Isaiah Apocalypse \u2013 Week 06<\/p>\n
This chapter looks ahead to what is upcoming, both to Judah and then to the end of the age. And meanwhile what we are being shown are Kingdom dynamics that will apply to all times, any times, of trouble. In reality, these dynamics, being \u201cKingdom\u201d and therefore eternal dynamics, are good for us to understand during ANY times, not only tough times. <\/p>\n
In fact, one of the Kingdom Dynamics is that, if we refuse to understand WHAT our God does, and WHAT He expects of us His people at ALL times, we might find ourselves in more troubling times simply because we failed to understand God during better times, as He dealt WITH US the same way He has ALWAYS DEALT WITH HIS COVENANT PEOPLE. <\/p>\n
So without reading lots of Jer 9 again \u2013 let\u2019s remember the essential: <\/p>\n
Jer 9:24-26<\/strong> So Isaiah sees the trouble coming, God knows that HE HIMSELF will be sending the trouble, and He\u2019s telling the people in advance NOT to respond to God\u2019s troubling by taking off in the opposite direction. <\/p>\n Remember, even King David had moments of \u201cFLIGHTS OF FANCY\u201d<\/p>\n Ps 55:5-18<\/strong> Meanwhile \u2013 chapter 30 \u2013 rebellious Judah is about to be troubled mightily because of their corruption and disobedience. The covenant nation had broken covenant. Sadly, familiar to us. <\/p>\n GOD\u2019S CLEAR WARNING: The reason for the trouble was sin, and their decision to flee FROM God as opposed TO God, was adding sin to sin. <\/p>\n 2\tWho walk to go down to Egypt, and have not asked My advice, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!<\/p>\n 3\tTherefore the strength of Pharaoh shall be your shame, and trust in the shadow of Egypt shall be your humiliation. 7\tFor the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose. Therefore I have called her Rahab-Hem-Shebeth.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Interesting verse. RAHAB means big or wide. The prostitute in Joshua may well have been BIG or WIDE \u2013 we needn\u2019t go there. Subsequent to that story, RAHAB may have been associated with a whoring attitude, OR may still simply have meant BIG or WIDE. Either way, it fit Egypt \u2013 the 3,000 year empire that sprawled beneath Israel, but also a symbol of the bondage of man. Israel was going to someplace big and wide, \u201csleeping around\u201d \u2013 committing harlotry with the gods of this world. AND GOD HIMSELF TELLS Judah the He was going to take Egypt into a coma of lethargy and sleep. SHEBETH is from SHABBAT.<\/p>\n Were we to FAST FORWARD to the days of Ezekiel \u2013 we would read that Israel fleeing down to Egypt was indeed going to happen, and God was soon going to curse that nation with a curse that stands TO THIS DAY: <\/p>\n FIRST \u2013 we see God\u2019s sovereignty over ALL nations \u2013 remember we had discussed Egypt and the Assyrian Empire BOTH being used by God to discipline His people Israel \u2013 and at the same time we see God working IN those nations for their demonic ways. <\/p>\n Ezek 29:19-20<\/strong> Jews had been taken captive into Egypt and God was doing something there: BACK TO ISA 30<\/strong> THINGS WOULD BE WORSE because of their disobedience:<\/strong> 15\tFor thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not,<\/em><\/p>\n REMEMBER: 16\tAnd you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”– therefore you shall flee! And, “We will ride on swift horses”– therefore those who pursue you shall be swift! SO INSTEAD of the PEOPLE WAITING on God, Here is the turning point \u2013 after God necessarily has to afflict His people, instead of destroying them He waits for them to sober up, after they had suffered enough to sober up, and to come back to Him. <\/strong> Does that sound like anything else we\u2019ve looked into? Hosea 5:11-15<\/strong> Hosea 6:1-3<\/strong> BACK TO ISA 30<\/strong> 19\tFor the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you.<\/em><\/p>\n Once again we see the admonition to cry out so our voices are heard by God. <\/p>\n DOES GOD AFFLICT HIS PEOPLE? As a teacher I of course love that verse. In part I believe that ones who would be called to teach the truth of scripture oftentimes are not going to have platforms of popularity \u2013 because truth is controversial. <\/p>\n And BEYOND THE ANOINTED TEACHERS is the promise of Holy Spirit leading, in this instance for course correction. That of course is a great comfort \u2013 in knowing that being \u201coff-course\u201d while serving the GOOD SHEPHERD needing end in tragedy. He is there to tell you. IN THE PLACE OF ENJOYING THE PRESENCE OF GOD WILL BE PROACTIVE HOLY HOUSE CLEANING AND WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THAT? Blessing. 23-24 \u2013 wonderful verses of plenty. Obviously days of joy. But look what else is revealed to us as characteristics of these days \u2013 judgment on the wicked \u2013 this is not contradictory. This is the complete and thorough work of the Lord (AT THE SAME TIME, per Jer 9): 25\tThere will be on every high mountain and on every high hill rivers and streams of waters, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.<\/em><\/p>\n SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS \u2013 God\u2019s billboard A HEALING WORK OF GOD for the people who have made themselves His, and meanwhile a work of judgment, at the same time, for the ones raging against Him. It sounds to me that there will be righteous ones on the earth in the days of great and severe judgment on those wicked. This does not fit the imagery of the upcoming Babylonian captivity. This fits the prophetic picture of the end of this age. A BRIDLE IN THE JAWS OF THE PEOPLE. Sound familiar? What did we see earlier? <\/p>\n Ezek 38:16<\/strong> Isa 14:24-27<\/strong> ISA 30 <\/strong>\u2013 meanwhile, the saints of the Lord, understanding the BIBLICALLY REVEALED PLANS OF GOD, and being led by the SPIRIT OF GOD as the situation unfolds, will understand that all that is happening is OF GOD, and they will be a people PREPARED TO PARTICIPATE, and TO PREVAIL: Interestingly \u2013 a commentary I ENJOY FOR ITS HISTORIC INSIGHT, I believe is lacking and therefore incomplete in its lack of PROPHETIC INSIGHT. They wrote that the saints are celebrating AFTERWARD. But these verses, to me, point to PARTICIPATION \u2013 particularly verse 32. <\/p>\n I believe the critical nature and the explosive potential of TRUE PROPHETIC WORSHIP causes our adversary to tremble. The one who it appears may well have been the first \u201cworship leader of the heavenlies\u201d \u2013 and fell because of pride \u2013 understands what worship can accomplish. I further believe this is why there is such a huge investment, by Satan, into the darkest of music realms. I also believe that to function at the levels of prophetic worship that HAS TO OCCUR in at the end of the age, for these verses in Isa to be fully-filled, we will have to get to a place of intimacy in worship that will only come through complete surrender and holiness. <\/p>\n OF COURSE WORSHIP is more than music. Still, there is something that God Himself is telling us, throughout scripture, of voice and instruments together. <\/p>\n Some interesting verses in Ezekiel speak of Tyre and Sidon, in modern day Lebanon \u2013 as a proud and beautiful-beyond-belief PLACE, but some take these verses as also perhaps providing us w some insight into the fall of Satan (Hebrew: SA-TAAN = ADVERSARY): <\/p>\n Ezek 28:13-15<\/strong> Robyn and I, neither one of us musically inclined, for many years were involved in the lives of some seriously anointed international worship leaders. Many are still friends w us. The battles that go on for that lives, their sanctification, their ministries and their callings, is profound. We have to understand that worship, and music, and song are battlefields as well as places of ministry to the Lord. We need to allow the Lord to \u201ctrain our hands for war\u201d. We need to come into those places, sometimes in faith, understanding how important this is to the successful conclusion of this age. <\/p>\n BACK TO ISA 30<\/strong> As a result of the bloody judgment of our God, that valley \u2013 used as a place of child sacrifice, would be redeemed by a payment of the blood of the guilty: <\/p>\n 33\tFor Tophet was established of old, yes, for the king it is prepared. He has made it deep and large; its pyre is fire with much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, kindles it.<\/em><\/p>\n SUPPORTING VERSES:<\/strong> 2 Chr 33:1<\/strong> Ps 110:4-6<\/strong> SO what we are seeing in Isaiah 30 is judgment on the disobedient \u2013 who compound their sins by not wanting to hear truth, and by fleeing in the opposite direction \u2013 to the bondages of the dark ways of the world, to avoid the correction of God. <\/p>\n ISA 31<\/em><\/strong> 2\tYet He also is wise and will bring disaster, and will not call back His words, but will arise against the house of evildoers, and against the help of those who work iniquity.<\/p>\n 3\tNow the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, both he who helps will fall, and he who is helped will fall down; they all will perish together.<\/p>\n 4\tFor thus the LORD has spoken to me: “As a lion roars, and a young lion over his prey (When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him, he will not be afraid of their voice nor be disturbed by their noise), so the LORD of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion and for its hill. JUST LIKE THE CALL OF HOSEA 5: RETURN<\/strong><\/p>\n 6\tReturn to Him against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.<\/em><\/p>\n And what happens when the people of God FINALLY return to their God? 7\tFor in that day every man shall throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold– sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves. BABYLON \u2013 for a moment \u2013 the wickedness and pride of man BEGAN there \u2013 Nimrod and the tower of Babel \u2013 it was the first corporate movement of Satan. And where does the evil corporate work conclude? Babylon. <\/p>\n Once again I remind you of the words we read weeks ago in Zechariah \u2013 words that I believe speak to a residence of the fullness of wickedness, set IN PLACE, on its established base, until the time when it will have to be released by supernatural force, at the appropriate time: <\/p>\n Zech 5:9-11<\/strong> Iran and Iraq are the keystone countries of the Assyrian Empire land mass. Rev 14:6-9<\/strong> \u2013 where we not only see coordinated verses, but also see a confirmation of the component of WORSHIP and who will someone choose to worship…. ISA 32<\/strong> \u2013 Isaiah \u2013 as an encouragement to the saints of his time, but also as a prophetic encouragement to ALL SAINTS in ALL TRYING TIMES \u2013 looks WAY FORWARD to the reign of Messiah. I also believe that some of the life-math of these verses offer us glimpses into man\u2019s ongoing free will in the next age, the millennial kingdom age. SPEAKS OF BOTH SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL AWAKENING ONES WHO WERE RASH WILL OBTAIN WISDOM, because the environment will be full of the fear of the Lord THERE WILL STILL BE FOLKS ACTING GOOFY AND EVEN UNGODLY \u2013 but they will not be lifted up as wise. And the phony-generous will not be esteemed as truly generous. TRUTH WILL PREVAIL. 6\tFor the foolish person will speak foolishness, and his heart will work iniquity: to practice ungodliness, to utter error against the LORD, to keep the hungry unsatisfied, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.<\/em><\/p>\n ISAIAH appears to bring it back to his own days here, and in so doing I believe he is also prescribing a place for success living PRIOR TO THE MILLENNIAL AGE I BELIEVE THIS WILL BE A SALVATION-POSITION FOR SAINTS DURING HARD TIMES \u2013 when our fleshly intellect would have us hoarding, while our spirit-man would have us giving… JESUS TELLS US: ADONAI T\u2019SVA-OAT \u2013 God\u2019s warrior name \u2013 only presented twice in the NT \u2013 once in Romans reciting an OT verse, and the ONLY NEW TIME in James \u2013 speaking of the cries of the workers whose money has been withheld…. ISA 32<\/em><\/strong> TO ME, 9-14 appear to be in place, to some degree, until verse 15 \u2013 which once again seems to point to the culmination of this age, when the Spirit is poured out in great measure, and righteousness prevails NKJV<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Isaiah Apocalypse \u2013 Week 06 This chapter looks ahead to what is upcoming, both to Judah and then to the end of the age. And meanwhile what we are being shown are Kingdom dynamics that will apply to all times, … Continue reading
\n24\tBut 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.<\/em>
\nTHAT IS WHO HE IS AND HOW HE OPERATES. <\/p>\n
\n5\tFearfulness and trembling have come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me.
\n6\tSo I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.
\n7\tIndeed, I would wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah
\n8\tI would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.”
\n(Greater description of the trouble, then the conclusion)
\n16\tAs for me, I will call upon God, and the LORD shall save me.
\n17\tEvening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice.
\n18\tHe has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, for there were many against me.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nIsa 30:1-33<\/strong>
\n1\t“Woe to the rebellious children (NOT STRANGERS \u2013 HIS CHILDREN),” says the LORD, “Who take counsel, but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin;<\/em><\/p>\n
\n4\tFor his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.
\n5\tThey were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them, or be help or benefit, but a shame and also a reproach.”
\n6\tThe burden against the beasts of the South. Through a land of trouble and anguish, from which came the lioness and lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people who shall not profit;<\/em><\/p>\n
\n19\t“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he shall take away her wealth, carry off her spoil, and remove her pillage; and that will be the wages for his army.
\n20\t‘I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor, because they worked for Me,’ says the Lord GOD.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nEzek 29:14-16<\/strong>
\n14\t“I will bring back the captives of Egypt and cause them to return to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom.
\n15\t“It shall be the lowliest of kingdoms; it shall never again exalt itself above the nations, for I will diminish them so that they will not rule over the nations anymore.
\n16\t“No longer shall it be the confidence of the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity when they turned to follow them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.”‘”
\n<\/em>
\n(The good news is the promise of Isa 19 and elsewhere \u2013 that the broken state of Egypt will eventually bring about revival and acknowledgement of the God of Israel. <\/p>\n
\n8\tNow go, write it before them on a tablet, and note it on a scroll, that it may be for time to come, forever and ever: (Memorialized \u2013 so that WE might not forget)
\n9\tThat this is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of the LORD;
\n<\/em>
\nThe people were still \u201cspiritual\u201d but didn\u2019t want truth
\n10\tWho say to the seers, “Do not see,” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things; speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.
\n11\tGet out of the way, turn aside from the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.”<\/em>
\nTHEY REFUSED THE TRUE PROPHETIC AND WANTED THE SMOOTH AND THE EASY AND THE ENCOURAGING. THE RESULT WAS USELESS PROPHETIC GARBAGE, EASY LISTENING.
\nRemember Micaiah last week \u2013 how King Ahab surrounded himself w 400 worthless YES MEN PROPHETS, and told the Jehoshaphat that he (Ahab) hated Micaiah because he didn\u2019t concur w the false prophets? Some things will not change in this age….
\n12\tTherefore thus says the Holy One of Israel: “Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perversity, and rely on them,<\/em><\/p>\n
\n13\tTherefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, a bulge in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant.
\n14\tAnd He shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel, which is broken in pieces; he shall not spare. So there shall not be found among its fragments a shard to take fire from the hearth, or to take water from the cistern.”<\/p>\n
\nIsa 28:12<\/strong>
\n12\tTo 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.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n17\tOne thousand shall flee at the threat of one, at the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain and as a banner on a hill.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nGOD would be WAITING for His people to come back to Him, after they had suffered.<\/p>\n
\n
\n18 Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nHow about Hosea. <\/p>\n
\n11\tEphraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked by human precept.
\n12\tTherefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness.
\n13\t“When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb; yet he cannot cure you, nor heal you of your wound.
\n14\tFor I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue.
\n15\tI will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”<\/em><\/p>\n
\n1\tCome, and let us return to the LORD; for He has torn, but He will heal us; he has stricken, but He will bind us up.
\n2\tAfter two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.
\n3\tLet us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; he will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nLOOKING FORWARD \u2013 definitely NOT to the events of Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s army-invasion, and definitely NOT to the events of the first or second century AD \u2013 which some want to latch onto as the toughest of all time, so we won\u2019t have END TIMES TOUGH TIMES.
\nV 19 only fits into the Bible-Image of the Restoration at the end of the age<\/p>\n
\n20\tAnd though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n21\tYour ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n22\tYou will also defile the covering of your graven images of silver, and the ornament of your molded images of gold. You will throw them away as an unclean thing; you will say to them, “Get away!”<\/em><\/p>\n
\n23\tThen He will give the rain for your seed with which you sow the ground, and bread of the increase of the earth; it will be fat and plentiful. In that day your cattle will feed in large pastures.
\n24\tLikewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground will eat cured fodder, which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n……….exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth<\/em><\/p>\n
\n26\tMoreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD binds up the bruise of His people and heals the stroke of their wound.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n27\tBehold, the name of the LORD comes from afar, burning with His anger, and His burden is heavy; his lips are full of indignation, and His tongue like a devouring fire.
\n28\tHis breath is like an overflowing stream, which reaches up to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of futility; and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n16\t“You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes.”
\n<\/em>
\nAnd earlier in Isaiah \u2013 coming with what I believe is a challenge, not only to the wicked nations, but also to the prophets who would want to discount or diminish the prophecies of the scripture that have not yet come to pass. <\/p>\n
\n24\tThe LORD of hosts has sworn, saying, “Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, and as I have purposed, so it shall stand:
\n25\tThat I will break the Assyrian in My land, and on My mountains tread him underfoot. Then his yoke shall be removed from them, and his burden removed from their shoulders.
\n26\tThis is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
\n27\tFor the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?”
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
\n29\tYou shall have a song as in the night when a holy festival is kept, and gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute, to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the Mighty One of Israel.
\n30\tThe LORD will cause His glorious voice to be heard, and show the descent of His arm, with the indignation of His anger and the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, tempest, and hailstones.
\n31\tFor through the voice of the LORD Assyria will be beaten down, as He strikes with the rod.
\nHE WILL STRIKE WITH THE ROD \u2013 as the saints are in the \u201cfestive place\u201d of prophetic worship\u201d.
\n32\tAnd in every place where the staff of punishment passes, which the LORD lays on him, it will be with tambourines and harps; and in battles of brandishing He will fight with it.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n13\tYou were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.
\n14\t“You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
\n15\tYou were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n33\tFor Tophet was established of old,………….<\/em>
\nAnd here we are at Tophet \u2013 the historic valley to the west of the Old City of Jerusalem. That same valley is called Hinnom. <\/p>\n
\nJer 7:30-33<\/strong>
\n30\t“For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight,” says the LORD. “They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to pollute it.
\n31\t“And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart.
\n32\t“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “when it will no more be called Tophet, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Tophet until there is no room.
\n33\t“The corpses of this people will be food for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. And no one will frighten them away.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
\n1\tManasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
\n2 Chr 33:6<\/strong>
\n6\tAlso he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n4\tThe LORD has sworn and will not relent, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
\n5\tThe Lord is at Your right hand; he shall execute kings in the day of His wrath.
\n6\tHe shall judge among the nations, he shall fill the places with dead bodies, he shall execute the heads of many countries.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nYET MORE WARNING RE GOING AFTER THE HELP OF MAN
\n1\tWoe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD!<\/p>\n
\n5\tLike birds flying about, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it; passing over, He will preserve it.”<\/em><\/p>\n
\nThis hasn\u2019t happened yet \u2013 but it will. I believe this pointing to THE SAINTS allowing the sanctifying work of the fire of the Holy Spirit, sometimes as a result of great and severe troubles, to sanctify us and to cleanse us.
\nWHAT DID THE PSALMIST SAY IN PSALM 66: – You caused men to ride over our backs. You refined us as silver is refined……Afterward the season of covenant and oaths. <\/p>\n
\n<\/em>
\nWHEN DOES ASSYRIA FINALLY FALL, FOREVER?
\n8\t“Then Assyria shall fall by a sword not of man, and a sword not of mankind shall devour him. But he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall become forced labor.
\n9\tHe shall cross over to his stronghold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the banner,” says the LORD, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n9\tThen I raised my eyes and looked, and there were two women, coming with the wind in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven.
\n10\tSo I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they carrying the basket?”
\n11\tAnd he said to me, “To build a house for it in the land of Shinar; when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its base.”<\/em><\/p>\n
\nI appreciate others view the Zech verses differently \u2013 but from the lens the Lord has given to me, this is how I see them. <\/p>\n
\n6\tThen I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth– to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people–
\n7\tsaying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
\n8\tAnd another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
\n9\tThen a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand,
\n10\t“he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”<\/em><\/p>\n
\n1\tBehold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice.
\n<\/em>
\nRIGHTEOUS MEN WILL FLOURISH, AND WILL BE HONORED AND WILL PROVIDE SHELTER FROM LIFE.
\n2\tA man will be as a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n3\tThe eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n4\tAlso the heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n5\tThe foolish person will no longer be called generous, nor the miser said to be bountiful;<\/em><\/p>\n
\n7\tAlso the schemes of the schemer are evil; he devises wicked plans to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks justice.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n8\tBut a generous man devises generous things, and by generosity he shall stand.<\/strong><\/em> (this verse, in every translation I checked, is ongoing, present tense. It is a Kingdom key)<\/p>\n
\nLuke 6:38<\/em><\/strong>
\n38\t“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
\n<\/em>
\nThere\u2019s a whole message on giving and hoarding, and lying\/cheating\/stealing \u2013 both in the place of business but also expanding to all of one\u2019s life. I\u2019ve spoken before of the SCROLL in Zechariah \u2013 the LYIN\u2019\/CHEATIN\u2019 scroll that slow-orbits in the heavenly realms. I believe it is an eye-in-the-sky to observe how each person conducts himself in matters of money, and fairness, and generosity. <\/p>\n
\nIsa 32:8, I believe, is something we need to learn NOW, so that when things get tougher, we are familiar to living with open hands. <\/strong><\/p>\n
\nISAIAH directs himself to the people of his time:
\n9\tRise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.
\n10\tIn a year and some days you will be troubled, you complacent women; for the vintage will fail, the gathering will not come.
\n11\tTremble, you women who are at ease; be troubled, you complacent ones; strip yourselves, make yourselves bare, and gird sackcloth on your waists.
\n12\tPeople shall mourn upon their breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
\n13\tOn the land of my people will come up thorns and briers, yes, on all the happy homes in the joyous city;
\n14\tBecause the palaces will be forsaken, the bustling city will be deserted. The forts and towers will become lairs forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks–<\/em><\/p>\n
\n15\tUntil the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest.
\n16\tThen justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
\n17\tThe work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.
\n18\tMy people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places,
\n19\tThough hail comes down on the forest, and the city is brought low in humiliation.
\nHERE ARE THE HOLY ONES, THE INDUSTRIOUS ONES, AND THE GENEROUS ONES \u2013 blessed, always.
\n20\tBlessed are you who sow beside all waters (the scriptures speak of peaceful waters, and also troublesome waters, and dried up waters), who send out freely the feet of the ox and the donkey.<\/em><\/p>\n