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Isa 57:8-14 You Have Found the Life of Your Hand; Therefore You Were Not Grieved

[Study Aired April 5, 2020]

Isa 57:8  Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.
Isa 57:9  And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.
Isa 57:10  Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life of thine hand; therefore thou wast not grieved.
Isa 57:11  And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? have not I held my peace even of old, and thou fearest me not?
Isa 57:12  I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.
Isa 57:13  When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;
Isa 57:14  And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.

It should surprise none of us that the woman caught in the very act of adultery is each of us, if the Lord has given us eyes that see and ears that hear (Mat 13:9-15). That the spiritual “woman caught in adultery, in the very act” is the self-righteous Pharisee within each of us who is blind to his own spiritual adultery:

Joh 8:3  And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
Joh 8:4  They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
Joh 8:5  Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
Joh 8:6  This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
Joh 8:7  So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
Joh 8:8  And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
Joh 8:9  And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
Joh 8:10  When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
Joh 8:11  She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

In our last study the Lord told us plainly just how we have each treated Him while fornicating with another man:

Isa 57:3  But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.
Isa 57:4  Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,
Isa 57:5 Enflaming yourselves with idols [of the heart] under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks?
Isa 57:6  Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in these?

“Should I receive comfort of these?” demonstrates that we expect the Lord to be pleased with all of our false lying doctrines. Spiritually, while in the darkness of Babylon, we expect our husband to place His stamp of approval on our whorish lies and false doctrines.

Rev 2:9  I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

“Say they are Jews” just means that while we were in Babylon, we thought we were His children and were teaching The Truth. “…But are not… but do lie…” means that our ignorance did not make us His children, nor did it make our lies to be The Truth.

The Lord, in His mercy upon His “very elect” will not forsake us, though we do forsake Him:

Isa 49:15  Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

However, the Lord wants us to know we are that woman who forgets her sucking child, and He wants us to realize He knows exactly how we have treated Him as our husband:

Isa 57:8  Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.
Isa 57:9  And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.

The “doors and posts” of Babylon serve the same purpose as the doors and pillars of the temple of God. They serve to keep out those who cannot enter, and they keep those who should not enter from doing so:

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.

What an incredible revelation of Truth! Babylon within us “sends [her] messengers far off” with her lies of a “substitutionary atonement”, and “eternal hell or eternal death… free moral agency… free will and the ten-second sinner’s prayer”. “The king” to whom she sends all these perfumed doctrines is “the god of this world”, and her doctrines are “the doctrines of Jezebel”, which are received and believed by “them that are [at the moment] lost”:

2Co 4:3  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost [present tense]:
2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

All our lies will not be accepted of our True Husband. Yet He still loves us, and after He drags us to see how we have blasphemed His name and the name of our loving heavenly Father, with all of our monstrous lies against Him and His character, this is what we are promised:

Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Rev 3:13  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

The door of the temple hangs upon the pillars of the temple, and Christ has promised to make us pillars in His temple whose “temple we are” when He drags us out of Babylon (1Co 3:16).

We do not come out of our rebellion without a fight though. Our old man does not relinquish the throne of his kingdom without a mighty struggle. In the scripture this struggle is called “war in [our] heavens…” (Rev 12:7); it is called “fiery trials” and “great hail” poured out upon the kingdom of our old man:

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.

Rev 16:21  And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

Here is the function of Biblical ‘hail’:

Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

The lie and false doctrine of our so-called “free will” provokes these words from our Lord:

Isa 57:10  Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life of thine hand; therefore thou wast not grieved.

Our own ways bring us to our wits’ end, but we cannot even acknowledge that fact. The Lord causes us to reap what we have sown, but until the Lord opens our eyes to see His angel withstanding our wickedness, we, just like the prophet, Balaam, don’t even know what is taking place:

Num 22:22  And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.
Num 22:23  And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.

Pro 23:35  They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

Jer 5:3  O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

Isaiah is telling us the exact same thing: “You have found the life of your hand; Therefore, you were not grieved”. But Isaiah reveals why we are not grieved even as our own doctrines and believing our own lies about Him “wearies [us] in the greatness of [our] ways”. Isaiah reveals that the reason this is so is that “[we] have found the life of our own hand”, and we have decided that we are God. While we don’t realize it is so, the fact is that when we believe we have a will that is free from the work of God in our lives, we are in effect “sitting in the temple of God, showing [ourselves] that we are God”:

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

Then we are informed of what we all first do:

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.

“You have found the life of your hand” means we have become convinced our salvation does not really depend upon Christ and His cross at all. What we tell ourselves is that the deciding factor in our salvation is our own freedom to choose whether to repent of our sins and have faith in the efficacy of Christ’s sacrifice or not. We actually believe that our salvation is in our own hands, when the Truth is that “it is God who works within [us] both to will and to do of His good pleasure”, and that “No man can come to [Him] except the Father… draw [Greek: helkuo, drag] him”.

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [G1670: helkuo, “to drag”] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he  which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Neither our salvation, nor anything else in this life, is of our will:

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Our salvation, and everything else in this world “is not of [our] will” but of “whom He will”. Again, this is true not just of our salvation. It is true of “all things”:

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:

Everything being worked “after the counsel of His own will” being true, and it certainly is true, then these words in this next verse are also “according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will”:

Isa 57:11  And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? have not I held my peace even of old, and thou fearest me not?

The Lord “knows our frame”. He made us willing to do evil if justice is not immediate:

Ecc 8:11  Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

We all lived with and taught the lies of Babylon for years with no repercussions. The whole world, including our families and friends, still does.

We do not think of ourselves as being hypocrites, but the desire to be accepted by our friends, families and society more than being accepted by God is what the scriptures call “the fear of man”:

Pro 29:25  The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.

When we do what comes naturally, we fear men more than we fear God because we can see and hear men, but we have no natural fear of God, and we simply cannot hear His voice. When we place the fear of what men think of us ahead of what the Lord tells us to do, while telling ourselves we love the Lord more than men, we are lying hypocrites, and for that very reason we were admonished just a few chapters earlier:

Isa 51:7  Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.
Isa 51:8  For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.
Isa 51:9  Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
Isa 51:10  Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?
Isa 51:11  Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

Physical families and friends are temporary. They will all pass away in just a matter of time. Christ and His words will never leave us:

Joh 14:18  I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

2Th 1:11 Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:

Those are extremely comforting words, but only for those who have faith in those words, and faith is a gift from God by which we are given victory over every doubt:

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

2Pe 1:1  Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

“Our faith” which saves us is “not of [our]selves, it is the gift of God”. It is “the faith of Jesus Christ” as we are clearly made to know:

Rom 3:22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

Gal 2:16  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

The Truth is that we have absolutely nothing to offer God. We bring nothing to the table. Even “our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” before our Lord:

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

This sixth verse in Isaiah 64 above is just keeping his declaration made here in this chapter:

Isa 57:12  I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.

“Like the wind… our iniquities” have carried and “taken us away”.

Isa 57:13  When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;

We just naturally fear and trust in men instead of God. However, when the Lord visits us to judge us for our lack of faithfulness to Him, our true husband, then “[our] companies”, our friends and families and our societies, forsake us, and they are helpless to deliver us from the fruits of our own vain ways because our own vain ways have been their own vain ways. “The wind shall carry them all away.” We are all guilty of the blood of all the prophets from Abel to Zechariah because we all fear men instead of God:

Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

We simply cannot put our trust in the Lord until after the seven plagues of the seven angels have been fulfilled in our lives:

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.

“Enter[ing] into the temple” is the same as “possessing the land, and … inherit[ing] the Lord’s holy mountain”.

Isa 57:13 …he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;

It is also the same as entering into the Lord’s rest:

Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

The fulfilling of the seven last plagues is a terrible stumbling block for all of us. We must fulfill that judgment before we can enter the Lord’s temple in our heavens however.

Isa 57:14  And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.

One other time we read of ‘preparing the way of the Lord’. It is in Isaiah 35, and here the Lord reveals what is meant by “Cast ye up… prepare the way… take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people”. Let’s look at this other witness to preparing “the way… of my people”:

In this verse “the way” is called “the way of holiness”:

Isa 35:8  And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
Isa 35:9  No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
Isa 35:10  And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

How do we “take up the stumbling block out of the way of [the Lord’s] people? We do so by believing in the words of Christ, rejecting all the lies that contradict His doctrines, and walking in the footsteps of “the stumbling block and [the] rock of offence”. Then we will “walk… there… [as] the redeemed”.

Rom 9:30  What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
Rom 9:31  But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Rom 9:32  Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
Rom 9:33  As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

When we fail to “attain to the law of righteousness” we do so because our faith is in our own works of righteousness and not “by the faith of Jesus Christ”. We do so because we “are wearied in the greatness of our [own] way… [and we] have found the life of our [own] hand” (Isa 57:10). Even if we say we have faith and claim that faith as our own, we are still “under the curse of the law” because we believe the lie that our faith is our own faith instead of “the gift of God”.

Notice just how important this point is to the Lord:

Gal 2:16  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Gal 3:22  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

Our “companies” (vs 13) in which we hope for the help we need in our time of trouble, are all the false doctrines with which we have replaced the Truth of the Word of God. When Isaiah tells us plainly “You are wearied in the greatness of your way… you have found the strength of your hand”, he is telling us that we have depended upon false doctrines. We have depended upon our own self-righteousness, our own faith, neither of which we possess of ourselves. That is the meaning of depending upon “[our] companies” who will be no help at all when the Lord’s wrath comes against all the lies we have preferred above His Truthful Words. This is made clear in chapter 28 as well as right here in Isaiah 57:14.

This is where the whole world is at this very moment, and this is where we would be without “the faith of Jesus Christ”:

Isa 28:14  Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
Isa 28:15  Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
Isa 28:16  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
Isa 28:18  And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
Isa 28:19  From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

“The overflowing scourge” is the work of the seven last plagues in the life of the believer. Notice how the fall of Babylon is mentioned both in Revelation 14 in the context of, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” It is mentioned as well in the seven last plagues of Revelation 16:

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 16:19]
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: [All of Rev 16]
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.

“The hour of His judgment” of the great whore within us is the seven last plagues, and that is the subject of our study today:

Isa 57:8  Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.
Isa 57:9  And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.

The next chapter of Revelation, the 15^th chapter, introduces the seven angels who pour out the seven last plagues upon the kingdom or our adulterous old man within us. These are the last verses of that chapter:

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.

Chapter 16 is the agonizing result of that judgment upon the kingdom of our beast. Notice that the judgment of great Babylon is revealed in both chapters 14 and 16. Revelation 14:6-12, which we just reviewed, is merely a condensed version of the pouring out of the seven vials upon the kingdom of our old man, which is subject of the entire 16^th chapter of the book of Revelation. Both are concerned with the judgment of the hypocrisy and adultery of the great whore who rides upon the beast within us:

Rev 16:17  And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. [All within us]
Rev 16:20  And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Rev 16:21  And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

Notice how this seventh vial corelates to the seventh trumpet:

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.

Chapter 17 reveals to us this great whore of our study today. She rules over all the kings of the earth within our hearts and minds, and then chapter 18 reveals the judgment of this great harlot in even greater detail.

The foundation for the prophecy of the revelation of Jesus Christ within us was all first revealed here in this prophecy of Isaiah. Without this book of Isaiah there could be no book of Revelation.

“There was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great” (Rev 16:18), is the meaning of our last two verses:

Isa 57:12  I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.
Isa 57:13  When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;

When the Lord “declares our righteousness”, like a “great earthquake”, we are painfully forced to acknowledge that “[our] works shall not profit [us]”; that is “a great earthquake” indeed!

“He that puts his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit My holy mountain” is the foundation for being able to say:

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
Rev 2:28  And I will give him the morning star. [Christ is “the Bright And Morning Star”, Rev 22:16]

To “inherit My holy mountain” means to “inherit a kingdom [and to wear] a crown of life”. This is the promise the Lord gives those who suffer with Him in “this present time” (Rom 8:18):

Luk 22:28  Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations.
Luk 22:29  And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;
Luk 22:30  That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation [“…of this present time” Rom 8:18]: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

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.

If we are blessed to be judges over the twelve tribes of Israel, then this promise that “He that puts his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit My holy mountain” will also entail this promise:

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.

I will conclude this study agreeing with the apostle Paul:

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.

Lord willing, in our next study we will finish this 57^th chapter of Isaiah with more very comforting words for the new man within us:

Isa 57:15  For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
Isa 57:16  For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.
Isa 57:17  For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.
Isa 57:18  I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.
Isa 57:19  I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.