---

---

---

Isa 33:1-12 Out of Thine Own Mouth I Will Judge Thee

Isa 33:1  Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
Isa 33:2  O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
Isa 33:3  At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.
Isa 33:4  And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.
Isa 33:5  The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.
Isa 33:6  And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.
Isa 33:7  Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.
Isa 33:8  The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.
Isa 33:9  The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.
Isa 33:10  Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.
Isa 33:11  Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
Isa 33:12  And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.

This study is done with the understanding that we cannot make straight that which the Lord Himself has made crooked:

Ecc 7:13  Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?
Ecc 7:14  In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.
Ecc 7:15  All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness.

Lam 3:1  I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
Lam 3:2  He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.
Lam 3:3  Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.
Lam 3:4  My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.
Lam 3:5  He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.
Lam 3:6  He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.
Lam 3:7  He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.
Lam 3:8  Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.
Lam 3:9  He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.

Before Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes, and long before Jeremiah wrote Lamentations, Solomon wrote the book of proverbs where the holy spirit inspired him to make this statement:

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

Now we know that it is the Lord who afflicts us all "by the rod of His wrath", He "brings [us] into darkness" makes our skin old, brakes our bones, compasses us with gall and travail, sets us in dark places, hedges us in, makes our chain heavy, shuts out our prayer and make our paths crooked. The Lord always gives Himself an occasion to give us all these evil experiences, but that occasion always includes "the pride of life" with which we are all afflicted and for which we must all be humbled.

So we are told in very clear language:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it. (CLV)

With all of this in mind, we will begin our study:

Isa 33:1  Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.

As always, we get nothing out of the Word of God when we put these words off on someone else who is spoiling, robbing and taking advantage of others. We just naturally tell ourselves that we never take advantage of or rob and steal from anyone. Yet that is exactly what we all do when we self-righteously take credit for our own good deeds and our own righteousness. The entire book of Job is a testament against Job's self-justification and self-glorification. We all do by nature what Job did when he said this about himself:

Job 27:6  My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.

That is what I have done, and that is what you have done when we have at times done a good deed and then exulted in our own righteousness. But what does God think of our righteousnesses?

Isa 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Let's all remember these words of our Lord when we start to think of ourselves as somehow capable of doing anything good of ourselves:

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

We do the very same thing with our own sins. These also we want to claim as our own, when this is the truth of the scriptures concerning our sins. It is found in the very next verses after Isaiah 64:6:

Isa 64:7  And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
Isa 64:8  But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

If we think we can do anything on our own, we have a lesson yet to learn. Whatever we are "we all are the work of your hand".

Jeremiah tells us the same thing:

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

We are that "vessel of clay", and the Lord Himself has deliberately first made every human that He has ever created "marred in the hand of the Potter". We are lied to by ourselves and by all those to whom we looked while still in the churches of Babylon. We are told that God gave us a will that is free and independent of Himself. There is no such doctrine in the scriptures. Instead there is this:

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.
Pro 16:2  All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.
Pro 16:3  Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Pro 16:5  Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

The preparations of our hearts, our very thoughts, "[are] from the Lord". He "has made all things for Himself, yes, even the wicked for the day of evil." Therefore these words in the New Testament are true:

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

This "law of sin in [our] members" is what was not specifically mentioned in the creation account in Genesis 1-2. At the end of the sixth day this is what we are told:

Gen 1:31  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

I say 'not specifically mentioned' because it really is alluded to in this verse:

Gen 2:25  And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

"They were both naked... and were not ashamed" tells us that what God had created in our original parents, which was "very good", was a 'very good' sinning machine with no shame in being naked. Nakedness is a scriptural word for being made sin:

Lam 1:8  Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Isaiah 64:7 tells us:

Isa 64:7  And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

However, the next verse tells us that even our iniquities are "the work of [His] hand".

Isa 64:8  But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

Therefore even our sins are by the Lord's design for the purpose of humbling our rebellious flesh and for the purpose of causing us to cry out to our Creator for His mercies upon us:

Isa 33:2  O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

This verse takes its message from Psalms 107, which tells us that all of our trials and troubles are actually nothing less than a work of the Lord in the lives of those in whom He is preparing Himself an abode in this age:

Psa 107:19  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
Psa 107:21  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
Psa 107:23  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Now we know what "the Lord's goodness" is to which Paul referred in this verse:

Rom 2:1  Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
Rom 2:2  But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
Rom 2:3  And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Rom 2:5  But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
Rom 2:6  Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Rom 2:7  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: [In the first "resurrection to life", Joh 5:27-29]
Rom 2:8  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,

God's wrath is poured out on all unrighteousness of men, including the unrighteousness of those who prove to be His very elect:

Joh 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

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;

All men come into this world in a state of unbelief, and we all spend our own time in Babylon where we "hold the truth in unrighteousness" and "treasure up to [our]selves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God", but if we judge ourselves in this age, then we will not be condemned to the second death, which is the second death/white throne judgment/lake of fire.

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged [at the great white throne judgment, Rev 20:11].
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world [to the second death/lake of fire/white throne judgment].

We are "chastened of the Lord" and we "judge ourselves" in this age for the express purpose of not being chastened at the white throne judgment, "the resurrection unto judgment":

Joh 5:27  And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life ["first resurrection" - Rev 20:6]; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. [Greek: judgment, "great white throne judgment/second death/lake of fire"]

Whether in the first or second resurrection, these words will be true:

Isa 33:3  At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.

This "noise of the tumult... lifting up of yourself [to] scatter... the nations" is the same as the "controversy with the nations" which we all experience first within, and which the entire world will experience outwardly before the beginning of the thousand-year reign of Christ and His Christ:

Jer 25:31  A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.

"The sword" which we as God's elect experience in this age is the Word of God. A war must take place within us and the man of sin within us must be destroyed by the Truth and the brightness of the coming of Christ into our hearts and our lives. If that does not take place in this age, we will be "condemned with the world" at the great white throne judgment. Notice another witness against the Lord's elect being condemned to the second death right here in John 5 just prior to Christ's words labeling the first resurrection as "the resurrection to life" and contrasting it with the second "resurrection unto judgment/great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death". Look at what Christ tells us just prior to the words of John 5:27-29:

Joh 5:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [of the second death]; but is passed from death unto life.
Joh 5:25  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
Joh 5:26  For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

"Shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life" is in the Greek present tense proving that it applies to this present age. How can those who are in the blessed and holy first resurrection, who are promised they "shall not be hurt of the second death", of whom Christ here promises they "shall not come into condemnation", possibly partake of "the second death/lake of fire/white throne judgment/resurrection unto judgment"?

But these words...

Isa 33:3  At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.

Jer 25:31  A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.

...also have an outward climactic end-of-the-age application to "all flesh" at the beginning of the thousand-year reign. We know this is so because Christ Himself tells us that unless the days before the thousand-year reign were not shortened "no flesh would be saved alive":

Mat 24:22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

Mar 13:20  And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.

This is twice repeated, and there are two items in these verses which prove it applies only to those who are judged in this age. The first is that the days in question are while "flesh" is still on this earth. The second is that these days are shortened for the sake of the Lord's elect, who are those who "come forth to the resurrection unto life" at the beginning of the thousand years instead of "the resurrection unto judgment" when the thousand years are finished (Joh 5:27-29).

When those days are shortened for the elect's sake, Christ comes into our hearts and lives inwardly within His elect in this present age, and the kingdom of our carnal-minded old man is spoiled by the coming of Christ. Outwardly in the 'will be' future application, "the kingdom of this world... become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ... the elect" for whom those days shall be shortened.

Here are but a few of the promises given us if we overcome the wicked one in this age and attain to the first resurrection:

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

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Rev 11:16  And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17  Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
Rev 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

All these promises of ruling the nations for a thousand years are only for "our Lord and His Christ", His anointed ones. The promises manifestly have no application to those who will be ruled over during that time, nor can they possibly apply to those who will be ruled by the same "Saviors" (Oba 1:21) in the second death/lake of fire/second resurrection to judgment/great white throne judgment. Instead, Christ and His Christ will now be the ones who are spoiling all those who were once granted to spoil with all their false doctrines.

Isa 33:4  And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.

The Lord's people spoiling Egypt typified and prophesies of how we spoil the kingdom of our old man within us, and it also foreshadows the spoiling of "the kingdoms of this world" during the thousand-year reign of "our Lord and His Christ":

Exo 12:36  And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.

It was the Lord who "gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians", and that is exactly what He will do again at the appointed time for "our Lord and His Christ" to begin spoiling the kingdoms of this world and to rule them all with a rod of iron.

Isa 33:5  The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.

The Lord dwells within His elect:

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

But we are also told:

Psa 132:13  For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.
Psa 132:14  This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.

Joe 3:16  The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
Joe 3:17  So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

"The Lord's Christ", His elect, are His "holy mountain" in which He dwells, and so we are plainly told:

Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Clearly the Lord's "holy mountain", His "city" and His "temple" are all one and the same thing. They are all Biblical symbols of His elect in whom He seeks to dwell and to be their God.

In concluding our comments on this verse, being "exalted" and "dwell[ing] on high" are spiritual statements which have nothing to do with altitude. There is no more exalted place in the universe than to be "in Christ" who is "In [His] Father". That is as spiritually 'high' as anyone can get.

Isa 6:1  In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple [His people: 1Co 3:16].

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you [...high and lifted up].

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

In such an exalted position, we are being given the mind of Christ, and Christ is being made wisdom unto us:

1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

"The fear of the Lord" is the beginning of both "wisdom... [and] knowledge":

Isa 33:6  And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.

If Christ lives within us, we are all given a growing part of His mind, and that growing mind of Christ begins with the fear of the Lord:

Psa 111:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

Pro 1:7  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Pro 9:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Truly our own "treasure" is to fear the Lord and keep His commandments. Only then will our lives have any spiritual, inward stability and peace of mind.

Php 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Php 2:14  Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
Php 2:15  That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

Isa 33:7  Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.

The reason for our valiant ones crying and the ambassadors of peace weeping bitterly is that they have always spoiled the Lord's people, and now being spoiled by the Lord's Christ. If we are so gifted, the Lord will destroy our pride in ourselves in this age. If we are blessed to do so, we will judge ourselves in this age and will not be consigned to "the resurrection unto judgment". The shoe is now on the other foot, and our old man no longer calls the shots in our lives. Our carnal "ambassadors of peace" will be shown no quarter, because:

Isa 59:8  The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

We are clearly instructed that we are not to make any alliances or treaties with the inhabitants of our land. We are commanded:

Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
Exo 23:31  And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
Exo 23:32  Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
Exo 23:33  They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

Deu 20:16  But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:

The flesh and carnal mind of our old man will be given no quarter in the Lord's economy.

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

Isa 33:8  The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.
Isa 33:9  The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.

This is 'the highways' and 'cities' of the deceitfulness and lies of our old man which must be destroyed with the brightness of Christ's coming into our lives:

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:
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish [Greek: are (present tense), are perishing]; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

This is how Isaiah describes "the brightness of His coming into our lives to destroy "the mystery of iniquity", which to that point has "let", meaning has restrained, the coming of Christ just as the need for the fullness of the iniquities of the Amorites to be fulfilled restrained Israel's taking  possession of the land of promise:

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

At the appointed time, the Lord will drive out all the nations within us who have dominated our lives and whose slaves we have been for so long.

Act 17:31  Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Isa 33:10  Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.

In that day the Lord alone will be exalted:

Isa 2:11  The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

Isa 2:17  And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

2Co 4:11  For we which live are alway delivered unto death [first] for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

As we are being judged in this age in bodies of "mortal flesh" our flesh is learning to be quiet and to simply witness its own demise even as Christ increases within us as the Lord's certain salvation.

Exo 14:13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
Exo 14:14 The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

These last two verses of our study tell us all that our old man, our mortal flesh, our first man Adam, can do if the Lord is judging us in this age. This is the function of our old man and his time in service to sin and death:

Isa 33:11  Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
Isa 33:12  And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.

Our old man conceives chaff and brings forth stubble by teaching false doctrines which serve only to furnish the fuel of his own destruction. This is true of the carnal mind in both resurrections. "Your breath, as fire, shall devour you", is just another way of saying:

Luk 19:22  And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:

The Lord answered the person He deceived with the words which the Lord put in that servant's mouth.

Eze 14:9  And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel ["Your own breath, as fire, shall devour you"].
Eze 14:10  And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;

The Lord had indeed "laid down" a talent with the wicked servant and had sown that talent in the life of that servant. That talent symbolized the truth of His Word which the Lord had given that servant, but the wicked servant rejected that blessing. The Lord's answer is to agree with our heart's idols and of our misconceptions concerning Him:

Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

If indeed God's elect being hurt of the second death is an idol of the heart, then the Lord Himself will confirm that idol in the minds of those who have created it, and He will answer them according to the idol of their own heart, and He Himself will blind the eyes of those to whom He has given that idol against His clear promises that one fire and one death are enough to fulfill the principle of living by every word and experiencing one event.

The Lord has told us He will not forever be angry, and He has told us clearly that His mercy endures forever:

Psa 103:9  He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

Isa 57:16  For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.

1Ch 16:34  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psa 136:1  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

If we reject the Lord's words and replace them with the idols of our hearts, then that is what the Lord Himself will make us to believe when we are raised to judgment:

Psa 18:26  With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

The Lord has made it equally clear that His firstfruits "who first trust in Him" will be the first to endure the fiery trials of His Word within their lives and be the first to die to their old man and will overcome the wicked one while yet in "bodies of mortal flesh":

2Co 4:11  For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

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.

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed [at the first resurrection], ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. [That you will not be hurt of the second death]

1Jn 2:13  I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh [Now in bodies of mortal flesh] shall not be hurt of the second death.

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

Believe the Lord's words. "The wicked one... the devil will try" God's elect. He will not be trying those with whom he is being purified in the second death.

Christ has made all of this just as clear as the doctrine of universal salvation. He has promised His elect, who overcome the wicked one while yet in bodies of mortal flesh, that they will not be hurt again of the second death. God's elect suffer the 'groaning and travailing in pain together with the whole creation' while yet in bodies of mortal flesh.

Rom 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

His elect die to their old man in this age and will not take part in the second group, consisting of all who are not in that blessed and holy first resurrection. It is called "the second death" because it is 'second' both ordinally and in order of preference.

Next week, as the Lord wills we will learn exactly what is our part in the lake of fire:

Isa 33:13  Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.
Isa 33:14  The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15  He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
Isa 33:16  He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.
Isa 33:17  Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.
Isa 33:18  Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
Isa 33:19  Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
Isa 33:20  Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.
Isa 33:21  But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.
Isa 33:22  For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.
Isa 33:23  Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.
Isa 33:24  And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.