ISAIAH FOR TODAY
I've promised you that I will go through all the Old
Testament books of the prophets, and give you the message from
them for us. When I say "us" I specifically mean the Jewish
people and the nations of North-Western Europe, Britain, and the
United States of America. The latter nations are the modern House
of Israel, and the former are the Jewish people scattered, but
specifically as called today "Israel" dwelling in the Holy Land.
The best Website on the Internet to prove that the House of
Israel is indeed the Western nations of the world is:
www.britam.org
A few points concerning prophecy is in order.
First, prophecy was written down for the dual or end-time
fulfilment. Please note Jeremiah 30:1-1-4. As Israel and Judah
were punished once in the captivities of Assyrian and Babylonian
invasions (House of Israel by the Assyrian Empire 745 to 718 B.C.
and the House of Judah by the Babylonian Empire 604 to 586 B.C.)
so there will be an end of days captivity for the same people of
Israel. If you continue reading Jeremiah 30 and verses 5-9 you
will find the end-time captivity is "Jacob's Trouble" and they
are not delivered out of it until David is resurrected (v.9) to
again rule over them under the Lord their God, who will come in
the person of Jesus Christ; hence the "second coming" of Christ
to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.
Second, some prophecy is ONLY for the first fulfilment,
other prophecies are in the main for the end-time fulfilment, and
some prophecy is dual, having a type fulfilment in the past and
again in the last years of this age, when all things that are
written will come to pass (see Luke 21:20-22).
This undertaking of mine is far from pleasant, the prophets
have a very serious message to bring to Israel and Judah - REPENT
OF SIN or be punished in no uncertain way. Then there is a joyous
side to the prophets, they tell of the time of RESTITUTION of all
things, the coming of the Messiah in glory, to set up the Kingdom
of God on the earth, a time of 1,000 years of transformation for
the physical earth, all nations upon it, and even the wild
animals will be changed to peace and harmony, the lion eating
straw like the ox, as in the wonderful prophecy of Isaiah 11.
Some prophecies are directed to the House of Judah and some
to the House of Israel, some include BOTH and may come under the
name "Israel." Those directed specifically to Judah or Israel
will have in type a message for the other also. In the first
fulfilment of punishment to Israel and to Judah, each had its own
"time" of punishment, as stated above. Not so at the second
fulfilment - both the House of Judah and the House of Israel will
fall into captivity punishment at the SAME time. Many studies on
my Website will show you the last 42 months, 1260 days, a time,
times, and dividing of a time (as the book of Revelation states
it) of this age, is the time when all prophecy written will come
to a crashing climax. It is not only Jacob's trouble (Israel -
all 13 tribes) as Jeremiah put it, but it is the trouble for the
WHOLE world, as the book of Revelation makes clear. Another key
to prophecy is knowing WHO the modern nations of the world were
when the prophets wrote. All nations have a history, where they
came from, in other words who they were a thousand years ago and
two thousand years ago, or three thousand years ago, or going
back in time 4 or 5 thousand years ago and maybe even further
back than that. My friend, the late Harold Hemenway did a detailed
study of the migration of the nations of Genesis 10, and who they
eventually became in our modern world. His research study "Migration
of the Nations" can be found on my website. Mr. Craig White has
also researched the origin of the nations. His book is called
"In search of The Origin of Nations" - a 471 page book 8 x 11 and
can be bought from Amazon.com or typing the name on the Internet where to buy.
It is a vital key, knowning who the modern nations are that the
Bible prophets were giving their message towards.
THE PROPHET ISAIAH
This will not be a verse by verse commentary but the
OVERVIEW of the message for our day.
ISAIAH WRITES: Generally accepted writing and prophecy of Isaiah
is from about 740 to 680 B.C.
CHAPTER ONE
Verse one: the prophecy begins specifically to the people of
Judah and Jerusalem.
The ox knows its stall, so does a horse, but Israel (as a
whole people, and the Jews are Israelites, though not all
Israelites are Jews, just as all Californians are USA citizens,
but not all USA citizens are Californians) DOES NOT KNOW her God.
Judah and Jerusalem are a nation laden with iniquity, evildoers,
corrupters, ones who have FORSAKEN the Lord. From the sole of the
foot to the head there is no soundness. Yes, this is talking to
YOU there in the Holy Land, in Jerusalem. You are a SINFUL
nation, you are not serving the Lord, you pollute His holy
commandments! You are the seed of Abraham only in name! You do
not do the works of your father Abraham, you are mainly a SECULAR
society. You do not serve the Holy One of Israel (v.3-6).
Because you do not serve the Holy One, your country will be
DESOLATE, your cities will BURN with fire, a stranger will come
and devour. The daughters of Zion will be as a besieged city. You do
not want, and you say there never will be another mass extinction of
Jews as perpetrated by Hitler and his gang in the Second World
War, but you are woefully wrong! You WILL go into punishment and
be depleted in numbers that unless the Lord of hosts had left you
a few, you would be as Sodom and like unto Gomorrah (v.7-9).
The Lord addresses you as Sodom and Gomorrah in verse 10.
You are to hear His word. He says to you (and in type then to ALL
the nations of Israel) what good is it that you come before Him
with an outward form of religion? You may have your Sabbath days,
your assemblies in His name, your appointed Festival days, BUT
HE DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THEM!! They are a TROUBLE unto Him. They
make Him weary! When you do spread forth your hands to hold them
up as if in worship to Him; He will HIDE HIS EYES from you; yes,
when you make many prayers, He WILL NOT HEAR! Your hands, your
way of life, is full of BLOOD! You are a VIOLENT society! You DO
EVIL! Your name under God, or "in God we trust" is HOLLOW! The
Almighty calls you to CEASE FROM DOING EVIL. You are to LEARN to
do well; seek judgment, help the oppressed, serve the fatherless
and the widow. Get your PRIORITIES straight! You spend BILLIONS,
even TRILLIONS, on things that do not make you a better people.
You NEED to LEARN what is GOOD and RIGHT and HOLY! You need to
LIVE by God's Holy Word, not just look at it or carry it under
your arm, on your Festival occasions, but you need to learn to
LIVE by it in all your ways, from the Government down to the
individual person (10-17).
Your God calls you to REASON together with Him. Though your
SINS be as SCARLET, they can be as white as snow, though they be
RED like crimson, they can be as white as wool. The Bible shows
you HOW to have your sins washed away. It tells you about SIN! It
teaches you about RIGHTEOUSNESS! It leads you to REPENTANCE, IF
you but will let it be your guide. IF you will be WILLING and
OBEDIENT, these prophecies need NOT come to pass, your punishment
need NOT come upon you, and you can enjoy the good of the land.
BUT if you REFUSE and REBEL, then know for sure that you WILL BE
DEVOURED BY THE SWORD! The Lord has spoken it! I do not know WHEN
your punishment will come, but I tell you with all confidence IT
WILL COME!! (v.18-20).
There was a time when you KNEW BETTER. But you have become a
HARLOT! Righteousness was once in you, but now murderers and
violence. Your silver is dross, your wine as diluted with water.
Your leaders (princes) are thieves in many matters, even the
matter of money and various corruptions behind closed doors. You
house people that are willing to be bribed, do anything for a
dollar. You have not looked after the fatherless and widow like
you should have, but you can spend TRILLIONS on warfare, space
exploits, and other careless spending.
Because you will NOT repent, not get things in correct
perspective, the Lord WILL turn His hand on you, He will thrash
you, purge away the dross, and take away all the outward
decorations that look good but underneath show only corruptible
sin. The Eternal WILL bring you BACK to the right pathway and you
shall again be called a CITY of RIGHTEOUSNESS, a FAITHFUL city.
Zion shall again be REDEEMED and converted to righteousness. The
sinners shall have their reward and be consumed. Your looking the
wrong way, desiring the wrong things, that look like nice gardens
on the outside, but inside is poisonous plants to kill you, and you
shall wither away as gardens without water. The strong shall be weak,
those promoting the wrong spark of life shall all burn up in the fire
of punishment and none will be able to put that fire out (18-31).
Only the Eternal God shall be able to stop that fire of
correction. And thankfully He will! Christ Jesus will come to
earth again, and put an end to rebellious Judah and Israel, and
to all peoples and nations that will NOT obey Him and His
commandments. For we have the wonderful promise of the first
verses of chapter two.
CHAPTER TWO
The word of the Lord concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It will
come to pass IN THE LAST DAYS - at the VERY END of this age, even
THE END, the mountain or Kingdom of God's house shall be
established on the top of the mountains or kingdoms of all
nations, and shall be exalted above the hills, all smaller nations
(Daniel 2:35 gives us a "mountain" is type of kingdom). And ALL
nations will flow unto it. Many people shall go and say, "Come
you, let us go up to the Kingdom of God, to the house of the Lord
God of Jacob; and He will TEACH us of HIS WAYS, and we shall WALK
in HIS PATHS; for out of Zion shall go forth the LAW, and the
WORD of the Lord from Jerusalem" (verses 1-3).
What a time! What a wonderful day indeed, when FINALLY all
peoples from around the world will not only ACKNOWLEDGE the ways
of God are the right and correct ways to live but will DESIRE to
want to LEARN His LAW, and want to walk in His path of
righteousness. The truths of the Lord will go forth from Zion,
from Jerusalem, like the shinning light that a lighthouse sends
out from on top of the hill overlooking the expanse of the sea.
The city of Jerusalem will one day be that lighthouse, sending
forth the laws and commandments of God to all nations.
The Lord God in the form of Jesus Christ shall be judge of
the world, and shall REBUKE, if needs be, the peoples of the
earth. And those people will beat their swords (their metal war
machines of all types) into implements for agricultural work,
their heavy machine guns into implements to fish by; NATIONS WILL
NOT LIFT UP SWORD AGAINST NATIONS, NEITHER SHALL THEY LEARN WAR
ANY MORE!!
Among all this bad news the prophets must tell you, and your
people wherever you live in the major nations of this earth, they
also tell you the GOOD NEWS that beyond the GREAT TRIBULATION
that is to come, there will be a NEW AGE, a 1,000 year age of
the Kingdom of God on this earth, that will be like nothing the
earth has seen since the time before Adam and Eve were cast out
of the garden of Eden. We shall see as we proceed through the
prophet Isaiah, many more passages that give us the sure promises
from the Eternal, what that age to come will be like. The house
of Jacob (all 13 tribes of Israel) will come again, be brought
back from captivity, and will walk in the light of the Lord
(verses 4-5).
Israel and Judah will need to be punished for their sins,
for mighty and grievous they are. Our sin of ABORTION on demand
is huge beyond measure. We now sanction homosexual and lesbian
marriage, even some church organizations allow priests and
ministers to be homosexual or lesbian. Evolution is taught in our
schools, violence is all around our nations and cities. It is not
only the Western world that so sin, it is ALL nations. Sin is
rampant in every nation on earth, some lesser, some greater. From
verse 6 to verse 22, God addresses the sin of all nations. Israel
and Judah will be scattered in captivity among many nations at
the end of this age. Those nations will have their silver and
gold, all kinds of physical treasures and machines of war. They
will have their idols, they will worship the work of their hands,
their people will bow down and serve the material work of their
material mind-set.
God tells them to enter into the rocks, to hide in the dust,
FOR THE FEAR OF THE LORD, because His GLORY AND MAJESTY IS ABOUT
TO BE POURED OUT ON ALL NATIONS! In that day the lofty looks of
man and his haughtiness will be brought down, in THAT DAY it is
only the Lord who will be EXALTED!
It is THE DAY OF THE LORD!! It is the time spoken about in
many places in all the old prophets of Israel. It is the time
called in the book of Revelation "the GREAT DAY OF HIS WRATH IS
COME, and who shall be able to stand" (Rev.6:17).
All that man looks to, in his sinful mind, all that man
esteems important, all that his physical mind holds as idols to
worship and govern his life by, will COME CRASHING DOWN! All high
powerful nations down to the smaller nations, the mountains and
the hills, all the fenced walls of armies and war machines to
protect, all the pleasures of material living, shall CRASH TO THE
GROUND! Only God will be EXALTED in that day! Peoples all over
the earth will FLEE to hide themselves in the rocks and caves of
the earth, for they WILL FEAR the Lord, they will FEAR His
MAJESTY .... WHEN HE RISES TO SHAKE TERRIBLY THE EARTH!!
All that man has made for himself to worship, and to lust
after and hold for himself, they shall cast to the bats and to
the moles of the earth, as they themselves flee into the CLEFTS
OF THE ROCKS, and into their dugouts, or flee to the tops of the
hills; they shall FEAR THE LORD, WHEN HE RISES TO SHAKE TERRIBLY
THE EARTH!
So it is written, so shall it come to pass. When will it be,
that is not revealed to us, in the lifetime of you reading these
words, maybe! In the lifetime of your children, maybe! In the
lifetime of your grandchildren, maybe!
Whenever it is to be, I cannot tell you, BUT KNOW THIS; OUR
SINFUL NATIONS WILL HAVE A DAY OF RECKONING; GOD IS NOT TURNING A
BLIND EYE TO ALL OUR SINS AND INIQUITIES, TO ALL OF OUR
LAWLESSNESS, TO ALL OF OUR TRAMPING OVER HIS GREAT AND GOOD AND
HOLY COMMANDMENTS. He is PATIENT, so the LONGSUFFERING of Himself
can bring SOME TO REPENTANCE NOW! But I tell you as sure as the
rising of the sun in its full strength, GOD WILL PUNISH THIS
EARTH AND THE NATIONS UPON IT FOR THEIR SINS, THEIR EVIL, THEIR
LAWLESS WAYS AND STEADY DECLINE INTO MORE AND MORE DEBAUCHERY.
Isaiah was inspired to finish this passage of thought with
these words: "Cease you from man, whose breath is in his
nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?"
Man is NOTHING! God is ALL IN ALL! You need to put your
trust and faith in Him, not the ways of man. You need to have a
respectful FEAR of the Lord, to LOVE Him with all your heart and
mind and life, to LOVE His Holy Word and His Holy Commandments;
then you can stand with David, and Daniel, with Abraham, Moses,
Paul, and all the saints of God in the RESURRECTION at the last
days. Then you can be a part of the Family of God, to help bring
the nations of Israel and the whole world BACK TO SERVING THE
ETERNAL GOD IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH.
..................
To be continued
Isaiah - a Prophet for TodayJudgment on Judah and Israel
CHAPTER THREE
The Lord God continues here with more judgment upon the
house of Judah and Jerusalem.
God will take away from you Judah, all the bread and water
you enjoy now. He will take away your army, your judges, your
religious leaders, the young and the old, the tradesmen, the
statesmen. You will be ruled over by the princes and babes, that
know no knowledge of the Lord, everyone will be oppressed, even
to the ancient or old of days, the unhonorable against the
honorable. The simple of mind, the uneducated in the wisdom of
God, shall rule over you. For the Lord looks at the time when
Judah is FALLEN, and Jerusalem is ruined, the time when you are
AGAINST the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.
You, the people of Judah, are so living today, your people
and nation as a whole have TURNED away from the Word and
Commandments of the Most High. You show in your daily living you
as sinners. You have given yourself the reward you deserve -
evil; you shall eat the fruit of your doings. Woe to the wicked,
for they shall be rewarded according to their works.
The Lord of Hosts says: "As for my people (all the tribes of
Israel), CHILDREN are their oppressors, and WOMEN rule over them.
Oh, my people THEY WHICH LEAD YOU cause you to ERR, and destroy
your paths" (verses 1-12).
Did you hear this oh Israel, your LEADERS cause you to ERR!
It makes no difference if they "go to church" - "carry the Bible
under their arm one day in seven" - "speak at times as though
they are 'religious'" - your leaders DO NOT KNOW the true God nor
do they know His commandments and the right ways to live under
God. You have allowed the wrong ideas of women and children to
lead you. All of your people, young, old, male, female, have turned
from the Law of the Lord!
The Lord stands up to plead, He stands to judge. He will not
always be longsuffering. The days come when God will enter into
JUDGMENT with the ancients of His people, and the princes
(leaders), for you have eaten up the vineyard of good and you have
neglected to look after the poor of the land, as you should have
done. You have beaten to pieces the people, and have pushed the
face of the poor as if in the dirt. Judgment will come, says the
Lord of Hosts!
Now, your God turns His attention to the daughters of Zion,
to the average woman, and in type, and because God is no
respecter of persons this prophecy applies to the daughters of
Israel as well as Judah.
Your daughters by and large, in your secular world, are all
out to be physically alluring, sensual, sexy.
I happened to see last night (April 2008) a part program on
TV that showed some of the "night-clubs" in your lands, where the
daughters, young ladies, frequent and DISPLAY themselves in all
their sexy clothes, even to their sexy underwear, while they
dance and get drunk (some interviewed saying they wanted to get
drunk) and lure the wanton eyes of all around. Your daughters of
your lands are shameless and "fornicating whores" dressed in the
so-called "respectability" of legal night-clubs.
Your TV stations, your "movie theatres," your advertisements
in all forms of media, are to advance the promotions of making
you "sexy." BUT the Eternal says the day comes when all these
"trinkets" - all these "jewels" - all this "fine linen" - all the
"chains and bracelets, and ornaments, and rings, and nose jewels"
etc. will be taken away. Instead of the sweet smell, there shall
be STINK, instead of well set hair, there will be baldness, a
BURNING instead of beauty. The day comes when your men whom you
desire shall FALL BY THE SWORD! And there shall be weeping and
lamentation in all your gates (verses 16-26).
CHAPTER FOUR
In that day, when it comes to pass, as the Eternal has said,
SEVEN women shall want to take hold of ONE man, to have in
marriage, for so depleted will be the men of your land (verse 1).
But, there is good news beyond the destruction. At that time
of trouble the BRANCH of the Lord (Jesus the Christ) shall be
beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth again becomes
excellent and comely, for those who shall be the escaped of
Israel, for those who shall not die. And it shall come to pass
for those who are left in Zion and those remaining in Jerusalem,
shall be called holy, all that are written among the living in
Jerusalem. When the Lord has WASHED AWAY THE FILTH of the
daughters of Zion, and will have purged the blood of Jerusalem
from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the
spirit of burning destruction. The Lord will create upon every
dwelling place in Zion, a cloud by day and a fire by night: for
upon the that glory of restitution shall be a defence. There will
come peace and safety, a shade in the hot daytime, and a place of
refuge from the storm and rain (verses 2-6).
Yes, Zion, Jerusalem, you shall know PEACE and SAFETY, a
refuge in the time of storm. You do not know it today, you will
not know it tomorrow, for much tribulation is yet to devour your
people and children and sons. But your Messiah, the Branch of
God, shall come and bear glorious fruit, you shall then know Him
and be brought back to Zion and Jerusalem, from the captivity
whence you have been taken. You will then REPENT, and you will
dwell safely in the land of promise.
The start of the 1,000 years of the Kingdom of God on earth
will not be all roses around the world, some will yet need to
come to know the Lord, to repent of sin, to put away their
weapons of war. There will be much to say and do for other
nations to bring them to the light of God, but you Israelites,
now dwelling back in Jerusalem and Zion and the Holy Land
promised to Abraham and his descendants, there will be peace and
safety.
CHAPTER FIVE
The Eternal now sings a song to His beloved people, to their
vineyard. The Lord took it to bring forth sweep grapes but it
brought forth wild grapes. He says to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem and to the men of Judah, they are to judge, to
understand what this parable is all about. He says He will take
away the protective hedge and break down the walls thereof, so
the vineyard can be trodden down: so it can be laid WASTE: be not
pruned and dug, but so thorns and thistles come up. The clouds
will He command to not bring rain (verses 1-6).
What, or WHO IS this vineyard? God answers, He tells us, He
interprets for us .... the vineyard is the HOUSE OF ISRAEL and
THE MEN OF JUDAH ... his pleasant plant. The Lord looked for
JUDGMENT, right understanding of how to live, but behold He found
only OPPRESSION; for righteousness ... but behold there is a CRY
SAYING......
WOE - to them who build house upon house, field upon field,
settlement upon settlement. For it shall all become DESOLATE,
without inhabitant.
WOE - to them who rise up early and stay up late at night to
party and drink until they are drunk. The Lord looks and He sees
in Israel that music and fancy dress and lovely decorations are
in your Feasts: BUT you do NOT regard the true works and ways of
the Lord, neither do you consider the true work of His hands, you
have a FALSE religion, you have as the apostle Paul said would
come in the last days, a FORM of religion but you DENY the POWER
thereof!
You are going into captivity because you have NO TRUE
KNOWLEDGE, and your leaders are FAMISHED to know the RIGHT ways,
and dried up as a desert. Hell is going to open its mouth and all
of your ways and frivolous pomp and festivals will descend down
into it. The mighty as the world looks at mighty, will be
HUMBLED! God that is Holy shall be EXALTED IN JUDGMENT and
sanctified in RIGHTEOUSNESS. There will be a burning and
strangers will eat the fat of the land.
WOE - unto them that pull INIQUITY with cords of vanity, and sin
as it were with a cart rope, pulling more and more SIN into the walk
of life in Israel and Judah. You laugh at God, and in mocking
words tell him to "bring it on" - so one day He will!
WOE - to them that call EVIL "GOOD" and GOOD "EVIL" - that put
DARKNESS for "LIGHT," and LIGHT for "DARKNESS;" that put BITTER
for "SWEET" and SWEET for "BITTER." You have it all BACKWARDS and
UPSIDE-DOWN and INSIDE-OUT! You do NOT know the truth from the
false, you do NOT know sin from righteousness. Your leaders in
secular life and religious life have turned right into wrong and
wrong into right.
WOE - to them who are wise in their own eyes, who do not seek the
wisdom of God, but trust in their own ways, who make up false
ways to act and live and practice, as if it is from God. They
have become a law unto themselves, and even worship the Almighty
with the traditions of men.
WOE - to them who think it is clever and some act of greatness to
drink wine and strong drink, as if the more the better, which
then justify giving rewards to the wicked ... "come on I'll dare
you to do this, I'll give you some reward." So we have those who
drink and drink and then perform some horrible act upon man or
beast, anything to get some fame or a few dollars on a "bet." Who
so drunk they take away the righteousness from the righteous,
they know not what is good and proper any more. We see it in the
news each day, of people drunk on wine or drugs, who then commit
acts of brutality and violence.
......
Yes, WOE be to all who so live, the day of judgment draws
nigh (verses 8-23).
Therefore says the Mighty One, the fire will come and
devour, the flame will come and consume, and the blossom of God's
people shall be as dust. WHY? Oh WHY is this to happen? Look! See
what the Word of the Lord says:
"BECAUSE THEY HAVE CAST AWAY THE LAW OF THE LORD OF HOSTS AND,
DESPISED THE WORD OF THE HOLY ONE of Israel!! (verse 24).
You have many in your "religion" who teach the law of God
is abolished, that grace allows YOU to decide what is sin or
righteousness.
Therefore, the ANGER of the Lord is kindled against His
people, and He has stretched forth His hand against them, and
hath SMITTEN them; the hills did tremble, their bodies were torn
in the midst of the streets, but His hand is still stretched out
.... He will yet Oh Israel put up a sign, call with a hiss from
the ends of the earth, and BEHOLD HIS BATTLE AXE will come,
swiftly it will come. They shall not slumber or sleep any more,
they have put on their armor, they have one purpose in mind,
which cannot be broken. They have their sharp swords, their
weapons are strong like the whirlwind. They shall roar like the
lion, like young lions, to lay hold of the pray and carry it
away. None can be delivered from them.
It shall come to pass oh people of Israel and Judah that
your enemy can no longer be held back, your SINS will have turned
the longsuffering and patience of God to ANGER and JUDGMENT. In
that day the enemy from afar will ROAR like the sea, and if one
looks at the land only DARKNESS AND SORROW is seen. When it is
light, it shall be DARKNESS in the DESTRUCTION thereof (verses
24-30).
.................
To be continued
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