The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 10 Discussion

1 file(s) 10.45 MB

Download

Isa 2:6-14 Enter Into The Rock

Isa 2:6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
Isa 2:7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:
Isa 2:8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
Isa 2:9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.
Isa 2:10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
Isa 2:11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
Isa 2:12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
Isa 2:13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
Isa 2:14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,

Our study today will demonstrate that it is God who leads us into temptation, and it is He who brings us out. We will see that this was His plan from "before the world began" (2Ti 1:9 and Tit 1:2) and that He is carrying out this plan in every life (Ecc 9:2), "each in his own order" (1Co 15:23). It is this knowledge which will explain the abrupt change in tone between the last week's study and this week's study.

The first five verses of this chapter are in stark contrast in tone, and in time, to the entire first chapter of Isaiah. Both chapters are addressed to the same audience, to the Lord's own people. Of course all men are the Lord's creation, and thereby they belong to Him, but scripture is not intended to be understood by all men at this time, as Matthew 13 and Ephesians 1 make clear concerning the difference between those who "are not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" in this age, and those who are given "eyes that see... and ... ears that hear" in this age, and who are given to be those "who first trusted in Christ":

Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

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.

Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
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:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Paul says "In whom we have redemption". So we must ask, "is that not referring to all who will be given life in Adam (1Co 15:22)?" The answer is an unequivocal, No, it is not! We know this is so, because he qualifies all these personal pronouns with "We... who first trusted in Christ", and he tells us we were chosen in Christ "before the foundation of the world [to be] those who fist trusted in Christ" . He is not at this place in scripture speaking of or to 'all in Adam'.

Verse 10 is speaking of 'all in Adam as well as all the heavenly realm:

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:

This next verse is the "we" of Ephesians 1, and this is who Isaiah also is addressing in this age:

Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Those who first "enter into the Rock.. for the fear of the Lord " are those to whom it is given to be those for whom "judgment must first begin" (1Pe 4:17), those who are the first to be "given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" and who were "chosen in Him before the foundation of the world... to be the firstfruits unto God and the lamb" (Rev 14:4). These are "the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb" (Rev 14:4). But they are nowhere ever called 'the only fruits". This first harvest is said to be "few", and these few are called those who "first trusted in Christ". It will be these "few... who first trusted in Christ [who will] have part in the... blessed and holy... first resurrection" (Rev 20:6).

Just as the phrase "the first resurrection" necessitates a later resurrection at the "great white throne judgment", so also does the phrase "the firstfruits" necessitate a later harvest of "all in Adam" (1Co 15:22), at that same later "great white throne... judgment". Those who are resurrected at this later, great, white throne judgment are those who are raised to what the King James calls the "resurrection of damnation".

Joh 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life ["the first resurrection"]; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [resurrection of condemnation, not "damnation'].

The 'condemnation' is the same condemnation under which our own old man, our own "first man Adam", is condemned:

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God [in either resurrection]; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

But contrary to what the daughters of the great harlot teach about how easy it is to become a faithful disciple of Christ and to appear in that blessed and holy first resurrection, the truth is the exact opposite, that it is only through "much tribulation that we must enter into the kingdom of God.

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

The message of our study is that we must all, each in our own time, first be the children of that great whore, who are "not given... to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven... because you have forsaken you children" (Isa 2:6). Only after we have spent a symbolic 'seventy years' being completely deceived by the great harlot, then we must all "come out of her" (Rev 18:4) before we can truly "enter into the Rock... for the fear of the Lord (Isa 2:10)". All these words are addressed to us, and they are "for [our] sakes" (1Co 3:22), nevertheless it is those to whom it is "not given... to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" in this age who comprise the harlot herself. This is the harlot of whom Isaiah 1 and all but the first five verses of chapter two tell us we must "come out" (Rev 18:4):

Jer 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

2Co 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Look at the message and tone of Isaiah 1:

Isa 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Isa 1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
Isa 1:3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Isa 1:4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward ["because you have forsaken your people..." Isa 2:6]

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.

Pro 20:24 Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?

Verse 10 tells us "Judah and Jerusalem" are the same as "Sodom and Gomorrah", and verse 21 tells us Judah and Jerusalem are the great harlot of Revelation 17 and 18. That "great harlot" is God's own people who "have rebelled against [Him]". (Isa 1:2)

Now we can understand what is the reason for the stark change in tone in verse 6, from the first five verses of chapter 2, which we covered in last week's study. Going from chapter 1, informing us of our rebellious and whorish ways which we all are given to live through as we live out our symbolic seventy years in Babylon, where we believe and claim to be His people, chapter 2 jumps way ahead to "the last days" and begins with a very different tone:

Isa 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Isa 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
Isa 2:3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Isa 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isa 2:5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

It is only the "few... firstfruits, [the] overcomers" who live out and experience Isa 2:1-5 inwardly in this age. These verses do have an inward application at this time, but that application is only lived out in this time in God's elect few.

Now let's go to the rest of this chapter beginning with verse 6, the first of the 9 verses we will be covering in today's study, and ask ourselves why the sudden and dramatic change of tone:

Now let's read verses 5 and 6 together and see if we can make any sense of why we have this incredible change of tone between these two verses:

Isa 2:5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Isa 2:6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

Taken by themselves these verses appear to say "Let us walk in the light of the Lord. Therefore you have forsaken your people the house of Jacob..." and that appears completely incoherent.

God does not forsake His people because they walk in the light of the Lord. According to Christ Himself to "walk in the light of the Lord" is to "follow [the Lord]":

Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

If we follow Christ, why then, are we being told "Therefore you have forsaken your people..." That appears to be completely contradictory... 'Follow Christ... therefore Christ has forsaken [His] people the house of Israel'???

There are two reasons why that appears so impossible to understand. The first is that, as is so often the case, it is not properly translated, and the second reason is that we are forgetting that the first five verses concern themselves with what will "come to pass in the last days", while verse 6 is bringing us back to the necessary process which God uses to get us each to our "last days".

Let's read it again:

Isa 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Isa 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

So if we want to understand why there is such an abrupt change in tone from verse 5 to verse 6, we must keep in mind first, that the work of God in His creation is through the process of judgment He is working in all men to judge and to destroy the kingdom of the carnal, rebellious, beastly man of sin, the first man Adam, the old man within all of us. Then secondly, when we discover that the word translated as "therefore" is the exact same word translated as "because" in this very same verse, then these two verses begin to make much more spiritual sense to those who know something of that spiritual process known as God's chastening judgment:

Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned [to a later judgment] with the world.

With the necessity of that chastening process in mind, notice that the word "therefore", the first word of verse 6, has the exact same Strong's number as the word translated "because" in this very same verse. Here is this verse with all of its Strong's numbers:

Isa 2:6 Therefore^H3588 thou hast forsaken^H5203 thy people^H5971 the house^H1004 of Jacob^H3290, because^H3588 they be replenished^H4390 from the east^{H4480 H6924}, and are soothsayers^H6049 like the Philistines^H6430, and they please themselves^H5606 in the children^H3206 of strangers^H5237.

So how is this Hebrew word most commonly translated? Here is where it appears in the Old Testament, and the various ways it is translated in the order of the most common to the least common:

H3588
כּי
kı̂y
Total KJV Occurrences: 1120
because, 460; when, 245; if, 166; surely, 58; though, 48; yet, 15; save, 14; how, 11; yea, 10; except, 9; seeing, 9; although, 8; even, 7; nevertheless, 5; whereas, 5; much, 4
assuredly, 3; else, 3; now, 3; than, 3; until, 3; while, 3; forasmuch, 2; so, 2; then, 2; therefore, 2; unless, 2; whether, 2; certainly, 1; doubtless, 1; either, 1; inasmuch, 1; more, 1; rightly, 1; since, 1; thus, 1; till, 1; truly, 1; truth, 1; what, 1; wherefore, 1; which, 1; whom, 1; whose, 1

The English word 'because' is by far the most common translation for this Hebrew word 'kiy'. Of the 1120 times this Hebrew word appears in the Old Testament, it is translated as 'therefore' only two other times. Now 'therefore' and 'because' are not that different in meaning. So let's replace 'therefore' with 'because', and let's replace 'because' with 'therefore' remembering that the first five verses "concern... the Lord's house... in the last days", and let's see what verses 5 and 6 reveal to us when this change is made:

To get the proper understanding of what the holy spirit is telling us, I will read the first five verses along with verse 6:

Isa 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Isa 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
Isa 2:3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Isa 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isa 2:5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Isa 2:6 [Because] thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, [therefore] they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

While the word 'because' may seem little different from the word 'therefore' to those who are given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, the word 'because', which is the proper translation for the Hebrew word 'kiy', connects that which comes to pass in the last days to what the Lord Himself must first do in the lives of His people before they can be prepared to "come out of [Babylon]. What God must do before He can bring His people out of Babylon is to "forsake your people the house of Jacob", turn them over to a cruel task master, replenish them from the east, and make them soothsayers like the Philistines. He must send them as slaves into Babylon to serve a symbolic 70 years in the deceitful lies of that apostate, adulterous system. It is He who is ruling in the kingdoms of men and in the lives of all men who live in those kingdoms, and it is He who makes His own people to err and who hardens their hearts from His fear. That is why that change of tone is there, and that is exactly what these verses reveal:

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.

Dan 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

The future is no mystery to God. He foretold exactly how long Israel would serve Babylon, exactly what would be the fruit of that curse upon His people, and exactly what would become of their oppressors when they had served their purpose.

Jer 25:11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
Jer 25:12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual [Hebrew: olawm - age] desolations.

Jer 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

Dan 9:2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

It is Jer 29:10 which explains what God tells us in verse 6 of Isaiah 2. The "good word[s] toward you" of the first five verses of chapter 2 can only come to pass after '[He] forsakes [His] people the house of Israel', sends them to Babylon for seventy years, and only then can the Lord can call them out of Babylon to walk in the light of the Lord.'

Isa 2:5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Isa 2:6 Because thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, therefore they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

In other words, it is all being worked by God for Himself after the counsel of His own will:

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

Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
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:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Now we will return to the judgment we must endure before we can truly walk in the light of the Lord and establish the Lord's house in the top of the mountains of our lives (Isa 2:2).

And where do we get all of this silver and gold and treasures with which Babylon is so full? Here is where it originates:

Eze 16:17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

Rev 18:12 The [spiritual] merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, [in spiritual Babylon].

It is with God's own word that we make false doctrines that accord with our own deceived minds, and it is with His own word, symbolized in this verse by gold and silver, that we make to ourselves our "idols of the heart" (Eze 14:1-9). In that deceived state, 'olawm', an age, becomes 'perpetual', and in the Greek, the word 'aion', an age, becomes 'eternity'.

But as the next two verses of Ezekiel 16 reveal, we only want God's name to justify our shameful actions even as we insist on wearing our own garments and eating our own food, both of which we took from Him and now use to prostitute ourselves to our own shame, in which shameful works we glory as did Sodom.

Eze 16:18 And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them [our idols of our hearts]: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them [wresting the scriptures, 2Pe 3:16].
Eze 16:19 My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee [the Word of God], thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD.

Isa 4:1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel [keep our false doctrines]: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

Isa 3:9 The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

Where do we get the chariots in which we trust while living in our deceit? Here is the source of all of our supposed great strength as we live the life of a whore:

Isa 31:1 Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!

'Egypt' typifies this world which lives in rebellion against the laws of God. That is the source of our strength while we, too, live in rebellion to the Words of Christ. But Egypt will sadly disappoint us:

Isa 36:6 Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

In the spiritual realm we trust in our own idols of our hearts, and in the physical realm we trust in our own physical strength and physical weapons of war. Both are of no value when the iniquities of our lives and our nation are fulfilled, and our day of judgment has arrived:

Gen 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

The next verse fits right in with all the idols we make for ourselves at this time "[because God] has forsaken [His] people".

Isa 2:6 [Because] thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

The mark of God and the mark of the beast are both 'in our right hand and in our foreheads':

Deu 6:8 And thou shalt bind them [God's commandments] for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

"The work of [our] own hands, that which [our] own fingers have made" refers particularly to the idols of our hearts, which we place ahead of and before the words of Christ and His Father. The "land" is our individual lives, and at this time in our lives we have very little or no time or thought for the words of Christ and His Father simply "because [God] has foresaken [His] people" at this time in our experience. It is the same "one event" in the process of being judged, which is to be experienced by all men of all time (Ecc 9:2).

Every facet of our lives, everything great and small, is given over to bowing down before the dominion of sin in our lives at this time in our experience. We live these words inwardly, and we are watching this take place outwardly and dispensationally as we witness the decline of our society and our nation and the entire world in which we live. It is only at the point of the full bloom of the self-destructive nature of the kingdom of our old man that our loving heavenly Father admonishes us:

Saul of Tarsus is a Biblical type of each of us and also of the outward, dispensational application of these words. At a young age he had arisen within the harlot system of His day to the position of being given the charge of overseeing the persecution of the body of Christ.

Act 7:58 And cast him [Stephen] out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.

But Saul was zealous to serve his harlot mother, to the extent that he desired from the high priest letters authorizing him to bind Christians outside Israel in Damascus and bring them back to Jerusalem to be judged.

Act 9:1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
Act 9:2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

Even though Saul is a Pharisee, he is now allied with, and at the zenith of his zeal for the worship of his obsolete, false god, the corrupt Jerusalem Sanhedrin, whose leaders, the high priests, were Sadducees, who did not even believe in a resurrection, nor angels, nor spirits.

Mar 12:18 Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,

Act 23:8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.

Just like the churches today, the one thing that unites them is their hatred for Christ and His Christ, and they are intent on putting their dead bodies in the street of the 'great city, where also our Lord was crucified':

Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt (Isa 1:10 and 21), where also our Lord was crucified.

But it is just at this point of the apparent victory of the beast over the Christ of Christ, when we are all brought by God to our wits' end, that the fear of God strikes our hearts and we cry out to the rocks to fall on us and hide us from the face of the Judge of all men. This is the point where we want to "enter into the Rock for fear of the Lord and for the glory of His majesty":

Here is how that all worked out in the life of Saul of Tarsus:

Act 9:3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
Act 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 9:5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Act 9:6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

This "fear of God" takes place within us spiritually, but it will also come over the whole world when 'the iniquities of the Amorites' are fulfilled on an international scale at the time of the manifestation of the sons of God. This is all foreshadowed by the fear which God struck into the hearts of all the nations which He gave over to Israel when they came up out of Egypt:

Jos 2:9 And she [Rahab the harlot] said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
Jos 2:10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.
Jos 2:11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

That is what happened to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. Here is that same experience as it is described for us in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ and it is lived out in our lives:

Rev 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? [Isa 2:10]

Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies [of the two witnesses] shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Rev 11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
Rev 11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
Rev 11:11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Rev 11:12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

This horrifying experience is not unique to Saul of Tarsus. While our experience may not be as immediate or as dramatic as that of Saul, it is still the same "one event [common] to all" (Ecc 9:2), and this is the product of what happened to Saul of Tarsus, and this is the product of God's wonderful works in all the children of men (Psa 107:21-31).

The phrases "that day, [and] the day of the Lord" are always speaking of the day of His judgments upon His people. That is why He must first "forsake His people", humble them, instill His fear within us all and bring us "to [our] wits' end" (Psa 107:27), and then place within us His kingdom [Luk 17:20-21]. It is at that point in our walk the mountain of the Lord's house will begin to be placed in the top of the mountains to rule all nations with a rod of iron. Then when the thousand years are expired, we are given to judge all the messengers, all the angels of Satan, in the lake of fire.

1Co 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: ["judge the world"]
Rev 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. ["We shall judge angels"]
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire [the destruction of "the last enemy... death" 1Co 15:26]. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. [The second death, the lake of fire, is the destruction of death].

This "great white throne judgment, [which is] the lake of fire" is not a bad thing for mankind. This is the very foundation of the beginning of the process of the salvation of all men to bring them to learn and to live righteous lives:

Psa 119:67 Before I was afflicted [judged] I went astray: but now [that your judgments are in the earth] have I kept thy word.

Psa 119:71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted [judged]; that I might learn thy statutes.

Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.