Isa 23:13-18 Her Merchandise...Shall Be for Them That Dwell Before The Lord

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Isa 23:13-18 Her Merchandise...  Shall Be For Them That Dwell Before The LORD, To Eat Sufficiently, and For Durable Clothing.

Isa 23:13  Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.
Isa 23:14  Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.
Isa 23:15  And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
Isa 23:16  Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
Isa 23:17  And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.
Isa 23:18  And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

We are continuing our study of the burden of Tyre, which is another way of saying Babylon, and 'Babylon' is Bible-speak for the religions of mankind which are all living in spiritual fornication and in opposition to the doctrines of Christ (Rev 17:-18).  All the religions of this world will be put down when the Lord's elect are given dominion over the kingdoms of this world immediately following the manifestation of the sons of God at the time of the resurrection of the dead in Christ. (Rom 8:18-23, Rev 11:15, Rev 20:1-4)

Isaiah 14 is "a parable against Babylon", and here again in Isaiah 23, in this burden of Tyre, we are again being assured "the LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth"['s religions].

Isa 23:9  The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.

I will read the next two verses to bring us to where we stopped in our last study:

Isa 23:10  Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.
Isa 23:11  He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof.

So we should have absolutely no doubt that it is "the Lord of hosts" who has purposed the fall of Tyre (Babylon) "to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth". As always, we must apply these words proceeding out of the mouth of God to ourselves and the kingdom of our own old man, first and foremost, acknowledging that it is we ourselves, the man of sin, the son of perdition, whom we worship above all others:

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.

While the whole of Tyre and Babylon are looking outward toward the Middle East for a physical temple to be built and for the man of sin to set himself up in that outward temple, the few who know what Christ meant when He told us, "the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit" know where the true temple of God really is and where the 'man of sin' truly resides:

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

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.

The expulsion of this 'man of sin [from] the temple of God' is the 'laying waste' of Tyre in this chapter concerning "the burden of Tyre".

Isa 23:1  The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.

Now notice who the Lord uses to destroy Tyre in the very next verse:

Isa 23:13  Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.

Babylon is in "the land of the Chaldeans", and it is Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, whom the Lord uses as His servant to destroy Tyre, a type of Babylon itself.  Notice what we are told of Babylon also: "and he brought it to ruin."

Isa 23:14  Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.

Tyre is the 'strength' of Tarshish, and we find that Tyre within us will have "no house, no entering in" any longer. We are commanded to "come out of her that [we] partake not of her sins and that [we] receive not of her plagues" (Rev 18:4).  When we are given to see the Truth, Christ and His doctrines, at that point the strength of Tyre and Babylon and all of their daughters, like Zidon and Tarshish are very soon "laid waste" and burned up by the fire that is His words of Truth. That is the meaning of these words:

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

1Co 3:13  Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

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:

While we are in Babylon we are blinded by God to our own carnal-minded deceived condition. We think "[we] have seen the fire", when the Truth is that the Lord Himself has simply sent us "strong delusion".

Isa 44:16  He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:
Isa 44:17  And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.

2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
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.

This "strong delusion" is described as the healing of a deadly wound which we are given "by a sword".

Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

This "all the world" is the same as "the kings of the earth... and the inhabitants of the earth [who] have been made drunk with the wine of [the] fornication" [of the great whore].

Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

We actually come to Christ, listen to His Words, and then, through the influence of the idols of Tyre and Babylon, we tell Christ that His words simply are not necessary to achieve salvation. Peter did just that:

Mar 8:31  And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
Mar 8:32  And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.
Mar 8:33  But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

Our "idols" today are "idols of [our] hearts" (Eze 14:1-9). We think they are comforting doctrines. They tell us we should never have to suffer because Christ suffered for us. They tell us we will be raptured away to heaven, and we will avoid all the trials which Christ endured. They tell us that because Christ suffered for us we do not need to suffer with Him. However, it is all a lie, and it serves only to heal the deadly wound which the sword of the word of God had inflicted upon our old man. When the spirit to which Peter succumbed comes to us, we, too, succumb to that spirit and return to being the spiritual harlot we once were. That is the message of our next few verses:

Isa 23:15  And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
Isa 23:16  Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
Isa 23:17  And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

"Tyre shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth". Is this not exactly what we are told about "Babylon the great, the mother of  harlots" in the book of Revelation?

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

Why does the Lord see fit to tell you and me about what He is doing and will do with Tyre and Babylon? How does the knowledge of what the Lord is doing with Tyre and Babylon edify His body? Did not Christ tells us:

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life. (ASV)

"The flesh profits nothing" does not say, "The flesh has no function in the plan of God." Nothing is further from the Truth. It is the death of "the flesh", the death of our carnal-minded old man, which is the "corn of wheat" which serves as the catalyst which must "fall into the earth and die" before we can begin to be "transformed [and] conformed" into the new man with a new mind, "the mind of Christ":

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

So the death of the "corn of wheat" is a necessary and an integral part of the birth of "the Christ... the new man" within us. But this "corn of wheat" is healed of a "deadly wound by a sword" before it dies to never again be raised up:

Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat [Greek: thronos, throne], and great authority.
Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Tyre's return to her harlotry is just another way of telling us that we all return to our own vomit and our wallow in the mire. The book of Revelation calls this experience the healing of a deadly wound by a sword.

2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
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.

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

This all sounds so dire and so foolish, and yet there is one event to all men (Ecc 9:2), and it is all predestined to be fulfilled in the life of every man. The details of each life differ, but the event is the same "one event to all":

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.

Christ tells us that we are all sinners in need of a Savior:

Luk 13:1  There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
Luk 13:2  And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
Luk 13:3  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Luk 13:4  Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
Luk 13:5  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

What we are being told by Christ here in Luke, and in the burden of Tyre here in Isaiah 23, is that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" and must be destroyed before the new man can come up out of that destruction. We see this transformation take place in nature through the life cycle of a butterfly that begins as a worm getting about on its belly like a serpent, but through the death of that worm it's being transformed into a beautiful butterfly which is capable of rising up into the heavens. Truly "the invisible things of God are clearly seen being understood by the things which are made" (Rom 1:20).

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

Returning to being a harlot is just a way of telling us that we come out of one church just to go into another harlot church, all the while serving God as we want to serve Him. Our actions are not because we mean to be carnal and rebellious, rather it is because we were gifted from birth with "the law of sin in [our] members" (Rom 7:17-23). After being subject to that law of sin in our members for the predestined time, we are, through Christ, delivered from that wretched body of death, and we are miraculously transformed into a "new man... by the renewing of [our] mind".

Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Paul does not shy away from telling us that we have been "predestinate[d] (Eph 1:11) to be conformed to the image of His Son, that [we] might be the firstborn among many brothers."  If we are the predestined "firstborn among many brothers", then it follows that "many brothers" are predestined to be born in Christ after "the firstborn".

Just how many will, in the end, be "in Christ", and how will that later harvest of souls take place? Paul is also bold to answer those questions with these words:

1Co 15:21  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Those are really simple and straightforward words; "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive". The manner in which "all die", that is the same manner in which "all... shall be... made alive", and death will then be destroyed because no one will then be dead. This doctrine accords with these words of Christ which we just quoted to show the function flesh plays in the work He is doing with "all men":

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
Joh 12:26  If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
Joh 12:27  Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
Joh 12:28  Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
Joh 12:29  The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.
Joh 12:30  Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
Joh 12:31  Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Joh 12:32  And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Joh 12:33  This he said, signifying what death he should die.

Christ, the only man who has ever lived who never sinned, still had to "fall into the ground and die" before He could be perfected and "bring forth much fruit" in the form of life for "all men".

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

What we are learning is that our carnal-minded, rebellious flesh, is a first and very integral part of the making of mankind into "the image of His Son":

Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

We will understand the mind of the Lord only if we acknowledge that before we are "conformed to the image of His Son", we are first a "man of sin", made into "the image of jealousy", and we place ourselves "in the temple of God, setting [our]self forth as God".

That is the spiritual meaning of this prophecy of Ezekiel 8:

Eze 8:1  And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.
Eze 8:2  Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.
Eze 8:3  And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
Eze 8:4  And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.
Eze 8:5  Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

Historically this "image of jealously' is believed to be the altar which King Ahaz had Urijah the priest to build to replace the altar which God had told Moses to be careful to build 'according to the pattern he had been given in the mount'.

Exo 25:40  And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.

2Ki 16:10  And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.
2Ki 16:11  And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus.
2Ki 16:12  And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.

King Ahaz and Urijah had so little fear of God that they were both willing to disobey His commandments to do what they wanted to do. Their own ways meant more to them than God's ways, and that spirit is expressed in these words in the New Testament:

2Th 2:4  he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God. (ASV)

Ahaz threw his lot in with the king of Assyria. He had taken the Lord's gold out of the Lord's temple and had sent it to the king of Assyria as a bribe.

2Ki 16:7  So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
2Ki 16:8  And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.

As a type of us, King Ahaz had chosen fornication with Babylon over dying to the flesh. It is all predestined and has to be experienced, and it must be repented of before we can reap the benefits of dying to our old man and His rebellious kingdom.

This experience of returning to our own ways was prophesied in these words concerning Tyre in the last verse of our study today:

Isa 23:18  And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

Tyre and Babylon are types of the time we spend in service to all the fornication and false doctrines of the the great whore who is the harlot religions of this world. In time all those false doctrines become nothing more than "wood, hay, and stubble" to be burned up by the fiery truth of the Word of God. After being deceived and brought to repentance, all of that experience of evil becomes "bread for us", as we use that experience to wage spiritual warfare in our heavens, dying daily to the lies of Babylon and to the giants in our land. As Caleb and Joshua told the fearful nation of Israel:

Num 14:8  If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
Num 14:9  Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

As the apostle Paul tells us, in Christ we are not ignorant of the devices of the adversary, and we can now use his own devices against him. Instead of valuing the things of this life, we can now 'seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness' knowing the suffering of this age is not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us'.

Christ gave us this parable to show us how the materialistic spirit of wealthy prosperous Tyre, appeals to the beast we all are:

Luk 12:16  And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
Luk 12:17  And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
Luk 12:18  And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
Luk 12:19  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
Luk 12:20  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
Luk 12:21  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

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.

The materialistic, immoral appeal of the temptations of Tyre and Babylon are the armor of the adversary, which serve the adversary in keeping us convinced we cannot do battle against him, just as the armor of God serves us in waging our wars against the adversary in the heavens.

These verses in Job describe the hopelessness of doing battle with the adversary in our own strength:

Job 41:24  His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.
Job 41:25  When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings they purify themselves.
Job 41:26  The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon.
Job 41:27  He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.
Job 41:28  The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble.
Job 41:29  Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear.
Job 41:30  Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire.

That is the power of Tyre and Babylon over the flesh and the carnal mind of our old man. It is spiritually impossible for any man, of himself to overcome the beast within us all:

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Paul's own personal experience caused him to echo this same refrain, but Paul supplies us with the answer of "who is able to make war with [the beast]":

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

In the next chapter we are given these very positive, affirming words:

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Truly Tyre's hire will be turned to "holiness to the Lord... bread for us, and for durable clothing" for us.

Isa 23:18  And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will learn how the destruction of Tyre and Babylon, "the city of confusion", is actually the destruction of this entire earth and "the things that are seen". The destruction of Tyre and Babylon is the necessary step we all must take to bring us into the Lord's judgments in our 'earth':

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
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.

Wow! What a radical and blasphemous doctrine from the perspective of spiritual Tyre and Babylon! Those words fly in the face of the false doctrine of eternal torment which tells us that God's judgments will confine the vast majority of His creation to endless flames of merciless torment.

Here are our verses for next week's study of the judgment of the whole earth:

Isa 24:1  Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
Isa 24:2  And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
Isa 24:3  The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.
Isa 24:4  The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
Isa 24:5  The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
Isa 24:6  Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
Isa 24:7  The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh.
Isa 24:8  The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.
Isa 24:9  They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
Isa 24:10  The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.
Isa 24:11  There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.
Isa 24:12  In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.