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Isa 42:10-17 I Have Long Time Held My Peace… Now… I Will Destroy

Isa 42:10 Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
Isa 42:11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.
Isa 42:12 Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands.
Isa 42:13 The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.
Isa 42:14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.
Isa 42:15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.
Isa 42:16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.
Isa 42:17  They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.

In our last study we saw the first nine verses of this chapter are addressed to “mine elect”, which we demonstrated to be Christ and His Christ. In short, we were told that Christ and His Christ, in this age, do not attempt to change anything outwardly. Rather, in this age they themselves are experiencing the Lord’s judgment and His wrath inwardly upon their own sins (Rev 14:8-12). The Lord’s elect are brought to see that they should come to see themselves as “chief of sinners” and repent of their own sins. This is what the scriptures refer to as “return[ing] unto… the Lord”:

Jer 4:1 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.

When we do return to God, we do so only because we are made to do so through the Lord’s fiery judgments:

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.

When we return to the Lord He will then use us, His elect, to witness to other elect whom He is at this moment in the process of dragging to Himself.

Jer 15:19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them [“the vile”] return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.

This process of repenting and returning to the Lord is called ‘removing the beam from your own eye so you can see clearly to help your brother’:

Luk 6:42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.

As the story of Job demonstrates in such graphic terms, self-righteousness is the most insidious of sins:

Job 27:5 God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
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.

Speaking in God’s stead (Job 33:6), Elihu judges Job with Job’s own words:

Job 33:8 Surely thou hast spoken in mine hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words, saying,
Job 33:9 I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me.

In blaming Job for his sad condition, His three other “miserable comforters” were just as self-righteous as Job:

Job 16:1 Then Job answered and said,
Job 16:2 I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.

Through the words of Elihu and the words of the Lord Himself, Job as a type of the Lord’s elect, was the first to repent of his insidious self-righteousness:

Job 40:1 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
Job 40:2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.

Job is a type of the Lord’s elect. Like us he was dragged to, “cast out first the beam that [was] in [his, our] own eye.” Job’s trials typify the daily death of our old man (1Co 15:31).

1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Peter calls this daily dying “[a] fiery trial” and “judgment… [which] begins… first at the house of God”:

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, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

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?

It is only those who have part in this “first… judgment” who are promised “a kingdom” and who will also have a part in the “blessed and holy… first resurrection”, and will be given power over the kingdoms of this world for “a thousand years “and then their preeminence as kings and priests and judges will continue throughout the ages of the lake of fire.

The first resurrection is called “the resurrection of life” and it is contrasted with “the resurrection of damnation" (Greek: krisis, judgment) which follows a “thousand years… reign” over “the kingdoms of this world” by those few who are given to have part in that blessed and holy first resurrection:

Joh 5:26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
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; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation

Christ also tells us that those who are so blessed as to be given part in the first resurrection...

Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

This “kingdom”, along with “a crown of life”, is given only to those who overcome the devil… the wicked one” in “this present time” (Rom 8:18).

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.
1Jn 2:14  I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

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.

This “crown of life” is part and parcel of “the resurrection of life” which entails ruling the kingdoms of this world for a thousand years and ruling over and judging angels in the lake of fire.

1Co 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

When we are judging angels in the lake of fire, the devil will not at that time be casting us into prison. Neither will he be casting us into prison during the thousand years, because then he will himself be in prison (Rev 20:1-2). Knowing all of this is how we can say for certain that the only people who can possibly be given this “kingdom” and the only people who can possibly “judge angels” are those who Satan can cast into prison in “this present time”, while we are awaiting our Lord’s appearing to His saints and in the presence of this entire world.

We are even told that this present world will suffer “great fear” at His appearing, and because of the resurrection of His saints at that moment:

Rev 11:11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

Who exactly are “them which saw them”? That question is answered in the preceding two verses:

Rev 11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
Rev 11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

What we are being told is that the first resurrection will not take place in a closet. “Them that dwell on the earth”, all men who are alive at that time will be aware of what has taken place and will be made to know that the Lord’s elect have been given the reins of power over this entire globe, and will now be reigning “with a rod of iron”:

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.

What is the duration of this rulership? The book of Revelation is “signified” (Rev 1:1), and this time of Christ’s elect ruling the nations of this world “with a rod of iron” is “signified” by the symbol of "a thousand years":

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.

When this symbolic thousand-year dispensation has “expired” (Rev 20:7), the Lord will bring all flesh up against Himself for the purpose of giving Himself the ‘occasion He is seeking’ to destroy all flesh and to usher in the final judgment of the entire spirit realm, the great white throne judgment:

Jdg 14:4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

It is because of all these blessings to be bestowed upon the Lord’s “elect” that the whole world is told:

Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
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.

We have already read here in this prophecy of Isaiah what the Lord’s judgments produce:

Isa 26:8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

The Lord’s elect are the saviors for whom the whole creation is even now ‘waiting’:

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.
Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
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.

For all these wonderful blessings awaiting “the whole creation” we are encouraged to:

Isa 42:10 Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
Isa 42:11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.
Isa 42:12 Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands.

Kedar is the descendants of Ishmael, the “son of the bondwoman”, who will “not be made heir with the son of the free woman”, but will nevertheless “become a great nation”:

Gen 17:20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
Gen 17:21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.

Gal 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

What is the son of the bondwoman not allowed to inherit? What Ishmael (Kedar) cannot inherit is the “crown of life" which entails being kings and priests during the thousand-year kingdom, continuing on into judging angels in the lake of fire (1Co 6:2-3).

Ishmael (Kedar) will “give glory unto the Lord at a later date than “the son of the freewoman”. However, he will be given life. This is again a witness to two separate judgments and two separate resurrections. The first is to life, and the second is to judgment:

Joh 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves [Even Ishmael and Kedar] shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, [the elect, “the Israel of God” - Gal 6:15] unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [Greek: krisis, judgment].

But the Lord wants all men to know that the flesh we all first occupy is just a necessary evil, and “corruption [which] cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1Co 15:50) and which must first begin to be destroyed before the joy of our “new song” can begin being sung unto the Lord.

This has been ‘plan A’ from the very beginning. Flesh and blood were never for one moment ever intended to occupy the kingdom of God. Here instead was the plan from “before the world began”, and before Christ Himself first formed Adam out of the dust of this earth:

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is [first] a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

If we were called “in Christ before the world began”, that tells us that God knew in advance that Adam and Eve would disobey His commandment to not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It also tells us that the death and resurrection of Christ to cover and to  pay for that sin and the sins of all men of all time was the original plan of God… “according to His own purpose and grace which was give us in Christ Jesus before the world began”.

But after the sacrifice has begun its propitiatory purpose, the flesh with its rebellious carnal mind must begin to be judged with “a threshing instrument with teeth”, and begin to die daily and to be crucified with Christ”:

Isa 41:14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 41:15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
Isa 41:16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.

Judgment will be given to us upon this world only after this world has been judged within us:

1Co 11:31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

It is this judging, this “threshing with an instrument having teeth”, which is the “judgment [which] is [now] on the house of God” (1Pe 4:17) and which is the 'dying daily, [and being] crucified with Christ, [and] the sufferings of this present time'. But all of our sufferings “are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” as the Lord’s instrument for judging all the rest of mankind:

Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
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.

1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

That is the inward and outward meaning and personal present application of our next verses:

Isa 42:13 The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.

When judgment begins, Christ is no longer a sheep led silently to the slaughter.

Isa 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

Instead, Christ is now here to destroy the man of sin and all of his armies, first within us and then without.

Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Rev 19:12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
Rev 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
Rev 19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Rev 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Rev 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
Rev 19:18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Rev 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Verse 15 tells us that it is Christ Himself who “tread the winepress of the wrath of God”, while Revelation 16 tells us “the seven angels” pour out their vials of His wrath upon this earth, and there is no contradiction because:

Act 22:8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutes.

Revelation 29 is what happens when the Lord does battle with the beast and the devil at the end of the thousand years. The “jealousy” He stirs up is His own jealousy:

Exo 34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

Deu 4:24 For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

Now He is no longer the person who ‘would not break a bruised reed nor quench a smoking [wick of] flax’. When judgment begins, whether it is now and within or later and without, things all change dramatically:

Isa 42:14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.
Isa 42:15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.

That is the work of the Lord’s judgments upon the kingdom of our old man within us to which Isaiah has already alluded in the previous chapter:

Isa 41:14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 41:15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
Isa 41:16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.

This is a description of the Lord’s judgments upon the kingdom of our old man within and the kingdoms of this world outwardly and dispensationally.

Now notice this pattern here in chapter 41 and throughout scripture. The Lord’s judgments are always followed by His great blessings:

Isa 41:17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
Isa 41:18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
Isa 41:19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
Isa 41:20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

Chapter 42 follows the same pattern of chapter 41. These are verses pronouncing our judgment:

Isa 42:14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.
Isa 42:15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.

Again these words of judgment are followed by the blessings which the Lord’s judgments produce:

Isa 42:16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

“The way they knew not” is “the way of Truth”:

Psa 119:30 I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.

“The paths that they have not known” are “the paths of the Lord’s mercy and Truth”

Psa 25:10 All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

We are all first in the darkness of spiritual deceit which is “the idols of [our] hearts” (Eze 14:1-9), our own false doctrines which are the smooth words of the whore who has deceived the whole world.

Isa 30:10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

It is all the false doctrines, the idols of our hearts and the stumblingblock of our iniquity, which are symbolized by the smoke and the locusts which rise up out of the “bottomless pit… the abussos”. These are the symbols which signify the many false doctrines which blot out the light of the Truth which ‘Truth’ is “The Sun of Righteousness:

Rev 9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Rev 9:3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

“The earth” is each of us as we live in the darkness of the lies and false doctrines of the great whore, “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth” (Rev 17:5).

Those ‘locusts’ and that ‘smoke’ are symbols of the pain and torment which the lies of the great harlot bring upon those who have been given to live in the darkness of all those tormenting lies, which are always symbolized by idols and graven and molten images:

Isa 42:17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.

Coming out of, and separating ourselves from, all the lies of the great harlot is a very painful and fiery experience. That is what Peter means when he tells us:

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, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

That is our study for today. In our next study, Lord willing, we will again see that it is by the Lord’s design that we are all first blinded by the “smooth things” prophesied by all the false prophets of the great harlot. Once again it will be revealed that the Lord’s elect experience everything which is experienced by all the rest of mankind. The only difference between those who are in the resurrection of life and those who are raised up later in the “cursed… resurrection of damnation, Greek, judgment” (Mat 25:41 and Joh 5:28-29), is that the elect of the “first resurrection… the resurrection of life”, endure all their fiery experiences and repent of their sins in “this present time”, whereas “it is not given to [all the rest of mankind to] know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” nor to know the truths of the doctrine of Christ in this age. Here are our verses for next week:

Isa 42:18 Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
Isa 42:19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD'S servant?
Isa 42:20 Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not.
Isa 42:21 The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.
Isa 42:22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.
Isa 42:23 Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come?
Isa 42:24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law.
Isa 42:25 Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.