Prophecy of Isaiah – Isa 38:9-22 By These Things Men Live…In All These Things is the Life of My Spirit
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By These Things Men Live... In All These Things Is The Life Of My Spirit
Isa 38:9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:
Isa 38:10 I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
Isa 38:11 I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
Isa 38:12 Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
Isa 38:13 I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
Isa 38:14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
Isa 38:15 What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
Isa 38:16 O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.
Isa 38:17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
Isa 38:18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
Isa 38:19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
Isa 38:20 The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.
Isa 38:21 For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.
Isa 38:22 Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?
This chapter is about the sickness and the healing of King Hezekiah. It typifies how we begin our relationship with Christ as "carnal... babes in Christ".
1Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
All "carnal... babes in Christ", just like any physical baby, does not like learning that he is not yet an adult. I tell the story of my 4-year old son asking if he could help me drive some metal fence posts into the ground with a 16-pound sledge hammer. It was all I could do to use that hammer so I was looking forward to seeing my 4-year old's expression when he learned just how heavy that hammer was. He did get it off the ground, but that little 4-year old boy was nowhere near capable of swinging a 16-pound sledge hammer. Just getting it off the ground was the limit of his capabilities at that tender age. It would be many years before he would be able to do heavy physical work, but he didn't have a clue of that truth.
In the same manner, it takes many trials and tribulations to build up the spiritual strength needed to know the voice of the True Shepherd and to stand firm in the faith of Jesus Christ. Spiritual maturity comes only through many failures and, like my son, learning just how helpless we first are, before we are given to spend the time needed to develop the patience which comes only through the fiery trials of failing and picking ourselves back up and begging the Lord for the strength to continue on in His strength and in His service. The Lord appreciates our faith and our desire to serve Him, even in our spiritual infancy. I have no doubt that He smiles down on each of us as we attempt to serve Him in a capacity far beyond our present measure of faith. My brother and I smiled while watching my little boy learn that steel hammers weigh much more than toy foam hammers.
We all smile when reading of the spiritually immature "seven sons of... Sceva" who attempted to do what they had witnessed the far more spiritually mature, apostle Paul do:
Act 19:11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:
Act 19:12 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.
Act 19:13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.
Act 19:14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
Act 19:15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
Act 19:16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
Act 19:17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
Why are we told this story about Sceva's seven sons? It is for the exact same reason we are told about Hezekiah's shortcomings. It is for "our admonition" (1Co 10:11). We are told of these stories because we want to operate beyond the measure of faith we are given:
Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Rom 12:4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
Rom 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
Rom 12:6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
Rom 12:7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
Rom 12:8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
As "carnal babes in Christ" we think we want to please our Father before our faith is tried. In our spiritual immaturity we want to serve him only in the way we want to serve him. That is the spiritual meaning of this verse:
Isa 4:1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.
"We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel" means we will do what we want to do, and teach our own doctrines, and we will call our rebellious evil deeds Christ-like actions, and we will call our own false doctrines Christ's doctrines. Christ, of course, will have no part in such an arrangement. The seven sons of Sceva invoked the name of Christ while in reality seeking only to exalt themselves. These "seven women" symbolize the complete world of Christendom, who are not about to love their enemies nor live by any of the doctrines of Christ.
We all begin our walk with Christ as "carnal babes in Christ", seeking our own glory through a sense of false humility, and wanting to claim the name of Christ while serving Him only as we see fit.
Just as King Saul when he refused to obey the Lord and destroy the Amalekites and all their possessions, we, too, make a monument and an idol of ourselves while at the same time claiming we have done all the Lord told us to do:
This is a story of our own flesh, seeking its own will instead of trembling at the words of the Lord:
1Sa 15:12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a monument, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal. (ASV)
I was surprised to see that the word translated as 'monument' here in the ASV, and as "a place" in the KJV, is the Hebrew word, 'yad' meaning 'hand'. King Saul had set up a monument to the work of his own hand. Like the seven women of Isa 4:1 and the seven sons of Sceva, King Saul wanted to retain the Lord's name while honoring himself and doing what he wanted to do while simply ignoring all the inconvenient details of what the Lord told him to do.
1Sa 15:13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
1Sa 15:14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
1Sa 15:15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
1Sa 15:16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
1Sa 15:17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?
1Sa 15:18 And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.
1Sa 15:19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?
1Sa 15:20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
1Sa 15:21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.
King Saul obeyed the Lord at the very beginning of his reign, until he needed to stand up for the Truth against the people to remain faithful to what the Lord's words required of him. At that point, his fear of being rejected by the people and his desire to please the people exceeded his fear of the Lord's words and his desire to please the Lord. The Lord must be our only concern. If we humble ourselves, tremble at His every Word, and obey Him, then everyone around us will be the beneficiaries of our fidelity.
Christ put this principle in these words:
Mat 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Mat 6:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek): for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Mat 6:34 Take therefore no [anxious] thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Seeking "first the kingdom of God" means seeking to please the King of that kingdom above all else. Nothing pleases the King of the kingdom of God more than obeying His commandment to place our faith in Him and in His strength as our strength. Whether our battles are literal physical battles or the trials and diseases of life, "after having done all" He gives us to do, we are told to stand and watch Him deliver us:
For example:
Exo 14:10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.
Exo 14:11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
Exo 14:12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.
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.
Exo 14:15 And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:
Exo 14:16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.Exo 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.
Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
"Having done all, to stand" means standing on the Word of God without compromising those words. But we are all Balaam and King Saul before we become the tried and tested "new man", typified by Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who stood firm in their trust in the Lord in the face of Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace, and Daniel who remained faithful to his Lord when he was threatened with Darius' lion's den.
As we have seen, Hezekiah, as a type of us, at first thought he could handle the king of Assyria without depending upon the Lord for his deliverance, so he submitted himself to the sovereignty of the king of Assyria and had even paid the fine placed upon him for daring to hope in the Lord. Like Peter walking on the waters of the storm, Hezekiah's faith was being tried, and hoping to secure the nonexistent favor and mercies of the king of Assyria, he submitted to the king's heavy fine.
Here is that story:
2Ki 18:13 Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.
2Ki 18:14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
2Ki 18:15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house.
2Ki 18:16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
However, as a type of the Lord's very few elect, King Hezekiah was given to repent of this his lack of faith, and against all odds he again defied the armies of the king of Assyria, and just as Moses told Israel to do, Hezekiah placed his faith in the Lord to deliver him from the most dire circumstances. Just as the Lord destroyed the armies of Egypt so also the Lord simply destroyed the armies of Sennacherib, and shortly thereafter the Lord also destroyed Sennacherib.
2Ki 19:35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
2Ki 19:36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
2Ki 19:37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
We, as the Lord's elect, have very little time for celebration. The Lord knows our flesh is very weak, and left to its own devices it will succumb to the weaknesses displayed in Balaam and in King Saul. Therefore immediately after this miraculous delivery from the armies of King Sennacherib of Assyria the very next thing were read, both in 2nd Kings 20 and here in Isaiah 38 is the affliction the Lord laid upon King Hezekiah, to keep him humble and to keep him on his knees before his Maker and Creator. That is what life in these "earthen vessels" is all about:
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.
2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
"Of God, and not of us" means "to humble [us] by [our trials, our] experience[s] of evil".
As we saw last week, the Lord healed Hezekiah supernaturally, just as He had supernaturally delivered him from the king of Assyria. Hezekiah as a type of us, rejoices in what the Lord's love and His salvation have produced in his life. Job rejoiced in the Lord's love and healing and Israel also sang a song of gratitude after the destruction of the armies of Egypt:
Job 42:10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Exo 15:1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Exo 15:2 The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.
Exo 15:3 The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.
Exo 15:4 Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.Psa 5:11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
Hezekiah was supernaturally delivered from the Assyrian armies and he was also supernaturally healed of his "sickness unto death". It is entirely proper to "let [him] ever shout for joy [and] be joyful in [the Lord]":
Isa 38:9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:
Isa 38:10 I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
Isa 38:11 I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
Isa 38:12 Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
Hezekiah typifying the Lord's elect, was put though the same fire, the fiery words of God, endured by his father Ahaz, and all the other kings of Israel and Judah. But King Hezekiah typifies those who do so first and who are rewarded for being the first to overcome the adversary and sin in "this present time":
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.
Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in [the] Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12 That we ["the Lord and His Christ"] should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
And this is "the redemption of the purchased possession":
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.
Hezekiah was made to see his own weakness in submitting to the king of Assyria. He was delivered from that oppression, and then he was again humbled by being stricken with a "sickness unto death". Typifying our calling as "they who first trusted in Christ", he is delivered from every fiery trial in "this present time". However, it is important that we realize and that we understand that, like our Lord, we also must also be "tempted... in all ways" as [others] are, so that we, too, can be kings and priests ministering to others as Christ is at this very moment ministering to us and judging us:
Heb 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
Heb 2:18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
Christ "being made like unto His brothers... is able to succour them that are tempted", and "as He is so are we in this world":
1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the [this] day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
"They sat upon [thrones]" refers to those John has already revealed to be the "kings and priests" to God and to the Lamb:
Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
This promise of "making us kings and priests" is reiterated when the beasts and elders around the throne of God explain to us of who they signify and symbolize:
Rev 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
As these "kings and priests" we must suffer with Christ, as is symbolized in this story by the suffering of King Hezekiah. Both Job and Hezekiah, are symbols of the suffering the Lord places upon all who will be "as He is... in this world". That suffering may be given to us via the hand of the adversary, but as we have shown repeatedly already, Job 1 and 2 demonstrate clearly that Satan is merely an instrument of the Lord's hand.
Hezekiah tells us clearly that his affliction is from the Lord:
Isa 38:13 I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
Isa 38:14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
Isa 38:15 What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
Isa 38:16 O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.
Isa 38:17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
Isa 38:18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
Isa 38:19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
"O Lord I am oppressed; undertake for me... for peace I had great bitterness". Hezekiah is an Old Testament type of God's elect, and that is why he must be the first to suffer so much, and yet, in type, be raised up from a "sickness unto death". Like a caterpillar weaving itself into a cocoon, we all must like Hezekiah come to our own dying before we can be delivered from that dying condition.
Following our instructions to be taught knowledge and to be made to understand doctrine, line upon line and precept upon precept (Isa 28:9-13), we will go to the New Testament to get a much more complete description of the sufferings and "great bitterness" which must be endured first by the Lord's elect.
This is "the patience...and the faith of the saints":
Rev 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Rev 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Rev 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Rev 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
This is the patience of the saints! "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus". It is those who "worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand" who "shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God" which is poured out of the seven vials of the seven angels of the next two chapters of Revelation (Rev 15-16).
Rev 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
Rev 15:6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
But who is it that worships the beast? Who is it who receives his mark in his forehead, and in his hand? The unequivocal answer to that question is in the previous chapter:
Rev 13:16 And it is causing all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, that they may be giving them an emblem on their right hand, or on their forehead,
Rev 13:17 and that no one may be able to buy or sell except the one having the emblem of the wild beast, or its name, or the number of its name.
Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has a mind calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is the number of mankind, and its number is six hundred sixty-six. (CLV)
"ALL the small and the great, the rich and the poor and the free and the slaves", is inclusive of all "mankind". "666... is the number of mankind". All men of all time are marked with this number '6' by virtue of being created on the sixth day along with all the other beasts of the earth. We are even told that we are beasts with no preeminence over the other beasts inasmuch as we are all subject to death:
Ecc 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
Ecc 3:19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
Ecc 3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
So much for the false doctrine of man being given an immortal soul:
Eze 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
So the scriptures are true, "the wages of sin is death", not eternal life in an ever-burning literal fire of a fabled 'hell':
The fact that the number of mankind is three sixes simply signifies the process of judgment which is so vital to making mankind into the image of its Creator:
[The number three is covered in this link as the number six is
here]
The judgment of all men "begins at the house of God":
1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
Peter does not claim to have been perfected, but neither does he hesitate to count himself as being a part of "the house of God" which is being judged at "this present time":
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.
Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Paul does not consider himself "to have apprehended that for which [he] was apprehended", but neither does he hesitate to consider himself to be among those who are "the sons of God" at "this present time":
Php 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Php 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Php 3:16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
The words "already attained" are in the aorist tense, meaning this entire statement is part of an ongoing process of judgment, which must be endured to the end:
Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
While we have seen very clearly that it is possible to fall away from "the Lord and His Christ", we also have these very encouraging words for those predestined few who are predetermined by the Lord to "endure to the end":
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
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.
'We are killed all the day long, and counted as sheep for the slaughter for Christ's sake', and yet "in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us".
"These things" here in Romans 8 are the same "these things" of the title of our study today taken from this verse here in Isaiah 38:
Isa 38:16 O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.
Every great leader challenges his followers to perform beyond what they think they are capable of doing. Our Leader tells us up front that our strength lies in knowing and acknowledging that we can of our ownselves do nothing, but through Him and by following in His footsteps we can do all things:
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.
Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
1Pe 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
Hezekiah, typifying us, recognized the voice of the Lord in the prophet Isaiah. As a type of the Lord's elect in the present time, he gives the prophet who also typifies the Lord and His Christ the credit they are due:
Isa 38:20 The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.
Isa 38:21 For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.
Isa 38:22 Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?
The lump of figs and the sign of the sundial returning by ten degrees, as well as the three days of waiting for his healing, are the things which are dealt with in much greater detail in 2Kings 20.
The Lord could easily have healed Hezekiah instantly as He did so often in the New Testament. But these things happened to Hezekiah, and they are written for our admonition, to tell us that the Lord has ordained that our faith be tried in the fire of His Word to develop the patience necessary in the kings and priests of His coming kingdom who will rule the kingdoms of this world:
1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
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.
Jas 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Jas 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Jas 1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.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 11:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
What we are being told in these verses is that we, typified by Hezekiah, must be the first to endure the "lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." That is what must be endured to prepare us as "the first to trust in Christ" (Eph 1:12). It is those who "first trusted in Christ" who must first rule over "The kingdoms of this world" within if we are [to] become the kings and priest who will rule over "the kingdoms of this world" outwardly for "a thousand years" as "our Lord, and of his Christ". We must rule all the carnal kingdoms within ourselves before we will be entrusted with the salvation of "the kingdoms of this world".
Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
In our next study we will be shown that our flesh is so very weak that we are in need of the strength of the Lord up until we relinquish these "earthen vessels". It must be so for the purpose of demonstrating that "the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us."
2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Here are the verses for our next study:
Isa 39:1 At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.
Isa 39:2 And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
Isa 39:3 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.
Isa 39:4 Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
Isa 39:5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:
Isa 39:6 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
Isa 39:7 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
Isa 39:8 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.
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