Isa 22:1-8 Your Slain Men Are Not Slain With The Sword, Part 2 - Discussion

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Isa 22:1-8 Your Slain Men Are Not Slain With The Sword - Part 2

Isa 22:1  The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?
Isa 22:2  Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.
Isa 22:3  All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far.
Isa 22:4  Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people.
Isa 22:5  For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains.
Isa 22:6  And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.
Isa 22:7  And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.
Isa 22:8  And he discovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the forest.

This is the second part of our study of the first 8 verses of this 22nd chapter of Isaiah. It is a burden against Jerusalem. It is one of the nine burdens against the nations. We have already seen that Judah, Jerusalem and Israel are included in these nine burdens because God's own special people apostatize and play the harlot against their own Husband and Savior. We are the Lord's own people, and it is we who have done all these things. Therefore, because we act no differently than the nations around us, we too, must suffer His wrath and be judged as the heathen are judged.

These words are and always have been true:

Ecc 9:2  All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

Our last study was concerned with the fact that God has always warned us well in advance of the consequences of being disobedient to our spiritual husband. We all live unfaithful lives for years before we are judged for our infidelity. Time after time we are given space for repentance, but we refuse to do so, and instead we 'return to our own vomit and to our wallow in the mire' which is our life at that time.

Pro 26:11  As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.

2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Having already been chastened severely, symbolized by our sister, northern Israel, being carried away captive, we still continue in our own unfaithful ways with total abandon, knowing that judgment is at the door. The Lord's judgments continue in our lives. This judgment is symbolized by the fall of our neighboring nations. Yet even as we experience the Lord's wrath being poured out upon our unfaithfulness, we are still "a joyous city", an adulterous harlot who tells herself:

Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

This all takes place inwardly first. But how is it possible for us to see the coming wrath of God and still say within ourselves, "I... shall see no sorrow"? The answer is that we actually think that because we are God's elect, He will not pour out His wrath upon us. We actually believe that all we need do is to proclaim our Husband's name and proclaim our special relationship with Him when we need to be delivered from the evil  fruit of our evil ways. But like Israel when "the elders of Israel" brought the ark of the Lord out on the field of battle, thinking they could force the Lord's hand, it did not work. In the New Testament this is called 'turning the grace of God into lasciviousness.'

Jud 1:4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is we who are "ungoldly men turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness..."

Here is a story that shows us how we to can be "a city of joy" even as we look judgment in the face. This is a story about the corrupt nation of Israel who thought they could live as they wanted and still call on God to deliver them from His wrath. Good parents who know how to properly discipline their children do not allow  those children to use them and abuse them, and the Lord, as a loving heavenly Father, will not tolerate us treating Him as a hip-pocket God or a genie who we can call on when we get ourselves into trouble because of our disobedience, and still expect Him to do our bidding with no concern about having to reap the fruits of our evil ways. This is a story about you and me and how we have all thought we could continue in sin that grace may abound (Rom 6:1).

1Sa 4:1  And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek.
1Sa 4:2  And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.
1Sa 4:3  And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.
1Sa 4:4  So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, [the adulterous priests of God; 1Sa 2:22] were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
1Sa 4:5  And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.
1Sa 4:6  And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the LORD was come into the camp.
1Sa 4:7  And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore.
1Sa 4:8  Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.
1Sa 4:9  Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.
1Sa 4:10  And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
1Sa 4:11  And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

Why was the Lord not with Israel as He had been before?

1Sa 2:22  Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

You and I are Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, who have played the harlot against our Lord. It is we who have attempted to force the Lord's hand. This is a story about how you and I have acted toward our Lord. If Israel had been a moral, obedient, God-fearing nation, the effect of bringing the ark into the camp and the shouting of the people would have been the same as the shouting at Jericho, when the walls of Jericho fell at the shout of the people of Israel.  When we are obedient in the face of persecution, we are like Gideon's three hundred men shouting "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon", and the battle would be the Lord's. But Israel here typifies the rebellious, immoral, disobedient and unfaithful kingdom of our old man. Israel here is 'Babylon the great, the mother of harlots.' Israel is not a God-fearing nation as the two unfaithful and immoral sons of Eli who are leading the charge show us, and as a result the kingdom of our old man is defenseless against his enemies:

Isa 22:2  Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.
Isa 22:3  All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far.

These are spiritual words, and the reason "[our] men are not slain with the [physical] sword, is that they are spiritually dead to begin with. We have forgotten these Truths:

Deu 20:1  When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

As David told Goliath:

1Sa 17:47  And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD'S, and he will give you into our hands.

And as the Lord tells us:

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. [Greek: 'the heavens']

"The archers" are a Biblical symbol for those who either have the Word of God, or are those being used of God to fulfill the Lord's prophetical judgments upon us. When we are rebellious and disobedient, the Words of God are against us and will fight against us because of our own wickedness:

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.
Jer 2:20  For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot [of Revelation 17-18].

We make a huge mistake thinking that because we are God's elect He will not pour out His wrath upon us. When we make that mistake and begin saying things like "we need not fear God", "all we need is to be in awe of God", and "we really ought not use the words like 'punish'; a much better word to use would be 'chasten',  the word 'punish' just sounds much too harsh", we are doing exactly what Israel did by thinking they need not fear the Lord's wrath, because the worst that could happen to God's elect would be the loss of a few thousand men in battle. However, even that would not happen if we just proclaim that we are his special people, never bother to repent from the heart for our sins against him, and just bring the Lord's ark along with us and expect him to honor us while we are wallowing in the mire of our own sins.

2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

This is a story about us, not someone else, and it is we who must endure the Lord's wrath upon all these Babylonian thoughts which exalt themselves against the true knowledge of God which tells us to fear God, who, after He has killed us, can then cast us into Gehenna fire to punish us for our sins:

Luk 12:5  But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell [Greek: Gehenna, type of the lake of fire]; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

Lev 26:15  And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:
Lev 26:16  I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
Lev 26:17  And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.
Lev 26:18  And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.

This is the wrath of God upon our unrighteousness and ungodliness when we do not fear Him and decide to despise His statutes and His judgments. It behooves us to fear His punishments upon us and remain obedient to our marriage covenant. Only then can our new man proclaim that we "are not appointed to wrath, but to salvation" and that "God has from the beginning chosen [us] unto salvation/"

1Th 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
1Th 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

2Th 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

I have been asked many times, "How long does God's wrath work in our lives?" The Biblical answer is that it is always right here to be "revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men" (Rom 1:18). It is with us every day burning up our old man and simultaneously strengthening and renewing the new man within us. The wrath of God is as active in our lives only as it is needed. King David is a perfect example of how God's wrath operates in the lives of His elect.

2Sa 12:10  Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

We also experience this as a body. None of us is an island to himself, and we all need the trials and the tribulations of our own brothers and sisters placed upon us by their struggles to come to know the mind of Christ.

1Co 12:26  And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

What is the lesson for us in enduring the apostasy of Jerusalem within us, and within each other? This is our lesson if we can receive it:

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.
2Co 4:16  For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish [via the burning wrath of God], yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
2Co 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
2Co 4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

In an exchange, I was blessed to learn where the apostle Paul got the idea of "our light affliction [being] but for a moment". This is where the apostle Paul got those very words:

Isa 54:7  For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
Isa 54:8  In a little wrath [light affliction] I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.

It always seems like an eternity when we are enduring the Lord's wrath, but it is really "our light affliction... but for a moment", and it works for us... everlasting kindness... a far more exceeding weight of glory". What a wise and loving heavenly Father we have to bear with us for so long! This is the truth about how all of our sufferings compare to the blessings that await us if we are given to endure to the end.

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Just how long does "a little wrath... the cup of the Lord" last? This is what we are told:

1Co 11:23  For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
1Co 11:24  And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:25  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

That broken bread is the Christ's body, and that cup we are to drink is His blood in the New Testament, which "New Testament" includes these verses of Revelation 14.

Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

As we saw earlier in this study we are "blessed [to] read, hear and keep the things which are written in this book, including the things mentioned in these verses here in Revelation 14. God's wrath is poured out upon those who have drunk of "the wine of the wrath of [the] fornication" of the great harlot, Babylon, and her fornication is connected with those who worship the image of the beast and receive his mark. But what we did not mention above is how the holy spirit summarizes the preceding verses. What is the result of the worshiping of the beast and receiving of the mark of his name? What is the result of being tormented day and night by the fiery words of God? Revelation 14:8-11 is what all men must endure for this reason:

Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Which is just another way of saying:

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth [Including Rev 14:8-12], and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein [Including Rev 14:8-12]: for the time is at hand.

Remember the word of the Lord by Jeremiah concerning those who contend that the saints need not drink of the wine of the wrath of the great harlot at the Lord's hand:

Jer 25:28  And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
Jer 25:29  For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.

But as we saw earlier, we do not just live by the things written in the book of Revelation. Before there ever was a book of Revelation Christ told 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.

Which would certainly include our next verses here in Isaiah 22:

Isa 22:4  Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people.
Isa 22:5  For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains.

These words are not all that different from:

Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

There are many symbols signifying the means the Lord uses to torment the kingdom of our old man as we 'keep the things written in this book'. However, the reason for our fiery trials and the reason for the wrath of God, in both the Old and the New Testaments, is the same:

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

So the Lord uses that very "unrighteousness of men" as the occasion He is seeking (Jdg 14:4) for using the rod of His indignation against our unrighteousness and ungodliness, and He uses unrighteous men to punish His own people, as our last three verses demonstrate:

Isa 22:6  And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.
Isa 22:7  And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.
Isa 22:8  And he discovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the forest.

These "chariots, and... horsemen [in our] choicest valleys" symbolize the wrath of God upon the apostate kingdom of our old man. The Lord used the king of Babylon as the rod of His anger and His indignation against His people:

Isa 10:5  O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.

All of this, and all of these nations which come up against the kingdom of God, do so "within [us]" (Luk 17:20-21). There is great conflict within our heavens when the Lord is judging the kingdom of our old man. Because of the Lord's love of the new man within us, He is intent upon the destruction of the kingdom of our still rebellious old man who, instead of looking to the invisible God for his protection, "looks in that day to the armour of the house of the forest".

Now what does "you did look in that day to the armour of the house of the forest" mean? One thing is certain, considering the fact that this is a burden against Jerusalem, it does not mean that we look to God for our protection against those He is sending to punish us.

The phrase "the house of the forest" appears six times in the Old Testament, and in every case it refers to the house King Solomon built for himself. Here are just three of those six entries which will help us to see that Jerusalem and Judah typify us in our apostate state. As an unfaithful harlot, when we are in trouble we always first look to our own ways instead of looking to the Lord and to His invisible strength for help.

1Ki 7:2  He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits [150 feet or 45.72 meters], and the breadth thereof fifty cubits [75 feet or 22.86 meters], and the height thereof thirty cubits [45 feet or 13.716 meters]. upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.

1Ki 10:17  And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

1Ki 10:21  And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

Looking to "the armour of the house of the forest" is to lean on our own strength and on our own understanding. We are told not to lean to our own understanding, and we are also told that if we do depend on our own strength instead of Him, He will bring down our strength:

Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Amo 3:11  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.

To what end? Why is the Lord intent on destroying the kingdom of our old man and all his works of the flesh? The answer is that as He does that, He is simultaneously building up our new man.

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

As He pours out His wrath on our old man, He can at the same time say "this is my son in whom I am well pleased" about our new man, "His Christ". Our only qualification for our service to Christ is to acknowledge our worthlessness of ourselves, to see ourselves as 'chief of sinners' and as the corruption that is all flesh and blood.

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

Jas 2:5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor [in spirit] of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

We come to see all of this only through being crushed to powder by the Lord's wrath against all our unrighteousness and ungodliness. In time we are brought to see that, just as the Lord included his elect in the first three plagues of Egypt, He then made a difference between His elect and the rest of the world.

Exo 8:20  And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
Exo 8:21  Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.
Exo 8:22  And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.
Exo 8:23  And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.

Paul puts this same message in these words:

1Th 5:7  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
1Th 5:8  But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
1Th 5:9  For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
2Th 2:13  But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

The book of Revelation gives us this same message. After "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" (Rev 13:16), we are then "[given] the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, [and only then are we given to] stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God" (Rev 15:2). We receive this blessing through being the first to be judged and to endure the Lord's wrath upon our rebellious sinful ways and succumbing to that mark, name and number of the beast. At that point we are separated from those who are still not granted that repentance. Only those who go through the revelation of Jesus Christ first are granted to "stand on the sea of glass mingled with fire". That "fire" is the wrath of God upon all that can be consumed within us.

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
Rev 15:2  And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

This is a "sign in [our] heavens", and now we are no longer appointed to wrath, and we are standing on this "sea of glass mingled with fire". All of which is the keeping of this promise:

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

We are not hurt of the second death because we were the first to be crucified with Christ, and we are not appointed to wrath but to salvation because we are the first to fulfill the seven last plagues of the Lord's wrath. No man enters the temple of God until he has fulfilled the seven plagues of the seven angels:

Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

We will stop our study here for today with this encouraging reminder of what the Lord is doing for us:

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.

All we read about the destruction of the kingdom of our old man is simultaneously building up the kingdom of our new man, "Christ in you the hope of glory."

2Co 4:16  For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will learn more of the blessing of witnessing the perishing of our outward, old man in these verses:

Isa 22:9  Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
Isa 22:10  And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.
Isa 22:11  Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago.
Isa 22:12  And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
Isa 22:13  And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.
Isa 22:14  And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.