Noah and every living thing, so shall his oath to the Church [of the firstborn] be also faithfully fulfilled; nor, when once his redeemed are gathered into their final abode, shall he be angry with them any more, but he will uphold them in holiness and love, as he has sustained the “elect angels.” For the world and “its mountains shall depart,” but the word of God shall not pass away: nay, then, the rather shall it be conspicuous, in his preparing for his people’s reception, a world into which neither sorrow, nor sin, nor death, shall ever enter.

Isaiah the prophet referred to the Flood when he reminded Israel that God had sworn that “the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth” (Isa. 54:9). Thus Job, David, Isaiah, Peter, Paul (or whoever wrote Hebrews), and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself all confirmed the primeval testimony of Noah and his sons, preserved and edited by Moses, that the antediluvian age ended with the worldwide cataclysm of the great Flood. There is no suggestion anywhere in the Bible that this Flood was either a local flood or a tranquil flood that left no evidence, just as there is not a scintilla of evidence of evolution or of an ancient pre-Adamic earth in Scripture. Christians who reject the strong testimony in God’s Word of a recent creation and a global hydraulic cataclysm must do so for personal reasons, not biblical reasons.172~ Henry Morris

Following this gracious promise is the description of the new Jerusalem, agreeing beautifully with that in the Revelation. “I will prepare sapphires as thy foundations,” saith Isaiah. “The second” (foundation) saith St. John, “a sapphire.” “And thy gates of crystal.”

“And the twelve gates,” saith the beloved disciple, “were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl.” It need scarcely be noticed how well the “crystal” of Isaiah agrees with “the pearl” of St. John, the pearl being of a crystalline semi-transparent texture. “And the circumference of precious stones.” Even so St. John. “And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones.” (Rev. 21:19, 2l.) Why should not these things be understood literally? The absurdity of a literal interpretation is not very apparent: for we must (a thing too often forgotten) rise again “with our bodies;” and if with our bodies, then with an external world;- and if an external world, and men shall still be gathered into societies, then a city; - and if a city, what nobler could fancy conceive, than this which God has described?

But its chief bliss shall not be the splendour of its decorations, but the fact “that they shall be all,” as the Saviour remarked, “taught of God.” “Every man, therefore,” said he, “that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me.” (John 6:45.) As there is no way to the Father but by Christ, so all that have part in the final glory of the saints must be taught by him in the present life, and drawn to him by the Father’s gracious influences. “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him;” and in connexion 172

Henry M. Morris, Biblical Creationism,.

therewith is promised his participation in “Christ’s resurrection;” that is, the “resurrection of the just,” - “and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Participants in those sacred mansions shall be those who were “strangers” and “aliens” once, as it is written, “Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” (Eph. 2:11-13.)

Against such, the chosen of God, all devices shall fail, as saith our blessed Lord, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand!” So, then, although the Man of Sin shall arise, and discover himself as the Destroyer, persecuting, deceiving by his miracles, and putting to death, yet it is written of his miracles, “He shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” Blessed words! how consoling to those called to abide that fiery trial! Like this is also the declaration of the Apocalypse: “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Rev. 13:8.) Thus, therefore, rage and destroy as he may, the elect of God shall still attain the reward destined for them; and when “the indignation is accomplished,” he shall perish for ever.

The next promise of Isaiah, that “every tongue which riseth against them in judgement they shall condemn,” receives a glorious illustration from the words of Paul, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth?

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Romans 8:33-35.)

The concluding words substantiate the correctness of the foregoing interpretation: “This is the inheritance of the servants of Jehovah.” And that “their righteousness is of Jehovah” is witnessed again and again by St. Paul, where he testifies against the righteousness of man, which is of the law, and enforces and unfolds “the righteousness which is of God through faith.” Consentaneous wherewith is the beautiful simile of St. John, “They have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” * * *173

LV. Free Offer of Mercy {Invitation}. {The Universal Call: “Come”} 1 - The Prophet, with the promises of Christ, calls to faith, ~ 6 - and to repentance. ~ 8 - The happy success of them that believe. ¶ Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, 173

Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED.

and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlas ting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee. 

¶ Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. ¶ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the e a r t h , s o a r e m y w a y s h i g h e r t h a n y o u r w a y s , a n d m y t h o u g h t s t h a n y o u r thoug hts. F or a s the ra in com et h dow n, a nd t he snow from hea v en, a nd returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

“We believe that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the Gospel of Christ; ( Isa. 55:1; Rev. 22:17 ) that it is the immediate duty of all to accept them by a cordial penitent and obedient faith; (Rom. 16:26; Mark 1:15; Rom. 1:15-17) and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth, but his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the gospel of Christ; (John 5:40; Rom. 9:32) which rejection involves him in an aggravated condemnation. (John 3:19; Matt. 11:20)”174

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 55 The first verses of the chapter before us are generally understood to promise Gospel blessings in figurative language; an interpretation which is confirmed by the words of the Lord Jesus. “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you” (John 6:27) - a passage exactly corresponding in its tenour with the words of Isaiah, “Wherefore do ye spend your money on that which is not bread? and your labour on that which satisfieth not?” All, then, are called upon that are “weary and heavy laden,” to “incline their ear” unto Jesus the Lord, that their soul may live; for “he that believeth on the Son hath life, and he that believeth not shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” All that thus come shall be partakers in the covenants with David and Abraham, the former of whom is especially signalized here.

On which passage take the inspired comment of St. Paul: “And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same Ben M. Bogard Sermons & Lessons, The Baptist Way-Book; Part III ~ The Present Way, Declaration of Faith, VI. Of the Freeness of Salvation.

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unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second Psalm, Thou art my Son, this-day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.” (Acts 13:32-34.) Now the covenant with David was, that “there should not fail him a man to be ruler in Israel” (2 Chron. 7:18; 13:5.) The promise is expanded in the eighty-ninth Psalm: “I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations.” Again, “Thou spakest in vision to thy Holy One, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty: I have exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found David my servant: with my holy oil have I anointed him. I will make him my first-born, higher than the kings of the earth. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.” (Verses 3, 4. 19, 20. 27, 35, 36.)

And again in the hundred and thirty-second Psalm: “The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it: Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.” From which passages arises the following argument. The son and seed of David was to sit on his throne before God “for ever.” But if he were a man he must die, as it is written, “It is appointed unto men once to die.” David also foretold that his promised seed must die where, in the person of Christ, he writes thus: “Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” This passage necessarily supposes, as well as the former one, that the seed of David, the Holy One on whom help was laid, should die; if, therefore, he were to reign for ever, it could only be because he should be raised from the dead. This is St. Paul’s argument in the verse before adduced. It proves that God’s promise to Christ “for ever,” has now begun, and that he cannot “return again to corruption.” It proves that “Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more:” else were the promise made void.

The same promise to David’s seed was confirmed by the angel of the annunciation, and fixed to the person of Jesus: “The Lord God shalt give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

(Luke 1:32-33.) In accordance with this, Isaiah proceeds to describe the true David, the beloved of the Father, as “ruling and governing the nations,” in fulfilment of the oath to David; at which time also the promise to Abraham that “in his seed (which is Christ) all nations shall be blessed,” shall be accomplished.

A call to repentance rightly follows this, because the forbearance of the Redeemer will not always last, but one day “his enemies must be made his footstool.” A similar warning succeeds a like promise in the second Psalm, where, after declaring the kingship of Christ on Zion, the Psalmist proceeds to warn the rulers of the earth. “Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice unto him with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled.” For now “he will not break the bruised reed,” - then, “justice must go forth to victory.” After this follows the declaration of the adaptation of the Word of God to the purposes he desires, and the promise that it shall not return to him void,—a blessed and sustaining truth to the ministers of the Gospel!

Concluding the chapter is a sketch of the glory of the latter day, when the creation that groaneth now shall then rejoice, and the noxious weed and briar, the effects of the curse on

Adam in Eden, shall be removed, and replaced by every tree and shrub of beauty and usefulness. * * *175

“Good Wine” This wine is the emblem of spiritual blessings: Isaiah 55:1: “He, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine (yayin) and milk without money and without price.” Here the prophet, in the name of God, invites all, every one, to take this wine and milk freely and abundantly. How incongruous to say, Buy milk, and drink abundantly of it, for it is innocent and nutritious, and will do you good; and then to say, Come, buy wine (yayin), an intoxicating beverage, which, if you drink habitually and liberally, will beg the drunkard’s appetite, and shut you out of heaven! Can it be that God makes the intoxicating wine the emblem of those spiritual blessings which ensure peace and prosperity in this life, and prepares the recipient for blessedness hereafter? There is harmony between milk and unfermented wine as harmless and nutritious, and they properly stand as the symbols of spiritual mercies. With this view agree the other scriptures cited: Psalm 104:15: “Wine (yayin) that maketh glad the heart of man;” Judges 9:13: “Wine (tirosh) which cheereth God and man;” Song 7:9: “Best wine for my beloved;” Proverbs 9:2, 5: “Wisdom hath mingled her wine (yayin). Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine (yayin) I have mingled;” Song 5:1: “I have drunk my wine (yayin) with milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.”

Such is the invitation to drink abundantly, because spiritual blessings never injure, but always do good to the recipient.176 {cf. “Bad Wine”}

LVI. Rewards for Obedience to God. 1 - The Prophet exhorts to sanctification. ~ 3 - He promises it shall be general, without respect of persons. ~ 9 - He inveighs against blind watchmen. ¶ Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. ¶ Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him. ¶ All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest. His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; 175 176

Robert Govett, ISAIAH UNFULFILLED. William Patton, Bible Wines, (Redding, CA: Pleasant Places, 2004), 62–63.

sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot unde rsta nd: they a ll look to t heir ow n w a y , ev ery one for hi s g a in, f rom his quarter. Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 56 On the first verse of this prophecy Jerome remarks, “Isaiah is speaking to the listeners of that time that they should do all things which are right, and prepare themselves for the advent of the Saviour, for he is the justice and mercy of God.” The context shows that this advent of the Lord is his second advent; and the interpretation is confirmed by a similar warning from the pen of St. John, just before the time of Christ’s second appearing. “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” (Rev. 16:15.) The consolation offered to the eunuch was most probably that which the Lord had in view when he said, “For there are some eunuchs which were so born from their mothers’ womb; and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men; and there be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.” (Matt. 19:12.) Rev. 14:1-5, and Matt. 19:29, confirm this opinion.

The seventh verse introduces a new, and to many, I doubt not, a startling topic. “Their burnt-offerings and sacrifices shall be accepted on mine altar.” The restoration of sacrifices is a truth which many will not receive. Yet Ezekiel distinctly affirms it, and is corroborated by the Psalms. Not that they shall be regarded as possessing inherent efficacy to take away the guilt of sin - far from it. This the apostle, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, denies by the full bearing of his argument; but no passage of Scripture contradicts the supposition that they may be restored again with a commemorative intention, looking back to the past Great Sacrifice, as of old they looked forward to it, as yet to come. In this view a remark of Greswell’s is very valuable, that the Millennium will be of an intermediate type between the Law and the Gospel, possessing the characters of the Law in the restoration of the Jews and their temple, with the blessings of abundant fertility promised to the fathers, and the features of the Gospel, in the presence of the Lord, and the outpouring of the Spirit, “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

Then shall be fulfilled the words adduced by the Saviour in reproof of the Jews, “Mine house shall be called, The house of prayer for all nations,” a question which will be noticed more particularly in the remarks on the last chapter.

At the eighth verse a new subject begins. The state of Israel is sketched before the last vials of God’s wrath are poured on them; and a command given to the beasts of the field, that is, the nations of the earth, to come up and take vengeance upon them. Their public instructors of that day are next described, as afraid of displeasing by the discovery of the truth, desiring their own ease, covetous, and drunkards. Against these sins in ministers, the Lord has left us on record his warning, that to “eat and drink with the drunken,” shall expose the unfaithful servant to a “portion amongst the hypocrites.” And in another place, “Take heed to yourselves,” saith he, “lest at any time your hearts be overcharged

with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life, and so that day [of my advent] come upon you unawares.” (Luke 21:34.) * * *177

A False Messiah This evil character will be a false Messiah. He will be the antichrist. Harry Emerson Fosdic, a modernistic preacher, a man who does not believe in the virgin birth of Christ, nor in His resurrection, said, “Some day there will come another messiah who shall take over the reins of civilization, and lead us out of the state of confusion and chaos in which we have become entangled.” (This may not be what he said word for word, but it expresses the sense of his statement.) This shows that he is looking for another messiah to come, but is not looking for the return of Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah of Israel. He went on to say that so far as we know that messiah may now be lying in his cradle in some distant hamlet. That messiah for whom Fosdic says he is looking will surely come, but he will not be a messiah sent from God, but the man of sin, or the Beast, who will be Satan incarnated in human form.

When men reject the teachings of the Bible, especially those concerning the birth, the nature and the work of Jesus Christ, they open their minds and hearts to all kinds of satanic delusions and vain hopes and desires. In connection with his remarks about the man of sin Paul said, “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12). There is only one safe place to stand and that is on what we find written in the Word of God. Any man who denies the virgin birth and deity of Jesus Christ, His vicarious suffering on the cross, His bodily resurrection, and His glorious bodily and visible return, is a false teacher, regardless of his scholastic attainments and degrees. His word should not be considered of any value so far as the truth is concerned.The world is looking for the coming of just such a man as the Beast or man of sin will be. He will be hailed as the world’s deliverer. Men will think that he is the solution to all the world’s perplexing problems. Having turned away from the hope of the personal return of Jesus Christ to reign over the nations, it is but the logical thing for them to turn to some great man, and look to him for deliverance. Having neglected the study of prophecy they will be in complete ignorance of the character of this evil person they will gladly receive as the one for whom they have been waiting.

The child of God is waiting for the coming of a super-natural person, who is the Christ of God, the King of kings, the Lord of lords. This unbelieving world is waiting for the coming of a supernatural person, who will be the Beast out of the bottomless pit (Revelation 11:7), who shall be the very embodiment of Satan himself. This is why it is important to preach and teach the word of prophecy. This is why it is needful to instill in the minds of men that Jesus Christ Himself is coming back to reign in person on this earth, and take over the reins of civilization and straighten out the tangled web which the wisdom of this world has woven around the nations of earth. Jesus Christ alone is the hope for civilization. If we do not get men to see where the true hope is, then it is only natural that they will turn to a false hope which men hold out to them. We are living today in the most critical hour in human history. We are living in a day when it is most urgent that the men of God sound out the warning, and point men to the only true hope there is for them, and that is Jesus Christ and His coming, and His glorious reign. Men of God, wake up! Wake up! Quit preaching philosophy and preach the word, the whole word, minus nothing, and plus nothing. We are watchmen on the wall. We are to be awake to what is taking place. Let us not be dumb, greedy dogs, which cannot bark, but which love to sleep. Well did Isaiah say, “His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.” (Isaiah 56:10-11).

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Let us not be like them, but let us preach the word without compromise. Yes, we will be called fanatics. We will be called unprogressive and behind the times. But let us preach it anyway. Who are we to please, God or man?178

“Bad Wine.”

One class of texts refers to wine: 1. As the cause of intoxication. This is not disputed.

2. As the cause of violence and woe. Proverbs 4:17: “They drink the yayin, wine, of violence.” Proverbs 23:29–30: “Who hath woe? Who hath sorrows? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the yayin, wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.”

3. As the cause of self-security and irreligion. Isaiah 56:12: “Come ye, say they, I will fetch yayin, wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to-morrow, shall be as this day, and much more abundant” Habakkuk 2:5: “Yea also, because he transgresseth by yayin, wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied.” (lsaiah 28:7): “They also have erred through yayin, wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment “ 4. As poisonous and destructive. Proverbs 23:31: “Look not thou upon the yayin, wine, when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.” Chemists find in this passage an admirable description of the process of vinous fermentation by which alcohol is produced.

It is worthy of particular notice that it is this kind of wine that men are exhorted and warned not even to look upon, much less to drink; and that because its effects will be like the poisonous, deadly bite of a serpent and the equally fatal sting of the adder. Deuteronomy 32:33: “Their yayin, wine, is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.”179{cf. “Good Wine”}

LVII. Evil Leaders Rebuked.

1 - The blessed death of the righteous. ~ 3 - God reproves the Jews for their whorish idolatry. ~ 13 - He gives Evangelical promises, of mercy, to the penitent. ¶ The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness. ¶ But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore. Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood, Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks? Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them hast t hou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in these? Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice. Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it. And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst 178 179

George Elliott Jones, A Verse by Verse Commentary on Revelation, William Patton, Bible Wines, (Redding, CA: Pleasant Places, 2004), 55–56.

increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell. Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the lif e of thine hand; therefore thou wast not grieved. And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? have not I held my peace even of old, and thou fearest me not? I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee. ¶ When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain; And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.

For thus sait h the hig h and lofty One that inhab iteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for t he spir it should fa il b efore me, a nd the souls w hich I hav e ma de. ¶ F or t he iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners. I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 57 By the Just One that perisheth, Eusebius, Jerome, and Horsley, understand our blessed Lord; the ominous nature of whose death, in its consequences to the Jewish nation, was disregarded, and of the vicarious intent of whose sufferings they took no heed. By the “merciful men” are probably intended the apostles and martyrs for Christ. In the 2nd verse the reference is again to the Lord Jesus; for though he died as a malefactor, his burial was in peace. This verse, as Eusebius conceives, foreshadows the Saviour’s resurrection; his death because his sepulchre is spoken of; his resurrection - because he was “taken away from the midst” (LXX. translation) of the sepulchre, and his body found there no more.

The primary fulfilment of the two next verses appears to have taken place in the conduct of the spectators, and especially of the chief priests and Pharisees, during the crucifixion. In the terms by which they are here characterized, did the Saviour himself address them, “An evil and adulterous generation.” And we learn from the test proposed by the Redeemer (John 8: 7-9), that these words were literally true. The question, “At what do ye sport yourselves?” is illustrated by St. Matthew. “And they that passed by reviled him, waging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself.” “Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save.” (Matthew 27:39-42.)

But from the subsequent context it would seem that the plenary fulfilment is yet future, in that time of universal idolatry, so often before noticed; and that the derision expressed is that of the “scoffers of the last days, saying, Where is the promise of his coming?”

The expostulation that succeeds is principally, if not entirely, with the Jewish nation the bride of Messiah – in revolting from him, and leaguing herself with the “false Christs and false prophets” then to arise; especially with the chief and crowning master of iniquity here called, “THE KING.” At this last crime of the Jews, Jehovah shall visit them with his indignation, because he who “is from eternity” is thereby renounced, and their fear and worship given to a creature. Therefore shall their trust in the false Christ be punished by his breaking his covenant and destroying them.

But the righteous shall still trust in Christ Jesus, and their reward shall be, “the resurrection of the just.”

The 15th and 16th verses constitute, I apprehend, an address of the Sacred Trinity, first as distinguished in their three Persons, and afterwards speaking as the One God, and promising the mighty influences of the Holy Spirit which shall signalize the last days. “Some understand,” says Jerome, “the Holy Spirit who in the beginning moved on the waters and vivified all things; who comes forth from the Father, and by reason of the union of nature is sent by the Son, as he says, ‘If I depart I will send him unto you.’” (John 16: 7.)

For after the Lord’s anger hath ceased, he will bestow on the remnant of his people “true consolation” by his own return, and the Spirit’s outpouring. Great in that day shall be the peace of the world. But “the wicked” never can attain this “peace,” either the external or the inward repose of the time spoken of; but they are compared in their last Great Confederacy to a stormy sea, unable to rest, dissatisfied, and rebellious, vomiting forth boastings, transgressions, and blasphemies! * * *180

The Meaning of the Sea John saw this beast rise up out of the sea. Just what does this signify? In Isaiah 57:20 it is stated, “…the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.” The sea is a vast body of water, which is continually seething and surging. In Revelation 17:15 waters are said to represent multitudes, nations, peoples and tongues. “The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” This would seem to teach us that the sea out of which John saw this BEAST rise would represent the restless mass of humanity which covers the face of the earth today. Out of this worldwide unrest which we can readily discern today there will arise a universal nation, a world government, over which one man shall have supreme authority. This man, called the Beast, will get his power, the throne, and authority from the Dragon or Devil. This is the direction in which this world is moving today.

We found in the twelfth chapter of Revelation five things the casting down of the Dragon will bring. Here in this chapter we find the SIXTH thing it will bring. It will bring up the Beast out of the sea. SIX is the Bible number for the Devil. The SIXTH character in the Bible is the SERPENT. Those six characters were the Trinity, the Father (1), the Son (2), the Holy Spirit (3), who said let us make man in our image. The 4 character was Adam. The 5 was Eve, and the 6 was the serpent in which Satan had incarnated himself when he tempted Eve. We shall have further occasion to call attention to this number SIX as we continue our study of Revelation. The number of the Beast, who shall receive his power from the Devil, is 666, which is 6 times 111.181 th

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LVIII. Observances of Fasts. {Israel’s Sin.} 1 - The Prophet, being sent to reprove hypocrisy, ~ 3 - expresses a counterfeit fast, and a true. ~ 8 - He declares what promises are due unto godliness, ~ 13 - and to the keeping of the Sabbath. ¶ Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. ¶ Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? ¶ Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. ¶ If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 58 The fifty-eighth chapter is a reproof of the Jews, primarily perhaps those of the Saviour’s day, as Bishop Horsley thinks; but ultimately those of the last times restored to their land in unbelief, and characterized by oppression, covetousness, and hypocrisy. Their hypocritical fasting the Lord would not acknowledge as acceptable, so long as they held iniquitous agreements, and violated justice and integrity in their commercial dealings with

each other. On which Jerome observes, - “He refers to the bundle of papers in which the false accusations of usurers are contained, and whereby the poor are oppressed with debt.” If instead of this cruelty to the poor, they would deal forth their bread to the hungry, they should, as the Saviour declared, “be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” (Luke 14:14.)

On the 11th verse the observations of Procopius are worthy of notice, - “‘And thy bones,’” he saith, ‘shall spring up like an herb, and they shall be made fat, and they shall inherit the generations of generations.’ In which passage he seems to signify the resurrection of the body, arising like some herb, which lies dead during the winter, but flourishes again in the spring. But how will they arise? Being ‘made fat’ by the life-giving grace of the Spirit, as saith David, ‘Thou shalt send forth thy Spirit, and they shall be created, and thou shalt renew the face of the earth’ (Psalm 103:30); that is, the face of those upon earth, when we shall inherit generation after generation in interminable life, death and corruption being entirely destroyed.”

Coincidently Theodoret, “He seems in these words to notify the mystery of the resurrection. For then men’s bodies shall spring up as grass in the field.”

Nor should these alone be blest; their posterity also should rebuild the waste places, which as Jerome tells us the Christians understood of the restoration of the cities of Palestine.

A like promise follows the command [for the Jews] to keep holy the Sabbath; for to this Sabbath of the world, this seventh millenary of the creation, does the keeping of the Sabbath or seventh day look forward; and all that refuse to rest on the seventh day on which Jehovah rested, and to hallow that which Jehovah hallowed from the first, shall have no part in that glorious period of “rest,” that “Sabbatism” (Gk. …, Heb. 4:9), “which remaineth for the people of God.” * * *182

Fasting.

In order that the work of self-humbling may go deeper than it has yet gone, let us ponder — as a symptom, though a symptom only, of lowly heart-contrition — God’s truth about Fasting.

Our unutterable longing should be for a humility that we have never known: we have to pray over our prayers, and weep for our tears: oh, that our sorrow might be lifted into God’s, that where He has to grieve over us, we might grieve too!

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (I Pet. v. 6).

Christian Fasting. Fasting is a practice of the Gospel rather than of the Law. By the ‘afflicted soul’ the Jews have always understood the fasting soul (Lev. xxiii. 27); nevertheless the works of law, by which man was to win life, commanded abstinence, not from food, but from sin. “Is not this the fast,” Jehovah said, “that I have chosen? To loose the bonds of wickedness” (Isa. lviii. 6).

Fasting for salvation is not only unmeritorious, since it was not commanded; it is also wicked, for to go back to law is to fall from grace. Gal. v. 4. Fasting does not produce life in a soul: it nourishes humility in a soul already alive. Nevertheless, even an Ahab, if prostrate 182

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before God in humiliation and fasting, can obtain a respite of judgment. “Because he humbleth himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days” (I Kings xxi. 29).

Our Lord. No Author of Scripture speaks of Fasting so often as our Lord.

(1) Christ practised it. Matt. iv. 2. “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; when I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach” (Ps. lxix. 10).

(2) Christ prophesied it. “The days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then will they fast in that day” (Mark ii. 20). So also Apostles fulfilled Christ’s word. “In everything commending ourselves, as ministers of God, in fastings” (2 Cor. vi. 5).

Thus so far from fasting being confined to any other dispensation, it is peculiarly for the epoch of the absent Lord; and if we never fast, have we ever yet mourned as we ought for the Bridegroom of our souls?

(3) Christ enjoins it as an act of righteousness. “Do not your righteousness before men.

When thou fastest, anoint thy head” (Matt. vi. 1, 17).

(4) Christ promises to reward it. “Thou fastest; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall recompence thee” (Matt. vi. 18).

The three most prolonged fasters in all history, Elijah, Moses, and our Lord, were the three transfigured upon the Mount: it is the bruised body that carries the crowned brow.

“My knees,” the Psalmist says, “are weak through fasting” (Ps. cix. 24).

Method. Christ tells us how to fast.

(1) Its times are optional: — “when ye fast.” Set seasons — feast days, new moons, Sabbaths — are of the Law (Col. ii. 16), not of the Gospel: the degree and occasion of the fast (in moderation, a healthful practise) must be determined by the disciple’s own conscience and judgment.

(2) Its manner is to be secret. “Anoint thy head, and wash thy face; that thou be not seen of men to fast.” The bread of tears is not to be consumed in public: it is a silent sacrifice to God offered upon the hidden altar of the heart.

“When ye fasted and mourned, even these seventy years, did ye at all fast unto Me, even to Me?” (Zech. vii. 5). It is a secret act between God and the soul. A collective fast (Acts xiii. 2), however, must be public.

Occasion. God’s people have ever profited by true fasting.. In temptation (Matt. iv. 2); in conflict with Evil Powers (Mark ix. 29); in appointment of Church officers (Acts xiv. 23); in dispatching missionaries (Acts xiii. 3); in peril (2 Cor. xi. 27); after serious disasters (Jud. xx. 26); after great sins (I Sam. vii. 6); to turn away judgment (2 Chron. xx. 2, 4): the wise church is the church which, on the summons of circumstances or conscience, prostrates itself before God in this most powerful of all prayer attitudes. God’s servants expect answers to a prayerful fast (Isa. lviii. 3): if He is silent, it is for sin (Jer. xiv. 10-12).

Ahab, fasting, was reprieved (1 Kings xxi. 29); Jehoshaphat, fasting, was victorious (2 Chron. xx. 3, 15, 22); Ezra, fasting, was delivered (Ezra viii. 21, 31); Esther, fasting, averted massacre (Esther iv. 16); to Daniel, fasting, Heaven opened (Dan. ix. 3, 21); Nineveh, fasting, was spared (Jonah iii. 7, 10).

It is commanded just before the Advent.

“Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, and cry unto the Lord. Alas for the day!” (Joel i. 14).

Truth which is not practised, like the manna, corrupts.

“When ye fast,” as Augustine says, is equivalent to “that ye fast”: then, “why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?”

Fasting, partial (Dan. x. 3), or complete (Esther iv. 16), Jesus enjoins; God owns it in the Church, as He did among Israel’s Prophets; in a host of Scriptural lives — as Brainerd, Whitefield, McCheyne, Muller, Govett, Hsi — the Holy Spirit has revived this sacred selfhumiliation; and Revivals have taught multitudes to fast unto God who never dreamed of the privilege before. He who flinches from being thought peculiar, will never be thought peculiarly Christ-like: to become like the Man of Sorrows, we must become acquainted with grief.

“Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, and hast rent thy clothes and wept before Me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold, thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see the evil” (2 Chron. xxxiv.

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LIX. Separation from God. {JeHoVaH’s Salvation. “Truth”} 1 - Calamities are not due to lack of saving power in God, but to the damnable nature of sin. ~ 3 - The sins of the Jews. ~ 9 - Calamity is for sin. ~ 16 - Salvation is only of God ~ 20 - The covenant of the Redeemer. ¶ Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separate d between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. They hatch cockatrice’ eggs, and weave the spider’ s w eb : he t ha t ea t et h of their eg g s d ieth, a nd tha t w hich is crushe d breaketh out into a viper. Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.

The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. ¶ Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he 183

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that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. ¶ And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there w as no int erce ssor: ther efore his a rm b roug ht sa lv ation unto him; a nd his righteousness, it sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence. So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against hi m. ¶ And t he Redeemer sha ll come to Zion, a nd unto them tha t turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.  As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 59 The present section of prophecy relates ultimately to the last state of iniquity of the Jews in their own land before the wrath of God breaks forth on them. They are described as persecuting even to death the people of God, as lying and unjust.

Because of these things God shall leave them to themselves, to grope in darkness, and be full of disquiet. The darkness mentioned is literal as well as figurative. For thus we read in Rev. 16:10, “And the fifth angel poured out his vial on the seat of the Beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains, and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.” This was foreshadowed of old by the three days’ darkness in Egypt; and as that immediately preceded the deliverance of Israel, so this darkness immediately precedes the day of Armageddon. But though the world in general will not repent, yet the elect remnant of the Jews will, and their confession is here given. So wicked will be those times, that like Lot in Sodom, “the forsaker of evil becometh a prey.” Thus, therefore, because of his saints’ cry for aid Jehovah shall rise up, because none can deliver but himself. He shall stand up in wrath, and “justice shall uphold him,” as saith St. Paul, “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and* that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thess. 1:6-8.) [* NOTE. The ‘and,’ as a disjunction separates two distinct groups – the unregenerate from the disobedient regenerate.]

By this mighty display of his glory and power, all the remainder of men shall fear him.

Then shall have arrived that blessed time which the apostle foretells in the Romans, where he quotes the succeeding words of Isaiah, “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” (Rom. 11:26-27.) And the Spirit then

outpoured upon them shall never be withdrawn, “from thenceforth and for ever, saith Jehovah.” * * *184

REVIVAL Even journals of the world are conscious of the need of revival. The Globe, of Toronto, says:- “Revival is sorely needed again. Revivals usually come to pass in the face of intense opposition, and in times of great darkness and declension. No intelligent observer can doubt that we are in such times today. Determined attacks are being made on the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the true Christian faith. Immorality is on every hand. Open atheism flourishes. Materialism grips the hearts of men. All these conditions make a call to revival.

Nehemiah’s first move toward revival was significant. When he learned of the dire distress of the people of Jerusalem he said, “I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of Heaven’. His very prayer was the sure pathway to revival. It began with worship of God ‘that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love Him and observe His Commandments’. And at once it went on to confession of sin. Then Nehemiah boldly reminded God of the Divine promise to forgive and to restore if confession were made. God heard and honoured that prayer. Revival has never come in any other way; but has come over and over again in times of darkness and need, in just that way. There is a passage of Scripture that may well be used in prayer for revival to-day:- ‘When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a sword against him’” (Is. 59:19).185

LX. Zion’s Glory.

1 - The glory of the church in the abundant access of the Gentiles, ~ 15 - and the great blessings after a short affliction. ¶ Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.  Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their w indow s? ¶ Surely the isles sha ll w a it for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring 184 185

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unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. ¶ Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors right eousness. Violence shall no more be hea rd in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shal l be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 60 With the return of the Saviour as the “Deliverer” of Zion, which the close of the last chapter celebrates, the “light” of Jerusalem is come. It shall be at that time when darkness both moral and physical has covered the earth, that the Lord Jesus shall appear. Surely passages like the present should awake from their dreams of a gradually ameliorating scheme of things, those Christians who look for the “glory of the latter day” before the Saviour’s return! Doth not Christ compare the time of his appearance with the “days of Noah,” when violence overspread the earth, and he alone was found righteous? Is not the world’s condition at that time compared to the times of “Lot,” when impurity deluged Sodom, and he alone was holy in the midst of the cities of the plain? Doth not the Saviour’s comparison of his appearing to the eagle’s flight, prove that the world shall be then the “carcase” destitute of life, and fit only for judgement? And doth not the Apostle Paul predict the “latter days” as “perilous” beyond all others? And doth not St. John describe the coming of Christ as a day of vengeance on all kings and nations gathered to fight against him?

The interpretation of Procopius on the former verses is here submitted to the reader’s attention: “He announces to them that sit in darkness, the coming of the light of Christ; a declaration which is suitable not merely to his first coming, but also to his second, of which the Saviour saith, ‘And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven;’ and by his angels he assures us that he will gather his elect from every side; and again, ‘When the Son of Man shall come in his glory.’ Then he speaks of the judgement of the righteous and the ungodly, under the figure of sheep and goats, and the delivering up of the

one to the fire and of the other invited unto the new ‘Age;’ wherein shall not be any corporeal sources of light, for Christ himself, the ‘Sun of Righteousness,’ shall suffice for enlightening.

And then, according to the words of most holy Paul, ‘The dead in Christ shall rise first,’ and they which are alive and remain shall meet Christ in the clouds. To such then, addressing himself, he says, ‘Shine, O Jerusalem!’ or, according to the other translators, ‘Arise, shine!’

See if he does not by the word ‘arise,’ discover the resurrection of the dead, for (Christ) the Light shall vivify the dead by his own radiance, and they arising shall behold his glory; wherefore he adds immediately, ‘And the glory of the Lord is risen on thee.’” From what has preceded it will be seen that the author does not agree with all the foregoing quotation, nor is it reconcileable with what follows, especially the declaration that there will be no corporeal sources of light,- a mistake originating in a confusion between the temporary and the final blessedness of the saints, between which the Apocalypse so happily and clearly distinguishes.

The Saviour’s return shall be the signal for the restoration of Israel, and by every species of conveyance will the Gentiles bring again to their own land those whom the Lord delighteth to honour. Here it is gratifying to be able to agree with Dr. Henderson in his belief that these latter chapters will be fulfilled during the glorious period of the millennium.

On the fact that the Jewish nation appears so prominently throughout, he justly observes, that Isaiah was “a prophet of the Jews and to the Jews.” Jerome also informs us, that the ancient Christians understood this chapter of the millennium. For then shall all kingdoms and countries pour their wealth into the lap of Israel, as did the Egyptians at the exodus of old.

The 8th verse probably alludes to the return of the ten tribes from their hiding-place, in which they are reserved by the Lord till their time of restoration is come. In that day all kings shall contribute to re-establish them, of which the friendship of Hiram of Tyre with Israel, during the glorious and peaceful reign of Solomon, was a type.

But the exposition given by Procopius is also worthy of the reader’s consideration, “‘Who are these that fly as a cloud?’ This Paul has made clear, when he said, ‘We shall be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we be ever with the Lord;’ being joined, that is, to the assembly of those of the ancient people who did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, who also, being represented as beholding the upward flight of the saved from among the Gentiles, wonder at the multitude thereof.”

So great shall be the peace of those days, that the gates of Jerusalem shall not be shut, “for nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more:” while the site of the temple, that place of worship for all nations, shall be glorious in the midst of stately groves.

The Jews, moreover, from being the despised, shall become the admired of all nations, and all shall press forward to serve them. Then shall God pour out his blessing, and for “brass bring gold, and for iron silver,” as it was remarked in the typical reign of Solomon, “And all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.” “And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the vale, for abundance.” (1 Kings 10: 21, 27.) The rulers under Christ shall be his faithful and tried servants, peaceful and righteous. No evil shall draw nigh them: but praise shall occupy the inhabitants.

The 19th verse, however, will probably at that time receive but a commencing fulfilment, as it is only of the final state of the blessed that it is said, “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” (Rev. 21:23.)

Lastly, the mighty increase of the Jews is promised, for then shall be fulfilled to the letter the promise to Abraham of the multitude of his seed. But as the spiritual and the natural Israel shall then be united, the words of Procopius, in his comment on the 21st verse, are here added, “Us, then, the people of the Church, Christ himself justifieth by grace, and we are the ‘planting’ of ‘his hands,’ who hath grafted us into the good olive-tree. At present, indeed, during this age, the glory of the saints is hidden, but in the future, the least of them shall rule over very many, in which prospect the saints rejoicing say, ‘He hath subjected the nations unto us, and the people under our feet.’ And this shall take place, when I gather them at my descent from heaven, and they shall be caught up in the clouds to meet me.” * * *186 “In Isaiah 60:1-12, we have a passage that is again and again applied to the church, being used to set forth the triumph of the Gospel, and the recompense of missionary zeal. But an examination of the statement in Galatians 3:27-28, will show that the passage cannot be related to the church, and does not belong to this dispensation.

Galatians tells us that in Christ there is neither "Jew nor Gentile." That is to say in the church all national distinctions disappear. But in the quotation from Isaiah the distinction of Jew and Gentile is particularly emphasized. The prophet is therefore not speaking of the church but of Israel in the last days after the church has been translated; he is speaking of that time in the Millennial Dispensation when the Jew shall be the head of the nations and when the Gentiles shall bring in their wealth to support him.”187

“OLAM” ... Of course it is quite proper to speak of eternity past and eternity future. But surely there is an unbridgeable gulf between past eternity and antiquity. So is there a like difference between the age to come and future eternity. Among the passages cited by Gesenius under this head are Isa. 42:14; 58:12; 61:4; 63:9. Let us look at some of them. ... Isa. 63:9: He bare them and carried them all the days of old (olam). This refers to Jehovah’s kindness to Israel when He brought them out of Egypt and placed them in the land of Canaan.

So in ... Isa. 42:14: “I have long time (olam) holden my peace.” This, as Gesenius says, refers to the Babylonian captivity. ... ... The man who holds on, endures, is the man who, like Joshua and Caleb in the wilderness, is finding God a deliverer every hour as he moves towards the telos, the goal, and there receives the prize. See Paul, Phil. 3:7-14. The believer has his daily choice of two things:-to abide in Christ (by a continuous surrender of his will to God) and then, “bear more fruit,” and “much fruit;” and have that fruit unto holiness and the end (telos) everlasting (Millennial) life.

John 15:1-10; Rom. 6:22; or, by preferring his own will to God’s will, become unfruitful and be cut

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off and withered and cast into the fire; because the wages of sin is both physical and Spiritual death. John 15:6; Rom. 6:23; 8:13. In other words, he must press on through the wilderness and entering Canaan begin to possess his possessions; or he must back-slide and die in the wilderness and thus forfeit all claim on the first resurrection and the glory of the Messianic Kingdom. Obadiah 17; Deut. 6:23; Heb. 4:1. ... In Isa. 60:15, Olam is rendered eternal, “I will make thee an eternal joy,” and he assumes that the prophet has eternity in view, whereas the reference is to the terrestrial glory of Israel during the thousand years; and aiōnios, or olam, should here be rendered age-lasting.

Then he quotes Psa. 12:7; “God preserves the righteous for ever,” and assumes that this is correct, when the reference is to the same Messianic Age and should be rendered, “God preserves the righteous for the age (to come)”. Compare Luke 18:28-30; John 6:58; 8:51; Matt. 13:43, 49; 1 Tim. 6:12. He quotes Psa. 61:4; 73:26; 81:15; 112:6; 125:2; Ecc. 3:14; Isa. 40:8; 51:6; Dan. 7:18; and takes it for granted that “for ever” has exclusive reference to future eternity, whereas in every case the writer has his mind on the Messianic Millennial Kingdom, or some nearer period of time. ... let the reader reflect on the fact, that, with the probable exception of Pro. 8:23; the passages we have cited from those he adduces as example, have no reference to eternity, because the outlook of Prophets and Patriarchs was exclusively confined to Israel’s Golden Age, when the Messiah shall sit as a Priest-King on the throne of His father David. Psalms 2; 45; 72; 110.188

LXI. Exaltation of the Afflicted. {The Mission of the Servant of JeHoVaH: Preacher’s} 1 - The Office of Christ. ~ 4 - The forwardness, ~ 7 - and blessing of the faithfull. ¶ The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;  To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. ¶ And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. And strangers shall stand and feed y our flocks, a nd the son s of the a l ien sh al l b e y our plow m en a nd y our vinedressers. But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory s ha l l y e b oa s t y o u r s e l v es . ¶ F o r y o u r s h a me y e s h a l l h a v e d o u b l e ; a n d f o r confusion they sha ll rejoice in t heir portion: therefore in their la nd they sha ll possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them. For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.

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¶ I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the th ings that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

When He was manifested to Israel and entered upon His work in the Jewish synagogue in Nazareth, He read from Isaiah 61:1, which portrayed His mission and the condition of the fold He had entered. Luke 4:18-19: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind - to set at liberty them that are bruised; to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

The rich and haughty scribes and Pharisees, with all the rulers, had fleeced and starved the sheep to that extent that they were poor indeed, and so burdened and harassed by oppression that they were “broken-hearted,” and, like prisoners shut up in the dark prison-house, so the true Israel were longing and desiring to be freed, and to enjoy the light and liberty of the sons of God, which they felt the coming of Christ, the true Shepherd, would afford.

The rulers and teachers of the Judaistic fold had taken away the key of knowledge, had thrust themselves into Moses’ seat, set aside the law by him, and substituted tradition therefor, and, by teaching and example, exalted ritualism for or instead of faith and spiritual obedience.

Hence they were the destroyers, “thieves and robbers,” who had over-riden the law - climbed over, instead of fulfilling, the requirements of the law. The time had come when the Shepherd should be made manifest to Israel, His true people.189

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It is said of Israel that “they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.” It is easy to conceive a literal fulfilment of this in a land so often desolated by war as Palestine. It is quite impossible to conceive of any fulfilment at all by the heavenly sons of Abraham in their heavenly country. What desolated cities will they rebuild there? Or what need will they have of alien plowmen and vinedressers to do their field work while they serve as priests and kings? To “spiritualize” such promises is to render God’s Word as desolate as the ravages of war made Palestine:to take them to mean what they say gives direct meaning and comforting force to such a word as ch. 62:4:“Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate; but thou shalt be called Hephzibah [My delight is in her], and thy land Beulah [Married]:for Jehovah delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.”190

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 61 The commencing verses of this chapter were read by our blessed Saviour in the synagogue at Nazareth, as describing the intention of his ministry; after reading which, he J. R. Graves, GRAVES’ LANDMARKS from PARABLES “The Good Shepherd” by Rev. C. C. Mc Daniel.-------by Request of the Author.

190 G. H. Lang: Some Collected Writings,.

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added, “This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.” But the Lord’s omission of part of the second verse is highly significant. He read as far as the words which foretold that he came to “preach the acceptable year of the Lord,” but he did not read the succeeding clause, “And the day of vengeance of our God.” We conclude, therefore, that, as in other prophecies, the first and second advent are blended, so it is here. The first advent was to preach the time of the Lord’s mercy, the second his day of vengeance. But that day of wrath to the world shall be a time of joy to his people, “Lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh.” In accordance with which are the views of Procopius, who writes as follows: “He declares also that he was ‘anointed to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord:’ thus intimating the time of his abode on earth as man, wherein to those who came to him he afforded the light of day. For, as he is the ‘Sun of righteousness,’ a ‘year’ is suitably accorded to him. But, perhaps, it signifies the coming age, unto which he hath deferred those promises of which he teaches, when neither the sun nor the moon, but ‘the Lord shall be thine everlasting light,’ wherefore it is called ‘the year of the Lord,’ as being enlightened by him; and the ‘acceptable year,’ or according to the other translators, the ‘year of approval,’ being the same as the ‘day of recompense,’ wherein ‘men will receive the remuneration of their labours in this life.’” Till then his Church must “mourn,” especially in the Great Tribulation, as said the Saviour, “The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man (his [millennial] kingdom), and shall not see it;” and then should they be told of the coming of some false Christ, or prophet; but to prevent delusion, the Lord gives them the lightning as the sign of his appearing. (Luke 17: 22.) So, on another occasion, he said, “Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.” (Matt. 9: 15.) Still more exactly parallel are our Lord’s words in St. John, “Ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” “Ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.”

(John 16: 20, 22.)

Then shall the former desolations of Judaea be repaired, and strangers shall be servants to the Jews, while they shall be the chief of the nations, and employed continually as priests in prayer and praise.

The other promises of the chapter do not require explanation, but follow readily in the train of the observations made above. * * *191

Chapter 61 is crucial, for Christ himself showed at Nazareth how prophecy is to be divided as to eras, and how the past and the final future may be conjoined in one sentence. As far as to the clause “the acceptable year of the Lord” He read in the synagogue, for thus far the predictions were finding a preliminary fulfilment in His ministry of grace.

But He did not read the next clause because the “day of vengeance” had not then arrived, nor therefore the time to give joy to Zion and to comfort its mourners. For the moral preparation indispensable to their comfort and joy requires that “day of 191

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vengeance” as its means. On the contrary, Christ later predicted a further overthrow of Jerusalem and scattering of its people to follow their rejection of Himself, and looked on yet further to the final destruction and scattering at the end of the Times of the Gentiles (Matthew 24.; Mark. 13.; Luke. 21.).

No arguing can alter the fact that Christ thus indicated that some interval, and, as it has proved, a vast interval, lay in Isaiah’s prophecy. And a precisely similar break, and an intervening period, can be seen in Isaiah 9:6-7, between the birth of the Son and His taking the throne of David; and at Isaiah 10:11-12, where the, boasting of Sennacherib passes on to when Jehovah shall have performed His whole work on Mount Zion, which even yet is not the case; also at Jer. 25:12-33, where the close of Israel's seventy years in Babylon passes on to a destruction of Babylon which is to involve “all the nations” (13) and “all the kingdoms of the world which are upon the face of the earth” (26), even “all the inhabitants of the earth” (29), even “all flesh” (31), “from one end of the earth unto the other end of the earth” (33). We find the same break at Daniel 9:26, for “Messiah shall be cut off and shall have nothing,” and then the next event is the destruction of the city.

Even those who refuse to see here an interval extending to Antichrist must admit some break, for it was almost forty years after Messiah was cut off before Titus destroyed the city.192

LXII. Zion’s Glory and New Name. {A New Picture of Zion’s Glory.} 1 - The fervent desire of the Prophet to confirm the church in God’s promises. ~ 5 - The office of the ministers, (unto which they are incited) in preaching the Gospel, ~ 10 - and preparing the people thereto. ¶ For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi -bah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.

¶ For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. ¶ I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. The LORD hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no 192

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more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured: But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness. ¶ Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highways; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.

Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 62 The sixty-second section is a continuation of the preceding, and literally taken scarcely requires an exposition. The Father promises at its commencement that “the Just One” his Son, shall be sent forth for Jerusalem’s sake, and all the Gentiles shall behold him, according to the Saviour’s prediction, that all nations shall see the Son of Man at his appearance. The new name of Jerusalem,- Hephzi-bah, and of its land,- Beulah, is also declared; with the joy that shall be experienced therein. For from that day forward the labour of the nation shall no more be delivered up to the Spoiler, but its proprietors shall enjoy it, secured beyond recall, by the oath of God. The latter part describes the Saviour’s advent, and the highway made for his people “from Egypt and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Shinar, and from the islands of the sea, when their captivity is turned again.”

Lastly, Jerome confesses that the Christians of his day understood this of “the last time, when after the fulness of the Gentiles, Israel is to be saved and return to the Lord.” * * *193

PRAYER ONE of the most wonderful of all lessons on prayer - and one unutterably important to us is our Lord’s Parable of the Importunate Widow. It is of vital importance to note what He has just said. He has just (Luke 17:22-37) shown the Son of Man rejected; the Christ has gone into Heaven; the masses are plunged in gross sin; men of God have become rare, as in the days of Noah and Sodom; and suddenly amidst it all - a cry, a flash, and the watchful and prayerful are gone. It is on this Second Advent background, full of lurid gloom and storm, with a rending Advent like sudden lightning, that our Lord lifts the form of a lonely widow, besieging the throne of God in great distress.

Now there is one first great outstanding fact, and one of the most stimulating of all facts concerning prayer. Prayer gets things that cannot be got without prayer: God gives in answer to importunity what He does not grant without it. It is to this point that our Lord draws special attention. “because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said,” - there is peculiar emphasis laid on Christ drawing the lesson - “Hear” ponder, take in, realise - “what the unjust judge saith.” “Because this widow troubleth me,” with her “continual coming,” gives me no rest; exactly as Jehovah said through Isaiah 62:7, “Ye that are the Lord’s remembrancers, take ye no rest, and give Him no rest.” For who is the successful widow? “Shall not God avenge His elect, which cry unto Him day and night?” Those of His elect 193

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which cry: if a soul cries at night, it is certain he is no hypocrite when he prays by day. “To faint” here means “to relax, let go”; importunity is that which never lets go. What else but no answer could a poverty-stricken widow expect from an unjust judge? Yet, by her importunity, she gets it; her importunity won the impossible. “Do not expect a thousand-dollar answer from a ten-cent prayer.” The widow won her request not by Prayer, but by importunate prayer: she won it solely on her importunity; the judge granted her deliverance on no other conditions: in the courthouse, on the street, at his doorstep, she beset and besieged him. So this is the first great fact. Our Lord definitely says that God will give things in answer to “day and night” prayer which He will grant in no other way. Plus importunity, plus answer: minus importunity, minus answer.

Now our Lord draws a tremendous comparison. “And shall not God avenge His elect?” The judge is unrighteous - “God is not unrighteous to forget”; the judge grows weary - “the Lord fainteth not, neither is weary” (Isaiah 40:28); the widow is nothing to the judge - these are God’s elect, the choice of His own love; the widow’s distress was no distress to the judge – “but in all our afflictions He is afflicted”: so then - shall not God answer as fully and freely as an unjust judge?

“I say unto you, that He will avenge them speedily.” “To ‘avenge” here is to deliver by a judicial sentence this term does not necessarily include the notion of vengeance, but that of justice to be rendered to the oppressed”(Godet). Sudden and overwhelming, the deliverance will be sharp and decisive; though it is a deliverance which sadly and necessarily involves the terror and destruction of the ungodly. So here is the great second fact. Unanswered prayers are accumulating in massed treasure above: it is only mercy to the wicked, and the blessed testing of God’s people - “He is long-suffering over them” over both - that holds back the accumulating floods of answer: as God is higher than an unjust judge, to that enormous degree He is the more certain to do that which even an unjust judge certainly does. God delays so long, only to make haste at last, and to answer overwhelmingly.

Now look at the exceedingly remarkable, and even startling, comment of our Lord.

“Howbeit” - in spite of this dead certainty of God’s response to importunity - “when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith” - the faith that thus prays through - “on the earth?” Here is the third and most arresting fact of all. Christ expects few such Praying souls at the end: in the very moment that He flings open the gates of blessing to intense watchfulness and prayer, He doubts whether any but an exceeding few will do it. “He spake the parable unto them” - the disciples “to the end that they ought always to pray, and not to faint”: but the vision of Laodicea rises before His mind; and as He looks down the far centuries, He sees few, oh, so few, kneeling forms in the last shadows, living on their knees. How many children of God are never seen at the prayer-meeting from year’s end to year’s end; how many have never been heard to pray before others in their lives; how many act before praying, instead of praying before acting; how many are cold and lifeless in their secret devotions: how few importunate widows! When our Lord came back after His Resurrection - a resurrection foretold again and again - instead of a longing, eager, welcoming band, He found disciples actually astounded and incredulous. So here is our peril at this moment. Our Lord is coming - that is dead sure: the Advent will be swift and decisive: our peril is lest it finds us without a faith that steadily refuses to take “no” for an answer; faith to persevere, faith for importunate prayer, faith in spite of fearful delay, faith amid general apostasy, faith which storms through into the glory and the kingdom. “The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force” (Matt. 11:12).

For now we reach our triumphant conclusion. “Shall not God avenge saints which cry unto Him day and night? He will avenge them speedily.” Persistent prayer will carry us triumphantly through. Only intense concentration will preserve faith at the last; but the solitary weapon of importunate prayer will do it. A lonely widow, helpless and powerless; fierce oppression from the

Adversary; a great inheritance at stake - a world that is ours, but held by the Usurper; a heaven that has delayed its answers for countless years:- one weapon carried her triumphantly through; and with the same weapon we can be as sure of victory as she. No position is so desperate that prayer cannot conquer: no arm is so weak but that, with this one weapon, it can move God; no sin, no circumstance, no adversary is unconquerable: but the one condition is that the one weapon is wielded, that it is importunate prayer, and that it is wielded incessantly. God does not hear us for our much speaking, but He will hear us for our constant coming; the answer only accumulates. So then, whatever grace we lack now, or whatever glory we desire hereafter, pray for; keep praying for it; never leave off praying until you get it; and so pray through till prayer is lost in praise.194

LXIII. God’s Vengeance on the Nations. {The Judgement of the Servant on His Enemies.} 1 - Christ shows who he is, ~ 2 - what his victory over his enemies, ~ 7 - and what his mercy toward his church. ~ 10 - In his just wrath he remembers his free mercy. ~ 15 - The church in their prayer, ~ 17 - and complaint, professes their faith. ¶ Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.  Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth. ¶ I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD ha th bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses. For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour. 

¶ In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. ¶ But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them. Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him? That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name? That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble? As a beast goeth down into the

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D. M. Panton, The Panton Papers ~ Good articles on Prayer here and here also here.

valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name. ¶ Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained? Doubtless tho u art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou , O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting. ¶ O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance. The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary. We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name.

ISAIAH 63 - A MOST AMAZING PROPHECY The Prophecy of Isaiah 63 concludes with the Messiah emerging out of Edom with his robes literally drenched with blood from the multitudes of those he has slaughtered. That's right. Have you ever seen Messiah portrayed this way? He left as a lamb, but he returns as a mighty conquering lion: Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson? Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? "It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save." Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress? "I have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no one was with me. I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come" (Isaiah 63:1-4).

Ezekiel 25 also reveals exactly how God feels about Edom: "Thus Says the Lord God; "Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them. Therefore thus says the Lord God; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword" (v. 12-13).

Teman is in Yemen, while Dedan was an ancient city in central Saudi Arabia that is now known as AlUla. Because of the use of both Teman and Dedan, we are to understand that the entire landmass stretching southward along the Red Sea and well into central Saudi Arabia is being highlighted. The Jewish Tanakh translates this verse; "from Teman to Dedan." This is a massive area.

The Book of Obadiah also focuses on the destruction of Edom: "Shall I not in that day," Says Jehovah, "even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?" (Obadiah 8) As in the previous passages, so also in Obadiah, this is clearly referring to the period preceding Christ's rule over the earth: "And saviors shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be Jehovah's" (Obadiah 21).

This next passage will no doubt infuriate many Muslims. After Jesus destroys the Muslim nations, the prophet Zephaniah makes it clear that the remaining Israelites will possess the Muslim lands: "Jehovah Almighty, the God of Israel [declares], 'surely Moab will become like Sodom, the Ammonites like Gomorrah— a place of weeds and salt pits, a wasteland forever. The remnant of my people will plunder them; the survivors of my nation will inherit their land'" (Zephaniah 2:9).

Messiah in Person Defeats Egypt ~ Messiah Personally Judges Lebanon ~ Why Did The West Miss This?195 The Kingdom of our dear LORD has a “trinity of fulfillment” in three stages, phases, parts or dominions; typified, initially by Moses giving the Law and setting 195

Walid Shoebat, Unlocking Allegories (Rome or Islam),.

up the Tabernacle, Joshua leading the Chosen into the Promised Land and Solomon building the Temple. Also in the three anointings of King David, the three agriculture-related pilgrimage festivals of Israel, and culminating in the three resurrections. This is realized in the offices of our founding Prophet, presiding High Priest and soon to return conquering King of kings: the LORD JESUS CHRIST. The Angel of His presence, the Holy Ghost, officiating as Comforter, Guide and Witness; Authorizing each successive church since Christ in perpetuity comprizing the present kingdom stage. Antichrist has stages also.

The Jewish root is to be our “First Love” with the “Gospel of the Kingdom” in preparation for the next and final stage: the millennial reign of their Messiah and soon returning King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ! ~ { Ge 9:27; Ex 14:19; 19:6; 23:14-17,20-21; 33:14; 1Sa 16:13; 2Sa 2:4; 5:3; Psalm 72:16; Pro 9:10; Ecc 3:1; Isa 2:1-4; 9:7; 11:2; 26:2,19; 42:1-4; 60:22; 61:1; 63:7-10; Eze 17:22-24; 47:1-4; Dan 2:35; 9:24; Zechariah 3:2, 9; 4:2-10; 6:12-13; Mt 3:10-13; 12:17-21; 13:33; 16:16-19; 18:17-20; 21:43; 27:51-54; 28:18-20; Mk 4:26-29; Luke 12:32; John 1:31-34; 3:3-8; 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7; 20:20-23; Ac 1:5-8; 2:1-4,14-42; 7:38; 8:14-17; 10:44-48; 15:7-8,14-17; 1Co 12:11-14; 15:2028; Ga 4:26-27; Eph 1:3-6; 2:6,19-22; Php 3:20-21; Col 1:13; 1Th 4:14-17; He 9:23-28; 12:2225; 13:10-16; James 5:7-8; 1Pe 2:9-10; 2Pe 1:11; 1Jo 2:20,27; 4:1-6; 5:6-9; Re 1:20; 2:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6; 6:9-11; 14:14-19; 20:1-15 }196

LXIV. Prayer for Mercy and Help.

1 - The church prays for the illustration of God’s power. ~ 5 - Celebrating God’s mercy, it makes confession of their natural corruptions. ~ 9 - It complains of their afflictions. ¶ Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.

For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.

Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved. ¶ But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. ¶ Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people. Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and our beautiful house, F. L. DuPont Fred G. Stevenson J. R. Graves, L. L. Clover, G. E. Jones, C. A. Smith, etc., The 3 Stages of the Kingdom~Church~Bride of Our Lord Christ.

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where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?

EXPOSITIONS of ISAIAH 63 & 64.

“Many of our party” (the Christians), confesses Jerome, “refer this to the consummation of the world. They think that this is to be accomplished in the second advent of the Saviour, who is described as victorious and bloody; in which (advent) his voice is heard as judging, yea fighting and slaying, his own enemies and those of his people.”

Indeed, what other interpretation will it bear? It cannot refer to the scene on the cross, for the hero of this prophecy is one coming in the greatness of splendour and might, whereas Jesus on the cross was abased to the lowest depths of sorrow, pain, and desertion of God. Here he is represented as trampling his enemies in his fury and staining his apparel with their blood.

The time, therefore, is that of the second advent: the interlocutor, as Dr. Henderson well observes, “the Divine Logos, or Speaker, who from the beginning, revealed the will of God to men: and as the Angel or Messenger of the Divine Presence, acted as the protector and Saviour of ancient Israel.” (See verse 9.)

But why he is said to come from Edom, and Bozrah? This will be understood from what has been shown before, that the destruction of the mystic Babylon, or Edom, will be the event immediately preceding his coming, as has been pointed out from the nineteenth of Revelation. Accordingly, Rome is understood by Kimchi and the Jews to be signified by the Edom here mentioned.

The whole scene so exactly corresponds with the nineteenth of Revelation, that he must be wilfully blind, who does not recognise the same prediction in both. The hero of the present chapter comes “glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength.” In the Apocalypse, “I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he that sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness (‘I that speak in righteousness,’ Isaiah) he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns.” In Isaiah he is called “the Speaker,” or “Word of Righteousness;” in the Apocalypse, “his name is called the Word of God.” Do the wondering chorus in Isaiah ask him, “wherefore he is red in his apparel?” St. John may reply, that “he was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood.” Does Isaiah’s Speaker tell us, “I have trodden the wine-press alone?” St. John declares, “He treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” If Isaiah adds that “he will tread down the nations in anger, and trample them in his fury,” St. John, that “out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron,” “and break them in pieces like a potter’s vessel,” as the second Psalm witnesses. When Isaiah’s Speaker yet farther announces, “their blood shall be sprinkled on my garments,” how exactly does it accord with St. John’s description noticed above! To the same period does the latter part of Revelation 14. refer, and it makes use of the same figure, setting in a terrific point of view the desolation and destruction of man that shall then take place. “And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle (‘one like unto the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown,’ ver. 14), saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.

And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine-press of the wrath of God. And the wine-press was trodden without the city (Jerusalem, as has been shown above), and blood came out of the wine-press, even unto the horses’ bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.”

The same scene of vengeance does the “song of Moses” foretell. “If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgement; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh, (and that) with the blood of the slain and the captive, from the beginning of revenges on the enemy. Rejoice, O ye nations, (with) his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful to his land, and to his people.” (Dent. 32:41-43.) Or as I would prefer to render it from the Septuagint and ancient versions, backed in one restoration by inspired authority, “For I will whet my sword like the lightning, and my hand shall lay hold on judgement; I will repay vengeance to mine adversaries, and to them that hate me I will give recompence. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh, from the blood of the wounded and captives; from the head of the leaders of the enemies. Rejoice, ye heavens, with him! And let all the angels of God worship him! Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people! And let all the sons of God put their trust in him, for he shall revenge the blood of his sons: and shall repay vengeance to his enemies, and recompense them that hate him, and he shall purify the land of his people.”

That this “song of Moses” refers to the period in question is evidenced by a double proof from the New Testament. The first is, that immediately following the scene of the wine-press in the fourteenth chapter it is said, “I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the Beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great, and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy works, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgements are made manifest.”

The second proof is derived from Heb. 1:6, “And when he bringeth in the Firstbegotten a second time (See Gk. …) into the habitable world (See Gk. …), he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.” Now these words have been wilfully omitted by the Jews in this song, but are retained by the Septuagint. It follows, then, that this song refers to Christ’s second advent into the world, which, as we have seen, will be for terrible vengeance on his enemies. Yet then shall all the angels of God worship Christ, when he comes hither with all their host, and then shall the Gentiles rejoice together with the Jews, and the blood of the martyrs shall be avenged, and the earth purified. For it is a time of joy to his people, as the 7th verse of the present chapter of Isaiah discovers: though it is a day of universal wrath to his foes. This mercy is moreover mainly seen in God’s sending “not an angel or delegate” to relieve his saints, but his own Son. He shall come, that bore with Israel’s transgressions during their forty years’ sojourn in the wilderness, and all the days of old. “But,” it is said, “they rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit,” by their rejection of the Saviour, for how could the Spirit sanctify those who had rejected the Son? and also by their blasphemy against himself, “Therefore was he turned to be their enemy, and fought against

them.” But after his visitation of wrath, he shall remember his mercies to them in former time, and his promise to their fathers. The great deliverance under Moses at the Red Sea is especially mentioned, as the nearest resembling that period of mingled wrath and mercy. But at that time Israel will have no leader or deliverer: “Abraham being ignorant of them, and Israel not recognizing them,” as it is written in Eccles. 9:5, “The dead know not anything,” (of that which passes [above them] on earth.) Therefore the Jews entreat the Saviour to come and help them, because they are without strength, and “their adversaries have trodden down the sanctuary.” Hence, we conclude that it is that time prophetically described in the seventyninth Psalm, “O God, the heathen (Gentiles, …) have come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled (‘the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place’), they have laid Jerusalem in heaps. [Like an autumnal shed, LXX.] The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat to the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them. We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us. How long, Lord? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire? Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen (Gentiles) that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name. For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling-place.” This complaint is urged again in the close of the next chapter.

“The city of thine Holy One is become deserted, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a curse; Our holy and beautiful house Wherein our fathers praised thee, Is burned up with fire.”

Even thus spake the Saviour, “Jerusalem shall he trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles (the three years and a half) are fulfilled.” A similar complaint to that of Isaiah is found in Psalm 74., “Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolation (LXX. much better, ‘Lift up thine hands against their perpetual haughtiness,’) even all that the enemy (the Man of Sin) hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. A man was famous (‘afore,’ Prayer-book version) according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees. But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers. They have burnt (LXX.) thy sanctuary even to the ground, they have defiled the dwelling-place of thy name.” The reader is requested to examine for himself the remainder of these Psalms.

The rest of this chapter of Isaiah is a prayer for Christ’s return, at whose presence “the mountains shall melt, and fire devour the adversaries.” This very scene is frequently described in the Psalms. Thus, in the hundred and forty-fourth is a passage exactly parallel: “Bow thy heavens, O Lord, and come down; touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.

Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.” So in Psalm 46:6: “The heathen [Gentiles] raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted:” after which follows the description of the thousand-years’ blessedness. And as in the third verse it is said that “trembling at Christ’s presence shall seize the mountains,” so do the Psalms prophesy. “The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.

Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob.”

(Psalm 114:4, 7.) Similar is the prediction of Christ’s kingdom in the ninety-seventh Psalm: “A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about. His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.”

To this succeeds a prophecy of the good things to be enjoyed at the resurrection of the righteous, in a passage cited by St. Paul in the Epistle to the Corinthians, where, after speaking of the ignorance of the world and its princes of the “hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world, unto our glory,” he adds, that this happens in fulfilment of the words of Jehovah: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit.” (1 Cor. 2:9-10.) To a like effect is the testimony of Daniel, in speaking of these very mysteries of Christ’s coming: “None of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” (Dan. 12:10.) * * *197

LXV. A Rebellious People. {JeHoVaH’s Response.} 1 - The calling of the Gentiles. ~ 2 - The Jews, for their incredulity, idolatry and hypocrisy, are rejected. ~ 8 - A remnant shall be saved ~ 11 - Judgments on the wicked, and blessings on the godly. ~ 17 - The blessed state of the new Jerusalem. ¶ I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.

I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense u p o n a l t a r s o f b r i c k ; W h i c h r e m a i n a m o n g t h e g r a v e s , a n d l o d g e i n t h e monuments, which eat swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom, Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the LORD, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom. ¶ Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants’ sakes, that I may not destroy them all. And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there. And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me. ¶ But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number. Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because w hen I ca lle d, y e did not a nsw er; w hen I spa ke, y e did not hea r; b ut did ev il before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed: Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. And ye 197

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shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name: That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth sha ll swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because t hey a re hid from mi ne ey es. ¶ F or, b ehold, I crea te new heav ens a nd a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infa nt of days, nor a n old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hea r. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 65 The opening verses of the sixty-fifth chapter are thus quoted in the Epistle to the Romans: “But I say, Did not Israel know [the sound of the Gospel]? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.

But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not for me. But unto Israel he saith, All day long have I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.” From which we learn that in this passage the rejection of the Jews and the call of the Gentiles is treated of. To this end the character of the Jews, when cast off, is described; they are represented as in their own land, just before the wrath of God is poured on them. We find them accused “of burning incense on brick altars unto devils.” This is very significant, as set side by side with the passage from Moses’ song, adduced by the apostle just before. For there the charge is repeated, “They sacrificed unto devils, and not to God: to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom their fathers feared not.” (Compare Dan. 11:37-39.) For this reason God declares that he will leave them to themselves. Yet there is a gracious promise that a remnant shall be saved. As the green berry is spared in the grape-bunch, though it be harsh and sour, not for what it is, but for what it shall be; so, though Israel then be abominable in the sight of God, for the sake of his chosen seed that shall spring from them, and after them, he will not destroy all. Accordingly St. Paul saith, in the chapter in which he treats of the rejection of the Jews and calling of the Gentiles, “As concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sakes; but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.” Similarly the next verse of Isaiah declares, “I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob.”

Again the transgressions of the latter days are brought before our eyes - rites of demonolatry and sorcery. For these the Lord shall be wroth, and send his judgements upon the nation. To which succeed the promises of joy to the righteous: “All which things,” says Jerome, “the Chiliasts [as he calls the Christians of his day who held Millennarian opinions] think shall take place in the thousand years.” The seventeenth verse declares that there shall be “new heavens and new earth,” a promise of which there will be a commencing fulfilment in the Millennium: for the earth will then be renovated. But its full accomplishment is not to take place till after the destruction of the present world, as we learn from Rev. 21:1: “And I saw a new heaven, and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away: and there was no more sea.” (Compare also chap. 20:11.)

During the thousand years, we are informed that the life of the inhabitants of the earth shall be lengthened to the time of the antediluvian patriarchs; so that a hundred years shall be reckoned boyhood. The declaration that the “sinner dying even at that age shall be accursed,” appears to refer to the time, when after his binding, Satan shall go forth and deceive mankind again, and sin again shall enter, be finally punished, and, (blessed be God!) everlastingly removed!

This was the ancient interpretation, as Procopius discovers to us. “Some explain the declaration that there shall not be there one premature or aged, in the following manner: that all those who attain to my resurrection shall be perfect and vigorous in soul, so that there shall be nothing imperfect, or infantile, or aged, but all equals in age, as obtaining at the same period the resurrection, and partaking of one regeneration. The adult then that is saved, will be young, and will find him that is lost of the same age with himself. … Then, also, they who by their works have prepared themselves habitations, shall obtain them, and enjoy their own labours, cultivating their own fruits, fearless of any stranger seizing on the result of their labours, but shall live in endless enjoyment of life; ‘according to the days of the tree of life;’ which words intimate also that the promises made in Paradise will be fulfilled, and that he that obtains them will be immortal, not growing old.” Yet the distinction should be made between those living on the earth, or born into the world at that time, and the risen [resurrected] saints. It is of the former of these that the text appears specially to speak; though the remarks of Procopius are also worthy of attention, as applying to those who have received their spiritual bodies. Nor must it be supposed that all will be equal in rank. Analogy and Scripture both combine to declare, that “as one star differeth from another star in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead.”

The rest of the promises are intelligible at once, if taken literally. The intimation that “dust shall be the serpent’s meat” is highly worthy of observation, and discovers the farreaching eye of God, who, in the first promise in the garden, bound up together in a few simple and ordinary words the history of our world, connecting together the commencement with the close of his dispensations! For then shall the bruising of Satan’s head, begun by the Lord’s death, be effectually performed; and the time of Millennial blessedness is distinctly notified in the curse then entailed on the serpent, “dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.”

The former part of its curse was literally and at once fulfilled, “upon thy belly shalt thou go;” whence we learn that it once had feet: but the curse that its meat should be dust, has never yet been accomplished. The fulfilment of this is reserved till the thousand years: but a pledge was given of the fulfilment of the whole, by an immediate accomplishment of a part. Finally,

Jerome reinforces this interpretation by his testimony that the Jews and early Christians understood these things literally.198

Isa. 65. The subject of Israel’s restoration is continued: “I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains” (verse 9).

The former troubles will be forgotten, “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth:and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind ... for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy” (vv. 17, 18). It is added (verse 20) that in that era “the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed.” This cannot point to the heavenly world, nor to the eternal new heavens and earth, because in those there shall be neither sinners nor curse. It must therefore refer to the Millennial kingdom and the conditions of the earthly Jerusalem. Therefore it must be taken as literal that “they shall build houses and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them ... they shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah [Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob], and their offspring with them” (verse 23). Therefore shall their prayers be answered (verse 24, evidently a literal matter), and wolf and lion and serpent “shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith Jehovah” (verse 25).

Those who would make this mean the church and heaven must be bold and assert that wolves and lions and serpents are found in heaven. But if they say that these are figures of Satan and his angels, the answer is simple and conclusive, even that when the era of this prophecy comes, and the heavenly seed of Abraham are removed to that heavenly realm, Satan and his angels will have been previously expelled from heaven, and the prophecy cannot apply.

Rev. 12:7 ff.

It must be observed that in that Millennial period the fact of the original duality continues, both the heavens and the earth being mentioned as gloriously renewed. This had been before intimated by Isaiah at 24:21:“And it shall come to pass in that day that Jehovah shall punish the host of the height, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.”199

The Span of Natural Life Extended The span of men’s natural lives will be extended. This is seen by reading Isaiah 65:19-25. “I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be glad in My people; and the sound of weeping shall be no more heard in it, nor the cry of distress. There shall no more be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old man that dies prematurely, for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner who dies when ONLY A HUNDRED YEARS old shall be (though only a child, cut off because he is) accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat the fruit; for like the days OF A TREE shall be the days of My people, and My chosen and elect shall long make use of and enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bring forth children for sudden terror or calamity; for they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord, and their OFFSPRING with them…The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food.” (Amplified Old Testament).

Here again we see the age when the wolf will not eat the lamb, and when the lion will eat straw like the ox. We see an age for this earth when there shall be no infant death, and when no one will die under the age of a hundred years of age, and that person will be a sinner. These will not be sinners who shall be carried over into the millennial age, but people who will be born in that age. Though the Devil will be 198 199

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chained, yet people will be born with depraved natures, and for some reason, some will remain in unbelief. They will be cut off at the age of 100 years. “…every soul, which will not hear that prophet (Christ), shall be destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3:23). By reading Acts 20 to 23 we see Peter was talking about what would take place in THE TIMES OF THE RESTITUTION. Others will most likely live in their natural bodies throughout the 1000 years. It is doubtful if any child of God will die during that age.200

The argument, {continued from “This, however...”}...therefore, of the post-millennialists, that because Isaiah introduces his picture of the Millennial Age with the announcement of a “New Heavens and Earth,” Isa. 65:17, therefore, his description following that must be that of John’s New Jerusalem, or else John’s New Jerusalem must be that of the Millennial Age, and Joel, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Daniel, Ezekiel, and John picture only one Age the 1000 years being the time of the final New Heaven and Earth, - falls to the ground. We cannot identify the 1000 years with the Eternal State. This is set aside (1) By the manifold Differences between the pictures themselves; (2) By the law of prophetic perspective; (3) By the common use of the same terms to express different stages of the one great development of the one Kingdom of God; and in its different aspects, moral and material, spiritual and cosmical, down to the final consummation. All this Hofmann, Delitzsch, Rothe, Luthardt, Lange, Volck, and Koch, have set forth in the most convincing manner. The Millennial Age, and the final New Heaven and Earth, are the Two Great Phases of the wide and Total End, as seen, far off, by the prophets [of God], and un-discriminated, because blended in perspective, yet clearly out-rolled, and separated in John’s Apocalypse, intimations of which are, however, already given, even in the prophets themselves, and in the Apostles. And thus the problem is resolved, and presented to faith and hope, precisely as the consummation will declare it. The Order of the Eschata is the same in both Ezekiel and John; (1) Israel in their land, sealed, and delivered from the rage of their last oppressor, Israel brought back from the sword. (2) The Resurrection from the dead. (3) The “Many Days,” or 1000 years, of the priestly Kingdom. (4) Gog’s destruction. And, if we supplement the Eschata, from Isaiah, we shall find the Order still the same, (1) Israel restored and Antichrist destroyed; (2) The Resurrection [out] from the dead; (3) The Multitude of Days, or 1000 years; (4) The New Heaven and Earth, of which the Millennial Age was the mirror and the type transient and imperfect. On the basis of Similarities John develops the final glorious picture of the New Jerusalem, and heightens it to special clearness and particularity, free from the temporal limitations.

The “Symbolical Interpretation” of Chapters 40-48, and in fact of Ezekiel’s whole Apocalypse, Chapters 37-48, is the name given, to their favourite mode of exposition, by the allegorizers and spiritualizers of these sections. As already said, these chapters are apocalyptic and eschatological, like the visions of Daniel, Zechariah, and Isaiah. They are a “Vision.” But to assert that it is only a Symbol, and “One Vast Symbol of the Church,” is simply to assume the “spiritualistic interpretation,” and beg the whole question. Moreover, 200

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what a symbol vision is, we know. It is like the vision of the 4 Beasts in Daniel, or of the Monarchy-Image Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. How, also, to interpret these we know.

But what the “symbolic interpretation of a symbol” is, what the “figure of a figure” is, it might be interesting to inquire, if, the evaporation did not soon elude our grasp. It seems to be something “volatile and airy,” like the idea of the “Absolute” which has no “existence,” but only “being,” and gets into being somehow, by its “self-becoming.” At best it is merely an abstraction, or “quid ignotum” which Agnostics might admire, and reminds one seriously of Cicero’s famed definition of God, “aliquid immensum infinitumque!” Such is ideal and symbolic Israel, their Temple, City, and Land. It is something in which the concrete real has disappeared. This view goes back to the days of the platonizing Origin and Augustine, both men of grandeur and renown, who, confounding the “Church” with the “Kingdom,” idealized Israel out of his rights and place in future history. It became the mediaeval creed, and, naturally enough, influenced the Reformers, not wholly escaped from Rome’s traditions, and lacking the time to study Eschatology, yet rebuking a false Chiliasm, and opening the door to the true. It is held my many noble men who see in the “Psalms of David” only the “Church” whenever “Israel,” “Jacob,” “Zion,” or “Jerusalem” are named.

Our Christian Hymnology, so beautiful, also supports the same exegesis as it stands in “Jordan’s stormy banks.” The habit of allegorizing becomes a part of devotion, and the result is that “Ideal Israel” emerges in the consciousness of believers as the only Israel known to faith and prophecy! In addition to this, the Higher Criticism helps the same cogitation.

The main thing in prophecy is said to be “the inner thought,” the “Idea Underneath”; not the words. There is no verbal inspiration. The [inspired] words of God are human, the chaff to the wheat, the waist-bands and ruffles, or the outer-clothing on the body, the “non-essential details,” “generous expression,” “Oriental figure,” in short, the “rough rind of a sacred bulb,” to be peeled and thrown away, or an “old bottle” onto which “new wine,” when poured - the wine of spiritual interpretation, - explodes the leathern flask. The only remark, necessary here, is this, viz.: That the whole trouble with this mode of interpretation is, that every interpreter fixes the amount of “details” to suit himself, either rejecting them as “mere form,” or sublimating them into absurdities so grotesque as to destroy respect for both the interpreter and the interpretation, if not for the thing interpreted. It retains or remits, binds or looses, ad libitum, until most, if not all, of the vision has faded away.

In opposition to all this, the Bible speaks with a clear-ringing sound. Israel “abides” Israel, and the Millennial Kingdom, of which Israel restored is the stunning centre, and of which these Chapters of Ezekiel are a glowing picture, follows Israel’s national and personal resurrection [and restoration] at the Second Coming of the Lord. To that glorious End the eyes of the exiles were directed, a Redemption they deemed due, indeed, at their return from Babylonian Exile, but which the [divinely inspired] prophet Daniel was assured could only [fully] accrue at the end of the 70th week. And in this [divine prophecy] we rest, our own eyes turned thither also. What Ezekiel did was to impress upon despairing Israel, scattered everywhere, and dead, like the bones in the valley, the absolute certainty of God’s omnipotence, faithfulness, and compassion, in the End of the Days, and that nothing could

ever cause Him to forget His covenant, or alter the thing that had gone out of His lips. Dead Israel shall yet awake. Broken Israel shall be reunited. Down-trodden Jerusalem shall yet arise. The Temple, laid in ruins, shall [again] be rebuilt. The Outcasts shall be gathered to their home. The blindness shall be taken from their eyes, and reproach no more afflict their name. A new, a holy, royal, priestly, nation they shall be. As once Israel formed the nucleus of the “Church,” - [nay, they were always part of “the Church” - that is, “the Church of the Firstborn” - those called out from the redeemed by the Holy Spirit, to be God’s Firstborn sons] - so again Israel shall form the nucleus of the [coming millennial] “Kingdom.” In that kingdom, and its glory, we Gentiles - [who will be judged by Christ Jesus as - or as not - “accounted worthy to attain to that Age” (Luke 20:35) *] - shall have a share; and, with Abraham and the patriarchs, Ezekiel and the prophets, David and the pious kings of Judah; and yet more, with Christ and His Apostles, with Martyrs, Confessors, Reformers, and saints of all ages, enter in, recount the conflict and the victory, the danger and the faith, renew our study of God’s word, hold converse with the Lord Himself, and, blended in one fellowship, unite to sing one song - the “song of Moses and the Lamb.” Does this appear too wonderful? “Neum Yehovah! It is the utterance of Jehovah, Doer of these things!” * * *201

LXVI. Heaven Is God’s Throne. {The Fixing of Final Destinies.} 1 - The glorious God will be served in humble sincerity. ~ 5 - He comforts the humble by showing the confusion of their enemies, ~ 7 - with the marvelous growth, the marvelous generation,~ 10 - and with the gracious benefits of the church. ~ 15 - God’s severe judgements against the wicked. ~ 19 - The Gentiles shall have an holy church, ~ 24 - and see the damnation of the wicked. ¶ Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?

For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not. ¶ Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but 201

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he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that rendereth recompence to his enemies.

Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies. Âś For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many. They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.

For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD. For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.

And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

EXPOSITION of ISAIAH 66 St. Stephen adduces the opening words of this chapter, in his sermon to the Jews, as follows: “But Solomon built him an house. Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands: as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.” (Acts 7:47-5l.) Therefore, from the tenor of this passage, it appears that it was intended to reprove the Jewish nation for boasting of the possession of the temple of the Lord, while they were in their hearts “uncircumcised and stiffnecked.” And precisely thus does Isaiah continue his rebuke: “But to whom shall I look but to the humble and contrite of spirit, and that trembleth at my word?” Thus were they taught that the [humble and obedient] “believer” is the “temple of the Holy Ghost,” in which, after a peculiar and intimate sense, God will dwell. Its prophetic reference may be twofold, either as a warning to the Jews when returned in unbelief to their own land, reconstructing the temple, and restoring its sacrifices, that a building will not cause Jehovah to dwell among them, seeing he will not dwell with any but the contrite in heart. It may also have a reference to the Millennial times; and as St. Paul warns us that “the kingdom of heaven is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and joy, and peace in the Holy Ghost,” so these words may be intended to teach us that the glory of Christ’s reign will consist, not so much in the restored temple and its splendours, as in the renewal of the souls of men, and the spiritual indwelling of the Holy Ghost. But it appears to have the principal reference to the former time. For we may be sure, that on the return of the Jews to their own land, their first step would be to rebuild the temple, and restore the sacrifices. For which reason the Lord rebukes their foolish hope that thereby they could conciliate, or even force, his favour towards them; as in the time of Eli they made the earth ring again with their shout when the ark of God came into the camp; as if Jehovah must then of necessity fight for them. But, as in that instance, the Most High defeated them before their foes, and gave up the ark for a prey, so at this time also will he give up Israel to the destroyer, and permit him to defile the sanctuary. For the Lord accepts not the outward show in the worshipper; he regards only “the spirit and truth,” and the forms of worship offered by the ungodly are an abomination to him. For, as saith the Wise Man, “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” Precisely similar is the sentiment of Isaiah in the third verse.

After giving utterance to this sentiment, consolation is offered to the believers in Jesus, who “are abhorred for his name’s sake” - words which clearly designate the time of which this is spoken, as the time of Great Tribulation and of persecution on account of belief in Christ Jesus. For thus did the Saviour predict of the times preceding his coming, in words almost identical with those quoted above. “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake!” But the coincidence is yet more exact, for it is “their brethren” that abhor them; and thus the Lord prophesies, “Ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and some of you they shall cause to be put to death.” (Luke 21:16.) So in another place, “And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child, and children shall rise up against their, parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.” (Matt. 10:21, 22.) Then shall be fulfilled also that which is written in John 16:1, 2,

“These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you shall think that he doeth God service.” Yet in the midst of the saints’ trouble, Christ “shall appear to their joy,” and the persecutors shall be ashamed. Immediately after follows the description of that coming, in the sound of Christ’s vengeance in the city and temple of Jerusalem, when he shall render vengeance to the Man of Sin and his collected armies. Then, as in a multitude of cases previously, after the completion of God’s wrath, the prophet bursts out into a description of “the glory that shall follow.” In the 15th verse Christ’s coming is described with fire, and “with his chariots like a whirlwind.” For “the chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels, and the Lord is among them as in the holy place of Sinai,” and this declaration occurs in the midst of Psalm 68., which also gives a description of Christ’s appearing, and to which the reader is referred.

Take also the coinciding interpretation of Procopius on the 15th verse. “Having declared the promises to believers, and the threats to unbelievers, he now exhibits his glorious coming, and proclaims that he will come with ‘the glory of his Father and his angels’ to judge the living and the dead. By the word ‘chariots’ he means his angels and attendant powers, as it is written in the Psalms, ‘The chariots of God are ten thousandfold, even thousands of the happy ones’ [‘of angels,’ our translation.] And as a whirlwind shall he come to them that are worthy of vengeance. And his ‘rebuke’ signifies the rejection of those to whom he will say, ‘Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.’”

That by the “sword of Jehovah and his devouring fire all flesh shall be judged,” has been frequently proved before. His especial vengeance shall fall on those who addict themselves to magical and forbidden practices.

For Christ comes “to gather all nations and tongues,” as he foretels in his parable of the sheep and goats.

“When the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all his holy angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations (‘all the Gentiles,’), and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats.” (Matt. 25:31, 32.) In which parable the “judgement of the quick,” or of those living on earth, and of the risen saints, is foreshown.

Subsequently is a prediction of the bringing back of Israel by means of the horses, and chariots, and ships of the Gentiles, unto the presence of Christ at Jerusalem. The words “as a present to Jehovah,” connect the present chapter with the eighteenth of this prophet, and prove that the Jews are the people predicted of there.

“At that season a present shall be brought to Jehovah of hosts, Even a people dragged away and plucked, A people terrible from their beginning hitherto, A nation always expectant, yet trodden under foot, Whose land rivers have spoiled, Unto the place of the name of Jehovah of hosts, Mount Zion.”

After this it is promised that as the final abode of the blessed shall ever remain unshaken before God, so shall the name and seed of Israel remain. Moreover that shall be a time of universal worship of Christ; it shall be the duty and the privilege of those living on earth to

go up to worship at Jerusalem the Christ of God, and thus shall be fulfilled the words of the Redeemer, that the temple at Jerusalem shall be “an house of prayer for all nations.” Nor is it prophesied in this place alone. “And it shall come to pass,” testifies Zechariah, “that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall ever go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.” (Zech. 14:1618.) “The Chiliasts explain this,” says Jerome, “that they who are in the neighbourhood, every Sabbath shall come to Jerusalem; they who are farther off, every month; those who are very far off, every year; that is, in the days of the passover or the tabernacles, as it is said in Zech. 14:16.” Then shall the worshippers also go forth to the valley of Hinnom and see the Usurper-Christ punished in Tophet’s fire with all his host, and thence shall they learn both to fear and to love Jehovah of hosts; to love him for his plenteous benefits scattered around them in plenary abundance over all lands: and to fear him, by the spectacle of the punishment of those who denied his existence and defied his power. “The Lord hasten it in his time!”

Amen. ~ To be continued, D.V. …202

The Furnace of Fire.

How fearful is the prospect of these sons of the Evil One! They share the doom of their father the Devil.

“The setting forth of the terrible doom of ungodly men under the image of the burning with fire of thorns, briers, weeds, chaff, barren branches, dead trees is frequent in Scripture; thus see 2 Sam. 23:6, 7; Matt. 3:10-12; 7:19; Isa. 66:24; etc., etc. But dare we speak of it as an image merely? The fire reappears in the interpretation of the parable; the angels “shall cast them,” those, namely, ‘which do iniquity into a furnace of fire.’ Fearful words indeed:and the image, if it be an image, at all events borrowed from the most dreadful and painful form of death in use among men. Something we read of it in Scripture. ... Whatever the ‘furnace of fire’ may mean here, or ‘the lake of fire’ (Rev. 19:20; 20:10). ‘the fire that is not quenched” (Mark 9:48), ‘the everlasting fire’, (Matt. 25:41; comp. Luke 16:24; Mal. 4:1), elsewhere, this at all events is certain; that they point to some doom so intolerable that the Son of God came down from heaven and tasted all the bitterness of death, that He might deliver us from ever knowing the secrets of anguish, which, unless God be mocking men with empty threats, are shut up in these terrible words:‘There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth’ (comp. Matt. 22:13; Luke 13:28).” (Trench, Parables, 104, 105)203 One shadow only falls, ...but a shadow unutterably awful: - “but” there is “the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death”. As there is a second and higher life, so there is a second and deeper death; and the fearful fact is that it is in the imperishable universe that the Lake of Fire is found: that is, the literality and imperishableness of the heaven, the earth, the city, puts beyond all doubt the literality and imperishability of Hell.* And in the nature of the case it is inescapable. All the incurable wickedness in the universe has to be confined, as leprosy is confined in a lazaretto, to one spot; and those in the Lake “have their part” in it - that 202 203

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is, they inherit their share, they have drawn it upon themselves as the penalty of their sin. The appalling fact is that the denial of Hell-fire, which is all but universal to-day, in no slightest degree affects the fact, and is merely a smoke-screen between the world and the most awful revelation God has ever made.** * Equally decisive is it (to name but one detail) that the Antichrist and the False Prophet are “cast alive into the lake of fire” (Rev. 19:20): men cannot be cast alive into ‘a figure of speech’. So far from hell-fire deflecting men from belief, it is an historical fact that where it has been most preached, most have been saved. * * On “he that overcometh shall inherit these things” Mr. Govett remarks: “Probably there may be two aspects of ‘overcoming’: overcoming so as to be rewarded, and then partaking in millennial glory; and overcoming as compared with the total unbelief of the worldly. ‘This is the victory which overcometh the world even our faith’, and the final entry into eternal life in the city of the risen.”

Most wonderful is an Apostle’s practical inference from these stupendous facts. “Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved” - that the world, on which we are walking, is a world that will melt away for ever – “what manner of persons, ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness ” (2 Pet. 3:11). In the comment of Dr. Alexander Maclaren: - “Make haste about cultivating a Christ-like

character: the harvest is great, the toil is heavy, the sun is drawing to the west, the reckoning is at hand: there is no time to lose; set about it as you have never done before, and say, ‘This one thing I do.’” *

*

*

THE CITY OF PEACE Non habemus hic manentem civitatem, sed futuram inquirimus. Heb. 13:14. {For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.} O Heavenly city, timeless dwelling-place, Where we shall meet the Loved Ones, face to face, To thee our thoughts ascend, our hopes aspire, Whose bulwarks gleam, touched by no earthly fire.

Immortal are thy courts: eternal life Bides there, triumphant over death and strife.

Sin cannot enter, and no sorrows come To mar the glory of the Soul’s true home.

Here, amid mortal mists, we grope our way; There, shines the light of everlasting day.

Here hate has power; but, in that City fair, Love rules alone, for God is present there.

- E. H. BLAKENEY.204

<--<<<~ APPENDIXES ~>>>-->

“After the Resurrection, Where and What?”

by J. B. Moody. {The Isaiah excerpts.}

In the preceding pages, I have confined myself mainly to the disembodied state.

Our embodied state is our short home, averaging about one-third of a century. It is often called short. Our disembodied state is once called our “long home,” averaging several thousand years, longer to Abel than the others, and very short to those who die in the end. Our re-embodied state will put us into our eternal home, having two 204

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dispensations, the first of which will be with Christ to reign on the earth for one thousand years. Then will come the final wind-up and separation of the righteous and wicked—the wicked at the general judgment being turned into hell with all the nations that forget God. Then all things will be made new, and God will come down and tabernacle with men, and there will be no more sorrow and tears, and the former things will pass away and “come no more into remembrance.” The Holy City, the new Jerusalem, will also come down. The new earth will become the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory forever and forever.

Chapter 1.

After Death includes more than the intermediate or disembodied state. The Post Resurrection state is so abundantly described in the word of God that I hardly know how and where to take hold of the subject. Of course those who believe that our disembodied and re-embodied states will be spent in a far off heaven—the heaven of heavens, can’t see these hundreds of Scriptures that are as plain and strong as God could make them, because of the scales of prejudice on their eyes.

But if such will follow me, and believe the plain word of God, they will be delivered from a delusion with its blind sentimental enjoyments and will rejoice as never in their lives in the light and liberty of the ever living truth of God. I have Scriptures enough marked to occupy hours in reading, and they are not all of those bearing on this subject. If God has provided some better things for us than are dreamt of in the heaven theory, why not accept them and be profited by them. Only evil can come from the belief of an error.

The questions now before us are: (1) WHERE WILL BE THE ETERNAL HOME OF THE SAINTS? (2) WHAT PROVISIONS WILL BE MADE FOR THEM THERE? (3) WHAT WILL BE THE INHERITANCE OF THE SAINTS IN LIGHT? (4) WHO ARE THE HEIRS OF GOD AND JOINT HEIRS WITH CHRIST? (5) WHEN WILL THEY COME TO THEIR POSSESSIONS? This is as much as is necessary for present enquiry. This is not all, by much, but enough for one lesson. Let us tunnel through the Word of God—through its mines of wisdom and wealth; let us reverently and earnestly search the Scriptures, for “they are they which testify” on these theories.

Chapter 5.

Having made one draw from Solomon (Prov. 2:21-22), we hasten on to Isaiah.

The mine is now getting rich and inexhaustible. Isaiah 2: “And it shall come to pass in the last days (ta eskala, from which come Eschatology), that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains (to become in a wonderful sense the light of the world), and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. (A great turning unto the Lord). And many people

shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.“ That is beautiful. It is to come to pass on THE EARTH, “in the latter day,” and will continue thus with peaceful nations which will cover the earth by the close of the thousand years. And when Satan is loosed for a little season to lead them to war, they will have no weapons, so God will fight the battle with fire from heaven. No more war and famines after Christ comes, but there shall be abundance of peace and of plenty. The devil shall be shut up in the bottomless pit, and can’t do anything. This is after the Post-resurrection time, but it is not confined to the resurrected people. They may constitute the house of the Lord in the top of the mountains, the general Assembly and church of first-born ones (from the dead), and from whom the law and the word of the Lord will go forth. But see the nations of them that are saved for that golden age; how peaceable they are toward each other, and how disposed they are to the word and law of the Lord! This state of things is going to exist, but how it is to be brought about is a question to be settled as we go along.

Isaiah 9:6-7. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder.” (All authority in heaven and earth given unto him. Matthew 28:19). Now notice the change in the tenses “is born” and “shall be,” “and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.” David had been dead for hundreds of years, and his Kingdom was fallen down when this was written. But how is all this to be brought about? By the zeal of God’s people? Are they to take the world for Christ?

The rest of the verse tells us: “The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.“ The Lord is both jealous and zealous. How the Lord will do this is abundantly told us as we go along.

Isaiah 11 is full and fat and fine. I must brief it. “And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” (Mal. 4:6; 2 Thes. 2:8; Rev. 2:26) “And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” (All of this is to be on the earth. Post-resurrection State and Place) “And in that day there

shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.”

If one was literal, so will the other be “like it.”

Reader! do you believe this is a revelation, a prophecy of what is coming on the earth! I must here let Dr. B. H. Carroll, the greatest living post-millennarian comment on this passage. I give only a part of it from Baptist Standard, April 19, 1906. Mark his answers to the question): 3. “How do you explain Isaiah 11:6-7? ‘The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.’”

Answer: “The foregoing paragraph must not be interpreted as an independent, detached passage. The 11th and 12th chapters of Isaiah must be considered together as a unit. The whole section is distinctly Messianic. It foretells: (1) The coming of Jesus, the descendant of Jesse. (See Genealogical tables in Matthew and Luke).

(2) His consecration to office and endowment with the Holy Spirit. (See Matthew 3:16; Luke 4:1; 18:21; John 6:27, last clause; Acts 10:38).

(3) The peace resulting from his reign and righteous judgments is a peace between Judah and Ephraim, between Jew and Gentile, involving the salvation of the Gentiles and the conversion of dispersed Israel.

(4) The whole earth regenerated and restored to its condition before the fall of man, which involves peace between animal and animal, and peace between man and the lower animals.”

After stating the various interpretations, literal, spiritual, allegorical, etc., he prefers the literal.

Read: “The literal interpretation is based on the state of creation before the fall, when there was no war, but kind association rather, between man and the lower animals and between the animals themselves. In Genesis 1:30, grass only is assigned to animals for their food, and in Genesis 2:19-20, the animals have no fear

of Adam, nor he of them, but they recognize him as their lord and king.” The most remarkable passage of all being Romans 8:20, 23, inclusive, which reads: “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”

This theory of interpretation supposes that in the earth regeneration, set forth in Matthew 19:28; Isaiah 65:22; 2 Peter 3:10, 13; Rev. 21:1, pairs of an animal creation will, by Divine power, escape the deluge of fire, as the deluge of water in Noah’s ark, and with instincts restored to the Paradise condition will, with saved and now sinless men, INHERIT THE NEW EARTH; [my emphasis] that as God’s power restrained animals from preying on each other in the ark, and restrained the lion into whose den Daniel was cast, so it can just as easily make the restraint instinctive and permanent. In times of a great prairie or forest fire, and of great overflows, the animals become tame and war not with each other for the time being. This view would restore, through the second Adam, man’s lost dominion conferred in Genesis 1:28. [Compare Psalms 8:6-8 with Hebrew 2:6-8].

The argument, therefore, for this literal interpretation is fourfold: 1. The difficulty of carrying through the details of the figurative argument.

2. It parallels the original Genesis condition.

3. It harmonizes with many promises of the new covenant.

4. It harmonizes with the traditional ideals of the Golden Age, as preserved in the literature, or legends of all nations. Three examples may be cited: The Golden Age in Virgil’s Eclogues and in the Epodes of Horace, and in the Idyles of Theocritus. “Many of the very ablest commentators maintain the literal interpretation. Some follow the allegorical idea. The argument is the strongest for the literal interpretation.”

This is what I am contending for, but Dr. Carroll has expressed it better than I could. We may differ as to the way this state of things is to be brought about. He may think that this Millennial state is to be brought about only by present means, the preaching of the gospel, etc., but I do not so believe. Let that go for the present.

This state of things is coming ON THE EARTH. And is to abide so forever. But this is only a small part of the preview we are getting of this “new earth,” our “heavenly country,” when the Kingdom of the heavens shall have COME as we are all taught to pray every day.(Mt. 6:10)

Chapter 6.

Here is something specific and appropriate to us. Here is our “Glory Land,” our “Heavenly Home.” How can heaven be a “Glory Land” if there is no land there?

There are no “four quarters of the earth” in that Holy of Holies. Christ in his

resurrected body walked and talked and ate and was handled, and ours will be like his. Spirits are not tangible, but bodies spiritualized are, and they require tangible environments. If the first heaven is air, and the second heaven is ether, then the third must be neither; or something still lighter than ether, as ether is lighter than air; so that from reason and analogy the third heaven must be airy nothingness.

No four winds there. We must speculate here as the Scripture give us no light. The earth restored and man redeemed, dwelling with the returned Restorer and Redeemer, is the Bible ideal of our eternal home. It is far better than the imaginary heavens of men.

Isaiah 24. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, (Ephesians 6:12; Rev. 12:7, 10), and the kings of the earth upon the earth. (Psalm 76:12). And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited (punished).

Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.” The glorious reign of

Christ before his ancients will be “ON THE EARTH.” “The Kings of the earth are on the earth.” There is no moon and sun, and Mount Zion and Jerusalem in the third heaven. The New Jerusalem John saw was coming down out of the first heaven. Stars may fall from the second or starry heaven, and lightning may come down from the first heaven, but there are no stars and lightning in the third heaven. When Christ reigns gloriously on the earth before his ancients, I want to be there. Don’t you, dear reader? Meet me in the air, and let’s escort him to his purchased possessions.

Now see how the heaven theory is swallowed up. Isaiah 25: “And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.

He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, ....”

Let us sing, “That will be heaven for me,” and “that will be glory for me,” but keep the eye of your faith on the new earth, and not on some “far away” oft “up yonder.” I am “waiting for our God, even our Lord” to come. I know they are not waiting for me to go to them.

Isaiah 26. “In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. ... Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, (light) and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17), enter thou into thy chambers, (“air,” “garner,” “barn”) and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation (thlipsis-judgment of nations) be overpast. For,

behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.”

Isaiah 27:13. “¶ And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem. ” Please don’t “sing to me of heaven” unless you sing some sense, but

please sing, Isaiah 35, the whole chapter. To some it may be prosy truth, but it beats all your poetry of fiction. Read it, and sing it, and believe and rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. But don’t put heaven into it, lest it vanish into airy nothingness.

Then please join “the heavens” and “the earth” and “the mountains” (v. 13) in singing meter into short one. I must not quote everything on this subject, for it would make a book. The language is heavenly, but not heaven or about heaven.

Don’t fail to read the references. Isaiah 49:10, 13-16, 22-23. This turns a long Isaiah 51:11. “Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” How often has this been applied to heaven? It belongs

to the future home of the saints, though some of it may apply to the inhabitants of the earth who till the soil in that day, yet it also describes our “heavenly” home on the earth. The 6th verse says, “the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment.” I suppose this refers to the first two heavens, and the third, as far as I know, for what use will there be for it, after Christ and all the angels, and God, and the New Jerusalem and all the saints shall be upon the new earth. The earth is now getting old and wearing out like a garment, and soon we will need a new one, and Oh, what an earth that new one will be! We are just beginning with our description of it, and the Word of God shall furnish every word of it, and not my imagination.

For further description, read Isaiah 60:1-5, 10-22. No human pen could so write. And “Oh, how good it will be to be there.”

Chapter 7.

Isaiah 60:1-22. “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up

with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? ¶ Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. (cf. Rev. 21:24-25) For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. ¶ Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.”

What does all this mean? Oh, that the angel might put one foot on the land and one on the sea, and lift his hand to heaven, and swear that it means what it says. The one who refuses or denies all of such Scriptures is an infidel so far as eschatology goes, and that means prophecy and promise.

Was heaven ever described half so beautifully? Why reject the real for the unreal? Who will deny that all of this will come to pass on the EARTH in the “Restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”? The first sermon Christ preached in Nazareth, he quoted a part of the next chapter-verses 1-3 in Luke 4:17, 21. He said: “That day was that Scripture fulfilled.” What part was fulfilled that day? The ANOINTING of the great proclaimer of the good tidings “promised the fathers.” It is in line with what the angel said to Mary, and what Simeon, Anna, and Zachariah all said about him. The forgotten promises were to be revived after that long night, and any preacher to-day who has a gospel not in line with these promises, has another gospel which is not another. The ‘language applies also to sinners of to-day, for that is the way they are to be grafted into the fat olive tree covenant, so that by faith in Jesus they may become “Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise made unto the fathers.” But read.

Isaiah 61. “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. ¶ And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. ¶ For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them. For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.”

Read the next two verses if you want anything better than any description of heaven. They close thus: “so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.” Of course, the nations will be on the earth. So to deny it is blindness if not madness.

Isaiah 65:17. “ ¶ For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.”

Is not that glorious? It looks like the “restitution of all things” sure enough.

Do you wonder if the Bible means what it says, and says what it means? Nothing yet about a home in heaven-here, there or elsewhere. Isaiah 66:1-2, 8-12, 15-16, 20-24. It appears from all of this, that there will be no war during the Millennium, but abundance of peace over the whole earth. That it will be a great agricultural age, and that longevity will be greatly increased. David will be raised to sit on his throne in Jerusalem, and the apostles will “sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel, and the saints who are worthy will have rule over the cities,

some five, some two, some one,” etc., and that civic righteousness will characterize that age. But read and read.

Chapter 8.

The poets have made Jerusalem and Zion mean heaven. Shame on them! It never meant heaven. Isaiah 66:8-23.

“Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies. ¶ For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many. They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.

For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, (see

Cumming, pp. 313, 315, Great Preparation where this word for swift beasts or dromedaries is Kirkarath-carriages, and seems to prophesy of steam cars. It is wonderful) to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD. For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.”

During the Millenium there will be new moons and sabbaths, and the fleshly nations over which the resurrected saints are to rule, will be punished for their sins and short comings. Of course, being cut off from Satan, who will be bound and shut up so he can’t deceive the nations any more for a thousand years, the moral law, and so much and many of ordinances as shall go over into that age for

observance, will be easier kept. Everything will be favorable but innate depravity, which Satan will seize upon as soon as he is loosed at the end of the thousand years. I believe all the Scriptures say about the redemption of the land, and the restoration of the Jews and the rebuilding of Jerusalem by the help of all nations. I believe that this city of God, when rebuilt with hands, will become the capital of the world for 1,000 years. I believe after that the New Jerusalem which John saw coming down out of heaven will then become the capital of the universe, and will be also the Holy of Holies of the Most High God. 1 Cor. 3:13, says, that day shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 2 Thes. 1:8, says, he will come in flaming fire, taking vengeance, etc. See this fulfilled in Rev. 14:10-11, 18-20; 16:8-9; 17:16; 18:18; 20:9.

Man may speculate about the world getting better, until we take it entirely out of the hands of Satan and fix it up in one generation for Christ. But just as sure as this prophecy is true, so sure will this age close as described in God’s Word in so many places and by unmistakable language.

Verse 20. “And they shall bring all your brethren out of all nations.” This does not describe the Post-resurrection state of the risen saints, but of the inhabitants of fleshly Israel as a part of those over whom the risen saints are to rule when the apostles will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. The regeneration spoken of in Matthew 19:28; Rom. 8:21-23, is clearly seen in the 22nd verse above, as well as in the 21st chapter of Revelation. All these scriptures describe the Post Resurrection State and place. There will be no horses and dromedaries and mules and moons in the heaven of heavens claimed as the home of the saints. That came out of Whitby’s imagination.

So much I have culled from Isaiah. I am tempted here to give only the references from the other prophets, and trust the reader to mark, read, and digest them. But not one in many would do it. Besides judging others by myself, how is it possible for any saint to worry with such descriptions of his future and everlasting home. O the foretastes that come from such reading to me! It must be because I believe it is truth-the very word of God that cannot fail. Not a jot or tittle will fail till all be fulfilled. But the reading must be painful to those who hold a theory that will not allow them to believe such prophesies and promises except in some vague, mystical figurative, or spiritual sense, which no living man can apply to anything that is real. No such interpretation is possible. I have read the best of that sort, and always felt a pity for the interpreter. Brother Post says that by gospel means the Millennium is to be brought about and the world is thus to be taken for Christ.

Put one hundred scriptures describing the “end of the world” before them for explanation, and see what they do and say. Take one of the many I have not used.

This one, for example: Psalm 104:35. “Let sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more.” God is going to do that very thing; hence it is right,

and right for us to pray for it. That is the way he did at the flood, and what he did to Sodom and Gomorrah and other cities and places, and God is known by the judgments which he executes. This is what he is going to do in the end of this and the succeeding age. The last battle of this age they will not be able to bury the dead. (See battle of Har-Magedon in Rev. 16:9-21; 17:18, and many like them).

It is not the mission of the gospel to root sinners out of the earth and to consume them, but that will be the final disposition of them, and is incompatible with taking the world for Christ and holding it for him a thousand years to make it ready for him to come and destroy it and take his people away to some far off home. Here is the final consummation of the age.

“That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.” ~ Proverbs 2:20-22.

Such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth, and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off, and many more.

Such scriptures cause Brother Post to complain because he can’t explain.205

“The Witness of Isaiah” from the book Biblical Creationism by Henry M. Morris.

In chapter 6 we noted the references to creation and other ancient events of earth history that had been included in the books of Israel’s history, from the time of Joshua until the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities. During the period of the kings, in particular, God raised up many prophets, who tried to call the people back to God during times of apostasy and also to prophesy concerning things to come. Although their main concern was the present and the future, they did occasionally insert important references to the primeval world, obviously assuming the reality of the one God of creation and the historical reality of the events described in the early chapters of Genesis.

This is particularly true of the first of the major prophets, Isaiah, who wrote during the reigns of four kings of Judah — Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.

In his sixth chapter, we are introduced to a remarkable scene at God’s throne room in the heavens, as seen by Isaiah in a great vision. “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy , is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. ” (Isaiah 6:1–3).

AFTER DEATH, Part II.—”After the Resurrection, Where and What?” By J. B. Moody, Dean, Hall-Moody Institute, Martin, Tenn. 1910.

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This is the only reference in the Bible to the angelic beings called seraphim. On the other hand, cherubim are mentioned at the Garden of Eden and in a number of other Scriptures. Both cherubim and seraphim have ministries particularly associated with the immediate presence of the thrice-holy Creator.

Then, in the next chapter occurs the remarkable prophecy of the coming Virgin Birth of the promised Savior. “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.  ” (Isaiah 7:14). The sense in the original conveys that of a definite article — the virgin — a particular virgin of whom God had previously spoken. Almost certainly, this refers to the protevangelic promise of the unique “seed” of the woman who would come someday to destroy the old serpent and his rebellion against God (Genesis 3:15). This is further indicated by the name Immanuel, meaning “God with us.” No one but God could accomplish such a work, yet he would also be part of the human family — “with us.” Such a divine incarnation could only be accomplished through a specially created seed in a virgin’s womb, not a male seed implanted therein.

The promise is shortly confirmed and amplified still further. “F or unt o us a chil d is b orn, un to us a son is g iv en: a nd the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, … The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. “ (Isaiah

9:6–7). If there were still any question that the promised “seed” of the woman, the virgin-born son, would really be both human and divine, this prophecy should settle it. He is to be a “child” and a “son,” but also the mighty God and everlasting Father. When He finally puts down all rebellion, His government of peace will last eternally. God’s plan in creation, though interrupted by sin for a season, cannot fail.

But then there is further insight into the nature of the satanic rebellion, also given through Isaiah. In a prophecy of the coming judgment on the evil king of Babylon (given long before the ascendancy of Babylon’s greatest era under Nebuchadnezzar), the prophecy suddenly shifts for a time from the human king to the evil spirit possessing and controlling him. The prophet addresses this spirit as Lucifer (never the name of any human king of Babylon, but long recognized as a title of Satan), meaning “day-star.” Here is the amazing revelation: How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. (Isaiah 14:12–15).

This primeval rebellion of Lucifer, or Satan, in heaven has been implied in earlier Scriptures but is made quite explicit here. Lucifer desired to dethrone God and to usurp His place as king of the universe. Such an irrational ambition on the

part of a being created by God — even though he was perhaps the highest of all the angelic hierarchy — can only be understood on the assumption that he refused to believe that God was his Creator!

After all, he only had God’s word to go on. At his first moment of awareness, he was there with God in the primeval deep, and he must have reasoned that God was the same order of being as himself, both having somehow “evolved” out of the eternal waters. This concept possibly explains why so many ancient mythological cosmogonies (e.g., Sumeria, Egypt) begin with the unexplained presence of two divine beings in an eternal watery chaos. It also possibly accounts for Satan’s arrogant, age-long efforts to usurp the throne of God. He not only has deceived Eve — and countless others — with his own lying promise to become like God, but he deceived himself most of all. He was, therefore, both the first evolutionist and the first liar. He aspired to ascend above God’s throne in heaven, but he was “cut down to the ground” and will ultimately be “brought down to hell” (Hebrew sheol, the great pit in the heart of the earth).

There is another symbolical representation of Satan and his defeat in Isaiah 27:1 — this time not as a star falling down from heaven, but as the great dragon (leviathan, as in Job 41, or the great marine dinosaur) slain in the sea. “In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea. ”

The second division of the great prophecy of Isaiah begins with chapter 40, and this mountain-peak chapter contains many notations of the creation. First, however, there is a reference that speaks of God’s curse on the earth. “All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field… . The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:6–8).

Next comes a series of rhetorical questions, all pointing up the omnipotence and omniscience of the Creator. “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor hath taught him?” (Isaiah 40:12–13).

Modern ecologists and earth scientists are concerned lest man upset the precise balances in nature — in the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, the lithosphere, and the geosphere. All components of earth’s preparation for life were carefully planned and designed by their Creator. “Have ye not known? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in” (Isaiah 40:21–22).

All of this has, indeed, been told us from the beginning, in Genesis 1! Only God could lay the foundation of the earth, then shape it into a “circle” (Hebrew khug, meaning “sphericity” — same word as that which is translated “compass” in Proverbs 8:27; thus, both the earth and the deep are components of the great terrestrial sphere), while also stretching out the heavens (possibly an allusion to the expanding universe) like a great canopy around the world, making it habitable for all his living creatures.

Then comes a magnificent exhortation to comprehend the magnitude and majesty of his creation: “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth” (Isaiah 40:25–26). This passage suggests God’s omnipresence (great “numbers” of the heavenly host throughout the universe), his omniscience (able instantly to name trillions of stars in trillions of galaxies), and his omnipotence (not one failing in its appointed purpose).

Then, in the chapter’s glorious final challenge, Isaiah says, “Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of His understanding” (Isaiah 40:28).

God also speaks of the great salvation that He, as Creator, will be able and willing to provide for His people. “Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; “ (Isaiah 42:5–6).

There is an unusual act of creation stated in Isaiah 43:1: “But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.” The verb “create” (Hebrew bara) always has God for its subject, for it invariably describes a supernatural creation, which can be performed only by the Creator. There were so many miracles of creation involved in the call of the nation Israel (or Jacob) that it was proper to speak of the very formation of this nation as a special creation!

Remember, for example, the water from the rock sustaining them for 40 years, and many others. Note also Isaiah 43:7: “Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.” This verse answers, at least in part, just why God created not only Israel but us as well!

We should, therefore, by every means, seek to bring glory to Him, for this is our

very cause for living. “This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise” (Isaiah 43:21).

Note also the comprehensive testimony of Isaiah 44:24. “Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself .” The same God who made the whole universe also formed each of us in our mother’s womb, and has also become our Redeemer!

An unexpected insight occurs in Isaiah 45:7. “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”

Nowhere do the Scriptures say that God created light; rather He had to “create darkness” for there to be a division between day and night. God is light, and He merely had to “let” the light “be” (Genesis 1:3), then “form” it in locations and periods according to His will. As far as evil is concerned, God could not create wickedness, for whatever He does is right, by definition. But He has created physical “evils” (e.g., storms, pestilence) when moral conditions or human discipline have needed such.

Similarly, “Let the earth open, and let them [i.e., the heavens] bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! … I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.” (Isaiah 45:8–12).

One of the most frequently cited “proof texts” for the so-called gap theory is found here: “For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.” (Isaiah 45:18).

First, note that everything about the earth is due to God alone. He “created it,” He “formed it,” He “made it,” He “established it.” God is not capricious; He did not do all this “in vain.” He formed the earth to be inhabited!

The argument of those who promote the gap theory, however, is that the Hebrew word for “in vain” is tohu, the same word as that used in Genesis 1:12, where it says that, initially, “the earth was tohu” (i.e., without form). They maintain, then, that since God did not create the earth tohu, it must later have “become” tohu, after the supposed pre-Adamic cataclysm.

It should be realized, however, that tohu has many different meanings, depending upon context. It is best translated “unformed” in the context of Genesis 1:2 but is better rendered “in vain” in Isaiah 45:18. The point of the latter verse is that God does nothing that is pointless or capricious — all of this in the broader context of assurance of His purposes for His people Israel. He did not create the

earth to no purpose; it was formed to be inhabited, and it was inhabited, just a few days afterward when it had been fully prepared for its inhabitants. The earth was called into existence — created — in basic elemental character, with no particular form, but this was not the result of some imaginary cataclysm. It was created perfect for its immediate purpose, but it was not complete, until God said it was “finished” at the end of the six days, by which time it was “inhabited.” It only remained very briefly in the tohu state, unformed, and this certainly does not contradict Isaiah when he says it was not created (to be) tohu “in vain.” The very next verse, Isaiah 45:19, uses the same word: “I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain” (i.e., tohu) . There is no possibility of translating the word by “waste” or “desolation” or something of the sort here, as the gap theory promoters want to do with Genesis 1:2. The context determines the meaning, and there is certainly nothing in the context, either here or in Genesis 1:2, to justify the notion of long ages after creation followed by a global cataclysm that left the earth tohu.

Yet this is the strongest “proof text” for the gap theory, which ought therefore to be abandoned by all serious expositors of the text.

Isaiah does, indeed, insert many reminders of the creation in his prophecies of things to come. Here is yet another. “Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.” (Isaiah 48:13). This verse stresses the fiat, simultaneous creation of both heaven and earth.

There is also a remembrance of the Curse and the imposed principle of decay.

“Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished” (Isaiah 51:6).

A striking confirmation of the historicity of Noah and the Flood is also recorded in Isaiah. “For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee” (Isaiah 54:9).

Then, there is a remarkable scientific insight into the vastness of the created universe. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). God is called “the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity” (Isaiah 57:15).

“Even from the millennial temple will emerge a great flowing river of fresh waters (Ezekiel 47:1–5), possibly tapping vast underground reservoirs in the Jerusalem aquifers, established by the tremendous earth upheavals during the tribulation period. This literal river will constitute a type of the great river of life flowing from the Lamb in the new Jerusalem.

Not only will He remove all thirst but also all hunger and all tears. The slain Lamb becomes the great Shepherd, who will “feed his flock” (Isaiah 40:11). He will wipe away all tears from their eyes (Revelation 21:4). Christians have shed many tears throughout the ages, especially in times of persecution, seeing their possessions stolen away, watching loved ones put to death, experiencing

the scornful rejection of those they desired to lead to Christ and salvation. Finally, however, in the new earth, all tears will be wiped away by God Himself, and the former things will “not be remembered, nor come into mind” (Isaiah 65:17–19) in the joy of Christ’s presence (Psalm 16:11) for ever.”206

In addition, God promises to create (!) a new city of Jerusalem, in this new earth. “Be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy” (Isaiah 65:18). These new heavens, and new earth, and new Jerusalem, being perfected and newly re-created, will last forever. “The new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 66:22). HMM

“Mountain Peaks of Prophecy”

W

from “Chapter 3. - Dispensational Truth” by Clarence Larkin.

e see how it was that the Old Testament Prophets failed to distinguish between the “First” and “Second” Comings. From the prophet’s “view-point” he saw the Birth of Jesus, the Crucifixion, the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Antichrist, the Sun of Righteousness, the Millennial Kingdom, Ezekiel's Temple and the New Heavens and the New Earth, as “Mountain Peaks” of one great mountain, but we standing off to the side see these peaks as belonging to two different mountains with the “Valley of the Church” in between. And more we see that there are two more valleys, one, the “Millennial Valley,” separates the “Second Coming” from the “Renovation of the Earth by Fire” (2Peter 3:7-13), and the other is the Valley of the “Perfect Age.” While the First and Second Comings of Christ are separated by this Dispensation they are nevertheless not complete in themselves, the Second necessitated the First, and the First demands the Second. They are both necessary to complete the Plan of Salvation. The First Coming was for the salvation of my “SOUL;” the Second is for the salvation of my “BODY,” for there can be no resurrection of the body until Christ comes back. CL

Note on “EXALTED ZION” [From NATHANIEL WEST’S ‘The Thousand Years’.]

Delitzsch, Orelli, and Lister, on Exalted Zion. {see also Dr. Henry Morris’ “Rivers in High Places” and “And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found”}

[1] Delitzsch on Isaiah 2:2 The expression the ‘Last Days,’ i.e., the ‘End of the Days,’ ‘Acharith Hayyamin,’ which does not occur anywhere else in Isaiah, is always used in an eschatological sense. It never refers to the course of history immediately following the time being, but invariably indicates the farthest Henry M. Morris, The Revelation Record: A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Prophetic Book of the End Times, (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 1983), 137–138.

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point in the history of this life; - the point that lies on the outermost limit of the speaker’s horizon. This horizon was a very fluctuating one. The history of prophecy is just the history of the gradual extension of this horizon, and of the filling up of the intermediate spaces. In Jacob’s blessing (Gen. 49) the Conquest of Canaan stood in the foreground of the Acharith Hayyamim and the perspective was regulated accordingly. But, here, in Isaiah, the Acharith contained no such mixing together of events belonging to the more immediate and far distant future. It was, therefore, the Last Time, in its most literal and purest sense, commencing with the beginning of the New Testament Age, and terminating at its close. Compare Heb. 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:20. The prophet here predicted that the ‘Mountain’ which bore the temple of Jehovah, and therefore, was already in dignity, the most exalted of all mountains, would, one day, tower in actual height above all the high places of the land. The basaltic mountains of Bashan which rose up in bold peaks and columns might now indeed look down with scorn and contempt upon the small limestone hill which Jehovah had chosen (Psa. 68:16, 17), but this was an incongruity which the Last Days would remove, by making the outward correspond to the inward, the appearance to the reality and intrinsic worth. That this is the prophet’s meaning is confirmed by Ezekiel 40:2, where the Temple-Mountain stands gigantic to the prophet, and also by Zechariah 14:10, were all Jerusalem is described as towering above the country round about, which would, one day, become a plain. The question how this can possibly take place, in time, since it presupposes a complete subversion of the whole of the existing order of the earth’s surface, is easily answered.

The prophet saw the New Jerusalem of the Last Days on this side, and the New Jerusalem of the New Earth on the other side of the End, blended together, as it were, in one. Whilst, however, we thus avoid all unwarrantable spiritualizing, it still remains a question what meaning the prophet attached to the word, ‘B’rosh,’ ‘at the Top.’ Did he mean that Moriah would one day stand ‘upon the top’ of the mountains that surrounded it (as in Psa. 72:16), or that it would stand ‘at the head’ of them (as in 1 Kings 21:9, 12; Amos 6:7; Jer. 31:7)? The former is Hofmann’s view, who says ‘the prophet does not mean that the mountains would be piled up, one upon another, and the temple mountain ‘upon the top,’ but that the temple mountain would ‘appear to float upon the summit of the others.’ But inasmuch as the expression ‘will be set’ does not favour this apparently romantic exaltation, and since ‘B’rosh’ occurs oftener in the sense of ‘at the head’ than of ‘upon the top,’ I decide, for my own part, in favour of the second view,* although I agree with Hofmann so far, viz., That is not merely an exaltation of the Temple Mountain in the mere esteem of the nations that is predicted, the divinely chosen mountain would become the rendezvous and centre of unity for all nations. They would ‘flow into it’ as a river. It is Jehovah’s Temple which, being thus rendered visible to nations afar off, exerts such magnetic attraction, and with such success. Just as, at a former period, men had been separated and estranged from each other in the plains of Shinar, and thus different nations had arisen, so, at a future period, would the nations assemble together on the Mountain of the Lord’s House, and there, as members of one family, live together in unity again. Compare Isa. 25:6-9; 24:23; Isa. 40:4 see also Henry Morris articles. * So Orelli, Drechsler, Cheyne, Van Oosterzee, Caspari, Riehm, Hitzig, Nägelsbach, etc., etc., “at the head.” N. West.

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[2] ORELLI ON ISAIAH 2: 2 The question whether Isaiah 2:2 is to be understood physically and topographically, so that the territory itself and its relations shall undergo a mighty transformation, in order that Zion, now encircled by mountains higher than itself, may tower above them all, - or whether it is meant only in a spiritual sense - is an idle one. The Seer actually saw Mount Zion, the site of the Temple, standing higher than all the rest, just as he saw, in fact, the nations journeying to this middle-point of the world under divine rule, and beheld Zion over-decked with the fiery GloryCloud of God. Isa. 4:5-6. It was not his business to twist such concrete intuitions into abstract thoughts. Aware of the spiritual import which is the essential thing according to our Christian consciousness, yet the Revelation of God [in bodily form and visible to all around] dwelling on Mount Zion must be acknowledged by all the nations, and the world’s whole physiognomy, even in its literal outward aspect, be transfigured into harmony with its subjection to Jehovah.

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[3] LISTER ON ISAIAH 2:2 In this passage, as in others, - Zech. 14:3-5, 10; Jer. 31:38-40; Joel 3:18-21; Ezek. 47:1-12; Psa. 97:5; Isa. 64:3; Judges 5:5; Exod. 19:18; Psa. 114:7; Isa. 64:1; Hagg. 2:6; Heb. 12:26, etc., there is nothing whatever to favour an allegorical interpretation, but everything to support a literal one. The prophet looks forward to the Last Days and points to great changes to be wrought in the land of Palestine, at the time of the Second Coming of the Lord. The events predicted in this, and other cognate passages are all physical phenomena. They may, indeed, for the most part be termed geological phenomena. They are matters with which Geologists are perfectly familiar. There is not a region on the globe in which they have not occurred again and again. They will consist in the upheaval of some parts of the land, and the depression and dislocation of others. There is nothing with which that science has made us acquainted that comes more frequently under our notice than phenomena of this kind. The terms, even, by which they are expressed have become as familiar as household words. Compare Isa. 2:2, with Zech. 14:10. What we have here is called ‘Elevation,’ or an ‘Upheaval’ of the strata below, by some cosmic force. Every mountain, and mountain chain, throughout the world, owe their origin to it. All lands and continents of the present day have been again and again subjected to an action of this kind, and also, on the other hand, to one of ‘Depression,’ or ‘Subsidence,’ as they have successively become ‘sea and dry land,’ (Hagg. 2:6), which has been the case again and again. And the process is still going on. Instances of Elevation and Depression are perpetually occurring. Three times, in the course of the present century, 1822, 1835, 1837, the coast of Chili has been permanently elevated, the last time the bottom of the sea being raised more than 8 feet, the area over which the elevation extended being more than 100,000 square miles. In the destruction of Lisbon, 1755, we have a case of depression or subsidence, during the six minutes of whose action the new quay, built of marble, at enormous expense, sank beneath the waters, one hundred fathoms. These are cases of sudden and convulsive action.

There are other cases of gradual action, such as the coast of Sweden raised four feet in the present century, and the coast of Greenland now sinking gradually, for a space of more than 600 miles. If we apply to the text referred to, the facts thus ascertained, there is not the slightest reason, from the nature of the case, why the things foretold in them should not be literally fulfilled. What is predicted is neither impossible nor improbable. It is only what has occurred

again and again. The Mount of Olives, and indeed the whole of Palestine have been already ‘exalted,’ and ‘lifted up.’ They consist, for the most part, of aqueous or stratified rocks, which were originally deposited at the bottom of the sea, and have since been raised to their present level. The phenomena have been those of ‘Elevation.’ Why, then, seeing that this has occurred before, should we think it strange, if told that it should occur again? Is it more improbable in the Future than in the Past? The process now going on is gradual, but if seen that when the things foretold occur, it will be convulsive. Still this is nothing new, for this also has occurred within our own time. Why should it not occur again? All the passages referred to have the character of literality about them. We must, therefore, receive them as the Lord has set them before us. ‘He hath said it, and shall He not bring it to pass?’ ‘The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this.’

The passage in Isa. 2:2, is a case of Elevation. In Zech. 14:10 it a case of both Elevation and Depression. In Zech. 14:4, 5, it is a case of what is called, ‘Disruption,’ ‘Fissure,’ or ‘Fault.’

Without pretending to indicate the exact mode by which the Mount of Olives will be divided, and a Valley formed through the midst of it, it is enough to know that the phenomenon foretold is one that is fully understood as a fact of frequent occurrence in the history of our globe. We have case innumerable of Elevation, Subsidence, and Lateral Pressure, the strata fractured in the process of the movement, and what is called a ‘Fault’ has been produced. The disruption of the Mount of Olives may be produced by any of the above processes; and it would seem more than probable that by the ‘Mountains’ in Isa. 64:1-4, and Mic. 1:3, 4, we are to understand those in the immediate neighbourhood of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives, especially. This is rendered the more probable from a comparison of Mic. 1:3, with verse 5, the latter being explanatory of the former. In verse 3 we read of the ‘High Places of the Land,’ and, in reference to these it is asked in verse 5, ‘What are the High Places of Judah? Are they not Jerusalem?’

Again, verse 4, ‘the Valleys shall be cleft,’ pointing, no doubt, to the convulsion foretold by Zechariah, where lie the valleys of Jehoshaphat and Hinnom. “And, again, it must be remembered that Isa. 2:2, distinctly shows that a great disturbance and dislocation of the strata must necessarily take place in the immediate neighbourhood of Jerusalem at this period, viz., the Second Advent. We have, therefore, good grounds for connecting all passages above referred to together, and for regarding them as all relating to the same period, and most of them, to the same locality. Isa. 64:1-3, and Mic. 1:3, 4, are undoubtedly connected, and relate to the same great event, viz., the Descent of the Lord Jesus to Earth at His Second Advent. In the former there is a prayer that He would do this; in the latter there is a prediction that He will do this.” (N. West.)

It is clear, from a comparison of the Scripture passages, that the event predicted in Isa. 2: 2, and Mic. 9: 1, viz., the ‘Elevation’ of Mount Zion, the Temple-Mountain, is the same event as that predicted in Zech. 14:10. Viz., the Depressions of the hills of Judah, and the ‘Elevation’ of Jerusalem; and which Ezekiel sees accomplished, Ezek. 40:2; and with which the transformations in Jer. 31:38-40; Joel; 3:17, 18; Ezek. 47:1-12, are associated, viz., the TempleWaters streaming through the Acacia-Vale, and emptying into the Mediterranean and Dead Seas; as also producing monthly fruit-bearing trees. It is utter folly to spiritualize this as Hengstenberg, Keil, Wright, Alexander, (W. L.) and others do. The objections to the literal interpretation, such as that “natural waters could not flow in all directions at once, from the same point,” (R. W. Alexander) and “the whole land would be submerged by the waters of the

Mediterranean, were such a depression literal,” (Wright, C. H. H. ) are misunderstandings of the text, and afford only too open a flank to keen critics like Kuenen and Graf. We hold the Hofmann, Smend, Neumann, Delitzsch, and many more, that the predictions will be literally accomplished, notwithstanding the unbelief of believers. What Isaiah says is that ‘Mount Zion shall be exalted above the hills.’ What Zechariah says is that ‘the whole land (not earth, but land of Judah). So Ewald, Umbreit, Hitzig, Kohler, Kliefoth, Pressel, and even R. W. Alexander and C. H. H. Wright) shall become as a Plain (not the plain, as Kliefoth, R. W. Alexander, etc.; but a plain, as Ewald, Bunsen, Wright, Maurer, Lange, Keil, notwithstanding Baer’s retention of the definite article) from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, and SHE (Jerusalem) SHALL BE LIFTED high, and shall abide in her place, from the gate of Benjamin to the place of the outermost gate, even the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel to the King’s wine-presses.’ And all this in connection with the cleaving of ‘the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the East.’ And what Joel and Ezekiel say is, that perennial waters shall flow, both sides, from the Temple Rock, and immortalize the land and sea together. Keil thinks this is “a figurative representation of the spiritual elevation and glory the City will receive by the gospel,” and Hengstenberg imagines it means “the spiritual elevation and transformation of the church,” while Wright is convinced that “high dignity” and “rivers of grace” are here signified. Others think the splitting of the Olivet means spiritually, “a broken and contrite heart,” which Bunyan keenly corrects by saying “The prophet saith that the mountain is ‘before Jerusalem, on the East!’” Still others idealize the prophecy, counting out the “husk” as “mere external,” and the “details” as “non-essential!”

Against such liberties, we hold to the text, as it reads. What we are told is that Palestine will be transfigured when the Lord comes. When He renovates Israel for Himself, He renovates their City and their Land. The New-Born Tenant has a New-Built Home. When the Daughter of Zion is married to her Lord, it is not in the old ruin they keep house! Exalted above the hills and crowned with the streaming light of the Glory-Cloud, will be her special dwelling-place. The territory of Judah will become like the ‘Arabah,’ or Ghor, which stretches from the slopes of Hermon or Sea of Tiberias, to the Red Sea or Elanitic Gulf. It is a case of ‘Depression’ of the mountains and hills, an ‘Elevation’ of the valleys, but not a sinking of the territory itself; certainly not of Jerusalem. The land is elevated while yet its irregularities and inequalities are smoothed, and it becomes a plain. The errors of the commentators here, are many. It is not said that Judah’s territory shall be depressed, but only that the mountainous region shall be levelled like the Ghor, while the City and the Temple are exalted. Isaiah has taught the same truth.

‘Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill be brought low, the crooked place shall be made straight and the rough place plain and the Glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together, for Jehovah’s mouth hath spoken it.’ Isa. 40:4. The delimitation of the boundary of the territory is sufficiently clear. It is that of the royal tribute and kingdom of Judah, the central glory of millennial times. It is from ‘Geba to Beersheba,’ the whole extent of Judah’s domain (2 Kings 23:8). The entire hilly region shall become like the ‘Great Plain,’ and ‘Jerusalem shall be lifted high.’ The total City shall be elevated. If we trace the delimitation of the City itself, it is even more precise. From East to West, the boundary line runs from Benjamin’s Gate to the Corner Gate, while it stretches North and South, from the Tower of Hananeel to the royal gardens at the junction of the valleys of Jehoshaphat and Hinnom. Zech. 14:10; Jer. 31:38-40. This particularly is intentional, on the part of the Spirit of

prophecy. But, it is a false inference, from this, to conclude that only this portion of the Land of Canaan is the subject of cosmical transformation. Dr. Robertson Smith’s sneer at the idea of “the Kingdom of God reduced to the petty limits of the territory of Judah,” rests upon his own ignorance of the prophetic word, and is a sneer at the prophetic word itself. Elsewhere we read, clearly, - and long ago, as Justin Martyr emphasized it, - that the entire land, and the city, will be “broadened, enlarged and adorned,” according to the prophets. It has been a misfortune that our English Version, like others equally defective, has obscured for us the sense in many passages. In the clearest manner, the prophet Isaiah, looking forward to Israel’s glory accomplished at Messiah’s Coming, says, ‘Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou art glorified; thou hast extended wide the borders of the land.” Isa. 26: 15. It is a prediction of increased population, both by restoration, and resurrection, and an enlargement of the limits of the land. So the promise is given, ‘Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty, and the land of breadths,’ or ‘far-stretching land.’ The same is true as to the enlargement of the City, in future times. The magnificence of the kingdom is elsewhere foretold in terms unmistakable. In the 72nd. Psalm, it is described as ‘from Sea to Sea, and from the River to the ends of the Earth.” Psa. 72:7. Does all this seem too marvelous? ‘Neum Yehovah!’ ‘It is the utterance of Jehovah, Doer of these things!’ How blessed this Planet of ours one day will be, by reason of the Coming of the Lord from Heaven! How blessed the Holy Land! And Jerusalem lifted up! And Zion exalted! And Israel redeemed! And the Nations converted! And the holy sleepers waked into the image of Christ! How stupendous the change! What a different Age from ours! Come Lord Jesus!207

“Of Seas & Songs” Revelation 15:2: And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. As John continues to gaze at the great and marvelous heavenly sign, he sees also a remarkable assemblage of redeemed men and women. As noted above, the seven angels represent all those holy angels whose ministry is to the “heirs of salvation” (Hebrews 1:14) and this particular body, coming out of the last half of the great tribulation, is the final installment, as it were, of the saints to be translated to heaven. Their lives in the flesh have been terminated by martyrdom during the very period when the seven last plagues are being visited on earth. It had been decreed that all must receive the mark of the beast and worship his image, on pain of death (Revelation 13:15–17). On the other hand, God had decreed that any who did worship the beast and receive his mark would be cast into eternal torment (Revelation 14:9–11). Physical death with eternal salvation or physical life with eternal damnation—that had been their bitter choice, and multitudes had opted for the brief continuation of their wretched lives on the earth, enduring all the judgments of God rather than the executioners appointed by the beast.

These, however, had gained the victory over the beast. They overcame him because they “loved not their lives unto the death” (Revelation 12:11). Their actual gathering must await their resurrection at the end of the tribulation (Revelation 20:4–6), but John could already see them, “as it were,” in the heavenly sign along with the symbolic angels.

The sign also included, as it were, a remarkable sea of glass mingled with fire, with the martyred saints standing on it (the Greek epi could also be translated “by”). Although there was an actual crystal sea (Revelation 4:6) at the throne set in the temple in the heavens when Christ 207

various select authors, THE MILLENNIAL TEMPLE,.

returned to the air, it must be remembered that the particular sea in the sign only symbolized the real sea, where the saints will sing together at the end of the tribulation.

There had been a sea in Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 7:23), and the temple was also equipped with ten lavers (2 Chronicles 4:6), but both sea and lavers were used for washings in connection with the sacrificial offerings. The sea in the heavenly temple obviously pictures something more than this, however, since there is no need for cleansing the heavenly priests. The beautiful “sea of glass like unto crystal” of Revelation 4:6 is not really explained, but its purpose is at least partially clarified in its symbolic representation here. It has a memorial signification of great import to all the people of God through the ages, as seen in the next verse. It also speaks, through the mingled fire, of coming judgment.

This particular assemblage has also been given harps, or lyres. The trumpets of the angels and the harps of the saints (Revelation 5:8; 14:2) are the only heavenly musical instruments, at least as described in Revelation (“musicians and pipers,” as well as “harpers and trumpeters” will be common in wicked Babylon, however, as noted in Revelation 18:22). In any case, there will surely be an abundance of music and singing in the holy city and the new earth.

Revelation 15:3. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

Gathered by the glassy sea, the redeemed saints in the sign are seen and heard by John to be singing two great anthems of victory and praise, the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. It is this fact that gives us the necessary clue to the symbolic import of the sea itself, for the song of Moses had first been sung long before by the shores of a sea of deliverance and judgment.

In the new earth there will be “no more sea” (Revelation 21:1), but there will be the beautiful crystal sea surrounding the throne of God as a fitting memorial of what the mighty sea had once accomplished for God’s purposes and God’s people in the first earth. Water, for example, was used for cleansing—hence, the laver in the tabernacle and the sea in the temple. There will be no more need for cleansing in the new earth, however.

More to the point in this instance is the fact that the sea had been used by God as a vehicle for the deliverance of God’s people and for judgment on their enemies. This was the theme of the original “song of Moses” (Exodus 15:1–21). “I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.… Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.… The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.”

Portions of this song, first composed over 3,500 years earlier, are thus peculiarly appropriate for these tribulation saints, and they might well recall the ancient song of Moses and the great deliverance of those first Israelites, when the same Red Sea which saved them also destroyed the armies of mighty Pharaoh. The horse and rider which were inundated in the sea of water might even be paralleled by the sea of blood extending to the horses’ bridles (Revelation 14:20) which they had seen.

There was also another song of Moses (Deuteronomy 31:30), now preserved as Deuteronomy 32:1–43, which might well also be sung appropriately by these tribulation martyrs. Another possibility is the ninetieth Psalm, the psalm attributed to “Moses, the man of God.” However, the most appropriate seems to be the actual song at the Red Sea, praising God for His great salvation.

Long before even that deliverance, there had occurred an even greater judgment and redemption by the waters of the sea, “when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, … wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water” (1 Peter 3:20). The same waters which had destroyed an ungodly world had saved the believing remnant from destruction by that

world. It is interesting also that the waters of baptism, symbolizing death to sinfulness and resurrection unto holiness, are compared both to the waters of the Red Sea (1 Corinthians 10:1, 2) and to the waters of the great Flood (1 Peter 3:20, 21).

Thus will the sea at the heavenly throne perpetually call to remembrance the waters of the Flood, the waters of the Red Sea, and the waters of baptism, all speaking both of God’s judgment on the wickedness of rebellious men and His great salvation for those who trust Him and obey His Word. This last company of persecuted believers had experienced these also, in high degree, and so could join heartily in singing the ancient song of Moses.

But also they could gladly join all the other redeemed hosts (Revelation 5:8–14) in the great anthem of the Lamb. It was only because of His gracious work on their behalf that God was able to save them. They had been able to overcome the beast and the dragon not only because of their willingness to witness and to die for their faith, but first of all “by the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 12:11).

There is surely no conflict, as some have taught, between the dispensations of Moses and the Lamb. The written law was given by Moses, and grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17); both are integral components of God’s will for man. The contrasting “but” of John 1:17 is not in the original. The redeemed saints could with equal faith and enthusiasm sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.

Though neither of these songs, as recorded in Exodus 15 and Revelation 5, contains the precise ascriptions cited in this passage, the exalted words are perfectly consistent with both. His works (whether the mighty miracle at the Red Sea or the even greater miracle at Calvary and the empty tomb) are indeed “great and marvelous.” His ways (whether the destruction of rebellious Pharaoh or the sacrifice of His sinless Son on a cross of substitution) are surely just and true. Whatsoever God doeth is right, and whatsoever He saith is true.

He is the “Lord God Almighty” (a term used five times in Revelation, and nowhere else).

“Almighty” (Greek pantokrator) is a synonym for “omnipotent.” He is also long-suffering, desiring men to come to repentance, but one day soon He will assume His great power and reign (Revelation 11:17). He is Creator of all—therefore Sovereign of all!

But also He is “King of saints.” This title is used in no other passage, and a few of the manuscripts render it “King of nations,” others “King of ages.” However, neither of these two titles appears anywhere else either, and the King James rendition, based on the Received Text, best fits the context.

As king of all the saints (a term applied in the New Testament uniquely to true believers in Christ), the Lord Jesus will soon lead them forth to battle (Revelation 19:7–16). At this juncture He has not yet become king over all nations (note the next verse), but the saints all gladly acknowledge His rule, knowing from full experience that He is both just and true.

The crystal sea, speaking of a past watery judgment and deliverance, is also “mingled with fire,” speaking of the impending fiery judgment and deliverance. The Apostle Peter likewise, first reminded men of a former watery cataclysm, purging the heavens and the earth, which were of old, and then warning them that “the heavens and earth, which are now,” have been “reserved unto fire” (2 Peter 3:5–7). Water and fire do not commingle on the earth, but the great heavenly sign shows them mingled in heaven, both testifying of God’s power and righteousness as well as His grace and truth.

Revelation 15:4. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

This stanza continues the song of the martyred saints, reflecting the themes of both the song of Moses and that of the Lamb. “Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11). “Worthy is the Lamb

that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing” (Revelation 5:12).

The earth-dwellers had proclaimed: “Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?” (Revelation 13:4). These had made war with him and so could now answer, “Who shall not fear thee, O Lord?” Power over all nations had been given to the beast (Revelation 13:7), but soon all nations must bow to the Lord. God the Lord is the only true Holy One (Greek hosios; not the usual word for “holy,” stressing absolute rightness). God alone is completely right—by very definition—and therefore, sooner or later, all must some day fear Him, glorify Him, worship Him. His judgments (that is, His “righteous deeds and righteous words”) shall soon be universally acclaimed as such. Someday everyone will understand and acknowledge that even God’s punishments are deserved and righteous in the fullest degree. The terrible plagues that are about to burst on the earth are incalculably destructive but are wholly merited and perfectly designed for God’s righteous purpose. “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear” (Isaiah 45:23).208

“ISRAEL MY GLORY” Israel’s Mission, and Missions to Israel by JOHN WILKINSON. The Founder and Director of the Mildmay Missions to the Jews

A few words as to the title of this book. The words “Israel My Glory” occur in Isaiah 46:13. The immediate context, given in Hebrew on the title page, is not only in beautiful harmony with the contents of this book, but is also expressive of the state of Israel—past, present, and future. “¶ Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory. ”

Israel is still stubborn of heart, and still far from righteousness, except their own, which God pronounces “filthy rags.” They have been far from righteousness ever since they rejected Him who is “The Lord our righteousness.” God does not say He will bring Israel to His righteousness, but will bring His righteousness near to Israel , and it shall not be far off, and His salvation shall not tarry. He will appoint salvation in Zion, for Israel His glory. How beautifully this harmonises with—“The Henry M. Morris, The Revelation Record: A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Prophetic Book of the End Times, (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 1983), 284–287.

208

Redeemer shall come to Zion,” and “There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, who shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob” and “O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion”!

“Israel My glory” is a remarkable expression. Again and again we have the statement that God will be Israel’s glory. “Thy God thy glory ;” “In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory.” Their Messiah is to be “the glory of His people Israel.” Here Israel is to be Jehovah’s glory, when “ the Redeemer shall come to Zion;” that is, Israel shall be converted as a nation at the second advent of our Blessed Lord.” The word for “glory” here is special, and means ornament, beauty, splendour. The same word is translated “beauty” in the reference to Aaron’s garments and the garments of Aaron’s sons. The garments were “for glory and beauty.” It is the same word in 2 Chron. 3:6, where we are told that Solomon garnished the house with precious stones for beauty.” The same word in Isaiah 28:1 , where Ephraim’s “glorious beauty is a fading flower.” The same in verse 4; but in verse 5, “The Lord of hosts shall be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of His people.” The Lord will be Israel’s glory, beauty, splendour, and will cover Israel with His own beauty and splendour, and of the “faded flower” God shall say “Israel My beauty—My glory.” ... ... Should the Lord be pleased to use this book in giving its readers clearer views respecting His purpose concerning Israel; and also in creating or deepening interest--prayerful and practical—in Israel's conversion, my heart will be full of joy and my lips with grateful praise. To Him, who says of Israel, “My glory,” be all praise and glory! ~ J.W. 79, Mildmay Road, London, September, 1889.

Found at Baptist Bible Believers and Keren Ahvah Meshihit

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