Isaiah Apocalypse – Session 5 Notes

CONTINUING WITH ISA 28

ONE THING ABOUT “BUNNY TRAILS” – they sort of are Bunny Trails, and they sort of aren’t. The word of God best testifies of itself, and is best understood in context of itself.

God is consistent in His personality. That personality is multi-faceted, but it is consistent. For example, God has never NOT judged sin. Also, God has never taken pleasure in the destruction of anyone. He is always righteous, fair, equitable, just, and holy. Much of how we see Him operate is in direct response to how man conducts himself.

This psalm, by warrior-king David, reveals the nature of God, the faithfulness of God, and often which side of the Lord people might experience:

AND REMEMBER, DAVID KNEW HIS OWN TROUBLES AND PROPENSITIES – so when he is speaking of his own righteousness, he is speaking of his own righteousness IN GOD, and by the grace of God.

Psalms 18:22-30
22 For all His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
23 I was also blameless before Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
24 Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.
25 With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful;
With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
26 With the pure You will show Yourself pure;
And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.
27 For You will save the humble people,
But will bring down haughty looks.
28 For You will light my lamp;
The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
29 For by You I can run against a troop,
By my God I can leap over a wall.
30 As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the Lord is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

David is writing about ALIGNMENT-LIVING. This is our goal.

And we, as Paul told us, are blessed to have the words and accounts of the OT – “written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages has come”. (1 Cor 10:11)

So the BUNNY TRAILS are actually digressions to get to us other scenarios of scriptures that align w what we are looking into in Isaiah, and also confirm the outlook we are developing.

ONCE AGAIN – as students of scripture we want to make sure our doctrines and convictions don’t simply hinge upon a few choice verses and then rage against the fullness of the message of the entire story of God. It all wants to work together.

Tonight, for example, we’ll be looking into the book of Haggai – a short book post-exilic book – written after the people had been set free from the 70 year captivity. That book will reveal a great side of God, and will also confirm some of God’s personality traits that we see Him displaying about a 100 years earlier, in the portions of Isaiah we are reading.

And we’ll also take a tour of chapter 8 in Ezekiel, which was written DURING the Captivity – because there are coordinated elements between that account and Isaiah.

This starts making the WHOLE BOOK cohesive – as we start seeing parallels in God’s ways. This is good. This is one of the “GLORY IN THIS” kind of things – that we are learning to understand God’s ways better, and clearer. So the Bunny Trails have divine purpose.
OK?

REMEMBER we read this early on – we are told what to glory in (or rejoice in) and then we’re told of the characteristics of God that we would do well to recognize as being descriptive of His personality, on His heart, and part of His intent:
Jeremiah 9:24
24 But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these I delight,” says the Lord.

And then Jeremiah goes on to also confirm what we are learning in the Isaiah Apocalypse – that God will be going after everyone, both Jew and Gentile. He is at war against everything that stands in the way of perfect love:

Isa 28:11 – back-tracking a little because I want to tell a great story I heard after our meeting last week.
(Last week we were introduced to a non-changing and non-negotiable Kingdom precept – the progressive DESIGN INTENT of our methodical and perfect God for His creation)
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.”

(and we discussed how this would SOON apply to the Babylonian invasion, and would then be pulled down by Paul to explain the activity of TONGUES – 1 Cor 14:21 – declaring it to be a sign to the unbelievers that one Kingdom has been anointed by God to invade another kingdom.

(Tell the story Jolene told me last week, or have her tell it)

11 For with stammering lips and another tongue he will speak to this people,
12 To whom He said, “This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest,” and, “This is the refreshing”; yet they would not hear.

REST – a HUGE component of our success that I’d like to spend some time looking at.
SHABBAT – no work.
SHALOM – piece.
SHABA – Oath – coming into covenant.
SHALEM – loyal (attached to by decision and action)
All these critical words stem from the letter SHIN.
And all these characteristics are in fact inseparable in our own ECHAD – our own become ONE and COMPLETE (of course, and ONLY, in Him, the Complete One)

And their disobedience instead postured the people to suffer the consequences of what was supposed to be a blessing:
13 But the word of the LORD was to them, “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little,” that they might go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and caught.

JUDGMENT ON RULERS
14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,

GOD HEARD THEIR SECRET WORDS, AND THEIR HEARTS
15A. Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we are in agreement.

THEY EVEN SAW THE TROUBLE COMING, BUT WERE SO DECEIVED BY THEIR SIN THEY WERE CONVINCED OF A FALSE AND WORTHLESS “SAFETY” – a little bit of a “peace peace when there is no peace”
15B. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.”

16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily.

WEEK FOUR ACTUALLY ENDED HERE.

GOD HAS PLANS to straighten it all out, upon His return.
Meanwhile we can see by looking at what is occurring on earth right now, both in Israel and also everywhere else, the justice is GOD’S measuring line, but not yet MAN’S measuring line.
It will be.

The Lord will proactively continue to work against the corruption of man’s ways, and
THE PROMISE OF PERFECTION AFTER CLEANSING JUDGMENT
17 Also I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plummet; the hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place.

And God, in a way, is mocking their “covenant with death”. There can be no covenant with death.
18 Your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it.

GOD, IN STILL DEALING W HIS PEOPLE, WILL PURPOSELY MAKE THEM UNCOMFORTABLE.
INSTEAD OF A COMFORTER, THEY’D BE EXPERIENCING A “DISCOMFORTER” – to try to get them to repentance.
19 As often as it goes out it will take you; for morning by morning it will pass over, and by day and by night; it will be a terror just to understand the report.”
20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it.

What we have, above is similar in part to Haggai, where the Lord at first appears to be REPORTING about tough conditions suffered by His people, and then reveals that HE is the ONE who is causing the problems:

HAGGAI – Actually is a great book with a happy ending – BECAUSE THE PEOPLE RESPONDED!

God is always willing and able to bless His people, whenever they come into line w His ways and purposes.

Haggai 1:3-11
3 Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying,
4 “ Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?”
5 Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts:“ Consider your ways!
6 “You have sown much, and bring in little;
You eat, but do not have enough;
You drink, but you are not filled with drink;
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
And he who earns wages,
Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”
7 Thus says the Lord of hosts:“ Consider your ways!

THE INVITATION TO TURN AND CHANGE THEIR WAYS:
8 Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the Lord.
9 “ You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “ Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house.
10 Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit.
11 For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.

THE HAPPY ENDING TO HAGGAI – the Lord taking out the calendar to first tell the people that NATURALLY it is too late for anyone to do anything to fix their crop-problems – but then God goes and declares His SOVEREIGNTY and AUTHORITY over everything – including the seasons.

This is a message for US TO EMBRACE – because when things get tough – EITHER:
A. As a result of a work of correction the Lord might be implementing in our lives to get us back on course, OR
B. Because He might be shaking heaven and earth, the sea and dry land – and we happen to be on that shaking earth, and therefore shaking with it – EVEN THOUGH we might be doing everything right.

We can rest assured, IN HIS WILL (or BACK IN HIS WILL), that we will be OK.

BACK TO ISAIAH 28:21
21 For the Lord will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be angry as in the Valley of Gibeon —
That He may do His work, His awesome work, And bring to pass His act, His unusual act.

NOTABLE HERE is the two prior occasions that Isaiah is referencing were IN FAVOR of the people of God, as He came and BROKE IN (PEREZ) and invaded their circumstances, and brought forth deliverance through violent work – Joshua and then David.

Here in Isaiah is God declaring His intent to rise up in victory – except this time the awesome work is not ON BEHALF OF the people of God but instead FOR THE CORRECTION of the people of God – just like “LINE UPON LINE” had come into play for their downfall instead of their progressive blessing:

TWO POWERFUL STORIES FROM WHICH WE CAN LEARN MUCH – as we rightly look forward to spiritual conflict in these days, these are great lessons for us:

JOSHUA – GIBEON DELIVERANCE
Joshua 10:8-11
8 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you.”
9 Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal.
10 So the Lord routed them before Israel, killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them along the road that goes to Beth Horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah.
11 And it happened, as they fled before Israel and were on the descent of Beth Horon, that the Lord cast down large hailstones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword.

DAVID – MOUNT PERAZIM
2 Samuel 5:17-25
17 Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went down to the stronghold.
18 The Philistines also went and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim.
19 So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?”
And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.”
20 So David went to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there; and he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.
21 And they left their images there, and David and his men carried them away.

22 Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim.
23 Therefore David inquired of the Lord, and He said, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees.
24 And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”
25 And David did so, as the Lord commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.

BACK TO ISA 28 – for continuity we’ll read v 21 again…(now understanding Perazim and Gibeon.
Isaiah prophesies:
21 For the Lord will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be angry as in the Valley of Gibeon —
That He may do His work, His awesome work, And bring to pass His act, His unusual act.

22 Now therefore (THAT BEING THE CASE), do not be mockers, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts, a destruction determined even upon the whole earth.

Also of note is that Isaiah sees beyond the near-upcoming events of judgment only upon Israel, to include a later work, by God, determined for the entire earth – and he presents that revelation with a word of warning not to mock or discount the word of God in regard to these prophetic proclamations – that is a good word for the church in our days – particularly since so much is spoken from pulpits that would want to ignore the things that have not yet happened, and mock ones teaching the tougher portions of scripture as if they were dooms-day preachers.
Religious “prophets” and priests and leaders ridiculed guys like Jeremiah and Isaiah.

SEMI-LONG BUNNY TRAIL – to document an exemplary event of ONE man who would speak truth versus an entire LEAGUE-OF-PROPHETS who HAD JOB SECURITY because they were telling the king and his court what the king and his court wanted to hear (some things don’t change).

OUR CHARGE, by God, is NEVER to simply preach “tough stuff” thinking that is the only message of the Lord. But our charge is to preach and teach truth – and we have the word of God – which is non-negotiable, and which will stand.

REGARDLESS of our ministry – be it worship or evangelism, teaching, etc. – our calling is to know the word of God so that HOW WE MINISTER and HOW WE REPRESENT THE LORD is in line with the word of God.

BUNNY TRAIL BACKGROUND – Israel and Judah are divided into two kingdoms. The king of Judah went north and was sitting w the king of Israel. Israel, because of its sin, was being troubled by Syria.

1 Kings 22:1-28
1 Now three years passed without war between Syria and Israel.

2 Then it came to pass, in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went down to visit the king of Israel.
3 And the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, but we hesitate to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?”
4 So he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight at Ramoth Gilead?”
Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”
5 Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire for the word of the Lord today.”
6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight, or shall I refrain?”
So they said, “Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”
7 And Jehoshaphat said, “ Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of Him?”

8 So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “ There is still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.”
And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!”

9 Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, “Bring Micaiah the son of Imlah quickly!”
10 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, having put on their robes, sat each on his throne, at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.
11 Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself; and he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed. ’”

12 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king’s hand.”
13 Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, “Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Please, let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement.”

14 And Micaiah said, “ As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak.”

16 So the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”

17 Then he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace. ’”

21 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, and said, ‘I will persuade him. ’

22 The Lord said to him, ‘In what way? ’ So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. ’ And the Lord said, ‘You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so. ’

28 But Micaiah said, “ If you ever return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Take heed, all you people!

The above warning in ISA 28 – not to be mockers, and the above BUNNY TRAIL EXAMPLE of TRUTH V POPULAR THEOLOGY, should speak volumes to us. We need to know what the Lord is saying, either IN HIS WORD – AND IN THE SPIRIT (which will never contradict) – so that the message is true and effective.

The world needs the saints to be speaking truth, and we need to understanding what God is DOING and what God has SAID HE WOULD BE DOING – so that people can come to THE TRUTH.

That is the purpose of the shaking works of God. That is why the lights of the saints is to be shining when things get darker – whether we’re in END OF AGE times, or simply TOUGH times.

BACK ISA 28
NOW COMES A REVELATION ON NUMEROUS LEVELS – God speaking to an agrarian society, and speaking their natural language to reveal the supernatural aspects of this revelation.
First, we are shown God uses ALL THINGS to teach us ALL THINGS.
God marries the supernatural to the natural.
In some ways I think the supernatural Jerusalem eventually coming down to the natural Jerusalem will prove this out eternally.
I believe He’s also telling us that we are not to separate the natural world from the supernatural world. It is ALL HIS.

The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness (Ps 24) – and will utilize ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to draw us into alignment with Him.

CONCLUDING ISA 28
He is THE BEST TEACHER.
And He wants us to realize that in Him being ALL, He wants to be involved in ALL, and our relationship w Him, for our success, requires us to be ALL IN.
23 Give ear and hear my voice, listen and hear my speech.
24 Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow? Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods?
25 When he has leveled its surface, does he not sow the black cummin and scatter the cummin, plant the wheat in rows, the barley in the appointed place, and the spelt in its place?
26 For He instructs him in right judgment, his God teaches him.
27 For the black cummin is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over the cummin; but the black cummin is beaten out with a stick, and the cummin with a rod.
28 Bread flour must be ground; therefore he does not thresh it forever, break it with his cartwheel, or crush it with his horsemen.
29 This also comes from the LORD of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance.

I also believe this later section of Isa 28 is an admonition to not fail in seeing how God works on earth, IN THE NATURAL, for His supernatural purposes.

Lots of people act religious in a religious environment – a church service, a wedding, something like that. But then they live their lives worldly. That is a dismal failure.

The success of our own ECHAD (being one, whole, complete, holy) is our remaining in God at all times (all our heart, soul, mind and strength), and even not missing what He is doing in our fields, our gardens, w our cummin and vegetables. The work of our hands is His.
Our breath is His. And when we continue taking thoughts captive and doing all things to the glory of God, we begin to understand the depth and glory of Him saying “I will never leave you nor forsake you” – He wants to be OUR GOD ALL OF THE TIME.
And in that place will be our
Accountability
Protection
Anointing
Awareness of His presence and purposes
Our Spirit-leading (Romans 8, etc.)

ISAIAH CHAPTER 29
Now Isaiah, in obedience to the Spirit, prophesies about the troubles intended by God, for His favorite city, and the regions around it.

Woe to Jerusalem

(first we’re told exactly who this is for, and the city is called by its nickname ARIEL (Lion of God, or blazing hearth. The people are told their religious acts will not do the trick in appeasing God)
1 “ Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt!
Add year to year;
Let feasts come around.

2 Yet I will distress Ariel;
There shall be heaviness and sorrow,
And it shall be to Me as Ariel.
(Here, I believe that ARIEL is used to mean BLAZING FURNACE or ALTAR HEARTH)

(God, by way of the enemy nation will encamp against His people in judgment)
3 I will encamp against you all around,
I will lay siege against you with a mound,
And I will raise siegeworks against you.

4 You shall be brought down,
You shall speak out of the ground;
Your speech shall be low, out of the dust;
Your voice shall be like a medium’s, out of the ground;
And your speech shall whisper out of the dust.

5 “Moreover the multitude of your foes
Shall be like fine dust,
And the multitude of the terrible ones
Like chaff that passes away;
Yes, it shall be in an instant, suddenly.

6 You will be punished by the Lord of hosts
With thunder and earthquake and great noise,
With storm and tempest
And the flame of devouring fire.

(THIS GETS PROPHETICALLY INTERESTING – because if it was ONLY looking forward to the Babylonian invasion, the wording of NATIONS makes no sense. But if you read this in the context of all the nations that the Lord has told us He would be gathering against Jerusalem at the end of the age, suddenly, it makes perfect sense)

Of further interest is the fact that in both situations, the nations coming AGAINST JERUSALEM are TURNED BACK.
There verses therefore can be applied to the chapter 37 attack by Sennacharib during the days of Hezekiah, AND/BUT can also be applied to the end-of-age attack by a multitude of nations who GOD HIMSELF will be drawing to Jerusalem, so that God might judge those nations.
Also – these verses therefore CANNOT be ascribed any first or second century AD fulfillment by Titus’ or Hadrian’s armies. Both of those cataclysmic invasions were successful, and were not turned back by God, and were like vanishing visions.

7 The multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel,
Even all who fight against her and her fortress,
And distress her,
Shall be as a dream of a night vision.

8 It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams,
And look —he eats;
But he awakes, and his soul is still empty;
Or as when a thirsty man dreams,
And look —he drinks;
But he awakes, and indeed he is faint,
And his soul still craves:

So the multitude of all the nations shall be,
Who fight against Mount Zion.”

God at this time has called for judgment, so there is a blindness upon His people

And yet God is dealing heavily with His people in Jerusalem by bringing these nations against the city
9 Pause and wonder!
Blind yourselves and be blind!
They are drunk, but not with wine;
They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.

10 For the Lord has poured out on you
The spirit of deep sleep,
And has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, namely, the seers.

11 The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “ Read this, please.”
And he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”

12 Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, “ Read this, please.”
And he says, “I am not literate.”

13 Therefore the Lord said:
“ Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
And honor Me with their lips,
But have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
(OOPS – there’s religion at its worst)

14 Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work
Among this people,
A marvelous work and a wonder;
For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”

15 Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord,
And their works are in the dark;
They say, “ Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”
(Here is the flip-side to “I will never leave you nor forsake you” – God has His eye on His people at all times).

EXAMPLE:
Ezekiel 8:1-18
1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there.
2 Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire —from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber.
3 He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy.
4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.
5 Then He said to me, “ Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance.
6 Furthermore He said to me, “ Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations.”
7 So He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall.
8 Then He said to me, “ Son of man, dig into the wall”; and when I dug into the wall, there was a door.
9 And He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there.”
10 So I went in and saw, and there —every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls.
11 And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. Each man had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up.
12 Then He said to me, “ Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land. ’”
13 And He said to me, “ Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.” 14 So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.
15 Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.”
16 So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty- five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.
17 And He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose.
18 Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them

BACK TO ISAIAH 29, and reading v 15 again for continuity:
15 Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord,
And their works are in the dark;
They say, “ Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”

GOD, KNOWING ALL AND SEEING ALL, says this through Isaiah
16 Surely you have things turned around!
Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay;
For shall the thing made say of him who made it,
“He did not make me”?
Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?

AND HERE ISAIAH is surely looking towards the days of greatest reckoning, once Messiah returns – because these things definitely did not occur subsequent to the carrying away captive of Judah into Babylon – so we can therefore look forward in hope to these great happenings:
17 Is it not yet a very little while
Till Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?

18 In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book,
And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.

19 The humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord,
And the poor among men shall rejoice
In the Holy One of Israel.

20 For the terrible one is brought to nothing,
The scornful one is consumed,
And all who watch for iniquity are cut off —

21 Who make a man an offender by a word,
And lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
And turn aside the just by empty words.

22 Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“ Jacob shall not now (AT THAT TIME) be ashamed,
Nor shall his face now grow pale;

23 But when he sees his children,
The work of My hands, in his midst,
They will hallow My name,
And hallow the Holy One of Jacob,
And fear the God of Israel.
(THE FEAR OF THE LORD will be our treasure, always)

Isaiah 33:6
6 Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times,
And the strength of salvation;
The fear of the Lord is His treasure.

CONCLUDING CHAPTER 39
24 These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding,
And those who complained will learn doctrine. – This certainly is HHY. But it will. PURE DOCTRINE WILL PREVAIL.

All Scriptures NKJV

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