The Remains Of The Day (Of The Lord) (Isaiah 66:1-24)

At the end of Life of Pi, 16yr old Pi Patel tells two different versions of his ocean survival story to officials investigating the shipwreck.

⇉ The first account involves him surviving 227 days at sea in a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. The hyena kills the zebra and later the orangutan. Richard Parker kills the hyena.

⇉ The officials do not believe his account. Pi retells the story. The animals are replaced by humans. The cook kills the sailor and feeds on his flesh. He then kills Pi’s mother, after which Pi kills him and uses his remains as food and fish bait.

At which point your book club disbands.

It’s a good thing that the Book of Isaiah does not have a bizarre ending. Let’s look at it: “And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

On our way to this open burial site, we will first visit two Temples:

1. A Tribulation Temple in verses 1-9.
2. A Millennial Kingdom Temple in verses 10-24.

It is The Tale of Two Temples – one that God detests and one that He delights in.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 Be Certain That What You Are Building Is According To God’s Preference, and #2 Be Certain That What You Are Building Is Affording God Praise.

#1 – Be Certain That What You Are Building Is According To God’s Preference (v1-9)

Isaiah’s ministry to Judah took place before Solomon’s Temple was destroyed. King Nebuchadnezzar would do the dishonor in 586BC. Jews were taken captive and brought to Babylon.

The Jews returned to Jerusalem after 70yrs of captivity. They rebuilt their Temple, the Second Temple, sometimes called Zerubbabel’s Temple on account of him being governor.

Jerusalem would come under Roman control. Herod remodeled the Second Temple, going all out. It was called Herod’s Temple. It was destroyed by the Romans in 70AD.

Which of these Temples is Isaiah referencing?

Neither. He looks forward and predicts another Temple. It will exist in the future 7yr Great Tribulation. We call it the Tribulation Temple.

Isa 66:1  Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?

Isa 66:2  For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the LORD…

The LORD wasn’t anti-Temple. But you & I cannot build Him a Temple without His impetus and instruction and then assume He will put His presence there.

The same is true of your Christian life & walk; It must be biblical, Spirit-led, & in His timing.

Isa 66:2  … “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.

Temple or no, God looks for tremblers:

1. They know their spiritual poverty.
2. They are “contrite,” i.e., they don’t think more highly of themselves than they ought.
3. They are pre-submitted to God’s Word.

At first I read it as tremors and thought, “Man, I’ve got this!”

We tremble when cold or weak. But we also tremble with excitement. It’s a romance word.

In your embrace, I tremble,

my heart a captive of your tender touch

Isa 66:3  “He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man; He who sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a dog’s neck; He who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine’s blood; He who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol…

They bring bulls and lambs, and the other prescribed things. They’d be horrified at what their sacrifices look like to the LORD. Can you see them bringing a dog and breaking its neck? That’s how awful their hypocritical worship was.

God is not pleased with the Tribulation Temple since the worshippers there are hypocrites. 

Isa 66:3  … Just as they have chosen their own ways, And their soul delights in their abominations,

Isa 66:4  So will I choose their delusions, And bring their fears on them; Because, when I called, no one answered, When I spoke they did not hear; But they did evil before My eyes, And chose that in which I do not delight.”

There is a principal of God’s discipline by which He steps back and gives us what we want. You’re delusional to think humanity can find a way without God.

The CEV reads like this in verse five – “Some of your own people hate and reject you because of me. They make fun and say, ‘Let the LORD show his power! Let us see him make you truly happy.’ But those who say these things will be terribly ashamed.”

An equivalent today, for us, would be for professing Christians to call us Jesus Freaks.

Isa 66:6  The sound of noise from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the LORD, Who fully repays His enemies!

There’s Tumult at the Temple! Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum writes, “The voice that the [unbelieving] non-remnant will hear is the voice of YHWH rendering recompense or judgment.”

Isa 66:7  “Before she was in labor, she gave birth; Before her pain came, She delivered a male child.

Isa 66:8  Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children.

We need to keep our metaphors distinct with careful reading:

• In the NT, the 7yr Great Tribulation is described like a woman having severe birth pangs over a period of time (Matthew 24:8).
• In our Isaiah passage, Israel is described as having no birth pangs, and delivering suddenly.

The birth in Isaiah is something else. Two things, really. One is political, and one is spiritual:

1. “Shall a nation be born at once?” Yes, it can, and in the case of modern Israel – it was born in a day. May 14, 1948. That’s the politics.
2. Who is “the male child?” Don’t answer yet! The “male child” born without birth pangs, “at once,” is also called in this verse, “children,” plural. Thus it isn’t Jesus. This is the new birth, the spiritual birth, of the Jews who flee Jerusalem ahead of the antichrist’s attack.

While holed-up in Petra, the prophet Hosea says they receive Jesus at once as Messiah & Savior. They are immediately born again spiritually. “Come, 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. After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight” (6:1-2).

Isa 66:9  Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the LORD. “Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God.

“No” & “No.” Jesus will save the elect nation of Israel. “All Israel” who endure to the end of the Tribulation will be saved.

We – the Church – will be in Heaven while all this goes down on the Tribulation Earth. There are lessons for us involving building with or for God.

#2 – Be Certain That What You Are Building Is Affording God Praise (v10-24)

Isaiah mentions “priests and Levites,” “offerings,” and a religious calendar. These are all things associated with a Temple. The Millennial Temple is ordained by God. It is described in great detail by Ezekiel (chapters 40-48).

Isa 66:10  “Rejoice with Jerusalem, And be glad with her, all you who love her; Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her;

Isa 66:11  That you may feed and be satisfied With the consolation of her bosom, That you may drink deeply and be delighted With the abundance of her glory.”

Isa 66:12  For thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream [In the future Millennium the Gentile nations of the Earth recognize Jerusalem as capital of the world & bring their abundance there] Then you shall feed; On her sides shall you be carried, And be dandled [bounced] on her knees.

Isa 66:13  As one whom his mother comforts, So I will comfort you; And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”

Isa 66:14  When you see this, your heart shall rejoice, And your bones shall flourish like grass; The hand of the LORD shall be known to His servants, And His indignation to His enemies.

Isa 66:15  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.

Isa 66:16  For by fire and by His sword The LORD will judge all flesh; And the slain of the LORD shall be many [This is Second Coming language]

Isa 66:17  “Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves, To go to the gardens After an idol in the midst, Eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse, Shall be consumed together,” says the LORD [The “mouse” may refer to what is known as myomancy, the practice of reading omens from the behavior of rodents]

Isa 66:18  “For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory [Throughout the 1000yrs of the Millennium, Gentile nations will come to Jerusalem to bend the knee to Jesus]

Isa 66:19  I will set a sign among them [We are unsure of the “sign,” but it reminds us that our God is mighty to save in every dispensation] and those among them who escape [Those who “escape” means Jews & Gentiles who endured to the End of the Great Tribulation. They escaped/endured in mortal bodies, as so they enter the Kingdom in those bodies] I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory [These nations are literal, but they represent nations farthest away all over the Earth] And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles [People born in these far away locations the future Kingdom will have a sin nature & need to be evangelized]

Isa 66:20  Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the LORD out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD [Saved Gentiles will accompany Jews on pilgrimages to the Millennial Temple]

Isa 66:21  And I will also take some of them for priests and Levites,” says the LORD [Amazing – some Gentiles will serve as priests & Levites!]

Isa 66:22  “For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the LORD [In the last chapter we saw that in the Millennial Kingdom Jesus would restore the current Earth & heavens. After the thousand years He will create a new Earth and heavens]  “So shall your descendants and your name remain.

Isa 66:23  And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the LORD.

Temple worship will be established, complete with sacrificial offerings and a full religious calendar.

Will we bring offerings & keep the Sabbath and such? No. The Church had no such practices in the Book of Acts; why would we in the Kingdom? The Church was and remains distinct from the nation of Israel, and from Gentiles who are saved before & after the Church Age. We are not superior or inferior, and everyone is saved the same way – by grace through faith. But Jews, the Church, and Gentile nations remain distinct in the Millennium & eternity.

Isa 66:24  “And they shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me…

“They” are the “all flesh,” i.e., the mortal inhabitants of the Millennium, who come to visit Jesus in Jerusalem. They will, while traveling, see the“corpses” of the Tribulation transgressors.

There are a few facts to consider before we can offer an interpretation:

• The Great Tribulation is 7yrs long. At the mid-point, 3½ yrs, the antichrist goes to the Tribulation Temple, says he is God, and demands to be worshipped.
• The Lord said, to the nation of Israel, “Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:16). Most scholars suggest that they flee to Bozrah, to the rock city of Petra.
• They are pursued by the Satan-possessed antichrist.
• The Lord returns to Earth to Bozrah, where the armies of the antichrist have the Jews surrounded. They call out to the Lord, are born again.
• Jesus delivers the remnant and mounts a campaign back to Jerusalem, overcoming enemies as He goes.

In a previous study, we were made to understand that what we refer to as the Battle of Armageddon is really better understood as a longer campaign rather than a single battle.

From Bozrah to Jerusalem, Jesus single-mouth-ed-ly defeats the armies of the world.

The campaign we call the War of Gog & Magog, described in Ezekiel 38&39, takes place during this last part of the Tribulation^[1] – adding to the death toll.

It is difficult for us to grasp the extent of the carnage that will take place. The Bible refers to it as a wine press that squeezes out the blood of the Lord’s enemies. “Blood poured from the winepress, [reaching] as high as horses’ bridles, for a distance of [about 200 miles]” (Revelation 14:19-20).

In Ezekiel we read, “For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. Indeed all the people of the land will be burying… They will set apart men regularly employed, with the help of a search party, to pass through the land and bury those bodies remaining on the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make a search. The search party will pass through the land; and when anyone sees a man’s bone, he shall set up a marker by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and make fires of the weapons and burn them… And they will make fires of them for seven years.”

(What do you think – The Corpse Corp?)

This valley is also called The Valley of the Travelers, The Valley of the Passengers, and The Valley of Them Who Pass Through.

Isa 66:24  … For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.

Are there eternal flesh eating “worms?” No. This refers to maggots. They don’t “die” is a way of saying that they have an abundant food supply. Bodies will be burned, too. But not by eternal fire.

Thus is not a look into Hades or the Lake of Fire. There is no mention of “souls,” only corpses. This is a mass gravesite. It seems to be an open grave since travelers can see the corpses.

You’ve undoubtedly seen pictures of the piled-up corpses of Jews from the Holocaust. Even with that evidence, there are those who say it never happened.

And guess what? At the end of the one thousand years, an innumerable number of unbelievers attack Jesus at Jerusalem – willfully ignorant of prophetic history, and with corpses to prove it.

I’ll close the Book of Isaiah with this appropriate quote: “The Christian watches with great interest the providences of God towards the Jews, knowing that their return to their land is a preparation for the fulfillment of much prophecy, and Jesus Christ’s coming. ‘Come, Lord Jesus.’”

Only The Bad Die Young (Isaiah 65:1-25)

“No, I am your father.”

“Soylent Green is people!”

“I see dead people.”

Each of those motion picture reveals took me completely by surprise.

There are a few surprise reveals in the New Testament, called “mysteries.”

Clarence Larkin explains: “The mysteries are eleven in number, eight of which were revealed to the apostle Paul. Of the remaining three, one was revealed by Jesus, and two were revealed to the apostle John.”

The biblical use of the word, “mystery” refers to some truth that had been hidden in the past, but was eventually revealed by God. In a sense, it is more like what we call a secret. It is a sacred secret until revealed by God at the exact right time.

Romans 11:25 was a sacred secret. “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”

• Not made clear in the OT was that an unspecified but temporary period of judicial “blindness” would be a discipline for the nation of Israel rejecting Jesus.
• During that time, God will reach-out to “Gentiles” until their number comes to its “fullness.”

We are tasked to make known the sacred secrets.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 You Have A Share In History’s Greatest Mysteries, and #2 You Are To Share History’s Greatest Mysteries.

#1 – You Have A Share In History’s Greatest Mysteries (v1)

Tucker Carlson is a popular conservative political commentator and author. I caught a few minutes of him being interviewed. Referring to Christians who read & know their Bible, he said, “In the end when it really gets intense, like it is now, it’s Christians, it’s people who actually believe the Bible, who are the only ones with wisdom, who know what’s really going on. They’re not shocked at all.”

I’m not into speculating whether he is saved or unsaved. He is, however, 100% correct about Christians and the End Times. We do know what is going on.

Passages like chapter sixty-five remind us that we are in a flow of divine, providential history. It has its beginning in the Garden of Eden. It is going to never end in a glorious eternity.

Isaiah 65 involves the past and future history of Israel in the plan of God during three biblical dispensations:

1. Isaiah 65:1 is set in our present era. Scholars refer to it as the Dispensation of Grace. For one thing, without a physical Temple in Jerusalem, we can’t keep the Mosaic Law per se. We call this era, the Church Age. 
2. The seven year Great Tribulation will follow the Church Age. Jesus described it as trouble “such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21). It will affect everyone on Earth, but it is the Time of Jacob’s Trouble in the sense that God uses the tribulation to bring the nation of Israel to salvation. Isaiah 65:2-7 are set in the Great Tribulation.
3. Isaiah 65:8-25 are set in the 1000yr Kingdom of God on Earth that follows the Great Tribulation.

One more comment before we get into the text. There are a number of views on the End Times, and views within those views. A few of them have substance in that you can see how scholars arrived at them from the Bible itself. I’ve told you before that, officially, Calvary Chapel’s End Times teaching is PreMillennial PreTribulation Dispensational Futurism.

• PreMillennial – Jesus will return to Earth a second time before the Millennial Kingdom.
• PreTribulation – Jesus will resurrect believers from the Church Age before the seven year Great Tribulation. Almost simultaneously, He will transform all living believers on Earth. This is the rapture. The resurrected & raptured saints are taken to Heaven.
• Dispensationalism identifies various eras, or time periods, that are distinct from each other in the plan of God. The critical point that Dispensationalism makes is that the nation of Israel and the Church are distinct groups in God’s plan, and that they will remain distinct.
• Futurism is our insistence that the Bible is to be read normally. When it contains a prophecy that has not been fulfilled, we understand that it will be fulfilled. 

Getting now into the text before us, for better clarity, I want to read verse one in the International Standard Version (ISV).

“I let myself be sought by those who didn’t ask for me; I let myself be found by those who didn’t seek me. I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’ to a nation that didn’t call on my name.”

The Lord turns His attention towards the people who were outside of the covenants and promises to the elect nation of Israel.

The word for “nation” is the common word for Gentiles. From God’s point of view, all non-Jews are Gentiles.

This is the mystery, “that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” The Gospel goes throughout the whole Earth, to Gentiles as well as Jews.

The last chapter in the Book of Acts records Paul, in Jerusalem, gathering together a group he called “leaders of Israel.” He shared with them that Jesus was their Messiah. They again rejected Jesus, and they rejected Paul. He then said, plainly, “Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!” (Acts 28:28).

The “fullness of the Gentiles” refers to the finish of the Church Age so that the Great Tribulation can begin. When the last person in this age believes the Lord, there will be a “shout,” the “voice of an archangel,” and a “trumpet” will sound, “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (First Thessalonians 4:16-17).

After announcing that God was going to save Gentiles, Paul “dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him,

preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him” (Acts 28:30-31).

It’s an inspiring practical example of our activities in the Church Age: Rent, Receive, and Reveal.

• Rent – Whether or not we own anything in this material world, we should consider ourselves renters, having a light touch. Our ‘carnal footprint’ should be small. By carnal, I don’t mean sinful; I mean it in contrast to being led by the Holy Spirit.
• Receive – We have a commission to receive any and all people God brings to us, directly or indirectly. With the commission, we need the Lord’s compassion.
• Reveal – The Gospel, of course. But note: Paul talked about the Kingdom of God. He emphasized prophecy.

One more thing – perhaps the most important. Paul had “confidence.” In what? Certainly not in Himself! The word translated “confidence” means free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance. It means I am empowered by the indwelling God the Holy Spirit.

#2 – You Are To Share History’s Greatest Mysteries (v2-25)

Church Age… Resurrection & Rapture… Great Tribulation.

Isa 65:2  I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, Who walk in a way that is not good, According to their own thoughts;

Isa 65:3  A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face; Who sacrifice in gardens, And burn incense on altars of brick;

Isa 65:4  Who sit among the graves, And spend the night in the tombs [grave soaking?]; Who eat swine’s flesh, And the broth of abominable things is in their vessels; [God wanted them to be separate, because they were special; they wanted to be like the surrounding nations, sinful]

Isa 65:5  Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, Do not come near me, For I am holier than you!’ [Self-righteous superiority] These are smoke in My nostrils, A fire that burns all the day [As opposed to the sweet aroma of true worship]

Isa 65:6  “Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silence, but will repay – Even repay into their bosom –

Isa 65:7  Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together,” Says the LORD, [The idea isn’t generational curses of your ancestors falling unfairly on you. It describes the acceleration of sin in a community when each generation becomes increasingly desensitized] “Who have burned incense on the mountains And blasphemed Me on the hills; Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.”

The consequences of sin had to be faced; God would pay them back in judgment for their idolatrous worship. The Assyrian threat and the Babylonian Exile were two of the ways He repaid His people. Ultimately it will be by the Great Tribulation.

Has God cast away His people? Certainly not! God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew.

All through her history, God always preserved a remnant of godly Jews. The next verses, 8-16, introduce us to the believing remnant of Israel that shall endure to the end of the Great Tribulation, and inherit the Kingdom of God.

Isa 65:8  Thus says the LORD: “As the new wine is found in the cluster, And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, For a blessing is in it,’ So will I do for My servants’ sake, That I may not destroy them all.

The nation of Israel is compared to a cluster of mostly rotted grapes. Some grapes are still good to make wine. That is the believing remnant within the nation.

Isa 65:9  I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, And from Judah an heir of My mountains; My elect shall inherit it, [In context, the “elect” refers to the nation of Israel] And My servants shall dwell there.

Isa 65:10  Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, And the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, For My people who have sought Me.

Isa 65:11  “But you are those who forsake the LORD, Who forget My holy mountain, Who prepare a table for Gad, And who furnish a drink offering for Meni. [These are proper names of heathen deities]

Isa 65:12  Therefore I will number you for the sword, And you shall all bow down to the slaughter; [i.e., the Time of Jacob’s Trouble] Because, when I called, you did not answer; When I spoke, you did not hear, But did evil before My eyes, And chose that in which I do not delight.”

Isa 65:13  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, My servants [the believing remnant] shall eat, But you [the unbelieving Jews] shall be hungry; Behold, My servants shall drink, But you shall be thirsty; Behold, My servants shall rejoice, But you shall be ashamed;

Isa 65:14  Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, But you shall cry for sorrow of heart, And wail for grief of spirit.

Isa 65:15  You shall leave your name as a curse to My chosen; [This may mean that their name would be used proverbially, like that of Sodom]. For the Lord GOD will slay you, And call His servants by another name; [In 62:2, “The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, And all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, Which the mouth of the LORD will name”]

Isa 65:16  So that he who blesses himself in the Earth Shall bless himself in the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth Shall swear by the God of truth; Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My eyes.

I despise every time C3 PO says, “Thank the Maker.” In verse sixteen, the “troubles” of the Great Tribulation are over. To “bless yourself” means to thank God for your blessings. The one, true God of the Bible.

Isa 65:17  “For behold, I create new heavens and a new Earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.

Think about how wrecked the Earth & stellar heavens will be after the Tribulation:

1. The most severe earthquake ever recorded will cause cities to collapse and islands and mountains to disappear (Revelation 16).
2. The sun turns black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the moon becomes like blood, and stars fall to the earth as if figs were being shaken from a tree by a strong wind Revelation 6).
3. A third of the sun, moon, and stars are struck, turning a third of them dark. This results in a third of the day and a third of the night being without light (Revelation 8).

That’s a minuscule sampling of the destruction.

In 1989 the Exxon Valdez spilled nearly 11mil gallons of crude oil in Alaskan waters. They are still cleaning it up!

It won’t take Jesus long to restore the Earth & heavens.

Because this is a work that only God can perform, the Hebrew term bara, indicating a supernatural act, is used for “create.”

Daniel 12:11-12 reveals that there will be a seventy-five-day interval between the end of the Great Tribulation and the start of the Millennial Kingdom.

But wait. Don’t some Christians like to say, “It’s all going to burn?”

• The Millennial Earth will be restored.
• After the 1000yrs, there will be a complete recreation. The apostle Peter wrote, “The heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the Earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (Second Peter 3:10).

Isa 65:18  But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, And her people a joy.

Isa 65:19  I will rejoice in Jerusalem, And joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, Nor the voice of crying.

The Millennium is utopian, but not perfect. You don’t need to look far to find an example. In just a moment we will see that there is death in the Millennium. But Jerusalem, with Jesus on its throne, will be a Joy-only zone.

I like the CEV for verse twenty: “No child will die in infancy; everyone will live to a ripe old age. Anyone a hundred years old will be considered young, and to die younger than that will be considered a curse.”

There will be blood in the Kingdom of God on Earth:

• Its inhabitants are mortal Jews & Gentiles who survive the Great Tribulation. Their offspring will be mortal, and therefore, possess sin natures.
• When the Millennium is described in Revelation twenty, Death is not completely defeated until after the thousand years.

No infant mortality; no abortion. No euthanasia or assisted death for seniors. As time passes, lifespans will increase. If you live to 100 today, it is considered amazing. A 100yr old will seem just a child in a thousand year kingdom.

Isa 65:21  They shall build houses and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

Isa 65:22  They shall not build and another inhabit; They shall not plant and another eat; For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands [This description applies to Jews in the Promised Land. The Church isn’t looking forward to planting vineyards in the Holy Land]

Isa 65:23  They shall not labor in vain, Nor bring forth children for trouble; For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the LORD, And their offspring with them. [This has caused some to say that Jews born in the Millennium will all be saved]

Isa 65:24  “It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear.

Isa 65:25  The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, The lion shall eat straw like the ox, And dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,” Says the LORD.

When was the last time the serpent ate “dust?” At the ruin of creation. Things will have come full circle to the restoration of what was ruined.

It’s exciting that the Lord will answer our prayers before we finish speaking. Beyond excitement, there is endearment. In order to answer before we finish speaking, He must be constantly attentive to each one of us. In fact, this reads to me as though He knows us so well that He can complete our sentences

While answered prayer is wonderful, intimacy is more so.

One ClayNation, Under God, Impressionable, With Synergy & Atonement For All. (Isaiah 63:7-64:12)

What is the everyday object Biblical archaeology most depends upon?

Pottery.

David Chapman, Professor of Biblical Archaeology, writes, “Archaeologists get very excited about pottery as very few people elsewhere in the world do because it’s one of our main ways of dating.”

The potter & the clay is a biblical illustration.

Psalms, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Zechariah, Matthew, Romans, and the Revelation make use of the illustration. And of course, Isaiah.

Isaiah appeals to the potter working with clay four times, including once in our text: “We are the clay, and You our Potter; And all we are the work of Your hand” (64:8).

The long passage in Jeremiah provides the interpretation of the illustration. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it” (18:6-10).

• In the finish of chapter sixty-three we will see that the nation of Israel did “evil in [God’s] sight so that it [did] not obey [God’s] voice.” God therefore relented “concerning the good with which [He] said [He] would benefit it.”

• Then, suddenly, Isaiah’s vision is of Israel in the future. We are with the remnant of Jews who have survived the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. Jesus is about to return to Earth to save Israel. They repent! God “Relent[s] of the disaster that [He] thought to bring upon [Israel].”

I’ll organize my comments around two attention-getting points: #1If Your Nation Is Unrighteous, Then God Will Relent Concerning The Good With Which He Said He Would Benefit It, and #2 If Your Nation Is Repentant, God Will Relent Of The Disaster That He Thought To Bring Upon It.

#1 – If Your Nation Is Unrighteous, Then God Will Relent Concerning The Good With Which He Said He Would Benefit It (63:7-12)

National unrighteousness is characteristic of Israel’s  history. Read the Book of Judges if you don’t believe me.

Isaiah starts by reminding his audience that the LORD would rather be blessing them.

Isa 63:7  I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD And the praises of the LORD, According to all that the LORD has bestowed on us, And the great goodness toward the house of Israel, Which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, According to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses.

Isa 63:8  For He said, “Surely they are My people, Children who will not lie.” So He became their Savior.

In the OT Book of Deuteronomy we read, “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ‘Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments’ ” (7:7-9).

Despite the difficulties they might face, and the consequences of their sin, God would remain faithful to the covenants He had made to their ancestors.

Aren’t there worse things than lying? The word for “lie” can be translated, deceit or deceitfulness. Think of your kids. Lying is sin; deceitfulness is on another level. It is evil.

Isa 63:9  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 bore them and carried them All the days of old.

The “Angel” is none other than Jesus in a pre-incarnate appearance. When He so appears, we call it a Theophany or a Christophany.

The event descriptions seem to generally fit their time in Egypt, followed by their Exodus out of Egypt. Their Savior fully identified with them, redeemed them, and was their protector.

Isa 63:10  But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them.

It isn’t a fight to destroy Israel. This match is a struggle with Israel to bring them to repentance. R. Kent Hughes calls it, “The grip of God’s relentless grace.”

The Jews “grieved His Spirit.” In the NT letter the apostle Paul wrote to the Church in Ephesus, he said, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice” (4:30-32).

The wilderness wandering of the Jews was the quintessential example of bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander and malice. From the moment the Hebrews refused to enter the land of the giants until that generation died, they were grumblers & mumblers.

By those same behaviors we grieve the Holy Spirit Who indwells us. We’re told, “Do not.”

• Sometimes we say, I CAN’T not do them.”
• God says you CAN not do them.

Sin obviously grieves a Person with the first name “Holy.” I think what most grieves the Holy Spirit is a disbelief that He is your Helper, your Counselor, your Teacher. Of course you are weak, frail, prone to wander. Go to God, not the world, for grace.

Isa 63:11  Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying: “Where is He who brought them up out of the sea With the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within them,

Isa 63:12  Who led them by the right hand of Moses, With His glorious arm, Dividing the water before them To make for Himself an everlasting name,

Isa 63:13  Who led them through the deep, As a horse in the wilderness, That they might not stumble?”

Isa 63:14  As a beast goes down into the valley, And the Spirit of the LORD causes him to rest, So You lead Your people, To make Yourself a glorious name.

Through Moses, the LORD shepherded His nation, with the intent of pasturing them in the plenty of the Promised Land.

Isa 63:15  Look down from Heaven, And see from Your habitation, holy and glorious. Where are Your zeal and Your strength, The yearning of Your heart and Your mercies toward me? Are they restrained?

The “me” is the nation of Israel. The 7^th century Jews were struggling with the problem of their suffering. “Where is God when it hurts?” “Why, God? “Why me?” His abundant love, expressed in His “mercies,” seem “restrained.”

The answer, in their case, is all too obvious: They were totally backslidden in sin.

What about us? What if suffering isn’t the consequence of our sin?

Some of God’s mercies are going to be severe mercies because we remain in our unredeemed bodies that interact with an evil world system.

Isa 63:16  Doubtless You are our Father, Though Abraham was ignorant of us, And Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.

• We might call Abraham the Founding Father of the nation of Israel.
• Israel was Abraham’s grandson and the father of the twelve sons who would be the twelve tribal patriarchs of the nation of Israel.

They seem to be complaining that God formerly helped Israel, but isn’t helping them now. If He really is Father & Redeemer, then prove it.

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why have You made us stray from Your ways, And hardened our heart from Your fear? Return for Your servants’ sake, The tribes of Your inheritance.

A ton of ink is wasted trying to explain God ‘making’ a person ‘stray,’ and ‘hardening’ his or her heart.

Carefully note this: This is what the backslidders were saying to the LORD. These were not God’s words. It is their accusation. It is their false accusation. God does nothing of the kind.

Isa 63:18  Your holy people have possessed it but a little while; Our adversaries have trodden down Your sanctuary.

The glorious, promise-filled life in the land flowing with milk and honey seemed a pipe dream. In their current predicaments, it seemed they were out of their land longer than they were ever in it! It would worsen:

• From the destruction of the Temple in AD70 until 1948, the Jews were dispossessed.
• Even though back in their land, adversaries are still treading down their Temple – by not allowing them to have their Temple!

Isa 63:19  We have become like those of old, over whom You never ruled, Those who were never called by Your name.

Another accusation hurled at God – He had disowned them. Have you ever hurled that one, terrible comment, meant to hurt someone? That is what Israel did here… To God.   

Israel has had a long history of unrighteousness.

It continues today. They are in their land, but in unbelief in their Messiah. In 2018 Israel passed legislation declaring that it was a Jewish nation. It is a powerful reminder that the Jews have not received Jesus as their Savior.

Is the United States a righteous nation?

No; not by any standard we might apply. I’m not talking about our founding, but rather our floundering. I’m talking about the Father, not the founding fathers.

People are asking, “Is God going to judge us?” He isn’t going to judge us… He IS already judging us.

This is what judgment looks like when God gives a nation over to the sin it demands.

#2 – If Your Nation Is Repentant, God Will Relent Of The Disaster That He Thought To Bring Upon It (64:1-12)

We are transported to the future, when the 7yr Time of Jacob’s Trouble is nearly ended. The antichrist’s forces have surrounded the Jews holed-up in Bozrah. It is a seemingly hopeless situation. They call upon the Lord, repenting of their sin. Wouldn’t you know it – God receives them, returns, and ends their enemies.

Isa 64:1  Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence –

Isa 64:2  As fire burns brushwood, As fire causes water to boil – To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence!

This is future-talk. It started in 63:1-6. “Come down” is the cry. This is the Second Coming.

Isa 64:3  When You did awesome things for which we did not look, You came down, The mountains shook at Your presence.

When did the Lord come down and mountains shake at His presence? In the future! The Lord and His prophets can speak of the future as if it is fulfilled.

Isa 64:4  For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him.

In 6000 years of human history there has been no god or man comparable to the uniquely prophesied and qualified God-man, Jesus Christ. All the posers ask you to “act” for them – to work and sacrifice for them. There is only One who came as a Servant to save you. God waits, not willing any should perish.

Isa 64:5  You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned – In these ways we continue; And we need to be saved.

Isa 64:6  But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.

Isa 64:7  And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us, And have consumed us because of our iniquities.

This is a spiritual 180 from the previous chapter. You probably recognize wording here that sounds familiar. That’s because the apostle Paul quotes it in the NT Book of Romans. This is the ‘Roman’s Road to Salvation’ in its unpaved beginnings: “we have sinned… No one calls upon [God’s] Name… our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.”

Isa 64:8  But now, O LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.

There is a fact about the Potter & the clay we sometimes overlook. The illustration is always, only used of God’s molding and shaping nations. It is not used of molding and shaping individuals.

This is not insignificant. Certain aggressive but disturbing theologies teach that the Master Potter makes some ‘people-pottery’ that will definitely be saved, AND He makes some ‘people-pottery’ that cannot be saved. If you object to that awful depiction of God, they will look at you with their cold, steely eyes and say three words they believe will render you subdued and compliant: “God is sovereign.” God’s sovereignty becomes like ‘nuclear fire’ in a game of rock- scissors – paper.

Of course God is sovereign! His sovereignty doesn’t mean God can behave in ways that are contrary to His nature. If something would be immoral for us to do, how much more terrible if God does it?

That approach to sovereignty reminds me of the famous Richard Nixon quote, “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.”

God is so sovereign that He can (and does) allow for my free will.

Isa 64:9  Do not be furious, O LORD, Nor remember iniquity forever; Indeed, please look – we all are Your people!

When has or will all Israel be saved?? At the Second Coming of Jesus.

Isa 64:10  Your holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.

Isa 64:11  Our holy and beautiful temple, Where our fathers praised You, Is burned up with fire; And all our pleasant things are laid waste.

There are admittedly various times that these two verses can be said to have been fulfilled. One of those times is in the future Temple in the Great Tribulation. That seems to fit the context best here.

Isa 64:12  Will You restrain Yourself because of these things, O LORD? Will You hold Your peace, and afflict us very severely?

Dr. J. Vernon McGee writes, “The prophet closes this chapter with a question: Will God refuse to act? The remainder of Isaiah’s prophecy is God’s answer to this question. God rejected Israel only after they rejected Him, but it did not thwart His plan and purpose for them and for the Earth. God has carried through with His program, which is yet to be finalized.”

More than a few scholars suggest that this prayer in chapter 64 is the prayer of repentance that the Jewish remnant will pray while holed-up in Bozrah and under attack by the antichrist. We looked last week at a passage in Hosea that indicated they would repent, over a period of three days, looking upon the One they pierced as Jesus returns. All Israel will thus be saved!

The Master Potter has made it clear: “O United States, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the LORD. “The instant I speak to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy the US, if you turn from evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. The instant I speak concerning the US, to build and to plant it, if you do evil in My sight so that you do not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit you.”

A Crush To Judgment (Isaiah 63:1-6)

“I am Groot.”

In Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 1, StarLord gets annoyed because those are the only words spoken by Groot. Rocket explains,“He don’t know talkin’ good like me and you, so his vocabulistics is limited to ‘I’ and ‘am’ and ‘Groot,’ exclusively in that order.”

Actor Vin Diesel ‘voiced’ Groot. Since all he says is “I am Groot,” he did so each time with subtle differences in his tone of voice, its inflections, its timber, etc.

He recorded the line over a thousand times. Something I didn’t know – he additionally did the voice in 15 languages!  Maybe he earned the $54mil he was compensated.

If I had to choose a verse that communicated a great deal of information about God with an economy of words, Isaiah 63:1 would be in the top five.

“I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”

From beginning to end, from Genesis to the Revelation, creation to consummation, God has spoken to mankind “in righteousness mighty to save.” We see it in our text. Isaiah makes it clear that the Messiah will come to save a remnant of Jews, and when He does, He will establish the promised kingdom of God on earth with Israel as the spiritual and political capital of the Earth.

• Righteousness is mighty to save the Jews for all  eternity.
• Righteousness is mighty to save the Jews from all Earthly enemies.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 “Righteousness Mighty To Save” Is Your Only Eternal Hope, and #2 “Righteousness Mighty To Save” Is Your Only Earthly Help.

#1 – “Righteousness Mighty To Save” Is Your Only Eternal Hope  (v1)

President Ronald Regan was given the nickname, the Great Communicator.

The greatest communicator is the God of the Bible. His vocabulistics are unparalleled:

• His Word can be understood by a child, while simultaneously humbling the highest intellect.
• He chose, inspired, and sovereignly guided the biblical authors who were equipped by Him to write the very words of scripture. He did it without changing the author’s personality or understanding while doing so.
• He is constantly speaking without words, through His Creation, so much so that He says, “There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard” (Psalm 19:3).

Isa 63:1  Who is this who comes from Edom, With dyed garments from Bozrah, This One who is glorious in His apparel, Traveling in the greatness of His strength? – “I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”

“Righteousness” is a word that can be used different ways in different contexts. The good folks over at GotQuestions.org point out, “The Bible’s standard of human righteousness is God’s own perfection in every attribute, every attitude, every behavior, and every word. Thus, God’s laws, as given in the Bible, both describe His own character and constitute the plumb line by which He measures human righteousness.”

For our purposes today, think of righteousness as perfectness, perfection, being perfect as God is perfect, in your every thought, every behavior, and every word.

God is perfect. We are definitely not perfect. That is a problem; that is THE problem. The Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… There is none righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:23 & 10).

This is going to sound strange, but the people to blame are your parents. Not your biological parents, but your OG parents – Adam & Eve. All they had to do was not eat figs; how hard is that?? With a little push from the Devil, however, they ate.

We are just coming out of the Mother’s Day and Father’s Day season. Gifts were given to express love and appreciation. God is our Father, deserving of gifts. What do you give to God? Adam & Eve ought to have given Him obedience as a gift to

Show their love and gratitude.

God sought them out. The LORD had new vocabulistics. He  spoke words they had never heard before: Curse… Thorns… Pain… Toil… Sweat… Sorrow.

He also “spoke righteousness mighty to save.”

He said to the Devil, “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15).

Scholars have labeled this the protoevangelium. It means the ‘First Good News,’ or, the “First Gospel.” The LORD promised to defeat the Devil, restore creation, and redeem mankind.

If you don’t see all that in the verse, it’s OK. The LORD let His plan be known progressively, over six-thousand or so years. These words in Genesis are foundational for what is to come. You can at the very least understand from the protoevangelium that Someone very unique & special was going to come. He would be sent by God, to resolve the cosmic conflict.

That Person was Jesus. He “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:7-8).

He came as promised in Genesis – the Seed of the woman. How does that help us?

It enabled God to place the sins of the world on Jesus so that, in turn, His righteousness could be given those who believe Him and are thus in Him.

The apostle Paul gives us this summary of that spiritual transaction. He said, “God made [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become [perfect].” (Second Corinthians 5:21).

“I speak righteousness, mighty to save.” God’s entire, wonderful, fragile but providence-guaranteed, plan of salvation is communicated in that phrase. He provides the necessary righteousness needed to be saved. He provides it for “whosoever will believe.”

Is there any other Almighty God Who became a man? One that was fully God and fully man? Jesus is your only hope for eternal life.

I came across a quote: “Our biblical hope is not a hope-so, it is a hope-sure.”

A passage in the NT Book of Titus extols our hope-sure: “Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-14).

#2 – Righteousness Mighty To Save Is Your Only Earthly Help (v2-6)

Isaiah’s audience are Jews in Judah in the 7^th century BC. He excitedly wrote to them about the coming of their Messiah. Not His first coming. No, these are the vocabulistics of the Second Coming.

In His First Coming, Jesus made the nation of Israel a sincere offer to establish the Kingdom of God on the Earth. He came to His own, but they refused.

Since God must keep His unconditional promises to Israel, Jesus will come again, a second time. This time the Jews will receive Him.

Notice something in verse one. Jesus will come “from Edom, from Bozrah, with His garments stained crimson” (NIV).

Popular belief is that Jesus will return to the Mount of Olives to an immediate confrontation of nations in Megiddo. “Armageddon” is a compound word meaning Hill of Megiddo, hence the Battle of Armageddon.

What we call the Battle of Armageddon is better called the Campaign of Armageddon; It isn’t a single battle fought in one location.

Isaiah says that the Lord will return to Edom, and comes to Bozrah. Edom is southern Jordan, while Bozrah is the Hebrew name for the city of Petra.

In a great prophetic passage, Jesus alerts the Jews who will be living in and around Jerusalem to flee into the wilderness when the Antichrist desecrates their rebuilt Temple. Scholars suggest they will flee to Petra to be kept safe while the worst part of the Great Tribulation takes place on Earth.

Micah 2:12, “I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together like sheep in the fold; Like a flock in the midst of its pasture They will be noisy with men.”

Don’t see Bozrah in that verse? It isn’t translated that way in the NKJV. The answer is found in the phrase “sheep in the fold.” That is a translation of the Hebrew word Bozrah. The Lord returns to Bozrah.

Something incredible happens in Bozrah. We read in Hosea 6:1-3, “Come, 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. After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. Let 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.”

Over a three-day period, the remnant of Jews holed up in Petra will repent, returning to the Lord. The Bible tells us, “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10).

The Jews will receive the Lord, Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul will later write, “all Israel will be saved.”

The Campaign of Armageddon looks something like this:

1. At the mid-point of the tribulation the faithful remnant of Israel heeds Jesus’ words and flee to the vicinity of Petra.
2. The forces of the Antichrist attacks the remnant.
3. The remnant remembers Jesus’ words in Matthew 23:39 and call for their Messiah.
4. Jesus responds and returns to the area of Bozrah to rescue His people and initiate world-wide judgment that will bring the Great Tribulation to an end.
5. Having rescued the remnant in the area of Bozrah Jesus then leads a campaign to rescue Jerusalem.
6. Jesus arrives at Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives from Bozrah.
7. The siege of Jerusalem comes to a sudden and spectacular end.

Isa 63:2  Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like one who treads in the winepress?

Isa 63:3  “I have trodden the winepress alone, And from the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger, And trampled them in My fury; Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, And I have stained all My robes.

Jesus wasn’t talking about a visit to a winery where you can have a feets-on experience crushing grapes. He will be bloodstained from crushing the enemies of Israel. In the Book of the Revelation, it is described this way: “He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God” (19:13).

He isn’t upset that He will do it alone. No one else could. This is similar to the experience of the apostle John when it seemed like no one was able to take & open the scroll in Heaven. No one, that is, until Jesus stepped forward.

We understand the words “anger” and “fury” to derive from His righteousness. He was mighty to save, but these refused, and sought to take it out by attempting genocide against the Jews.

Jerry Bridges comments: “God, by the very perfection of His moral nature, cannot but be angry at sin – not only because of its destructiveness to humans, but, more important, because of its assault on His divine majesty. This is not the mere petulance of an offended deity because His commands are not obeyed. It is rather the necessary response of God to uphold His moral authority in His universe. And though God’s wrath does not contain the sinful emotions associated with human wrath, it does contain a fierce intensity arising from His settled opposition to sin and His determination to punish it to the utmost.”

Isa 63:4  For the day of vengeance is in My heart, And the year of My redeemed has come.

God is longsuffering, waiting to return because He does not wish that anyone would perish. There is coming a day when His longsuffering will – it must – end.

Gentile martyrs of the Great Tribulation “[Cry] with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed” (6:10-11).

His longsuffering waits, but it ends.

God maximizes opportunities to save by having perfect timing. He keeps time in our lives, too. By that I mean He is always on time.

Isa 63:5  I looked, but there was no one to help, And I wondered That there was no one to uphold; Therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me; And My own fury, it sustained Me.

Is Buddha mighty to save? Confucius? Joseph Smith? Muhammad? Karl Marx? Vishnu? Krishna?

Isa 63:6  I have trodden down the peoples in My anger, Made them drunk in My fury, And brought down their strength to the Earth.”

One commentator noticed the following: “In one passage His wrath, in the other passage His righteousness. Both are available to every human being ever created. This is everyone’s personal choice – We must choose either Christ’s wrath or Christ’s righteousness! Have you chosen dear listener?”

If you are not in Christ, how do you plan on defeating Death when it comes? Especially if it comes suddenly? You need to be declared righteous believing in Jesus. He remains mighty to save.

Christian – What are you dealing with? Is it a season of blessing… or buffeting? Plenty… or want? Health… or sickness?

Christ’s righteousness is for more than your initial salvation. It is for your daily interactions in a hostile cosmos. This everyday help is your sanctification.

One of the things Jesus uses to sanctify us is the Word of God. To put it another way, sanctification is a result of obeying God’s Word.

Let’s use the illustration of a bad situation at work. Examine your own heart, to see if you are the problem. If you are… Repent and change your attitude.

Let’s say you are not to blame. When that’s the case, He is “mighty to save” can mean He will deliver you from the situation. It’s been my experience that Jesus more often wants to deliver you by going through the trial with you. When that is the case, He will speak to you, through the Word & the Spirit. He will speak your righteous response so that the world may see Jesus at work.

In one of the Airplane movies, the stewardess was having a hard time communicating with a passenger. He spoke jive. An elderly Caucasian woman came to the rescue, telling the stewardess, “I speak jive.” A hilarious exchange took place.

We “speak righteousness” in at least three ways:

1. By growing in the Lord after our initial salvation.
2. By sharing with unbelievers that God is mighty to save them, too.
3. And by reminding each other in our fellowship that He who has begun to perfect us has promised to complete the work.

My hope [and help] is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

You Can Take The Jew Out Of Zion, But You Can’t Take Zion Out Of The Jew (Isaiah 62:1-12)

“You know you’re from San Bernardino if…”

It’s a FaceBook Group I joined with 5K members. I’m also on, “You might be from Hanford if you…” Almost 16K members on that site. Why would little Hanford have three times the membership? Because the murder rate in Berdoo is 23 per hundred thousand.

I’m thinking of starting a site for Riverdale. I’ve got to work out the name. So far I’ve got, “You can’t prove I’m from Riverdale because…”

Believers are part of a city group: Jerusalem.

In the Bible, in the letter written to the Hebrew Christians, Abraham “waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (11:10).

The writer continues, describing the life of the believer as a journey of faith towards the city. “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the Earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland… a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them” (11:13-16).

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1You Can Have “I Won’t Hold My Peace” Excitement About Jesus, and #2 Jesus Has “I Won’t Hold My Peace” Excitement About You.   

#1 – You Can Have “I Won’t Hold My Peace” Excitement About Jesus (v1-5)

• Right out of the gate, Isaiah promises, “For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest.”
• Then in verses 6&7 we read, “I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent, And give Him no rest…”

The Lord challenges us to examine ourselves in light of the revealed future. Are we excited about where we are going? If we are, we won’t be able to “hold our peace” about it; and there is no time to “rest” along the way.

At the time he wrote, Isaiah’s time on Earth was getting short. In an apocryphal document titled, The Martyrdom of Isaiah, the prophet addresses King Hezekiah and predicts, “by Manasseh thy son, and through the agency of his hands I shall depart mid the torture of my body… by his hands I shall be

sawn asunder.” This is alluded to in Hebrews 11:37.

Isa 62:1  For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, And her salvation as a lamp that burns.

“Zion” refers to both a hill in the city of Jerusalem and to the city on the hill. It is also synonymous with the nation of Israel.

Isaiah is showing us Jerusalem after the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (aka, The Great Tribulation) in the one thousand year Kingdom of God on Earth.

He is not going to “hold his peace” means he will talk about future Jerusalem constantly. The remainder of his book does just that.

He promised not to “rest.” Do you remember when it was popular to call Christians ‘pew potatoes’? (It’s a variation of ‘couch potato’).

How many of you had Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head for a toy? How many of you had them before 1964? You would know if you did because for the first 12 years Mr. Potato Head was offered as separate plastic parts to be affixed to a real potato (or other vegetable). Due to complaints regarding rotting vegetables and new government safety regulations, Hasbro introduced the plastic potato body in 1964.

“Rest.” I dare say most of us, as believers, get too much rest when it comes to our work & walk with Jesus. If you want to immediately anger me, tell me about a pastor who is taking a Sabbatical.

But having said that, let us agree that it is too easy to judge others:

• Somebody who attends every meeting of the church may be may be carnal.
• Those who seem less involved may have a full prayer closet.

In Romans 14:4 we are told, “Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.”

Tom Bodett promised, “We’ll leave the light on” at his chain of Motel 6’s. If Isaiah had made advertisements, he’d have said, “Look for the lamps of righteousness & salvation.”

Isa 62:2  The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, And all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, Which the mouth of the LORD will name.

Bible “righteousness” can refer to doing what is right. Mostly we think of it in conjunction with salvation. A sinner believes God. He then “puts it into your account as righteousness” (BBE). You are not actually righteous; you still sin on account of your mortal body. God declares you righteous because Jesus died in your place. You are thereby justified. God remains just and is the justifier of sinners.

Thanks to Ezekiel, we know Jerusalem’s future name: “And the name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE” (48:35). (Jehovah Shama).

(Sounds like the start of a “Who’s on first?” skit. Where are we going? There. Where? Can’t you Hear? We are going There. I feel like this is going Nowhere. Are we There yet?).

“There” will be many Gentile nations on Earth during the Millennium. It appears they will be monarchies. Wait a minute! What happened to democracy?

Theocracy overrules democracy (and our republic and any form of government man has attempted). In the future, that is. Not now.

Isa 62:3  You shall also be a crown of glory In the hand of the LORD, And a royal diadem In the hand of your God.

The “crown” is worn by a king. The “diadem” or “turban” is worn by a priest.

• As to the crown, the nation of Israel was unconditionally promised that a descendant of David would sit on the throne in Jerusalem forever.
• As to the turban, Israel will be a kingdom of priests, ministering to Gentiles who make pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Do you ever play the game of asking a child which hand the candy is in, and making them choose? God’s version is that either hand, anytime you pick, opens to a blessing.

Isa 62:4  You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, Nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; But you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; For the LORD delights in you…

According to one source, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. I don’t think that count includes everything in the modern age.

• “Hephzibah” means something like, My delight is in her.
• “Beulah” means married.

He is describing a last-minute rescue of Israel, motivated by His deep & abiding love for her. The LORD has a very particular set of skills. He will save the Jews.

• Israel is referred to as the wife of the LORD (Isaiah 54:6).
• The Church is called the Bride of Christ (Revelation 19:7).

Though these two references are similar, they are not the same. The Church is never called a wife. The Bride of Christ (or just bride) is always used in reference to the (primarily Gentile) Church of the New Testament. These are the ones who have been saved since Pentecost and remain until the Church is removed from Earth at the Resurrection & Rapture.

One commentator explains, “These two references reflect the two-part nature of God’s plan of redemption for the world. Salvation comes to the Jew first, but the Gentiles are also given opportunity through their association with Israel and the promises made to that nation. Both groups are ‘wedded’ to the Lord in that both are included in a single covenant given to Abraham and fulfilled in Christ.”

Isa 62:5 (CEV) Your people will take the land, just as a young man takes a bride. The LORD will be pleased because of you, just as a husband is pleased with his bride.

Sometimes the mention of marriage, brides & the bridegroom is a simple illustration. Life in the future Millennial Jerusalem will be joyous, like marriage as it was meant to be. Israel will be so thoroughly cleansed and purified of her sin that she will be looked upon as a virgin. Just as a groom rejoices over a bride, so will God rejoice over them. This is a way of saying, “The honeymoon never ends!”

The Bible says “Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8). Over the period of his life walking with God, he went through many cities on Earth, but in the end knew exactly where he was going – Jerusalem.

You have exactly that same testimony to share.

You don’t know where you’re going on Earth; not really. Let God lead. Eventually, we get to Jerusalem.

People are leaving California. They get pretty excited about it:

• No more unaffordable vehicle registration; in fact, they pay you in the state you are going to, because they can’t wait to have Californians.
• You can buy 10 houses with acreage and a lake for the price of a one-bedroom California home that has a communal neighborhood bathroom.
• You can fish & hunt simultaneously, without a license, using mortars or shoulder mounted missiles – which are sold in any mini-mart. They give every Californian a bump stock as a welcoming gift.

That’s all good, but let’s get & stay excited about the Lord’s coming.

#2 – Jesus Has “I Won’t Hold My Peace” Excitement About You (v6-12)   

Do you set reminders? God does!

They are called “watchmen” by Isaiah.

Isa 62:6  I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent,

Most likely these “watchmen” are angelic beings:

• They have a 24/7, 360 ministry.
• They make their announcement to the LORD, not to the Jews.
• It isn’t wrong to suggest they’ve constantly been making this announcement from at least the 7^th century – even though Jews were dispersed from Jerusalem for centuries and there were no towers.

The Talmud is the collection of rabbinical writings compiled in the 5^th century BC. Jews consider it authoritative. These watchmen are identified as angels in the Talmud.

What do they say to the LORD?

Isa 62:7  And give Him no rest till He establishes And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

Is Jerusalem established as “a praise in the Earth?” Hardly! We are seeing maybe the greatest outpouring of hatred for the Jews to ever occur at once.

When Jerusalem is established as “a praise in the Earth,” it will mean that Jesus has returned and is ruling over the Kingdom of God on Earth.

God doesn’t need angelic watchmen to remind Him of His promises to Israel. Whatever else might be going on, in Heaven or on Earth, there is, for lack of a better word, an atmosphere of expectation that the Lord is going to finalize the redemption & restoration plan He announced in the Garden of Eden. It may seem delayed, but be assured there are angels who keep it at the top of the agenda.

Isa 62:8  The LORD has sworn by His right hand And by the arm of His strength: “Surely I will no longer give your grain As food for your enemies; And the sons of the foreigner shall not drink your new wine, For which you have labored.

Isa 62:9  But those who have gathered it shall eat it, And praise the LORD; Those who have brought it together shall drink it in My holy courts.”

It is a basic tenet of government that those governed are free, and protected, to enjoy their own labors. The Millennium will be such a time for Israel.

Isa 62:10  Go through, Go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people; Build up, Build up the highway! Take out the stones, Lift up a banner for the peoples!

Isa 62:11  Indeed the LORD has proclaimed To the end of the world: “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Surely your salvation is coming; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him.’ ”

When citizens knew that their King was coming, they’d prepare for it, working night & day if needed. Working joyfully, I might add.

Israel’s King did come! Jesus was “salvation” to Israel. He was their Savior. He would have rewarded them with the fulfillment of the covenants God made them over the centuries. The “work before Him” of redeeming His creatures & restoring His creation would have commenced.

Sadly, Israel was not prepared – even though they were warned to be. I’m talking, of course, about John the Baptist announcing that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand, and then presenting Jesus as the King.

Isa 62:12  And they shall call them The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD; And you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.

There is a lot of evil ‘name-calling’ against God’s chosen nation. It won’t permanently end until the Lord, Jesus, is ruling from Jerusalem.

You can recognize it when someone is genuinely excited to see you, either every time or after a long time. For one thing, they don’t duck down the aisles at Save Mart.

Jesus is described in the Gospels and elsewhere as being genuinely excited to be with us. I think one strong example should be enough. The Revelation of Jesus Christ closes out God’s story of redemption and restoration:

• Jesus returns in chapter 19. He returns with us I might add.
• Chapter 20 – We are assured that the 1000 year Kingdom of Heaven on Earth is a reality.
• Chapters 21 and 22 are dedicated to showing us as much of eternity as we can stand as human beings in our mortal bodies. Those chapters are filled with excitement and anticipation. Like being told that there won’t be any temple in eternity because “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”

Twice in chapter twenty-two Jesus let’s us know, “Behold, I am coming quickly.”

An excited Holy Spirit joins with an enthusiastic bride to respond, “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (v17).

If that’s not enough to convince you, Jesus shouts out, “Surely I am coming quickly.” To which we exclaim,  “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”

A.W. Tozer said, “Let us be alert to the season in which we are living. It is the season of the Blessed Hope, calling for us to cut our ties with the world and build ourselves on this One who will soon appear. He is our hope – a Blessed Hope enabling us to rise above our times and fix our gaze upon Him.”

The Man From U.N.C.T.I.O.N. (Isaiah 61:1-11)

If you want to start a church it will set you back $198.00.

That is the price of The Church Planting Guide, published by StartCHURCH. “This easy-to-follow guide will take you week-by-week for 20 weeks through the process of starting your Church on a solid foundation.”

• Week 1 is dedicated to naming the church, logo development, inviting Board Members, defining the spousal role, creating a vision, and writing a Mission Statement.
• By Week 3 you will finalize the Church Board, draft & file the Articles of Incorporation, obtain your Federal Employee ID number, and create your Corporate Records notebook.
• By Week 8 you have started fundraising in what they describe as “an atmosphere of generosity.”
• Week 11 is rest, ‘cause you’re going to be exhausted from all the paperwork. 
• Week 18 you start writing your first sermon, develop a children’s ministry, and choose your worship team.

In our text, we will see Jesus StartKINGDOM.

Even if one existed, the Lord would not have had the funds to purchase a guide book. It isn’t an exaggeration to say He had zero material resources. He had nothing the Jews would recognize as important & necessary to start their Kingdom on Earth.

What and Who Jesus did have is identified as the anointing of God the Holy Spirit.

We – the Church – don’t make an appearance in this chapter. That is to be expected. We are a mystery revealed in the NT.

We can glean a few things about anointing because the NT says that we, too, have God’s anointing:

• The apostle John said to us, “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things” (First John 2:20).
• The apostle Paul wrote,“Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God” (Second Corinthians 1:21).

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1You Are Anointed To Be Like First Coming Jesus, and #2 You’ll Be Anointed To Be Like Second Coming Jesus.

What is the anointing?

Apologist & author Don Stewart breaks it down Scripturally as well as anyone. I’ll cut right to his conclusions:

• It is God who anoints the believer with His Holy Spirit. We do not anoint ourselves. Thus, it is entirely a work of God.
• This anointing of the Holy Spirit remains forever with the believer. It never leaves those who receive it.
• The purpose of this anointing of the Holy Spirit is that the believer might be taught of God. He anoints us to teach us His truths so that we can please Him by doing the work of the ministry.
• We find that the Holy Spirit anoints the believer in spiritual discernment and the understanding of the Word of God. In fact, Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would be the Teacher of those who believed in Him.

Some see the anointing of the Spirit as another way of saying the believer has already received the Holy Spirit while others think it is for a special ministry that the Spirit of God has in the life of each believer. It is  both.

I’ve been talking a lot about Jesus. Where is He in this chapter? I’ll let Him tell you, by way of the Gospel of Luke.

Luk 4:16  So [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.

Luk 4:17  And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

Luk 4:18  “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE HAS ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR; HE HAS SENT ME TO HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET AT LIBERTY THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED;

Luk 4:19  TO PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”

Luk 4:20  Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

Jesus was reading Isaiah 61. He abruptly stopped in the middle of verse two. Perhaps the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him because this was odd. Why stop mid-verse?

These words were troublesome for the Jewish scholars. How could the same person “proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,” And “the day of vengeance of our God?” Isn’t that contradictory?

As tension built in the Synagogue, “He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (4:21).

If Scripture was being “fulfilled,” it meant that the words Isaiah wrote 700yrs earlier were about Him. Jesus of Nazareth was claiming to be the Servant in Isaiah. No wonder that the Jews “were filled with wrath,” and attempted to throw Jesus off a cliff.

Isa 61:1  “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me…

Our analysis of anointing was accurate and informative, but it seems a little sterile for something so intimate as a Person indwelling us.

Dr. Michael Svigel reminds us, “A lot of modern biblical commentaries and systematic theologies do nothing for my love of the Word of God, or the God of the Word. Their intricate analyses and critical exegesis function like a complex machine that spins gold into straw.”

I do not want that to be true of our discussion of God the Holy Spirit. It will be if we are not humble to realize we are not immune from reducing Him to straw.

It has been my armchair observation over these past 40 years of pastoring that dependence upon the Holy Spirit’s anointing is too easily ignored in favor of, well, just about anything else! We had a good laugh at StartCHURCH. It isn’t sarcasm from The Babylon Bee. It is a methodology being promoted as biblical.

The Bible is a supernatural book, and the Holy Spirit is a supernatural Person. One commentator, using the word “filled” in place of anointed, said, “We are not filled with an influence; we are not filled with a sensation; we are not filled with a set of ideas and truth; we are not filled with a blessing, but we are filled with a Person… and its very essence is the indwelling life of Jesus Christ Himself.”

Jesus could not have accomplished His mission on Earth without the anointing of God the Holy Spirit. What does that say about us? “God does His work by the operation of the Spirit. We should not attempt to do ours by the power of trained and devoted intellect.”

Isa 61:1  “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

Isa 61:2  To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD…

This is a gracious offer by ‘First Coming’ Jesus to establish the Kingdom of God on Earth promised to the nation of Israel. It was “the acceptable year,” it was exactly the right time.

The things He would do after anointed (some listed here) would prove He was their Messiah.

Isa 61:2  … And the day of vengeance of our God…

Geno was teaching about the power of punctuation in the Bible. The comma between “the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God…” has so far spanned twenty centuries. On one side is the Lord’s First Coming; on the other, His Second Coming – after the Church Age & after the Great Tribulation.

You do know that Jesus is returning, don’t you?

The delay was a result of the nation of Israel officially rejecting the King’s offer to establish the Kingdom.

Isa 61:2  … To comfort all who mourn,

Isa 61:3  To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

The mourning, the ashes, the heaviness – those are conditions in the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (aka, the Great Tribulation). The Time of Jacob’s Trouble is necessary in order that spiritually blinded Jews will recognize their Messiah, Jesus. It’s awful, but not as awful as eternal separation from God in conscious torment.

These are beautiful descriptions of conditions in the future Millennial Kingdom. After all the centuries from the Garden of Eden until the Second Coming, “the Lord’s will” will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

There are five things listed here that Jesus did in His First Coming. We shouldn’t try to do them so much as to realize we are doing them led by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

It is normal and orthodox to point out that God the Holy Spirit is a Person. I want to remind us that He is a very complex person. We will never fully enjoy His indwelling if we only make lists of the things He can do, and then put them into what we feel is the logical, rational order of how He does them.

Being filled with the Word of God is not the same as being filled with the Spirit of God. The person who proves that to us is Jesus. Could there be any human more filled with the Word of God than Jesus Christ? If we had any doubt, we see Him wielding it in His desert temptings by Satan.

Nevertheless, Jesus was not ready to embark on His ministry until the Spirit’s anointing.

This is off-topic, but we need to acknowledge Jesus did no healings, no exorcisms, no raisings from the dead for His first 30 years on Earth. Sure it would have temporarily benefited many people. But in the long run, Jesus came to be the Savior of the world. And His heavenly Father had a plan for that. Part of that plan was for people to look upon Jesus’ life and understand the vital part that the Holy Spirit played. He was anointed and Bam! For 3 ½ years He did so much that it could never be compiled in books.

The remaining verses of chapter sixty-one transport us to life on the Millennial Earth. It is after the Second Coming. Though not told here, the Church will return with Jesus, having been resurrected & raptured 7yrs earlier.

Isa 61:4  And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations.

Isa 61:5  Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, And the sons of the foreigner Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.

Before we go on, I should explain who these “strangers” and “foreigners” are. At His Second Coming, Jews who survive the 7yrs will all be saved by looking upon Jesus and repenting. There will also be multitudes of saved Gentiles who have endured til the end. These and their children born during the thousand years are the Gentile “strangers” and “foreigners.”

These Gentiles will serve the Jews. Not as slaves or anything weird like that. It will be a blessing.

Isa 61:6  But you shall be named the priests of the LORD, They shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, And in their glory you shall boast.

• Just as the descendants of Aaron performed priestly service for all the people of Israel, so in the future all the people of Israel will perform priestly service for the nations.
• Just as the priests used to live from all that the people of Israel brought them, tithes and sacrifices, so Israel as a whole will live from all that the nations will bring them.

Isa 61:7  Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

We are privileged to be alive in the time that God has reestablished the nation of Israel, after centuries of dispersion. It is obviously a first step to fulfilling the promises of a double portion and everlasting joy.

Isa 61:8  “For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery for burnt offering; I will direct their work in truth, And will make with them an everlasting covenant.

God will reverse the injustices forced upon Israel through the centuries. His love of “justice” will be on display.

Twice a day, everyday, morning & evening, two lambs were to be sacrificed in the Temple. The nations who troubled Israel, dispossessing them, robbed them of their burnt offering. The last burnt offering would have been sometime in 70AD when the Romans destroyed the Temple.

Isa 61:9  Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles, And their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them, That they are the posterity whom the LORD has blessed.”

This verse describes how the Gentile nations will look upon Israel with admiration and awe. Stop and contemplate that while thinking about the antisemitism currently sweeping the globe.

Future Israel chimes in:

Isa 61:10  I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

I am in love with this verse. It has become my go-to for explaining salvation. It’s also great for funerals.

Heaven has a dress code. The Bible presents humans as dressed in filthy rags. We need a robe, the “robe of righteousness,” to get into Heaven. When we believe God, Jesus takes upon Himself our filthy garments and freely gives us the robe of righteousness.

Isa 61:11  For as the earth brings forth its bud, As the garden causes 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.

If you were asked to describe conditions in the future Kingdom… Righteousness & praise springing up as the fruit of the nations would do it.

Tony Stark gave Peter Parker an Amazing Spider-Man suit. Most of its power, however, was locked-up. Only as Peter matured would he earn more of its abilities. He had to deserve the suit.

Don’t think of the anointing of God as if it is locked-up, waiting for you to do something to earn it or deserve it. If you believe that, you will end up in one of two camps:

• There are those who are not interested in a full experience of the suit. They immediately subordinate the anointing of God the Holy Spirit to their own wisdom of walking in obedience to God’s Word. They equate the word of God and the Spirit of God as one in the same. Maybe not in their doctrine, but in their practice for sure.They gleefully limit God the Holy Spirit, talking about the cessation of the Holy Spirit’s power and manifestations.
• On the other end, there are those who are convinced that the suit does require hacking. They seek experience after experience because they believe it is the way to unlock the Holy Spirit. Their experiences get weirder and weirder, farther and farther from genuine.

You already have His anointing to live the Christian life. You can receive particular ‘anointing’ for specific tasks.

How should we then live? Be hospitable!

As a Person who indwells us, we are encouraged to show hospitality to the Holy Spirit by holding three things in our minds:

1. Yield to Him.
2. Don’t grieve Him.
3. Don’t quench Him.

When You Can’t See The Moon ‘Cause You Outshine The Sun, That’s Agape! (Isaiah 60:1-22)

Have you heard of the Day the Earth Stood Still? How about the Decade the Moon Disappeared?

It’s not a movie. For several years during the Middle Ages, the moon ‘disappeared.’ As Adrian Monk would say, “Here’s what happened.”

The 1257AD eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Samalas was catastrophic. An immense amount of volcanic ash and aerosols spewed into the atmosphere, spreading across the globe, significantly affecting visibility. The moon seemed to ‘disappear’ for a period of years.

The Greek word for ‘moon’ is selene. Selenology is the study of the moon.

Isaiah was a ‘major prophet’ with a minor in selenology. He mentions the moon eight times in his book, including twice here in chapter sixty.

Isaiah had a specialization. We see it in portions of verses three & four, “And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Then you shall see and be radiant…”

Radiant is something we can get excited about since Jesus told us, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). And in Ephesians 5:8, we read, “At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.”

Don’t forget Peter, who said, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of Him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (First Peter 2:9).

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 See Yourself As Radiant, and #2 See The Lost As Photophilic.

Think of Billy Crystal saying, “You look radiant!”A commonly used illustration to describe believers is to say that we reflect Jesus the way that the moon reflects the light of the sun. One commentator put it like this: “Our lives can reflect the light of Jesus much like the moon reflects the sun. The moon is not a source of light, it only reflects light from the sun. In the same way, Jesus is the only source of truth and light in our lives. All other things are just a reflection of Him.”

True. But we need to be better spiritual selenologists and take it a step further:

• Reflecting bounces-back light from an external source.
• Radiating emits light from an internal source.

Do Christians have an ‘internal source’ to emit light? We sure do! When you believe Jesus and receive salvation, you are gifted with the permanent indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. You’re ‘lit’ in the unseen realm. On Earth you might have a glow, a spiritual glow, either often or sometimes.

I haven’t forgotten that we are studying Isaiah. Isaiah wrote in the 7^th century BC to the Jews in the southern kingdom of Judah. About 150 years after Isaiah was silenced by being sawn in two by his own people, Jerusalem and the magnificent Temple were destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar. The Jews were taken captive and remained in Babylon for 70yrs.

It is common for Isaiah to jump centuries ahead to the Great Tribulation, to the Millennial Kingdom that follows it, and into Eternity. The basic outline of future events to hold in your mind is this:

1. Jesus came to Earth, God in human flesh, preaching that the material, stick & stone Kingdom of Heaven that was unconditionally promised to the nation of Israel was at hand.
2. The Jewish officials formally rejected the offer. Jesus was violently put to death by Roman crucifixion.
3. Jesus rose from the dead, then ascended into Heaven.
4. The Church Age began. It is the wonderful time in which we live. Gentiles & Jews can receive the Lord and He gives them the permanent indwelling of God the Holy Spirit.
5. At any moment, Jesus will return in the air to resurrect the deceased believers of this Church Age. There will be living believers when He comes. They – we – will be raptured, i.e., changed in a moment & receive our resurrection bodies.
6. While we wait in Heaven to return with Jesus, a 7yr period of intense trouble on Earth prepares the nation of Israel to receive Jesus as their Messiah when He returns.
7. He returns and all Israel is saved. The Kingdom of God on Earth is inaugurated, lasting 1000 years.

Isa 60:1  Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.

Isa 60:2  For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you.

The “darkness” is Isaiah’s one-word summary of the Great Tribulation. We like to call it, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. Isaiah is consistent with Revelation 8:12, “Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.”

Has this happened? No, it has not. It will.

Isa 60:3  And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Isa 60:4  Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.

Isa 60:5  Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.

This has never happened in Israel’s history. It is going to happen, on the Earth, tangibly – not allegorically.

Bible prophecy is under siege from a most unlikely opponent: Believers! Matt Chandler of The Village Church believes that over the last 150 years, the book of Revelation has been “hijacked” by being read as a prophecy of End Times events. While reading through Revelation, Chandler said he was struck by the parallels between the struggles of the early Church and the modern day, particularly regarding the spiritual and emotional challenges he witnessed in his congregation post-COVID19. 

COVID was tough. The masks… the distancing… the social isolation. But it was that way for everyone – believers and nonbelievers. It wasn’t persecution.

I’m sorry, but I don’t think COVID can be compared to any of the plagues & devastations of the Tribulation.

The Revelation holds out incredible hope & comfort to every generation. It promises you a blessing just for reading it. End of the day it is future prophecy.

Isaiah’s audience was heading into the worst of times. How did the LORD encourage them? He gave them hope in the 7^th century by revealing what would happen to their descendants over 2700 years in their future!

  

Jesus is the greatest Comforter. He gave us God the Holy Spirit & calls Him Comforter. It He used future prophecy to comfort…

The lost are photophilic. It means to be attracted to light. In this case, the light of the glory of God in Jesus Christ.

We are of the conviction that God is the Savior of all men – especially those who believe. Jesus draws all men to Himself by being lifted up on the Cross. All a person need ‘do’ is look to Jesus, crucified in his or her place, and believe. God so loved the world that whoever believes in Jesus will have eternal life. You will live forever. Eternal life, however, has more to do with you coming to life and sharing in the life of Jesus.

The remaining verses are not directly for the Church. God is addressing the nation of Israel.

Don’t tune out knowing that these are promises to Jews, not to youse.

• You can meditate upon how unfaithful and disobedient the Jews were & rejoice in God’s mercy in saving them.
• You can look to them and see prophecy after prophecy fulfilled, encouraging you in the future promises & prophesies that God has made us.

Isa 60:6  A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD.

Isa 60:7  All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall come up with acceptance on my altar, and I will beautify my beautiful house.

Isa 60:8  Who are these that fly like a cloud, and like doves to their windows?

Isa 60:9  For the coastlands shall hope for Me, the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your children from afar, their silver and gold with them, for the name of the LORD your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because He has made you beautiful.

The Earth’s nations come to Jerusalem with gifts & good news. They see Jews as “beautiful.” There is an “altar” and the LORD has His “beautiful house.”

This is future; this is tangible; this is the Millennium.

Isa 60:10  Foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you; for in my wrath I struck you, but in my favor I have had mercy on you.

Isa 60:11  Your gates shall be open continually; day and night they shall not be shut, that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession.

Isaiah gives a cogent summary of the history of Israel: “In my wrath I struck you, but in my favor I have had mercy on you.”

Isa 60:12  For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste.

One of the ‘I never knew that’ things we’ve learned from Isaiah is that although the Kingdom of God on Earth will be utopian, it will not be perfect. It can’t be perfect because humans will be born during the Kingdom who will reject salvation. There will therefore be “nations” “utterly laid waste.”

Isa 60:13  The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the plane, and the pine, to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious.

Isa 60:14  The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending low to you, and all who despised you shall bow down at your feet; they shall call you the City of the LORD, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

You might read this and say, “See – the City is allegorical. Believers are the City.” No, no, no, no. No. We’ve encountered this before. The example we use is from the MCU. Captain America is proud of his Brooklyn heritage. Cap (that’s what we call him) learns that Spider-Man is from Queens. He calls Peter Parker “Queens” when addressing him. Same here – you can call Jews “the City of the LORD, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.”

Isa 60:15  Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you majestic forever, a joy from age to age,

Isa 60:16  You shall suck the milk of nations; you shall nurse at the breast of kings; and you shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

Isa 60:17  Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron. I will make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness.

Isa 60:18  Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.

Millennial conversation: “Hey, Gene, what are you gonna do today?” “I want to go to the Gates called Praise. I here David is going to be there with his stringed instrument band introducing new choruses.”

Isa 60:19  The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.

This doesn’t mean that the sun and the moon will disappear in the Millennium. They may be unseen because the Lord, & us, outshine the sun.

Isa 60:20  Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.

Beyond the thousand years, “The city has no need for the sun, neither of the moon, to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk in its light. The kings of the earth bring the glory and honor of the nations into it” (Revelation 21:23-24).

Isa 60:21 Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified.

Another amazing thing we have learned, reinforced here, is that from the moment Jesus returns, and all Israel is saved, every Jew born in the Millennium will be saved! Not so Gentiles born for one thousand years. Multitudes remain lost and they perish forever.

Isa 60:22  The least one shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation; I am the LORD; in its time I will hasten it.

I take this to indicate that the nations who follow the Lord in the Kingdom will prosper and take that prosperity into Eternity.

Photophilics are drawn to us. I should say they are drawn to Jesus who has brought us into the kingdom of light, to radiate Him.    

I know that many of you (I hope all) have had the experience of your family or friends noticing when you were, as Thumper was, twitterpated! You were smitten, overcome by romantic feelings.

The believers in Ephesus started-out with this radiant love. Forty-years later, after only one generation, the Lord penned a love letter to them. He accused them of “leaving” their “first love.”

I saw a meme online this week that captures some of this. A husband is about to go out the front door to his house. His wife has taped a note to it. It says, “This isn’t working. I’m leaving. Goodbye.”

The husband stares at the door, then the note, then to door. He starts fooling with the deadbolt. It works just fine!! He shrugs it off, oblivious.

If there was a note from Jesus posted on your door…what would He say?

People have come up with ingenious ways of writing to each other and encoding a hidden message. I see something like that in chapter sixty. If we isolate some of the words & phrases that lean towards romance, it sounds like this:

My Beloved,

My glory is risen upon you. My light shines brilliantly upon you, illuminating every shadow and guiding your path. My glory will be seen upon you, radiating through your actions and your love, making you a beacon to the world. You are my chosen, and through you, the world will see My love and My power. You shall become radiant, reflecting My eternal light and love. Your beauty will be like the morning sun, spreading warmth and hope to all who see you. Your radiance is My presence within you.

Coming soon,
Jesus

Truth, Justice, And The Armageddon Way (Isaiah 59:1-21)

Who is it that “Always gets their man?”

Just ask Snidely Whiplash, whose criminal obsession is tying young women to train tracks. Royal Canadian Mounted policeman “Dudley Doright,” he’ll tell you, “always gets his man.”

The Lord “Always gets His man.”

• When the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air,” He ‘got’ righteous Noah to build the Ark. 
• After the global flood, mankind was scattered abroad to form many nations. God ‘got’ Abraham to start a new nation.
• Pharaoh enslaved the Israelites, making “their lives bitter with hard bondage.” the LORD ‘got’ Moses to lead them out of Egypt.

Whether it was Gideon or Barak or Samson or Jephthah or David or Samuel. He even got Jonah! 

God always gets His man Except this time.

Look at verse 16, “He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor”

When was that?? It hasn’t happened yet. It is coming at the end of the 7yr Great Tribulation which shall come upon the whole world.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 Injustice Is The Herald Of Your Nation’s Demise, and #2 Justice Is The Hallmark Of Your Nation’s Deliverance.

Let’s take a look at the demise of a nation in verses one through fifteen.

Track with me as I find the word “justice” in these verses (at least in my NKJV).

1. Isa 59:4  No one calls for justice…
2. Isa 59:8  … there is no justice in their ways…
3. Isa 59:9  Therefore justice is far from us…
4. Isa 59:11 … We look for justice, but there is none…
5. Isa 59:14  Justice is turned back…
6. Isa 59:15  … there was no justice.

Repetition is there for a reason. God wants to talk to us about justice & injustice in a nation.

Isaiah wrote and prophesied in the seventh century Before Christ. At the moment, he is warning the Jews of Judah that they will come under God’s judgment because of their disobedience to, and departure from, His Law. The walls of Jerusalem, the city of Jerusalem, and the Temple in Jerusalem, will be  razed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. They would be captives in Babylon for approximately 70 years.

Isa 59:1  Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear.

Isa 59:2  But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.

• A hand too short to save is an accusation that the LORD is not all-powerful.
• Ears that won’t hear is an accusation that the LORD is not all-loving.

These are the accusations leveled at the LORD in every generation, by every unbeliever.

The problem is sin. According to Dr. J. Vernon McGee, the Israelites’ sins are referred to 32 times in this short passage, and there are 23 separate charges brought against them.   

An indictment is essentially a formal accusation that a person has committed a serious offense These next verses are an indictment of Judah.

Isa 59:3  For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity.

Isa 59:4  No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.

Isa 59:5  They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.

Isa 59:6  Their webs will not become garments, Nor will they cover themselves with their works; Their works are works of iniquity, And the act of violence is in their hands.

Isa 59:7  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.

Isa 59:8  The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.

Thus ends the indictment. The accused speaks – not in defense, but with repentance.

Isa 59:9  Therefore justice is far from us, Nor does righteousness overtake us; We look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness!

Isa 59:10  We grope for the wall like the blind, And we grope as if we had no eyes; We stumble at noonday as at twilight; We are as dead men in desolate places.

Isa 59:11  We all growl like bears, And moan sadly like doves; We look for justice, but there is none; For salvation, but it is far from us.

Isa 59:12  For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And as for our iniquities, we know them:

Isa 59:13  In transgressing and lying against the LORD, And departing from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.

Isa 59:14  Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter.

Isa 59:15  So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice.

A final injustice is that anyone who repents is preyed upon by those who choose to continue in sin. Scholars tell us these words are evidence of repentance.

There is nothing unique to Israel in this indictment. God is over all the nations and He expects nations to both acknowledge Him and to uphold justice.

If they don’t do right, He must indict.

Several times in our studies we have paused to ask, “What about the United States? Where are we in prophecy?”

We’re not. At least, not directly. We are a nation and thus are expected to acknowledge God and to uphold justice. We are not doing either of those.

Each of us could suggest various injustices. One on every list is legalized abortion. It is an injustice that you can not put any spin on. We are killing innocents by the millions.

When talking about abortion from the pulpit I don’t always touch upon the fact that there are women here who have had abortions. The apostle Paul would say to you, and therefore we say to you, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). What has washed away your sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

One of His purposes in coming was to “heal the broken hearted” (Isaiah 61:1). If you find yourself struggling, contact the Kings County Crisis Pregnancy Center. They can help you; they will help you.

This November will be the first presidential election in my lifetime in which there is no Pro-Life candidate for the nation’s top office.

Could the lack of a Pro-Life candidate be the watershed moment, the final national sin, that brings a severe judgment upon America?

We will only be able to answer that after it happens.

Presidential elections seem to stir-up the exhortation that churches are not doing enough to influence voting. Critics accuse, “They’re worried they will lose their tax exempt status. They need to obey God rather than man.” The next 3 minutes or so will be interesting, I hope, but put it in the column of Pastor Gene’s Opinion.

The rule governing Churches states, “Churches and other 501(c)(3) organizations can engage in a limited amount of lobbying (including ballot measures) and advocate for or against issues that are in the political arena.” But the law prohibits pastors from endorsing or opposing candidates during official church functions such as sermons.

✏ Churches apply for tax exempt status. The pastors who are criticizing churches who aren’t endorsing candidates are tax exempt because they applied for it and, in doing so, agreed to follow the IRS guidelines. In other words, they promised to follow the law but are openly breaking it. I will respect them when their “Yea is yea” and they renounce their exemption.

✏ What’s not to like about the Church being exempt from taxes?!

✏ I’d like to think that we will humbly disobey the ruling authorities when it comes to obeying God rather than man. Who remembers COVID19? Do you remember the egregious restrictions the government put on Church services? Do you remember the Church in town that was never shuttered? That was us.

Injustice is the herald of a nation’s demise.

It can be argued that there has always been injustice. True, and one day either a particular injustice or the accumulation of them will cause God’s longsuffering to cease.

Let’s take a look at the deliverance of the nation of Israel.

Isa 59:16  He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.

“Zion” refers to both a hill in Jerusalem and to the city itself. Zionism the movement to establish the nation in its land.

When the LORD said there was “no man… no intercessor,” it is a dramatic pause in the action to heighten the moment. There was a man who would intercede. He would be more than a man. He would be God in human flesh; He would be the God-Man; His name is Jesus.

There is something very similar to this in the Revelation. In Heaven, John sees “in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals” (5:1-5).

Both of these passages – Isaiah & the Revelation – are describing Jesus Return as King to save Israel. As is typical of Isaiah, we have quantum leaped from the 7^th century to the end of the Great Tribulation.

Isa 59:17  For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloak.

I love those scenes in movies where the heroes ‘suit-up’ for battle. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers did an especially good job with Aragorn, Legolas & Gimli at the Battle of Helms Deep.

He comes as a warrior, complete with a “breastplate” and a “helmet.” With “zeal,” and for “vengeance” He will subdue every enemy of His people, the Jews.

Isa 59:18  According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, Fury to His adversaries, Recompense to His enemies; The coastlands He will fully repay.

Isa 59:19  So shall they fear The name of the LORD from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.

We are taken forward in history to a moment of global victory. From west to east, all the way to the coastlands, this man will conquer.

The enemy coming like a flood is a favorite verse when we are in some testing or trial. That’s fine! BUT – it is describing a real future event.

In His Olivet Discourse about the Great Tribulation, Jesus warns Jews in & around Jerusalem to flee from the antichrist. He describes what happens next:

Rev 12:15  So the serpent [Satan] spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman [the nation of Israel], that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood.

Rev 12:16  But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.

This flood could just be a metaphor for the ferocity of the antichrist’s troops going after Israel. Could be a flood!

The forces of the antichrist will invade Israel in what has become known as the Battle of Armageddon. J. Dwight Pentecost wrote, “It is not an isolated battle, but rather a campaign that extends over the last half of the tribulation period.”^[1]

Isa 59:20  “The Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” Says the LORD.

This is the moment the apostle Paul is thinking of when he says “all Israel will be saved.”

Isa 59:21  “As for Me,” says the LORD, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the LORD, “from this time and forevermore.”

Every Jew living at that time and every Jew born in the Millennial Kingdom will be saved.

Jerry Bridges wrote, “God’s wrath arises from His intense, settled hatred of all sin and is the tangible expression of His inflexible determination to punish it. We might say God’s wrath is His justice in action, rendering to everyone his just due, which, because of our sin, is always judgment.”

God expects all nations to uphold justice. God does indeed punish nations because of their sins, e.g., Sodom and Gomorrah.

Is there hope for the US? Nineveh was on the calendar for judgment on account of injustice. Jonah gave them no real hope, preaching, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (3:4). They repented, “and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it” (3:10).

I’m of the opinion we already are under judgment. Look, for example, at violence in America. Again, critics say, “There has always been violence, sometimes worse then what we are experiencing.”

OK… But today we are no longer policing violence. Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t recall Law Enforcement being told by government to stand down.

• “Pittsburg PD recently announced that police officers will no longer respond to certain calls labeled ‘in-progress emergencies,’ such as harassment, theft, and burglary alarms.”
• A Vallejo CA resident who addressed the City Council said same thing that is being repeated all across our nation. “I don’t know if when we call 911 if there’ll be a response… If someone will show up.”

Whether we are ripe for judgment or are already judged will be revealed in time.

Larry Norman once sang, “Don’t ask me for the answers, I’ve only got one – That a man leaves his darkness when he follows the Son.”

We must return to, and turn to, Jesus.

Bad Religion (Isaiah 58:1-14)

The majority of us have either heard someone say, or we have said to someone, “Christianity is not a religion, it’s a _____________.”

It is a relationship with Jesus Christ the living God who rose from the dead and is alive forevermore.

When we say, “Christianity isn’t a religion,” we mean that our own good works and observance of rites & rituals, diets & days, feasts & fasts, cannot save us.

Religion, however, is not always a bad thing.

Don’t take my word for it. In his NT letter, James says, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (1:26-27).

In our text the LORD mentions two religious practices: Sabbath keeping and fasting. He uses them as examples:

• In verse thirteen the LORD encouraged the Jews to “call the Sabbath a delight.” That’s pure religion!
• In verse four the LORD called them out, saying, “Indeed you fast for strife and debate, And to strike with the fist of wickedness…” That’s  bad religion!

Let’s not throw religion out with the holy water.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 Selfishness & Bad Religion Go Together, and #2 Self-lessness & Pure Religion Go Together.

Let’s take a look at selfishness (58:1-5)

Isa 58:1  “Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins.

I’m guessing that Isaiah would “cry aloud” in the Temple. “Trumpet” blasts were important ways to communicate. When he spoke it was as if a trumpet were sounding throughout the city.   

His messages would mostly be about the “transgression” and “sins” of God’s people. It was a difficult season to be a prophet.

Have you ever been in a time when it seemed it was always winter but never Christmas?

Until fairly recently, believers received their teaching from the local church they attended. Now you can listen to or watch literally millions of Bible studies. That’s great! But I wonder if we have we lost a sense of God having a peculiar message for us?

Isa 58:2  Yet they seek Me daily, And delight to know My ways, As a nation that did righteousness, And did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; They take delight in approaching God.

They seem praiseworthy. But it was all external.

Isa 58:3  ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’

Their fasting was altogether selfish.

When they said the LORD had “not seen,” nor had He taken “notice,” they meant that whatever it was they were fasting for had not been granted.

This is ground zero for bad religion. It isn’t relational. God is not Father or Friend. He is a fulfillment center who delivers blessings when I do religious works.

I object to anything that creates distance between a believer & Jesus. Jesus didn’t die on the Cross so I could pray to saints. Or to shroud things in mystery.

Isa 58:3  …“In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, And exploit all your laborers.

Isa 58:4  Indeed you fast for strife and debate, And to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, To make your voice heard on high.

In a word, they were being ugly. Jesus says of fasting that we should “anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father” (Matthew 6:17-18).

Isa 58:5  Is it a fast that I have chosen, A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, And to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, And an acceptable day to the LORD?

On top of everything else, God had not asked them to fast. It was their own idea, carried out with their own rules. Things can seem spiritual, and yet be totally devoid of God. Likewise things that are simple can be filled with the presence of God.

Isaiah’s audience was the southern Jewish kingdom of Judah. They were pagan-loving, idol-worshipping, child-murdering, sex perverts.

You don’t fast for sin; you forsake it in repentance.

We’ve been praying for revival these many years. That’s great, but we should realize something. It is always accompanied by repentance among believers. One commentator wrote, “Any study of revival will demonstrate the unbreakable connection between revival and repentance.”

The LORD asked them an insightful question: “Would you call this a fast… acceptable… to the LORD?” God believed that they had a capacity to examine themselves and come to a correct conclusion.

Several verses in the NT could be cited, but one should suffice. “But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another” (Galatians 6:4).

What are we looking for when we examine ourselves? Let’s call it the Doctrine of Decreasing Discipleship. It is based on comments made by Jesus & by John the Baptist:

• Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist…” (Matthew 11:11).
• John the Baptist said, “[Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
• Jesus said, “But he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.”

If John was “the greatest,” and if any believer in Jesus after him is “greater,” than we, too, must increase Jesus by decreasing more & more.

There is a lot of talk about decreasing our so-called ‘carbon footprint.’ What we truly need to decrease is our ‘carnal footprint.’

Richard Baxter wrote, “Men would sooner believe that the Gospel is from Heaven, if they saw more such effects of it upon the hearts and lives of those who profess it. The world is better able to read the nature of religion in a man’s life than in the Bible.”

Ask the Lord how you can “decrease” in your life

Let’s take a look at self-lessness in the remaining verses (58:6-14)

Isa 58:6  “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke?

Isa 58:7  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh?

Jesus did all these things in His First Coming. He is the example of the purest religion.

Jesus, the Second Person of the Tri-une God – very God of very God – was virgin-born a human. He was fully God and fully man. For more than 30yrs He set aside the voluntary use of His deity to obey His Father as a man by the leading of God the Holy Spirit.

That’s as far as we need to go to be reminded that Jesus “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the Cross.”

God becoming man to die as our substitute… that is the self-lessness we are to imitate.

If someone were to ask you, “What is fasting? you most likely would answer that it is depriving yourself from food in order to spend serious alone time with God.

In verse seven, the LORD said, “Is [fasting] not to share your bread with the hungry?”

I don’t think I’ve ever thought of fasting that way. I think of it as depriving myself of my food. I don’t think of it as sharing food with hungry people.

This isn’t ‘pay-it-forward.’ That is rich people helping other rich people in a line of cars waiting to get burnt coffee-flavored beverages at a Starbucks. Pure fasting has to be costly – a genuine deprivation. And it doesn’t need to involve money, although it often does because that is the commodity we most understand.   

Isa 58:8  Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.

This is a description of a procession or a pilgrimage. It is probably poetry to describe the processions of Jews who will return to Jerusalem after the 70yrs of captivity in Babylon. It would be a fresh start for the Jews to reinstate the rites & rituals of their religion as commanded by the LORD. Could also be looking farther, to the pilgrimages in the Millennial Kingdom.

Devotionally it describes a person or a people who were in the Kingdom of Darkness. They suddenly are transferred from darkness into light. They are healed, spiritually; they are declared righteous & walk in righteousness. If they go on that way, no enemy can penetrate the “rear guard.”

Isa 58:9  Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,

Isa 58:10  If you extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday.

“Pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness” are what people do who compare themselves to others and conclude they are better. They like to heap burdens on people that they cannot bear. They won’t lift so much as a finger to help.

Pure religion is never like that. Jesus said His burden was light because He would yoke with us and carry the load.

We should always be thinking of ways to lessen, to lighten the load people carry. We can apply this to believers & unbelievers:

• Instead of insisting that believers must do more praying, more giving, more fasting… We emphasize what the Lord has done for us.
• Unbelievers have a sense that coming to God is hard, that it involves rituals and rules keeping that most find impossible. Is that grace? Is that salvation by grace through faith?

One of our guys texted me, “I’m trying hard to be saved by grace.” It was tongue-in-cheek, a satire. Grace, by definition, isn’t about how hard I try.

I submit to you that we sometimes do communicate that grace involves a lot of effort. You wouldn’t believe what some churches require of new converts before they will ‘accept’ them.

Isa 58:11  The LORD will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Are you tired of watering your lawn? Then paint your grass green. It’s a real thing. But it’s only on the surface. Don’t settle for the surface in your walk with Jesus. Ask Him how you can make your roots go deeper.

Isa 58:12  Those from among you Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.

Isaiah looks ahead and sees the Babylonians invading Judah. It will leave the city and the Temple and the wall in ruins. This is a great promise to the future generation that returns from captivity to rebuild.

There are a lot of television shows featuring repairs and restorations. They’re always fantastic. But they’re nothing compared to what God has promised to do in your life.

Isa 58:13  “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the LORD honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words,

Isa 58:14  Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

The Sabbath is more than the weekly day of rest. The land was to celebrate a Sabbath every seventh year. No crops were to be planted. Judah had ignored the land-Sabbath for 490yrs. They blew it off, so God kept them out of the land until they had ‘repaid’ the 70 years they owed Him!

Keeping the Sabbath was good religion. It wasn’t ‘made’ to deteriorate into a religious ritual. It was ‘made’ for man to delight in the LORD.

The Jewish authorities made it bad by heaping rule after rule after rule. It got ridiculous.

Jesus was accused of violating the Sabbath. Insane, right? As God, Jesus had instituted the Sabbath. If anyone knew how to ‘keep’ it, it was Him in His incarnation. His general principle for keeping the Sabbath was, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).

“I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, It is anyone’s guess what “riding on the high hills” means. Some translate it, “soaring over the high hills.” If Disney ever opens in Jerusalem…

“And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.” The mention of “Jacob” is encouraging. The northern 12 tribes had been conquered by the Assyrians. Were they lost forever? Nope, and that is why the LORD calls them “Jacob.” He was father of the 12 tribes. This is a promise that the LORD will keep His promises to Israel nationally.

Christians are always in a hurry to criticize the Law of God. Since it cannot be kept by mere mortals, we only see it as condemnation. King David thought otherwise:

• In Psalm 19 David sang that the Law was “perfect, “sure,” “right,” and “clean.”
• He sang about it “converting the soul,” “making wise the simple,” and “rejoicing the heart.”

If the Law is so great, why don’t we observe the Sabbath? The Sabbath was given to one nation, to Israel. It was a sign of the special covenant between them and God.^[1] The Sabbath was never given to any other nation.

Justin Martyr (AD150) was a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of John. Justin wrote a treatise called, Dialog with Trypho the Jew. After mentioning Adam, Abel, Enoch, Lot, Noah, Melchizedek, and Abraham, he wrote, “Moreover, all those righteous men already mentioned, though they kept no Sabbaths, were pleasing to God; and after them Abraham with all his descendants until Moses… And you [Jews] were commanded to keep Sabbaths, that you might retain the memorial of God.”

I know what you’re wondering. What did Tertullian have to say in AD200?

Therefore, since God originated Adam uncircumcised, and inobservant of the Sabbath, consequently his offspring also, Abel, offering Him sacrifices, uncircumcised and inobservant of the Sabbath, was by Him commended… Noah also, uncircumcised – yes, and inobservant of the Sabbath – God freed from the deluge. For Enoch, too, most righteous man, uncircumcised and inobservant of the Sabbath, He translated from this world…^[2]

This is exactly how bad religion gets started. Someone comes along and insists that we must do something, like keep the Sabbath.

Geno pointed out to me that a number of churches are practicing some kind of ‘breath’ before Bible study. Some call it “Meditative Breathwork.”

I call it weird. It seems harmless enough – even helpful. It suggests subtly then more strongly that you can only be truly spiritual if you master these techniques.

“Let us keep on coming boldly [or breathy?] to the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

Christianity is a relationship whose fruit is pure religion.

Judah, Don’t Take Your Love To Crowns (Isaiah 56:9-57:21)

President Donald Trump is not the first to use derogatory names for political opponents; it has a long history.

Publisher James Callender called our second POTUS, John Adams, a “hideous hermaphroditical character which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.”

I was surprised to find that sort of thing in Isaiah.

The leaders of Judah are called “blind watchmen,” “ignorant,” “dumb dogs,” and “greedy dogs.” The LORD outs them as functional alcoholics.

That’s just His opening salvo!  He goes on to say they are “sons of the sorceress… offspring of the adulterer and the harlot.”

Before you cut loose on Sacramento, however, be reminded that First Timothy 2:1-3 & First Peter 3 direct us to speak truth to power without vulgarity.

There was a righteous remnant of Jews in Judah:

1. “The righteous perishes, And no man takes it to heart; Merciful men are taken away” (57:1).
2. The last phrase of the same verse is, “While no one considers That the righteous is taken away from evil.”

You noticed it. Twice we read that the righteous will be “taken away.” We will take a look at these ‘take-aways’ as they relate to 7^th century Judah. We will apply to our lives what we can without blurring the biblical distinction between Israel, who remains the Apple of God’s Eye, and the Church. 

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 When You See The Righteous Perishing, The End Is Near, and #2 When You See The Righteous Removed, The End Is Here.

#1 – When You See The Righteous Perishing, The End Is Near (56:9-57:13)

We pick-up our commentary in 56:9.

Isa 56:9  “All you beasts of the field, come to devour, All you beasts in the forest.

Isa 56:10  His watchmen are blind, They are all ignorant; They are all dumb dogs, They cannot bark; Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

Isa 56:11  Yes, they are greedy dogs Which never have enough. And they are shepherds Who cannot understand; They all look to their own way, Every one for his own gain, From his own territory.

Isa 56:12  ‘Come,” one says, ‘I will bring wine, And we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink; Tomorrow will be as today, And much more abundant.’ ”

This is a herding metaphor. The “watchmen” are sheep-herding dogs. A blind, alter-barked dog who sleeps all the time isn’t ideal. When Ralph Wolf comes, you need Sam Sheepdog.

There were three hyena’s in the animated Lion King. Ed was clearly disabled. These men are like that.   

Gentile nations are the “beasts” who are set upon Judah to discipline them:

• Assyria destroyed the 10 tribes in the north.
• Babylon would conquer the 2 southern tribes that comprised Judah.

Isa 57:1  The righteous perishes, And no man takes it to heart; Merciful men are taken away, While no one considers That the righteous is taken away from evil.

Isa 57:2  He shall enter into peace; They shall rest in their beds, Each one walking in his uprightness.

The “righteous,” i.e., believers, are described as being “taken away” by the LORD to protect them from the growing evil. It is described as “peace” & “rest.” In other words, they were dying.

Have you ever said something like, “I’m glad Grandpa didn’t live to see this?” Isaiah wrote 150yrs before the series of Babylonian invasions that would leave the Temple sacked, and Jerusalem abandoned. It would break the hearts of the righteous to see it.

Isa 57:3  “But come here, You sons of the sorceress, You offspring of the adulterer and the harlot!

Isa 57:4  Whom do you ridicule? Against whom do you make a wide mouth And stick out the tongue?

I gave up sticking out my tongue at a very young age. One of my brothers (I can’t remember which on account that my traumatic memory represses it) hit me under the chin while I was sticking out my tongue at him. Effective.

Isa 57:4  … Are you not children of transgression, Offspring of falsehood,

The Jews disowned the LORD. They took on the characteristics of their new ‘parents.’ We see three such traits in verses 5, 6 & 7.

Isa 57:5  Inflaming yourselves with gods under every green tree [This is sexual perversion. The pagan religious rituals were fertility based  They involved all manner of perverse sexual behavior. Anything you could imagine that you should not imagine]. Slaying the children in the valleys, Under the clefts of the rocks? [This is exactly what it says – child sacrifice].

Isa 57:6  Among the smooth stones of the stream Is your portion; They, they, are your lot! Even to them you have poured a drink offering, You have offered a grain offering. Should I receive comfort in these?

Isa 57:7  “On a lofty and high mountain You have set your bed; Even there you went up To offer sacrifice [This is idolatry].

Isa 57:8  Also behind the doors and their posts You have set up your remembrance; For you have uncovered yourself to those other than Me, And have gone up to them; You have enlarged your bed And made a covenant with them; You have loved their bed, Where you saw their nudity.

Their homes were supposed to be centers of learning about the LORD, but the people had made them places of idol worship and adultery. Instead of teaching the children the LORD’s statutes, they were laying them on burning-hot idol statues.

Isa 57:9  You went to the king with ointment, And increased your perfumes; You sent your messengers far off, And even descended to Sheol.

Judah was an adulterous queen who decorated and perfumed herself to court other nations.

They went as far as “Sheol.” Wait, what? Sheol is the place of the dead. They didn’t physically enter Sheol. We are reminded that there are real supernatural forces behind the chaos of this world, always seeking to devour us.

Isaiah 57:10 in the CEV reads, “Though you tired yourself out by running after idols, you refused to stop. Your desires were so strong that they kept you going.”

Unbelievers baffle me with their resistance to Jesus. Just when I think they are about to open to Jesus’ knocking, they bar the door with false optimism that they can handle life without God’s help. Even as they lose the things they believed would satisfy them.

Isa 57:11  “And of whom have you been afraid, or feared, That you have lied And not remembered Me, Nor taken it to your heart? Is it not because I have held My peace from of old That you do not fear Me?

Isa 57:12  I will declare your righteousness And your works, For they will not profit you.

Isa 57:13  When you cry out, Let your collection of idols deliver you. But the wind will carry them all away, A breath will take them. But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land, And shall inherit My holy mountain.”

They did not fear the LORD because in mercy He delayed discipline. If the Lord did not delay discipline, there wouldn’t be a church. Ananias & Sapphira were struck dead for lying to God the Holy Spirit. Are we without sin?   

God will one day “declare” the self-righteousness of the unsaved. It will prove insufficient to save them.

Unbelievers may feel secure, but even a wind as weak as a breath can topple them.

“Let your collection of idols deliver you” is a terrifying epitaph that could be engraved on the majority of headstones in cemeteries.

“But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land, And shall inherit My holy mountain.” God, by His providence, always preserves a godly remnant in Israel. In the future, “all Israel” will be saved at the Lord’s return.

What about us, as a nation?

✏ Child sacrifice? Check that box. According to the CDC, in 2021 there was one abortion for every five newborn children in the US.

✏ Sexual perversion? It seems the latest rage among celebs and the powerful is sex-trafficking of human beings, including and especially children.

✏ Idolatry? Sure – it is everywhere you look.

There are no statistics on the accelerated perishing of the righteous. I think we must concede, however, that righteousness has been on its way out for quite some time in our country. We call evil good, and good, evil.

Is the End near? We think so. But we also agree with something A.W. Tozer wrote. “When He returns is not as important as the fact that we are ready for Him when He does return.”

#2 – When You See The Righteous Removed, The End Is Here (v14-21)

In verse one we read, “While no one considers That the righteous is taken away from evil.”

As a general principle God will not destroy the righteous with the wicked.

Examples might be better than arguments. Lot, the nephew of Abraham, was living in Sodom when the angels came to destroy it. Abraham bargained with the LORD, saying, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?” (Genesis 18:23). The LORD said He wouldn’t. The angels got Lot away before the fire & brimstone.

There are other examples, e.g., Rahab who converted & was saved when Joshua fit the Battle of Jericho.

The early church historian Eusebius tells of a prophetic oracle given to the Jerusalem church that caused Christians to flee before its destruction in AD70.^[1] Did every believer get out of Jerusalem in time? Maybe!

God does not destroy at all. He saves. Any destruction is deserved, and the LORD is willing to save any who simply believe Him.

Isa 57:14  And one shall say, “Heap it up! Heap it up! Prepare the way, Take the stumbling block out of the way of My people.”

“Heap” means build. It describes getting the road(s) ready for the righteous to travel. He’s describing a return to Jerusalem. One such return would happen after the 70yr Babylonian captivity. Another would happen in 1948 and continues to this very day.

Ultimately, this is describing pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the Millennial Kingdom.

“Stumbling-block” is a name of Jesus.^[2]

The Jews ‘stumbled’ over Jesus in His First Coming, but will receive Him as King at His return.

Isa 57:15  For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

“Contrite” means that which is broken, crushed, beaten small, trodden down. Heart attack survivors often describe feeling like an elephant is sitting on their chest. The real ‘elephant in the room,’ so to speak, is sin crushing your soul. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up. You’ll be able to breathe as God the Holy Spirit takes residence in you.

Isa 57:16  For I will not contend forever, Nor will I always be angry; For the spirit would fail before Me, And the souls which I have made.

Don’t read this as if the LORD was fed-up with them. He’s saying that if He didn’t intervene, the human race would “fail.”

It is similar to what Jesus said to those Jews who would find themselves in the future Time of Jacob’s Trouble. “And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (Matthew 24:22).

This is the incredible longsuffering of God. He will wait as long as He possibly can in order that the greatest number of people will be saved.

Isa 57:17  For the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry and struck him; I hid and was angry, And he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.

Isa 57:18  I have seen his ways, and will heal him; I will also lead him, And restore comforts to him And to his mourners.

Isa 57:19  “I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near,” Says the LORD, “And I will heal him.”

The “him” the LORD is talking about is the nation of Israel. God disciplined “him,” then waited, but Israel went on backsliding.

Still, after all that, the LORD would “lead” Israel back, “restore,” give him “peace” to sing about. Twice the LORD simply said “I will heal him.”

Israel remains the chosen nation of God, the Apple of His Eye. “Has God cast away His people? Certainly not! God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew” (Romans 11:1-2).

Isa 57:20  But the wicked are like the troubled sea, When it cannot rest, Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

Isa 57:21  “There is no peace,” Says my God, “for the wicked.”

If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, you may not call it peace, but that is what your heart is always seeking. It’s why you’re never truly satisfied. You don’t have peace with God, and therefore you can’t know the peace of God.

All the while, the Lord is seeking you, drawing you, loving you.

Jesus came in the first century and made a genuine offer to establish the Kingdom. His offer was officially rejected. He was crucified, buried, then rose from the dead. As He ascended, the promise of the Kingdom was renewed. The disciples were told Jesus would return, and He will.

His Return is preceded by a 7yr time of great tribulation. It is called the Time of Jacob’s Trouble because it is a time set for God to bring Israel to salvation.

We are not Israel. We are the Church. Jesus promised the Church, “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the Earth” (Revelation 3:10).

We will be kept “from” the Tribulation by being taken away.

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (First Thessalonians 4:16-17).

When the Church is resurrected & raptured, and the righteous are “taken away,” the end is here. The four horsemen ride out of Heaven’s stables and the Time of Jacob’s Trouble follows the course set down in chapters 6-20 of the Revelation.

Again quoting Tozer, “Let us be alert to the season in which we are living. It is the season of the Blessed Hope, calling for us to cut our ties with the world and build ourselves on this One who will soon appear. He is our hope – our Blessed Hope enabling us to rise above our times and fix our gaze upon Him.”

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Footnotes[+]

Footnotes

↑1	Eusebius, ‘Church History’ 3.5.3
↑2	Matthew 21:44