Prophecy of Isaiah – Isa 33:19-24 The Blessings of Having Part in the First Resurrection

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Isa 33:19-24 The Blessings o​f Having Part i​n The First Resurrection

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.

This entire chapter has been a revelation of the blessings the Lord is bestowing on those who are being given a part in the first resurrection.

In John 5 Christ tells us that those who are in the first resurrection "come forth unto life", and He contrasts that resurrection to the second resurrection. Those who are predestined be in that second resurrection, our Lord tells us,​ will "come forth unto judgment".

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; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. [Greek: judgment]

Revelation 20 gives us some of the incomparable blessings of being given to have a part in that blessed "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.

What is this "second death" we are told here "has no power... on... he that has part in the first resurrection"? Why is "the first resurrection" so named, and why is "the second death" so named? Is it not manifestly so because there is a second resurrection which takes place after the short season of rebellion which follows the thousand year reign of Christ and His first fruits who rule the kingdoms of this world for a thousand years? Is not "the second death" named ​such ​because there are those who die to their old man first, in this age while yet in bodies of "mortal flesh", while "the rest of the dead do not die to their carnal minds while yet in bodies of "mortal flesh" but must yet be hurt of "the second death" while in spiritual bodies. after the thousand years, are finished?​

Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life ["the first resurrection" -​ verse 6] was cast into the lake of fire.

Everything said about the two resurrections mentioned in Revelation 20 bears out the words of Christ which reveal that there is a first resurrection to life for those who are judged first in this life, and a second resurrection to judgment for those who were not judged while in this life of mortal flesh.

Our last study was also about the blessings of the first resurrection in which we learned that the very elect will dwell comfortably in the devouring fire and in the everlasting burnings of the second death as the judges of all men who have ever lived and who were not granted to have part in that "blessed and holy... first resurrection".

In the Old Testament, those in the second death are symbolized by "the mount of Esau", who will be judged and purified by "Saviors [who] will arise upon mount Zion".

Oba 1:21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S.

Immediately after being told that it is the righteous who will dwell in the devouring fire and in the everlasting burnings,​ these are the last three verses of that study:

Isa 33:16  He [the righteous who will judge angels in the lake of fire] 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?

It is in this blessed position of coming forth unto the resurrection of life, to judge the world and angels that we are told this of ourselves as those who dwell in the devouring fire and the everlasting burnings:

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.

Let us consider the context of this verse. This verse is part of the description of the blessings to be enjoyed by the overcomer who dwells with the devouring fire and dwells in the everlasting burnings:

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.

So it is "He that walks righteously" who will "dwell on high... see the king in His beauty... meditates [the] terror [of the wicked, who will] not see a fierce people... that you cannot understand".

Inwardly these "​fierce people... of a deeper speech than you can perceive" are all the kingdoms and "powers and principalities" and false doctrines within us which withstand the kingdom of God and the laws of God within us.

2Co 10:3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
2Co 10:4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

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.

We are all, at first, "a fierce people" as unknowing slaves to the law of sin in our members (Rom 7:17-25).

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?
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.

The fiercest enemy any of us will ever confront is the man of sin within the temple of God,​ which temple we are (1Co 3:16).

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

The commentaries and Christendom in general all place these words upon the Assyrians of Isaiah's day. Many Protestants think that Isaiah 33:19 speaks of Catholicism whose liturgy was in a dead language for many years. Meanwhile the man of sin maintains secure control of His throne while the whole world is searching for him outwardly,​ thinking he has to be a man who speaks a foreign language anywhere but sitting upon the throne of Christ within every man.

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

The reason the Lord's elect "shall not see a fierce people of a deeper speech than [they] can perceive" is the same reason they are not hurt of the devouring fire and everlasting burnings. That reason is that they endured their subjection to "a fierce people of a deeper speech than they could understand" while yet in bodies of ​"​mortal flesh", and now in the first resurrection that is all behind them, and that "fierce people" were destroyed within while in ​we were in ​"our mortal bodies":

Rom 8:11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

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.

This is what we must all endure in these marred clay vessels:

Isa 28:9  Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Isa 28:10  For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
Isa 28:11  For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
Isa 28:12  To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
Isa 28:13  But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

It is before we are weaned from the milk that we are unable to see the Lord's Truth line upon line and precept upon precept. We call such a technique 'proof texting' and we "fall backward, and are broken and snared and taken".

"Every man's works... shall be tried by fire" (1Co 3:13-15), including even those who are predestined to be "the temple of God" (1Co 3:16).

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

Every man's work will be revealed by fire, and every man must die to his old carnal mind. But Paul contrasts a man who "receives a reward" for his works which "abide which he has built... upon... the foundation... of Christ". That reward is to "come forth unto life... in the first resurrection":

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; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. [Greek:​ judgment]

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.

So these verses in 1Co 3:13-16 are contrasting the differences between the two resurrections. That is why we must all fear to disobey our Lord while we are on this earth in "our bodies of mortal flesh":

Psa 119:118  Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood.
Psa 119:119  Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.
Psa 119:120  My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.

Contrary to what many hypocrites in Zion want you to believe,​ the New Testament continues with this same doctrine of fearing the judgments of God:

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; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

Heb 10:30  For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
Heb 10:31  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

"There is no fear in love" and "this is the love of God that we keep His commandments".

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
1Jn 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

If we "fear Him, which after He has killed has power to cast into Gehenna", then we be demonstrating the "love made perfect" which casts out all fear of men which has torment. The love of God is fearing to disobey His commandments:

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

What example did Christ leave us to follow as it relates to fearing His Father? Let's just believe what the sum of His Word is on this question:

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
Heb 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

The powers that be are ordained of God,​ and if we resist them,​ we are resisting God, and fear is what happens when we resist the powers ordained of God:

Rom 13:2  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

So what is the solution for us? What are we to do to avoid having to fear the ordinance of God? This is what we must do:

Rom 13:5  Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
Rom 13:6  For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
Rom 13:7  Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear;honour to whom honour.

Christ tells us to "fear God". We are told Christ "feared God" and was heard by His Father. If we fear God and keep His commandments then we will have nothing to fear.

Rom 13:3  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
Rom 13:4  For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

We have no reason, spiritually,​ to fear men. We have every reason to "fear God and keep His commandments".​

This is another ways of saying:

Isa 40:15  Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
Isa 40:16  And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
Isa 40:17  All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

This chapter is addressed to the Lord's elect who in Him are just as untouchable by the fiercest of men as the Lord Himself is of the physical nations of men. As the judges of this earth and this world there will be no fear of the nations we will be judging. As rulers over the nations with our Lord we will have His power​,​ and we will see no fierce people whom we cannot understand. We will be capable of handling any and every situation placed before us at that time.

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.

We see no such people even now because:

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Instead of fearing what lies ahead of us,​ this is what the Lord and His Christ will do:

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.

Those who "dwell in the devouring fire and the everlasting burnings are the Lord's quiet habitation, both "near... and far away". Those words apply both to time and position. We are His tabernacle which shall not be taken down; not... ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken".

This is just an earlier way of saying:

Mat 16:18  And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter [Greek:​ petros, a pebble], and upon this rock Greek, [​petra, a massive bedrock, Christ Himself] I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

And this:

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

The New Jerusalem is Christ and His Christ, the overcomers, through whom all men will be saved:

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

These blessings...​

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.

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.

​...are the subject of this entire 33rd chapter of Isaiah. An important blessing of being in the first resurrection is that we will dwell comfortably in the devouring fire and in the everlasting burnings, ​t​o which blessings the holy spirit adds these words:

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.

The "broad rivers and streams" are Christ and His doctrines. "Wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby" are war ships. This is another way of telling us that if we are blessed to be in the first resurrection,​ our struggles with our old man are now behind us. If we died first and were the first to be judged,​ then there is no need to face that battle again. Once the first death is endured in bodies of mortal flesh, "the Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams". On the other hand, if ​we "come forth unto the resurrection of judgment, which is the second death, which is the lake of fire, we will see a galley with oars and gallant ships passing by with a war still to be waged against our old man. Only now that rebellious old man, like Satan and his angels, is in a spiritual body. The death of the carnal-​minded old man is still before all who are in the second death in a spiritual body.

"The resurrection of life,​ on the other hand,​ is a resurrection to be the first to know "life more abundantly" and being resurrected to the task of judging the world first for a thousand years, and then judging angels. Anyone in that blessed and holy first resurrection will see the Lord as "a place of broad rivers and streams" because that is how we are supposed to see Him:

Joh 7:37  In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said,out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Joh 7:39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

'Rivers of living waters'​ speak of the spirit which they that believe on Him were to receive'. Christ is our life. He is the tree of life,​ and He is also the river of life:

Joh 6:53  Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves.
Joh 6:54  He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56  He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57  As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he that eateth me, he also shall live because of me.
Joh 6:58  This is the bread which came down out of heaven: not as the fathers ate, and died; he that eateth this bread shall live for ever.

So when we read of eating of the Tree of Life or drinking waters of life, or we read about t​he River of Life,​ what we are being told is that we must eat His flesh and drink His blood, both of which symbolize believing His words and His doctrines:

Rev 2:7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Rev 22:1  And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,
Rev 22:2  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Of course, this is who the Lord is to those who are in the blessed and holy first resurrection:

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.

This is the reason of our faith in all these incomparable blessings is in the Lord:

Isa 33:22  For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.

Our faith is well founded in the Lord,​ and it is foolish to forget all He has done to bring us to where we are. He really is our salvation, and there really is nothing we, of ourselves, can do to contribute to our own salvation. Anything that is of ourselves cannot strengthen our masts or spread our own sail. It is the spoil of our carnal-​minded old man that is divided to our new man just as the Lord caused Israel to spoil the Egyptians, even though it was the Lord's Israel who w​ere the slaves of Egypt and who are considered lame and dead by our carnal mind. In that same manner,​ our new man, typified by Lazarus in Christ's parable of Lazarus and the rich man,​ is the Lord's Israel, His kingdom within us:

Gal 6:15  Certainly, it doesn't matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.
Gal 6:16  Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God. (GW)

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.

It is through the supernatural favor the Lord gives us in the minds of the Egyptians by which we are able to spoil Egypt immediately after the death of their firstborn [Our own old man].​

Exo 12:29  And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.
Exo 12:30  And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
Exo 12:31  And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said.
Exo 12:32  Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.
Exo 12:33  And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.
Exo 12:34  And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.
Exo 12:35  And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:
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 is the death and destruction of our old man which serve as the fertilizer which nourishes the growth of our new man. Our new man in this way spoils our old man. This principle appears in different ways in scripture. Here are but a couple:

Joh 3:30  He [Christ in us, our new man] must increase, but I [our old man] must decrease.

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

Egypt symbolizes our own carnal-​minded old man as well as this carnal-​minded world. Both will, at the appointed time be spoiled by our Lord and His Christ:

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.

When Israel left and spoiled Egypt this is what we are told of the entire nation:

Deu 2:7  For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.

Deu 29:5  And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.

If the Lord provided for us "while [we] were yet sinners" rebelling against Him in the wilderness, how much greater provision will be made for us as participants of the great and holy first resurrection:

Isa 33:24  And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.

This 24th verse has a present 'is' application to the kingdom of God within us as the "heavenly Jerusalem", the bride of Christ.

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

Those who are cast into the lake of fire/second death are not,​ and will never be,​ "the general assembly of the firstborn... the heavenly Jerusalem" and will never be the "bride adorned for her husband" which is a blessing given only to the "church of the firstborn".

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Here we have just one more blessing to add to our list of the blessings of being given to have a part in that blessed and holy first resurrection. "The firstborn" are the heavenly Jerusalem, through whom all men must come to Christ and His Father.

Isa 33:24 surely had an application for Isaiah's day, when all of Judah fasted and repented with their King, Hezekiah, and were delivered from the Assyrians, and it most certainly applies in its "will be" application to the New Jerusalem, which comes down to the earth from heaven to rule the nations with a rod of iron for a thousand years. Not one of the Lord's ruling elect will say,​ ​"​I am sick [because] the people who dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.​"

The New Jerusalem is the symbol for the dead in Christ along with "we which are alive and remain" in Christ. That is who makes up the Lord's heavenly bride for whom He prepares "the wedding supper of the Lamb" in:

Rev 19:6  And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

The marriage supper of the Lamb is the blessed and holy first resurrection. It is exclusively for those who will rule and reign with Christ a thousand years to be then given to bring "the rest of the dead", all who were not in the first resurrection, to Christ and to His Father and fill Him who fills all in all.

This is just how exclusive and blessed it is to be given this honor:

Eph 1:17  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his powerto us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Eph 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

In the next chapter of Revelation we are told just how special it is to be given to be at this marriage supper, and to be equipped to dwell with the devouring fire and the everlasting burnings and not even take on the smell of the smoke of those fires:

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
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.

Dan 3:27  And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

This 33rd chapter of Isaiah​ gives us some of the blessings inherent with being given to have a part in the blessed and holy first resurrection.

When we come together again to continue these studies we will be covering these verses of Isaiah 34, demonstrating that mankind does indeed "live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, in the sense of all men being judged according to their own works. God's firstfruits are the first who are given to die to their carnal-​minded old man, and are therefore the first who will learn righteousness through that judgment. The Lord's elect are simply blessed to be the first to endure His fiery wrath upon their unrighteousness, the first to experience the fire and brimstone of the first death, and therefore they will "not be hurt of the second death" (Rev 2:11 and 20:6).

Here are the verses for our next study:

Isa 34:1  Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.
Isa 34:2  For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
Isa 34:3  Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
Isa 34:4  And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.
Isa 34:5  For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
Isa 34:6  The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
Isa 34:7  And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
Isa 34:8  For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
Isa 34:9  And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.

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