The prophet must not only preach this, but he must write it (verse 8), write it in a table, to be hung up and exposed to public view; he must carefully note it, not in loose papers which might be lost or torn, but in a book, to be preserved for posterity, in perpetuam rei memoriam—for a standing testimony against this wicked generation; let it remain not only to the next succeeding ages, but for ever and ever, while the world stands; and so it shall, for the book of the scriptures no doubt, shall continue, and be read, to the end of time. Let it be written, to shame the men of the present age, who would not hear and heed it when it was spoken. Let it be written, that it may not be lost; their children may profit by it, though they will not.

If you are still counting, this is the fourth woe to be mentioned. God has said in effect, “Don’t go to Egypt for any help, because it won’t be a good outcome for you. Their help is just like a mirage out upon the desert.” The message to us is this: “Do not go to others for help, come to Me and ask!”

They would not consult God. They would do things of their own devising, and not advise with God, though they had a ready and certain way of doing it by Urim or prophets. Are we not the same way today, beloved? Do we not, in effect, put up a hand and tell God, “I’ve got this one, Lord!” How mistaken we are.

They could not confide in God. They did not think it enough to have God on their side, nor were they at all solicitous to make Him their friend, but they strengthened themselves in the strength of Pharaoh; they thought him a powerful ally, and doubted not but to be able to cope with the Assyrian while they had him for them. The shadow of Egypt (and it was but a shadow) was the covering in which they wrapped themselves. We do the same thing today, putting our faith and trust in things that are but temporary or that are inept at protecting us from attack. They were, in profession, God’s children; but, not trusting in Him, they were justly stigmatized as rebellious; for, if we distrust God’s providence, we do in effect withdraw ourselves from our allegiance.

These people of the northern kingdom sent their beasts of burden down into Egypt with valuables upon them to offer up to Pharaoh. They were going to great expense to secure an alliance to stop the Assyrians. However, they overlooked the fact that the Egyptians did not hold them in very high esteem. They looked down their noses at the Jews, they felt that they owned nothing of great value.

In essence these people were throwing away their money. Rather than turn to God and enquire of Him what they should do to avoid captivity into Assyrian hands they attempt to buy protection. They ought to have fallen upon their knees in prayer before God and done what He asked of them. If they had done so, God would have protected them from any harm.

And there we have it. What aid they do give will be done in vain. It would seem that they were more content to procrastinate. That is all for today, next up will be coverage of verses 8-12. Until then, may Christ bless you in all of your endeavors. May you remember to include Him in your daily plans.

~Eric

Here we are looking into our future, just as these people were. Is Lebanon considered today to be remotely close to being a “fruitful field?” I haven’t read of any reports claiming it to be thus. So this is a future event, something still to come in history.

They will hear the words of what book? I would hazard to guess that it is the Word of God. We are talking about spiritual deafness and blindness in people. “And in that day” reminds us again of the time period being spoken of, that of the end times. In that time the spiritually blind and deaf will no longer be that way. They will know God is the Creator and that Christ is His only begotten Son.

One more word for verse 18; there is that old saying, “No one is as blind as those who will not see.” Today there is willful blindness, an absolute refusal to “see.” When Christ returns everyone will see. They might not accept Him as their Lord and Savior but they will see the truth. When Christ ushers in the millennial kingdom the poor and the meek shall be rejoicing.

What will people do with the name of God in that day? They will make it holy; they are going to set it apart as something wonderful. God’s people today ought to be sanctifying the name of God. Here we can see that “in that day” those who have made mistakes in spiritual matters will gain understanding. Those who muttered quietly about biblical doctrines that they did not like will learn true doctrine. What a wonderful time that shall be! Yes, judgment will be brought to the entire earth, but people shall have their eyes opened to see the truth.

This completes chapter 29. Next time we meet, God willing, we shall delve into chapter 30 which relates God’s message to Judah to not ally itself with Egypt against the Assyrian army. Rather they should ally themselves with God. That is for next time. Until then, may Christ richly bless you in all of your endeavors.

~Eric

If we had lived in Isaiah’s day we would be scratching our heads wondering what in the world he is talking about here. All of the people went to the temple. It was crowded, sacrifices were being offered all of the time. There was a place for the men, a court for the women, and a court for the Gentiles. So why did God find fault with them? They were all coming to the temple, but they went through all of the ritual with their mouths. It did not mean anything to them. They had no heart belief in what they were saying. They did not accept the Word of God. This is why He judged them, and it is the reason why He will judge us today. Do we go to church services to worship Christ, or is it to impress someone? Do we go to praise Him for saving us from our sins, or is it to do what is expected of you? The curse of our world today is religion, not faith. God wants us to jettison our religion and enter into a personal relationship with Christ. Christianity is not a religion, it is all about a relationship with Christ Jesus. We all must be quite careful when we listen to leaders amongst our church congregations. Are they preaching Christ, or are they preaching something that they have concocted up?

It is a spiritual judgment with which God threatens to punish them for their spiritual wickedness (verse 14): I will proceed to do a marvelous work. They did one strange thing; they removed all sincerity from their hearts. Now God will go on and do another; He will remove all sagacity from their heads. The wisdom of their wise men shall perish. They played the hypocrite, and thought to put a cheat upon God, and now they are left to themselves to play the fool, and not only to put a cheat upon themselves, but to be easily cheated by all about them. Those that make religion no more than a pretence, to serve a turn, are out in their politics; and it is just with God to deprive those of their understanding who give up their uprightness. This was fulfilled in the wretched infatuation which the Jewish nation were manifestly under, after they had rejected the gospel of Christ; they removed their hearts far from God, and therefore God justly removed wisdom far from them, and hid from their eyes the things that belonged even to their temporal peace. This is a marvelous work; it is surprising, it is astonishing, that wise men should of a sudden lose their wisdom and be given up to strong delusions. Judgments on the mind, though least taken notice of, are to be most wondered at.

God indicates how dire it will be to those who attempt to hide their decision making from God. These people think that they are quite adept at craftily hiding themselves from anyone seeing what they do. This chapter speaks to two woes because 1) the people act as if God does not see or know, and 2) they act as if they are getting away with it.

The absurdity of their politics is demonstrated in verse 16: "Surely your turning of things upside down” thus, your various projects, turning your affairs this and that way to make them shape as you would have them—or rather your inverting the order of things, and thinking to make God’s providence give attendance to your projects, and that God must know no more than you think fit, which is perfectly turning things upside down and beginning at the wrong end— “shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay“. God will turn and manage you, and all your plans, with as much ease and as absolute a power as the potter forms and fashions his clay. See how God despises, and therefore what little reason we have to dread, those contrivances of men that are carried on without God, particularly those against him. Those that think to hide their plans from God do in effect deny Him to be their Creator. It is as if the work should say of him that made it, "He made me not; I made myself.’’ If God made us, He certainly knows us as the Psalmist shows, (Psalm 139:1, 13-16); so that those who say that He does not see them might as well say that He did not make them. Much of the wickedness of the wicked arises from this, they forget that God formed them, Deuteronomy 32:18. Or it comes to the same thing, they deny Him to be a wise Creator: The thing framed saith of him that framed it, He had no understanding; for if He had understanding to make us so curiously, especially to make us intelligent beings and to put understanding into the inward part (Job 38:36), no doubt He has understanding to know us and all we say and do.

Are we to be so arrogant then, to think because we now have science

These verses speak of the time when Israel will be surrounded by armies seeking to destroy her. It is the end times (oh, I guess that might make me a domestic terrorist according to the Dept. of Homeland Security!) and we are informed here that just as when we dream of eating and drinking our fill in a dream at night and wake up still hungry and thirsty so it will be with those massive armies that try to destroy Jerusalem. The intent of those armies will be just like one of our dreams. It will not become reality. God will defend His people. The unbelievers are dreaming when they think they will be able to utterly destroy Jerusalem and Israel.

This final siege of Jerusalem will be the worst of all history, just read Zechariah 14. God shall intervene and deliver His people from extermination. The enemies of God shall try to usher in their own global kingdom but God will be the one who builds His kingdom and establishes it Himself and not through our actions. Get that? Christ establishes His kingdom on earth, not us. Christ told us that this was how it would happen, when He returns the second time (second Advent).

I believe that I have mentioned before that Isaiah is the prophet of the commonplace, that what he has written fits into our present day culture. Did God actually put them to sleep? How did He do it? We do know that God kept giving light to Israel; they kept rejecting it. They refused to accept the truth that He gave them. They could not see it, which revealed that they were spiritually blind. That is how God puts people “to sleep” and reveals that they are blind. Even some of the prophets and the princes did not anticipate this deliverance from God. They were as blinded to the future deliverance as the enemies of God. God says that they were as men who were drunk from liquor. How about today? Can you think of anyone in the Christian community who is “blind” to the deliverance offered by Christ Jesus? Anyone who is “blind” to the power that is offered to each of us upon salvation? Are there people that you know of who do not teach Christ, but put forth doctrines based upon the ever-changing thoughts of men? Is salvation of Christ, or is it Him plus something else? Or, could it even be something like what President Obama spoke of in Cairo, Egypt not too long ago, a faith in men? His speech pointed out that he believes, and trusts, in people. This is nothing but human secularism. This is dangerous ground to stand upon for it opens the door to trusting what others think before trusting in what God thinks. Enough of that, for now.

Here is depicted the current state of affairs in their day, and in ours today. Those who are educated enough realize that true understanding of the words in the Bible are sealed up to them for it is stated as such. Those who feel that they do not have enough education say that they cannot understand the Bible because of that shortcoming. Back then it was true that parts of the Bible were closed to men understanding them per God’s ultimate purpose. Today we have reached a point in history where most of the prophecy is now open for us to understand. Some parts remain closed off until the End Times are very close to happening, but the vast majority of scripture is available to be properly understood by each of us.

People still feel that prophecy is too obscure to be understood and to be useful in everyday living. If it is sealed up then we can know absolutely nothing about it. There are many preachers today who hold this very attitude: “The books of Revelation and Daniel are sealed books, you know. Nobody can understand them.” And then they refuse to preach them to anyone. What about those people who say that they are too busy to stop and study the Word of God? Are they falling under the title of “I am not learned?” Are they being obedient to the commandments of Christ? You see, there are all kinds of excuses offered by Christians, and non-Christians, for their own ignorance of the Scriptures. I exhort everyone who reads this post, “Do not believe them! God’s Word is very understandable, especially after you accept the fact that Christ Jesus came and reconciled Himself with us by dying upon that cross on Calvary as a substitute for us. He paid the debt created by our sins, He paid it willingly out of love for us. Now the scriptures can be opened up for us, we have access to His Holy Spirit to come and be our teacher of all truth.

An example of this: the story of Samson and Delilah. He is a terror to the Philistines through his acts of bravery as a Judge of Israel. He makes the mistake of falling in love with Delilah, a Philistine. She embarks upon a campaign of words to wear the man down in order to learn the secret of his great strength. He resists for a time, then gives in and tells her. She relays the information to her family members and they come during the night and shave off his hair. They bind him, poke out his eyes, and force him to grind grain in a gristmill for all of them. Nice story, what is the moral? Don’t trust women? Don’t tell anyone your secrets? Don’t trust members of your enemy? Don’t hang out with the enemy? Don’t marry into a family of your enemy? Some of these supposed morals are false. The first two are such. Those afterwards are true, some more so than others. What is the ending of this sad story? Samson slowly begins growing his hair back while he labors at grinding grain for the Philistines. Eventually they hold a huge conference and someone desires to have Samson before them so that they can gloat over their former nemesis. He is brought before them, led by a boy, and placed between two pillars. Samson has secretly regained his God-given strength and pushes these two pillars outward, bringing down the entire temple around him. He killed everyone there, including Delilah I would imagine. It says that in his death he killed more than during his entire lifetime. If you read about Samson you discover that he killed an awful lot of Philistines. In this last act of his, he killed more Philistines than in all of his previous days. So what is the real story here? Sweet justice for Samson, repaying them for plucking out his eyes? Or is this a story showing us an eternal truth? Samson had been graced by God to have superhuman strength as long as he did not cut his hair. God could have given him the strength without the hair but wished obedience from the man first. This was a covenant. All is well until Samson disobeys God and lusts after a woman of the people that God does not want him to associate with due to their beliefs concerning Him. Making matters worse, he sleeps with the woman on a regular basis thinking that nothing is wrong. He also has begun to forget all of the things that God has taught him. He forgets how he got his great strength to begin with. He forgets why God gave it to him. He gives away his secret. He pays a dear price for his faithlessness to God: loss of vision. He can no longer see anything. He is consigned to do physical labor, not knowing whether it is day or night. Moral of this story? Do not associate intimately with lost people. Do not unequally yoke yourself with a lost person. Do not ever forget what God has given to you. If you give it away then you shall become “blind” and be unable to see clearly. What we sow so shall we ultimately reap. In Samson’s case harvest time required his death also. God required his death in order to atone for what Samson had failed to live out. We must not foolishly live out our lives, beloved. We will end up losing our vision of what God wants us to do with our lives. We must always remember what God has done for us, how we have gotten back our strength through Christ Jesus. Once we have become blinded spiritually God’s price may be very severe for getting it back. It may not require our lives but it may require the loss of something very dear to us.

The word revelation is from the Greek word apocalypses, which means “unveiled.” God took the seal from the Book of Revelation so that it can be understood. The very beginning of the book tells the reader that all who do read this book will be blessed, and any who hear the reading of it will also be blessed. Does that sound to you like something that is closed up, unable to be used? It is the last book of the Bible, it requires some knowledge of the books that precede it in order to properly understand what it says.

Lots of people still say Revelation is a closed book. God will judge anyone for that kind of thinking because when He gives us light and we will not open our eyes, we become blind to the light. In Revelation 22:10 it says: “And he said unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.” It is not a sealed book, my friends. God has opened it up for all of us so that we may understand. We simply need the guidance of the Holy Spirit and that is only available after we accept Christ Jesus into our hearts.

That is all for today, beloved. Next time we will begin with a verse that condemns lots of so-called Christians today. With their mouth they praise God but with their day-to-day living they do not. God willing, we will meet here again to study His Word. I pray for all fathers everywhere that this might be a grand Father’s Day for them. May Christ abundantly bless you and your family this day!

~Eric

It is necessary here to establish the fact that Jerusalem is the city designated under the title of Ariel. This word means “lion like.” The word is found in II Samuel 23:20 which says, And Benaniah the son of Jehoida, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lion - like men of Moab…” A “lion like” man is an Ariel man. The word also carries the meaning of “the lion of God.” In Ezekiel 43:16 the same word is translated “altar” and, under certain circumstances, could mean “the altar of God.” Both designations are a fitting title for the city of Jerusalem. It is further identified as the city where David lived. The lion is the insignia of that family. Jesus Christ is called the “…Lion of the tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5:5). Additionally Jerusalem was the place where the Temple of God was, and the altar, of course, was there.

This prophecy began to be fulfilled in Isaiah’s time and it has continued down through the ages to today.

Before Nebuchadnezzar came and destroyed the city this prophecy was given by God. It marked the beginning of the time of the Gentiles as mentioned in Luke 21:24. The time of the Gentiles has not yet been fulfilled, it is still on-going.

Jerusalem today is much higher up than the original city was. It has been destroyed so many times, the debris leveled off, and then rebuilt that it is many feet higher now than during Christ’s time. God speaks of bringing peoples to besiege the city of David, of ongoing siege. It is the same rule that He employs with us as individuals today. If we refuse to repent and turn back to walking in His ways then He will build up “forts” and raise a ‘mount” all around us to bring resistance into our lives. He will initiate a campaign to change out minds. Of course, it remains for us to recognize what is actually happening to us, and respond appropriately.

That is all for today, beloved. Next time we are to find verses that talk of the final siege of Jerusalem, that final battle at the end of this age. Until then, may Christ richly bless each of you, and your families.

~Eric

Oh, that does not sound very comforting, does it? Have you ever visited with friends and stayed overnight, only to discover that the bed is too short? And the blanket and sheet are too short, leaving your feet exposed? It is an uncomfortable feeling all night long. You do not get a solid night’s sleep in for you are continually trying to alter your position in bed to get comfortable. God is telling these people that that is how their nightly sleep is going to be. They will have restless nights, every night. It was to be part of His judgment upon them.

When God comes to contend with these scorners, first, He will do His work, and bring to pass His act, He will work for His own honor and glory, according to His own purpose; the work shall appear to all that see it to be the work of God as the righteous Judge of the earth. Secondly, He will do it now against His people, as formerly He did it against their enemies, by which His justice will appear to be impartial; He will now rise up against Jerusalem as, in David’s time, against the Philistines in Mount Perazim (2 Samuel 5:20), and as, in Joshua’s time, against the Canaanites in the valley of Gibeon.

If those that profess themselves members of God’s church by their pride and scornfulness make themselves like Philistines and Canaanites, they must expect to be dealt with in the same fashion. Thirdly, this will be His strange work, His strange act, His foreign deed. It is work that God is backward to: He rather delights in showing mercy, and does not afflict willingly. It is work that He is not used to as to His own people; He protects and favors them. It is a strange work indeed if He turn to be their enemy and fight against them, ch. 63:10. It is a work that all the neighbors will stand amazed at (Deuteronomy 29:24), and therefore the ruins of Jerusalem are said to be an astonishment, Jeremiah 25:18. Lastly, we have the use and application of all this (v. 22): "Therefore be you not mockers; dare not to ridicule either the reproofs of God’s word or the approaches of His judgments.’’ Mocking the messengers of the Lord was Jerusalem’s measure-filling sin. The consideration of the judgments of God that are coming upon hypocritical professors of Christian faith should effectually silence mockers, and make them serious: "Be you not mockers, lest your bands be made strong, both the bands by which you are bound under the dominion of sin’’ (for there is little hope of the conversion of mockers) "and the bands by which you are bound over to the judgments of God.’’ God has bands of justice strong enough to hold those that break all the bonds of His law asunder and cast away all His cord from them. Let not these mockers make light of divine threatenings, for the prophet (who is one of those with whom the secret of the Lord is) assures them that the Lord God of hosts has, in His hearing, determined a consumption upon the whole earth; and can they think to escape? or shall their unbelief invalidate the threatening? We today must always keep these thoughts in mind for we easily slip into “sloppy thinking” and forget that God is in control of everything. God has appointed the time for everything to happen, there are no “accidents.” Every person ever born was intended to be born exactly that way by God for His reasons and purposes. Abortion is nothing less than a direct assault against God’s sovereignty over life. God decrees a new life to come into existence and man decides that this particular life is to be aborted. Man thinks that he has gained a victory over God! He is vain, and deluded in his thinking. That aborted life has simply gained heaven, and the abortionist has gained more “bands” that shall deposit him in the lake of fire at the end of this current age.

This parable, which (like many of our Savior’s parables) is borrowed from the husbandman’s calling, is introduced with a solemn preface demanding attention, He that has ears to hear, let him hear, hear and understand. The parable here is plain enough, that the husbandman applies himself to the business of his calling with a great deal of pains and prudence, and, as his judgment directs him, observes a method and order in his work. In his plowing and sowing: Does the plowman plough all day to sow? Yes, he does, and he plows in hope and sows in hope, 1 Corinthians 9:10. Does he open and break the clods? Yes, he does, that the land may be fit to receive the seed. And when he has thus made plain the face thereof does he not sow his seed, seed suitable to the soil? For the husbandman knows what grain is fit for clayey ground and what for sandy ground, and, accordingly, he sows each in its place— wheat in the principal place (so the margin reads it), for it is the principal grain, and was a staple commodity of Canaan (Ezekiel 27:17), and barley in the appointed place. The wisdom and goodness of the God of nature are to be observed in this, that, to oblige His creatures with a grateful variety of productions, He has suited to them a variety of earths.

Can you see, beloved, the spiritual application here? Our hearts and souls are the “soil” which God the plowman must turn over and break up the clods in it. Only in this fashion can the Word of God germinate and take root in our hearts. God desires good, fruitful harvests to be the result of what is in our hearts. This is also why Christ warned everyone that what a man sows so shall he reap one day. If we go about our lives sowing seeds of wickedness, violence, abuse, deceitfulness, spilling innocent blood, then so shall it be done to us. Perhaps even more so. This parable is very similar to one given by Christ, the one about the wheat and the tares.

A farmer must be careful how he harvests soft grains. Each type of grain must be handled differently.

Isaiah is saying that this is how God judges. Judgment is spoken of as the “harvest.” Individuals or nations determine the actual character of the judgment which is to befall them. So, if I am hard and resist God, I am a hard grain. I am a hard “nut” to crack, and the judgment is going to be severe for me. Mark these words, God will thresh you; and if you are a hardened sinner, the judgment will be severe and painful. You may very well lose all that you love and value in your life.

In Matthew 13 Christ speaks of the time of harvest. He describes how He shall send out His angels to remove all those who offend, all who do iniquity. Iniquity means a wicked thing or act. What a tremendous truth! I think that it is such a huge concept that many people refuse to seriously consider it happening one day. God will remove all that offends Him. This topic does not send warm fuzzy feelings coursing thoughout our hearts and souls but it is one that is ever so true. We must all realize that we decide our own judgment. If we listen to God then He will put us over where the wheat is to be, and we will be spared the severity of His coming judgment.

That completes chapter 28 and brings us to the next. Here we shall be confronted with prophecies about Jerusalem and must decide how to consider them. That is for next time. God willing we shall meet again, here, and open up the Word of God. May Christ abundantly bless you with health, family, and occupation.

~Eric

Judgment will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet. 

The punishing of the church’s enemies, against whom He will proceed in strict justice, according to the threatenings of the law. He will give them their deserts, and bring upon them the judgments they have challenged, but in wisdom too, and by an exact rule, that the tares may not be plucked up with the wheat. And when God comes thus to execute judgment these scornful men will be made ashamed of the vain hopes with which they had deceived themselves. They designed to make lies their refuge; but it will indeed prove a refuge of lies, which the hail shall sweep away, that tempest of hail spoken of in verse 2. Those that make lies their refuge build upon the sand, and the building will fall when the storm comes, and bury the builder in the ruins of it. Those that make any thing their hiding place but Christ shall find that the waters will overflow it, as every shelter but the ark was over-topped and overthrown by the waters of the deluge. Such is the hope of the hypocrite; this will come of all his confidences.

They fancied that when the overflowing scourge should pass through the land it should not come near them; but the prophet tells them that then, when others were falling by the common calamity, they should not only share in it, but should be trodden down by it. They boasted of a covenant with death, and an agreement with the grave; but it shall be disannulled, as made without His consent that has the keys and sovereign command of hell and death. Those do but delude themselves that think by any wiles to evade the judgments of God.

They are further told that it shall begin with them; they shall be so far from escaping it that they shall be the first that shall fall by it. That it shall pursue them closely: Morning by morning shall it pass over; as duly as the day returns you shall hear of some desolation or other made by it; for divine justice will follow its blow; you shall never be safe nor easy by day nor by night; there shall be a pestilence walking in darkness and a destruction wasting at noonday. This would seemingly refer to that judgment mentioned in Revelation that stalks the land in search of its prey both day and night. Hearing of its coming will not alleviate any of the fear and anxiety.

That is all for tonight, my friends. Next we shall look at the final verses of this chapter and consider the final judgment of God upon His people. God willing we shall meet here again. May Christ richly bless you and your family.

~Eric

All tables are full of vomit. See what a repugnant thing the sin of drunkenness is, what an affront it is to human society; it is rude and ill-mannered enough to sicken the beholders, for the tables where they eat their meat are filthily stained with the marks of this sin, which the sinners declare as Sodom. Their tables are full of vomit, so that the victor, instead of being proud of his crown, ought rather to be ashamed of it. It bodes ill to any people when so stupid a sin as drunkenness has become national. Here in verse nine God speaks of the wretched stupidity of this people, that they were unteachable and made no improvement of the means of grace which they possessed; they still continued as they were, their mistakes not rectified, their hearts not renewed, nor their lives reformed.

What it was that their prophets and ministers designed and aimed at was to teach them knowledge, the knowledge of God and his will, and to make them understand doctrine, verse 9. This is God’s way of dealing with men, to enlighten men’s minds first with the knowledge of His truth, and thus to gain their affections, and bring their wills into a compliance with His laws; thus He enters in by the door, whereas the thief and the robber climb up another way. Among the Jews it was common for mothers to nurse their children till they were three years old, and almost ready to go to school. And it is good to begin early with children, to teach them, as they are capable, the good knowledge of the Lord, and to instruct them even when they are but newly weaned from the milk. The prophets taught them as children are taught.

Christ cannot teach us anything as long as we stubbornly remain children, requiring breast milk. God’s Word requires us to want to chew on real meat, to feed upon solid food that requires digestion in order to comprehend truth. We cannot learn and understand spiritual matters except by learning one precept at a time and applying each to the next. It is akin to erecting a house. First a foundation, then a floor, then walls, ceiling joists, rafters, and then a roof. Landscaping comes last, making the house look like it fits into the surroundings. Lots of people want to jump right to the landscaping in spiritual matters and end up getting lost, discouraged, or disappointed. We cannot study about angels until we understand that there is another realm that exists all around us every day. We cannot study Satan until we have studied angels since he started out as a covering angel at the throne of God. We cannot properly understand the Tabernacle of the Wilderness until we accept Christ as our Savior and understand His willingness to bridge the distance between us and Himself due to the sin issue. We cannot properly study love until we understand the nature and character of God.

Beloved, we cannot study the doctrines of God by an unorganized method. We must study God’s Word in an organized manner, and build upon the foundation stone of Christ. Once we accept Christ as real, as authentic, and allow Him to come into our heart then we can begin to understand His Word properly for His Holy Spirit becomes our teacher.

That is all for today, my friends. Next time, God willing, we shall look at verses 12-16 which will expose how most people live their lives spiritually, and what God’s solution to this problem was. Until then, may Christ come into your heart today and lift your fears, anxiety, and worry from off of your burdened shoulders. May He show you the path to obtaining rest.

~Eric

The northern kingdom of Israel is here referred to as Ephraim. These are the ten northern tribes, also called Samaria. The picture is both literal and spiritual. As far as spiritual understanding was concerned, they were sensory impaired. To be spiritually drunk is to be filled with pride. This verse speaks of the fact that the northern kingdom might have appeared very fine but internally it was fading, it was falling apart. This is happening to America today, on the outside it might look great but within itself there is rot which is eating it from the inside out.

Here mention is being made to Gentiles who were to come and tear the people away from their Land. This is not referring directly to Christ even though He is a mighty and strong one. The Assyrians are the most likely candidate here. They were to come and invade and destroy the northern kingdom.

Do you agree with God here? Those who hoist up the crown of pride and place it upon their brow shall be trodden down by God. Isaiah writes about the future of the prideful here. A high level of civilization had been created in the northern kingdom with its creature comforts and outward beauty expressed in homes, gardens, streets, and trees. Doesn’t it always seem that God allows the wicked and the rich the best places to live in? It could be poetic justice. That is their reward, there will be no heaven for them upon death. The hill of Samaria is one of the most beautiful spots on the entire planet. Here is where Ahab and Jezebel lived in their palace. From this spot one can see the Mediterranean Sea, the Jordan valley, Mount Hermon, and the walls of Jerusalem. Prime real estate that.

That verse dealt with the near future in prophecy. Now we see Isaiah writing about the more distant future.

“In that day” means the Day of the Lord during the Great Tribulation. We see reference to the Millennial kingdom of Christ. At that time Christ shall reside in Jerusalem and rule the entire earth. All shall obey Him and give worship to Him. Ephraim through its pride wasted away its glorious beauty, consumed all that it saw. God will draw a remnant of believers to Himself who will serve Him faithfully in Jerusalem. Christ will be a crown of glory to those who believe in Him as their Savior. He shall be a diadem of beauty.

In the business world, when a person begins to drink and indulge in sin they lose their sharpness in business. It is factual. God is making this same observation regarding the northern kingdom, “they err in vision.” I feel that this is still true today in our modern world. As enlightened as we might think we are, when we violate this rule of business we end up losing our sharpness of vision, our clarity of thought, and end up making errors that are very costly.

This passage applies today to any church denomination. Priests, pastors, elders, deacons, etc., who overindulge in strong drink will make mistakes in judgment, both spiritually and business wise.

That is all for today, my friends. God willing, we shall continue this study. Until then, may Christ bestow manifold blessings upon you and your family.

~Eric

Jerusalem may escape ruin, but the same cannot be said of all of the rest of her fair cities. Many cities shall face utter ruin due to the simple fact that they have rejected the Light, they have rejected Jesus Christ. The plain truth is spoken in verse 11 in that in each case they are people without any understanding of the real truth, of actual reality. Since it is God who has made each and every one of us, it is He that will have no mercy nor favor upon those who choose to reject His Son, Jesus Christ.

Once more we find that enigmatic phrase, “in that day.” Verse 12 speaks of the children of Israel being gathered one by one from all over. This could be meaning that both the physical descendants of Israel and the spiritual descendants of Israel shall be gathered at this time. What we can definitely discern here is that Israelis shall be restored to the Promised Land. The only question is when. If we believe the Word of God, what do we do with these two verses? Spiritualize them? How could we since they talk of literal places? We must believe this is something that shall happen, in the future.

It must be future tense here for “the great trumpet” has not been blown. No one has heard this trumpet yet. So this is an event that is yet to come. Friends, when God moves the Jews into the Land, God will move them. This is applicable both to the preaching of the gospel, by which sinners are gathered in to the grace of God, such as were outcasts and ready to perish (those that were afar off are made nigh; the gospel proclaims the acceptable year of the Lord), and also to the archangel’s trumpet at the last day, by which saints shall be gathered to the glory of God, that lay as outcasts in their graves. For what end shall they be gathered together?:  To worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem. When the captives rallied again, and returned to their own land, the chief thing they had their eye upon, and the first thing they applied themselves to, was the worship of God. The holy temple was in ruins, but they had the holy mount, the place of the altar,Gen. 13:4.  Liberty to worship God is the most valuable and desirable liberty; and, after restraints and dispersions, a free access to his house should be more welcome to us than a free access to our own houses. Those that are gathered by the sounding of the gospel trumpet are brought in to worship God and added to the church; and the great trumpet of all will gather the saints together, to serve God day and night in his temple.

That completes chapter 27. It was a chapter showing us glimpses of what is to come “in that day.” But now we turn our eyes to chapter 28 whose theme is that of fulfilled prophecy in the past. These are things that were prophesied locally and then came to pass.

That is what we shall begin to study next time, God willing. Until then, consider why you might feel that some sections of the Bible cannot be considered as real. This is an area that needs to be “nailed down” in our minds. We need to know why the entire Bible is infallible, why we can trust it more than what we see with our eyes. And that is the “rub” here, isn’t it? The fact is, we must trust God’s Word more than what we feel or what we hear, or what we see each day. Our five senses are fully capable of misleading us, and they often do. Christ warns us that Satan will deceive us into thinking that he is an angel of light, if we trust what we see rather than what we know.

May Christ richly bless all of you, my brothers and sisters in Christ!

~Eric