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Isa 28:9-18 - The Word of The Lord Was Unto Them Line Upon Line... That They Might... Be Snared"

Isa 28:9  Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Isa 28:10  For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
Isa 28:11  For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
Isa 28:12  To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
Isa 28:13  But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
Isa 28:14  Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
Isa 28:15  Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
Isa 28:16  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
Isa 28:18  And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

We return to our studies here in Isaiah today, and I have been looking forward to this study for several weeks now because it concerns one of the essential keys to the kingdom of God (Mat 16:19). This 'key to the kingdom of God' is the principle of line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. That is just another way of saying "proof texting", a practice used consistently by all of the Old Testament prophets and by the New Testament writers also.  'Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little' is actually a scriptural basis and justification for the habit of the prophets and the writers of the New Testament to "proof text", and actually take a line here and a line there and put them together to draw a spiritual conclusion and make a spiritual point, which none of us would just naturally conclude.

For example, look at these verses of scripture:

Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
Hos 11:2  As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

Here we have the Lord reminding us that He had called Israel out of Egypt and that as He was in the process of bringing them out of Egypt, they were in the very process of apostatizing from Him and sacrificing to Baalim. However, notice how  the holy spirit inspires the writers of the New Testament to apply these words to Christ being taken into Egypt by Joseph:

Mat 2:13  And when they [the wise men] were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
Mat 2:14  When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
Mat 2:15  And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

The New Testament writers do the same thing with these words in this prophecy of Isaiah:

Isa 7:1  And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.
Isa 7:2  And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.

Isa 7:10  Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
Isa 7:11  Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
Isa 7:12  But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
Isa 7:13  And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
Isa 7:14  Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Here we have King Ahaz being attacked by Israel and Syria, the two nations to the north of Judah. The Lord sends Isaiah to King Ahaz telling him to choose any sign he may wish, and the Lord will make that sign come to pass so the king will know that those two nations will be destroyed and will not conquer Judah. King Ahaz refuses to choose any sign and the Lord tells him:

Isa 7:14  Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

The Hebrew word translated 'virgin' here is:

H5959
עַלְמָה
‛almâh
al-maw'
Feminine of H5958; a lass (as veiled or private): - damsel, maid, virgin.

Total KJV occurrences: 7

Here is the breakdown of how this Hebrew word 'almah' is translated in the King James Version:

H5959
עלמה
‛almâh
Total KJV Occurrences: 7
maid, 2
Exo_2:8, Pro_30:19
virgin, 2
Gen_24:43, Isa_7:14
virgins, 2
Son_1:3, Son_6:8
damsels, 1
Psa_68:25

In the very next chapter we are told of Isaiah:

Isa 8:3  And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz [hasting to the booty, swift to the prey].
Isa 8:4  For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

The context of this prophecy in Isaiah 7 makes clear the Lord was telling King Ahaz that before Isaiah's new son could "cry, my father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria [would] be taken away [by] the king of Assyria". The context of this prophecy has nothing at all to do with a Savior coming to take away the sins of the people hundreds of years after King Ahaz. What difference would that have made to King Ahaz? Yet the writers of the New Testament 'proof text' this statement in Isaiah 28:14 and apply it to Mary and the birth of Christ:

Mat 1:23  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Luk 1:27  To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

Oh, how such an application of the Word of God is despised by those who hate this concept of "line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little"! The established religions of this age have always preferred the letter of God's Word and what it  says, as opposed to the spiritual meaning of God's Word. Yet it is beyond any doubt that Christ and all of His Words mean what they mean rather than meaning what they say. The spirit of the Lord's words do not mean what they physically speak of, rather they mean what they mean, and "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little" is a very clear demonstration of how "God has given [the natural man] eyes that they cannot see and ears that they cannot hear... the things of the spirit, "but blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear... the things of the spirit:

Rom 11:7  What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded
Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

"The holy spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual", and the natural man simply is not equipped to receive the things of the spirit. The things of the spirit are foolishness to him.

Hence the message of the first verses of our study today:

Isa 28:9  Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Isa 28:10  For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
Isa 28:11  For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
Isa 28:12  To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
Isa 28:13  But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Here are but a very few examples of the spiritual meaning of the words of scripture among the hundreds found throughout the Bible:

"The Lamb of God" is  not a literal lamb; His "bride" is not a physical bride; "the leaven of the Pharisees is not literal leaven; the cross we are to bear daily is not a literal cross; the death we are to die daily is not a literal death, "the mountain of the Lord's house" is not a physical mountain; His temple is not a physical temple; the great harlot is not a physical harlot, and "that old serpent" is not a physical serpent, etc., etc. Every number, every color, every beast, and all the different metals mentioned in scripture have a spiritual meaning and a spiritual significance which will never be known if all we are granted to see are the physical letters before our physical eyes and their primary physical meaning. The words of Christ were never intended to be understood in their primary physical meaning.

I was once told by a brother who was exasperated with the way I was applying the phrase "the words I speak to you are spiritual". He said to me, "Mike, sometimes the Bible simply means what it says. If Christ told Peter 'cast your net on the right side, and you will find fish' then all He is saying is 'cast your net on the right'. It is not some spiritual mystery being imparted!"

When I pointed out the spiritual meaning of "the right hand", and the fact that that phrase signifies the power and righteousness of God, to that brother's credit, he actually reconsidered what he had said:

Exo 15:6  Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.

Exo 15:12  Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.

Mat 25:33  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

The fish themselves which Peter caught when he cast his net on the right side signify the men Peter would bring into the kingdom of God:

Mat 4:18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
Mat 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

As a testament of just how truly "God has given them... eyes that should not see, and ears that they should not hear", it is a maxim in almost every seminary "If it can be taken literally, then that is how to best interpret the scriptures.' Nothing could be further from "the words that I speak to you, they are spirit..."

This chapter and our study today will deal with our old man who always just naturally prefers the natural meaning of the letter over the spirit of the Lord's Words. That mindset is the very definition of "a covenant with death":

Isa 28:14  Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
Isa 28:15  Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

Paul agrees with these verses of Isaiah when he tells us:

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

An example of how the letter kills is Christ telling His disciples they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood, while at the same time He tells them that He was the "true bread from heaven" and that if any man would eat his flesh, he would live forever. Not one word of His words here was meant to be taken literally:

Joh 6:53  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Joh 6:54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
Joh 6:58  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

Here we have our Lord telling us that any who cannot receive the spiritual meaning of the words He is speaking "you have no life in you". And this is what we are told of those listening to His words:

Joh 6:52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

Christ did not bother to stop and explain the spiritual meaning of these words, but immediately after speaking these words to His disciples Christ does say this about every word that proceeds out of His mouth:

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth [gives life]; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

What does the phrase "the words that I speak to you, they are spirit" mean? Do His words simply mean just what they say physically? If that were the case then why does Christ bother to tell us, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit..." Christ was obviously not speaking of literally cannibalizing His flesh. He had no interest in having anyone to literally drink His blood, and He is not telling us that He is literal bread which has been sent down from heaven to become His literal flesh in our mouths and stomachs. The words He was speaking, "they [were] spirit." Christ's words are His spiritual flesh which we are to spiritually eat. His Words are His very spiritual life, and His blood is what we are to spiritually drink, and He and His words and His doctrine are both our spiritual bread from heaven, and they are our spiritual drink, if we given to partake of His spiritual life. The words He was speaking, "they [were] spirit." Christ's words are His spiritual flesh which we are to spiritually eat. His Words are His very spiritual life, and His blood is what we are to spiritually drink, and He and His words and His doctrine are our spiritual bread from heaven if we given to partake of His spiritual life. "The [literal, physical] flesh profits nothing: the words [He] speaks to [us], they are spirit and they are life".

Yet until this very day, millions of Christians firmly believe that a physical wafer becomes the physical flesh of Christ, and a drink of physical wine is transmuted into the physical blood of Christ. That is a perfect example of "the letter [which] kills", and the doctrine of the transmutation of the body of Christ is nothing less than a covenant with death:

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

Yet the multitude to whom Christ spoke and to whom He ministered could not receive or understand the spiritual meaning of His words. This is their reaction, and this is the reaction of all flesh, our flesh included, to "the things of the spirit":

Joh 6:51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
Joh 6:52  The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

Joh 6:59  These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
Joh 6:60  Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?

These disciples symbolize most of Christ's disciples until this very day, and this is what happens with such "carnal... babes in Christ" (1Co 3:1-4):

Joh 6:66  From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

The Old Testament is also His Words:

Psa  119:105  NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

But the Lord's words are a light unto the path only of God's elect, "and the rest were blinded".

Rom 11:7  What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded

Isa 28:16  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
Isa 28:18  And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

Here is how verse 16 is quoted in the New Testament:

Rom 10:11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Rom 10:12  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

So the words of our study today are His words, and if we believe them we will not be ashamed, but we must realize 'they are spirit and they are life', including these His Words:

Isa 28:9  Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Isa 28:10  For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

Are we really being told that God is only teaching knowledge and giving the understanding of doctrine to physically mature humans, only after they are weaned from their mother's physical breasts? This is what we just read. You will not be given knowledge or the understanding of doctrine until you are "weaned from milk and drawn from the breasts". The fact is that these are words which are 'proceeding from the mouth of God', and therefore "they are spirit" (Joh 6:63), and as such they have a meaning which is portrayed to us by words which do not mean what they say, but which do mean what they mean. The fact that these words are proceeding out of the mouth of God makes them applicable to every one of us:

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

The 'milk' from which we must be weaned refers to 'milk doctrines' which are revealed to us at the end of Hebrews 5 and the beginning of Hebrews 6, which uses this same word and then tells us exactly what constitutes spiritual 'milk'.

Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

We are told that the invisible things of the spirit realm, the things of God, are understood by the things that are made.

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

That being the case, we can observe how a spiritual babe must first be nourished only on milk, "and not [on] strong meat". A physical baby cannot digest "strong meat", and will choke to death if he is fed steak instead of milk. A physical baby cannot even chew up a piece of meat, and even if a foolish adult were to put the steak in a blender and chew it up for the baby, so it does not choke as it swallows it, that little infant still does not have the means of digesting strong meat. All a babe is able to digest is milk, and that milk is very nourishing for that infant until it develops teeth.

It is also very instructive for us to carefully note that the teething process itself is very painful for a baby, but that painful experience signals that a child is now beginning to become capable of eating some more substantial food than just its mother's milk.  At long last this baby in Christ can now begin little by little to eat certain vegetables, but that child still cannot receive "strong meat". It must spend many months and sometimes years, eating pureed peas, sweet potatoes, beans and bananas. But it will still be a while before this "babe in Christ" will be capable of eating and receiving spiritually "strong meat. In time we will all become mature enough that we are no longer an infant, and we can now begin to eat and digest and be strengthened by "strong meat".  All of these "things that are made" are the letter of the Word of God, which the holy spirit uses to speak to us of physical adults who are spiritual babes in Christ. It is of utmost importance that "we which are [spiritually] strong... bear with the infirmities of the [spiritually] weak".

Part of the admonition to "bear with the weak" is to realize that all physical babies think they can do the work of an adult long before they can do so. I tell the story of my eldest son as a toddler watching my brother and I driving metal fence posts into the ground with a 16 pound sledge hammer. He was just three years old, and he asked, "Daddy can I do that?". I said, "Sure son, go right ahead." The poor little boy could not even lift 16 pounds off the ground, much less swing it and drive a stake into the ground with it. He had no idea of his limitations. He can certainly do so now, but that was 44 years ago.

In spiritual terms that little 3 year old was "such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat... unskillful in the word of righteousness for he [was yet] a babe", not yet ready to digest spiritually "strong meat", as we just read there in the last few verses of Hebrews 5. Now let's read the very next verses of scripture and discover exactly what constitutes spiritual "milk... of the Word":

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.

Those six doctrines are 'the milk of the word', and they include "eternal judgment" which mean universal salvation (Isa 26:9), and we are told that universal salvation is a milk doctrine and not strong meat at all.

"If God permit" we will "leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ [and we will] go on unto perfection", not remaining the spiritual babes which "have need that one teach [us] again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat." Here we have these six milk doctrines laid out before us as the very things which will prevent us from "going on to maturity" as the word 'perfection' is better translated.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Eph 1:8  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

We will not belabor the point that we are plainly told that we are all called "according His purpose", that "His will [is] according to His good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself, [and that we are all] predestinated according to the purpose of Him who [is] working all things after the counsel of His own will." (http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/after-the-counsel-of-his-own-will/)

Acknowledging that God creates both good and evil is essential to knowing who He is. Later in this same prophecy of Isaiah we are very clearly told:

Isa 45:6  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Earlier the holy spirit told us this:

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

The Psalms tell us the same thing:

Psa 90:3  Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

Then lest we still fail to get the extent of the sovereignty of God over all things, "Yes, even the wicked", we are again plainly told:

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

The apostle Paul tells us the same thing Joseph told his brothers (Gen 45:4-8). Paul and Joseph both tell us that when we sin it is not really us sinning but that our sins are the product of a law which God Himself has placed within our members. That law is called "the law of sin and death", and James tells us there is but one law giver. This message of God's sovereign hand in all things is a major theme of the scriptures from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21.

Notice Joseph's words to his brothers concerning the evil they had perpetrated upon him:

Gen 45:4  And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6  For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7  And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Now notice how Paul's words in the New Testament confirm this principle which, by God's sovereign design, is at work in the flesh of all men of all time:

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Applying the principle of "line upon line, and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little" we discover there is but "one Lawgiver":

Isa 33:22  For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.

Jas 4:12  There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

Our "one Lawgiver" is able to save and to destroy. But that decision does not depend on our fabled 'free will'. What the scriptures teach from Genesis to Revelation is that the Lord Himself makes that decision "after the counsel of His own will". So who are we to judge another for what the Lord is doing in the life of another brother or sister?

Exactly which things are done "after the counsel of His own will"? This is not a guessing game. The Lord wants us to know the Truth of this matter, so He tells us in very clear and plain language:

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

We even have a verse which explicitly states that nothing is done because of our will:

Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Yet in the face of all of these scriptures which declare that it is God who creates evil (Isa 45:7), that if there is evil in the city the Lord has done it (Amo 3:6), that He makes the wicked for the day of evil (Pro 16:4),  that He leads us to destruction (Psa 90:3), that He makes us to err from His ways (Isa 63:17), and that it is He who "leads [us] into temptation" (Mat 6:13), we have the leader of the largest single Christian church in the world this past December telling us that the Lord's prayer needs to be rewritten, "Because it disagrees with the doctrine of the church".

Here is a quote from the L.A. Times of December 8, 2017:

"Pope Francis has called for a rewriting of the Lord’s Prayer, saying the current translation gives God a bad name and, essentially, does not give the devil his due."

Later in this same article the Pope continues explaining why he wants to change the wording of the Lord's prayer:

"... In a TV interview this week, Pope Francis said that the line asking God to “Lead us not into temptation,”... should be changed because it has been translated badly.

“It’s not a good translation,” he told TV2000, a channel belonging to Italy’s conference of bishops, because it implies God actively pushes people into temptation.

“I am the one who falls,” Francis said. “It’s not Him pushing me into temptation to then see how I have fallen. A father doesn’t do that; a father helps you to get up immediately,” he added.

This Pope would correct Joseph when Joseph told His brothers that it was not they who sold him into Egypt, but God. He would tell the wisest man who ever lived, other than Christ, that God does not make the wicked for the day of evil. This Pope would deny that the Lord leads men to destruction, that He creates evil, or that He makes us to err from His ways and hardens our hearts from His fear. And it goes on and on and on. But the fact is that most all Christendom agrees with this Pope. It is few indeed who have not bought into the false, unbiblical doctrine of mankind's fabled 'free will'. The false doctrine of mankind having been given a will that is free from the providence of God is a lie by which the man of sin chuckles as he sits upon the throne of Christ in our hearts telling himself that he is the god we should worship, and that his will is the deciding factor in our salvation. He laughs at us as we point our fingers at anyone but ourselves as 'the man of sin'. This false doctrine nullifies the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice, and it would have you and me to rewrite Romans 9 to say, 'For He says to Moses, I will have mercy only on those who choose to obey me of their own free will, and I will have compassion only on those who choose to follow me of their own free will. So then it is only of him that wills and of him that runs and it is not solely of God's mercy... Therefore He has mercy only on those who choose of their own free will to serve Him, and He hardens only those who of their own free will choose not to obey Him.'

What a blatant lie when contrasted with the Truth:

Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

That is our study for today. I will close repeating our Lord's own words regarding your eyes and your ears, if so be you have been given to know His voice:

Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

These are the verses we will be covering in our next study. I am repeating verse 18 to remind us of the context.  As you are witnessing before your very eyes, "I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth."

Sandi and I are planning to be doing our next study in Boca Raton, Florida where we will be meeting our brother Beranger in the clay for the first time, along with our sister Selina from England. I hope there might be others also there in Boca Raton whom Sandi and I have never met before face to face. Please keep us in your prayers for safe travels.

These are the verses we will be covering in our next study. I am repeating verse 18 to remind us of the context. As you are witnessing before your very eyes, "I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth," first upon my inward 'earth' but in time in the outward kingoms of this world.

Isa 28:18  And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
Isa 28:19  From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
Isa 28:20  For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
Isa 28:21  For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
Isa 28:22  Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.
Isa 28:23  Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.
Isa 28:24  Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?
Isa 28:25  When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?
Isa 28:26  For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.
Isa 28:27  For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
Isa 28:28  Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.
Isa 28:29  This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.