---

---

---

Isa 18: 1-7 All Ye Inhabitants of The World... See Ye, When He Lifts Up An Ensign On The Mountains

Isa 18:1  Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
Isa 18:2  That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
Isa 18:3  All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.
Isa 18:4  For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
Isa 18:5  For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.
Isa 18:6  They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
Isa 18:7  In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.

These seven verses comprise this entire 18th chapter of Isaiah, and I was surprised to learn that they are considered by most commentaries to be the hardest verses to be understood in this entire book of Isaiah.

This is what Guzik's commentary has to say about this short 18th chapter of Isaiah. He begins by quoting three other commentators:

(Bultema) “To us, this brief chapter is the most difficult one of all the sixty-six chapters of Isaiah.”

(Wolf) “Although the prophecy is a short one, it probably ranks as the most obscure chapter in this entire section.”

(Clarke) “This is one of the most obscure prophecies in the whole Book of Isaiah.”

The Word of God is "obscure" only to those who are "not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God" (Mat 13:10-15). "But God has revealed them to us by His spirit":

1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

"His spirit" by which He has revealed "the things which [He] has prepared for them that love Him" IS His Word, the scriptures, as these words of Christ make clear:

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

But Christ is very clear when He informs us that His Words until this very day are not being revealed to the masses who come to Him:

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 [The multitudes, vrs 2-3] it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
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:

The fact that the Lord is speaking to His own people in a way that fulfills Isaiah's prophecy "By hearing ye shall hear, and not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive" is repeated to us in Paul's epistle to the Corinthians:

1Co 2:6 Yet wisdom are we speaking among the mature, yet a wisdom not of this eon, neither of the chief men of this eon, who are being discarded,
1Co 2:7 but we are speaking God's wisdom in a secret, wisdom which has been concealed, which God designates before - before the eons, for our glory,
1Co 2:8 which not one of the chief men of this eon knows, for if they know, they would not crucify the Lord of glory. (CLV)

But verses 12-14 of this same second chapter of First Corinthians tell us how some few are granted to "hear and... understand, and... see... and perceive... the mysteries of the kingdom of God which have been concealed [from] before the eons".

Here is how the holy spirit reveals Truth which is hidden right out in the open:

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.

When we read the Word of God with the natural mind, without spiritual eyes and spiritual ears, we will never understand what we are being told. Concerning all of this prophecy of Isaiah, as well as the rest of the entire Old Testament, we are told this bit of information which will help us immensely to understand this 18th chapter of Isaiah:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Peter confirms this and goes even farther to tell us:

1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

With the knowledge that the prophets "searched diligently [and] prophesied of the grace that should come to us" we should be looking for ourselves in all of their prophecies. Knowing that everything that happened to Israel was for our admonition, and knowing we must always take care that we are "comparing spiritual things with spiritual", we will now look at the first verse of "this brief chapter [which Bultema tells us] is the most difficult one of all the sixty-six chapters of Isaiah":

Isa 18:1  Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: 

The commentaries are especially confused by this first verse. Albert Barnes Commentary On The Bible makes this statement on this first verse:

"Shadowing with wings - (כנפים צלצל  tsı̂letsal kenāpāı̂ym). This is one of the most difficult expressions in the whole chapter; and one to which as yet, probably, no satisfactory meaning has been applied."

When we know these words are for our admonition, the mystery becomes a little easier to solve. When we consider that all the chapters in this entire prophecy are concerned with us, as the Lord's Israel (Gal 6:15-16), and how we relate to our old man in the form of the nations both near to and distant from Israel, all the mystery of even this chapter will be removed.

Let's begin our study by looking at Strong's definition of the Hebrew word translated as 'shadowing' in this first verse, and then let's look to see where it is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.

This is that Hebrew word, and this is how Strong's defines it:

H6767
צלצל
tselâtsal
tsel-aw-tsal'
From H6750 reduplicated; a clatter, that is, (abstractly) whirring (of wings); (concretely) a cricket; also a harpoon (as rattling), a cymbal (as clanging): - cymbal, locust, shadowing, spear.

So that we can determine what is being said, here are the other four verses where this word appears in the Old Testament:

Deu 28:42  All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust [H6767: tselatsal] consume.

2Sa 6:5  And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals [H6767: tselatsal].

Job 41:1  Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?

Job 41:7  Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears? [H6767: tselatsal]

Psa 150:5  Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. [H6767: tselatsal]

If all we see is the primary natural meaning of these verses, then they can indeed become very confusing. But as Strong's definition points out, spears and cymbals both make "rattling [and] clanging" sounds when in use, and the spear, like the locust, destroys everything in its path. The 'spear' is a Biblical symbol for destruction, as these verses demonstrate:

Jos 8:18  And the LORD said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city.

Jos 8:26  For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

Nah 3:3  The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:

When we simply remember how all of these nations are introduced to us in Isaiah 11, and we remember that all that happened to Israel "happened to them and they are written for our admonition" (1Co 10:11), then this chapter and all the preceding chapters, and all the chapters to come, will be much easier for us to understand. Then we will see clearly that God is using the nations within us to destroy our old man, just as He used the nations of this world to destroy His people Israel for turning away from Him, and Ethiopia is but another one of those nations. The Lord uses all the nations to symbolize our old man and his function as His own hand, which He uses to correct and to chasten us for our sins and wickedness:

Jer 2:17  Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?
Jer 2:18  And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?
Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

Here are the verses from Isaiah 11 which set the stage for all these following chapters dealing with all the nations surrounding Israel, and even those nations which are not near Israel, and how they relate to the Lord's rebellious and stubborn people:

Isa 11:10  And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
Isa 11:11  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
Isa 11:12  And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

The first two verses of Isaiah 11 tell us who this "ensign" is who will "assemble the outcasts of Israel":

Isa 11:1  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
Isa 11:2  And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

Of course, this is Christ, but it is not Christ alone because He Himself has told us:

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

This 'ensign' includes the body of Christ, His messengers, His angels with whom He tells us He will gather together His elect from the four corners of the world. Christ Himself was referring to these words of Isaiah 11:12 when He tells us this in both Matthew and in Mark:

Mat 24:31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Mar 13:27  And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

If indeed "he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth", then this is also true of us because:

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

For these verses to have any significance, the Lord's  people must first be scattered to all these places before He would need to "send His angels... the outcasts of Israel and gather together His elect from the four winds". Spiritually and inwardly these nations, far and near, are the many false doctrines, like the trinity and its accompanying  fruit, which is the false doctrine of the immortality of the soul, with its fruit which is the doctrine of an eternal hell with literal flames of literal fire, literally inflicting indescribable misery without purpose and without end. Inwardly these nations symbolize the doctrine of tithing on one's gross income, the keeping of days, months, times and years, and all the rest of the "two hundred thousand, thousand", the two hundred million false doctrines which enslave us and keep us in the bondage of Babylon. Outwardly all this bondage is symbolized by all the nations to which the Lord sent His stubborn and rebellious people who had turned their backs to Him in favor of being like the nations around them. We just naturally want to fit in with this world, and Israel was as natural as can be in demanding to be given a king:

1Sa 8:4  Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,
1Sa 8:5  And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
1Sa 8:6  But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.

It is very revealing for us to notice that the Lord's 'ensign', His 'rest', and Ethiopia are all three discussed in both chapters 11 and 18. Notice:

Isa 11:1  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
Isa 11:2  And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

Isa 11:10  And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
Isa 11:11  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
Isa 11:12  And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

Compare these verses to these verses here in chapter 18 where Ethiopia, His ensign and His rest are all again mentioned, as they relate to the Lord's elect:

Isa 18:1  Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
Isa 18:2  That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
Isa 18:3  All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye,when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.
Isa 18:4  For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

While it is not obvious from the King Jame's translation, the fact is that the name 'Ethiopia' here in this 18th chapter and the name 'Cush' in chapter 11 are both translated from the single Hebrew name 'Cush'.

Here are the verses in the Old Testament where this name appears:

H3568
כּוּשׁ
kûsh
Total KJV Occurrences: 27
ethiopia, 19
Gen_2:13, 2Ki_19:9, Est_1:1, Est_8:9, Job_28:19, Psa_68:31, Psa_87:4, Isa_18:1, Isa_20:3, Isa_20:5, Isa_37:9, Isa_43:3, Isa_45:14, Eze_29:10, Eze_38:4-5 (3), Zep_3:9-10 (2)
cush, 8
Gen_10:6-8 (3), 1Ch_1:8-10 (3), Psa_7:1, Isa_11:11

Looking at the last part of this verse, we read:

Isa 18:1  Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:

This again seems to have baffled many commentators because of the use of the word 'beyond' in the phrase 'beyond the rivers of Ethiopia'. But once again it is not so hard to understand when we notice that this English word 'beyond' is translated from two Hebrew words which are 'min' which is defined as "properly a part of", and the word 'eber' which means "properly a region across." So it is not at all hard to accept that the Lord is speaking to a land which is "a part of" and "a region across... the rivers of Ethiopia".

Yet Gill's commentary states:

"It is very difficult to determine what land is here meant: some think the land of Assyria is here designed,"

I do not generally waste time demonstrating the lack of spiritual understanding in the commentaries, but when I discovered how they all agreed that this 18th chapter is such a mystery, I have chosen to show how the use of the natural mind is contrasted with "the mind of the spirit" which tells us that all of this happened to Israel "for our admonition" (1Co 10:11).

Other commentaries simply repeat the words of various rabbis whose opinions also vary greatly. Some rabbis agree with Gill who thinks the words of this chapter refer to Assyria, and others think they refer to some country which is known for ships with great shading sails. Another commentary thinks that 'shadowing' refers to being 'covered with many trees'. They all are reasoning with a natural mind instead of seeking to know the spiritual meaning of what the Lord is telling us.

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 inability to see with spiritual eyes is nothing short of a blindfold or "a vail" which the apostle Paul informs us is still over the eyes of those who are not given to let the spirit, which is the Lord's own words, interpret the scriptures. In other words, they are not given to let the scriptures interpret themselves:

2Co 3:14  But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
2Co 3:15  But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
2Co 3:16  Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
2Co 3:17  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. [As well as eyes that see and ears that hear, Mat 13:10-15]

Context is not the primary key to understanding the Bible. We are plainly told this book is written line upon line and precept upon precept for the express purpose of causing us to "fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken" by the adversary.

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.

So we are going to be very careful to "compare spiritual things with spiritual" and not let the mind of "the natural man" direct us as we examine the words of this prophecy.

Here are the two Hebrew words, 'min' and 'eber', which are translated as the single English word 'beyond' in verse one, and here is Strong's definition for those words. We define 'min' first:

H4480
מִנֵּי    מִנִּי      מִן
min    minnı̂y    minnêy
min, min-nee', min-nay'
For H4482; properly a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses: - above, after, among, at, because of, by (reason of), from (among), in, X neither, X nor, (out) of, over, since, X then, through, X whether, with.

This is one of the most common words in all scripture, appearing over 5,000 times, and it has many and various translations, but it is "properly a part of" whatever is the subject. In this case the subject is "the rivers of Ethiopia."

The other Hebrew word which appears with 'min' and which is translated with the single English word 'beyond', is 'eber'. Here is how Strong's defines that word:

H5676
עֵבֶר
‛êber
ay'-ber
From H5674; properly a region across; but used only adverbially (with or without a preposition) on the opposite side (especially of the Jordan; usually meaning the east): -    X against, beyond, by, X from, over, passage, quarter, (other, this) side, straight.

According to e-sword this word appears a total of 115 times in the Old Testament. Here is an example of how it is used:

Gen 50:10  And they [Joseph and the Egyptians who came with him] came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond [H5676: 'eber'] Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he [Joseph] made a mourning for his father seven days.
Gen 50:11  And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim, which is beyond [H5676: 'eber'] Jordan.

Of the 115 times this word appears in the Old Testament, it is translated as 'side' or 'sides' 60 times, and it is obvious from Genesis 50:10-11 that 'beyond Jordan' does not mean 'Assyria' or any far away country. Rather "the threshing floor of Atad", and all of Abraham's time in the promised land, was lived in close proximity to the Jordan River, just as "the land shadowing with wings" is in close proximity to "the rivers of Ethiopia".

Isa 18:1  Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:

The word 'wings' refers to the dominance or hegemony of the subject under discussion, as Boaz's words to Ruth demonstrate:

Rth 2:11  And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.
Rth 2:12  The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

Both the scriptures and secular historians acknowledge that, at that time, Ethiopia was a major world power, as these verses demonstrate:

Isa 20:3  And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;

Isa 20:5  And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory

Isa 37:9  And he [the captain of the hosts of Assyria] heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah,

Now notice what we are told Ethiopia, as a type of our old man, will do:

Isa 18:2  That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

"A nation scattered and peeled" should be a nation drawn out and perverse, according to the definition of the Hebrew words.

Here is Strong's definition of the Hebrew word translated as 'scattered'. This word is a primitive root:

H4900
מָשַׁךְ
mâshak
maw-shak'
A primitive root; to draw, used in a great variety of applications (including to sow, to sound, to prolong, to develop, to march, to remove, to delay, to be tall, etc.): - draw (along, out), continue, defer, extend, forbear, X give, handle, make (pro-, sound) long, X sow, scatter, stretch out.

This is Strong's definition for the Hebrew word translated as 'peeled':

H4178
מוֹרָט
môrâṭ
mo-rawt'
From H3399; obstinate, that is, independent: - peeled.

This chapter is the only place in all of the Old Testament in which this word appears twice, and it is translated as 'peeled' both times. So we must go to the word from which it is taken, H3399, to discover what we are being told, and this is Strong's definition of that word:

H3399
יָרַט
yâraṭ
yaw-rat'
A primitive root; to precipitate or hurl (rush) headlong; (intransitively) to be rash: - be perverse, turn over.

Here is an example of how this verse is used in scripture. This is the angel talking to the prophet Baalam who was hired by King Balak of Moab to curse Israel:

Num 22:32  And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse [H3399: yarat] before me:

So who best fits this description of 'a nation drawn out and perverse before me'? Let's just read about it here in:

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.
Hos 11:3  I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.
Hos 11:4  I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.

Lo and behold, we are once again speaking of you and me with whom the Lord is dealing in this age. This is why the Lord says this of His own people:

Isa 42:18  Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
Isa 42:19  Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD'S servant?
Isa 42:20  Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not.

And this of those He has chosen:

Isa 48:4  Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
Isa 48:5  I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.

In other words, our only qualification to be God's chosen people is that we are so very unqualified and so very undeserving. This is what we are told of our calling:

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

We are the rebellious young prodigal, the rebellious lost sheep, the despised publican, and the woman caught in the very act of adultery. So why does God choose the most unqualified to be His servants? This is why we have all been called to be the Lords "deaf... blind... messenger[s]":

1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.

These nations here in this prophecy of Isaiah, as types of our old man, are the Lord's vessel for bringing us to Him, just as the law for the lawless (1Tim 1:9-12) is used of our Lord to bring us to God:

Isa 11:12  And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Isa 11:13  The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
Isa 11:14  But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.

Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Who is this "nation [who was] terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled?" Once again, Israel, God's own people, are a people who really were "terrible from their beginning". Even before they came down into Egypt, the Lord had placed a fear of them upon the nations around them because of the treachery of  Simeon and Levi, and what they did to the men of Shechem:

Gen 34:24  And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.
Gen 34:25  And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.

Gen 34:29  And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.
Gen 34:30  And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
Gen 34:31  And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?

Gen 35:5  And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

This is us, "a people... terrible from their beginning... despised" of all men.

In the New Testament the apostle Paul typifies who we were before the Lord strikes us down. We, too, like the self-righteous 'Saul of Tarsus', are a terror to our new man and to any who would bring Christ to us.

Act 7:58  And [the Jews] cast [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.

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.

But in the Lord's own time we become "a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!" We are spoiled by the rivers of Syria, the rivers of Assyria and the rivers of Ethiopia. In other words, we are "brought to our wits' end [by] our own wickedness" and by the fruits of all the false doctrines under whose great bondage we place ourselves for so long.

For those with eyes that see, the next verses tell us clearly that this "nation scattered and peeled, [this] people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled" is  the Lord's own people:

Isa 18:3  All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.
Isa 18:4  For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

Where is the Lord's "dwelling place"? That question is answered for us very clearly by our Lord Himself:

Joh 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Paul was used of the holy spirit to tell us the same thing:

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

2Co 6:16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

It is we who have spiritually seen, in down-payment form, the "ensign on the mountains", and it is we who have heard the seven trumpets of His judgments within us, and it is we who are entering into Christ who is our rest, just as He has come into these "vessels of clay" where He is finding His rest within us (Isa 18:4):

Heb 4:2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
Heb 4:3  For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

These things are all ours right here and now but only in down-payment earnest form. The time is coming, and it is sure, that we will also be given "the purchased possession" at the time of the resurrection. But until that blessed day "the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God", and we must continue to battle the Philistines, the Canaanites and the giants within the land of promise, as we are told here in this 18th chapter of Isaiah:

Isa 18:5  For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.
Isa 18:6  They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
Isa 18:7  In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.

We are the ones who are being pruned with pruning hooks "afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower". The branches which are being cut and taken away and given to "the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth" represent the diminishing of our old man.

Joh 3:30  He must increase, but I must decrease.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Verse 5 is:

Isa 18:5  For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.

Which is the same as:

Joh 15:2  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

This 18th chapter of Isaiah is almost universally proclaimed to be one of the hardest chapters to understand in all of the scriptures, and that almost makes good sense because it contains the same message as one of the most profound, 'difficult to understand' verses of the book of Revelation:

Rev 17:10  And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
Rev 17:11  And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

We have a new man in a vessel of clay which is also us. That new man leads our old man into perdition and through that perdition our new man is being birthed into the kingdom of God which at this time is within us:

2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Didn't those verses tell us that the son of perdition was the man of sin? Yes, they did, but they also told us that the new man was in that dying earthen vessel, and that new man had to fall into the earth before he can come forth of that death experience as the Christ of Christ.

If our old man is given to fall into the ground and die, we will then become the "present to be brought unto the Lord of a people scattered and peeled... to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion".

This message is repeated in these verses of:

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will discover some very informative verses about how the Lord destroys the man of sin within us, and how He will also bring the outward kingdoms of this world to submit to Christ and His Christ, as we cover the first seven verses of Isaiah 19:

Isa 19:1  The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
Isa 19:2  And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
Isa 19:3  And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
Isa 19:4  And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
Isa 19:5  And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
Isa 19:6  And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.
Isa 19:7  The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.