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Isa 59:15-21 My Words Shall Not Depart Out of Your Mouth

[Study Aired May 24, 2020]

Isa 59:15  Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
Isa 59:16  And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.
Isa 59:17  For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.
Isa 59:18  According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.
Isa 59:19  So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
Isa 59:20  And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
Isa 59:21  As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

As the Lord admonishes His elect, He is also revealing the disgust which is building up within the beast against the great whore who sits upon the beast wearing this name in her forehead: “Mystery Babylon The Great, The Mother of Harlots and Abominations of The Earth”:

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

This is not just any harlot. This whore has a special hatred for those who talk the words of Christ and are willing to walk in His footsteps wherever He leads them. She is the bondwoman of Galatian 4, whose children are under the curse of the law, and self-righteously wear those garments.

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Luk 6:47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
Luk 6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
Luk 6:49  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

Gal 4:1  Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2  But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Abraham’s two wives typify the two covenants, but the “freewoman” is now a spiritual body, and the physical descent through Abraham has no significance to the Lord:

Gal 4:21  Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
Gal 4:22  For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Gal 4:23  But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Gal 4:24  Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Gal 4:28  Now we [Gentile Galatians], brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
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 [Gentile Galatians] are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

The man who builds his house on the sand and on the earth, and will not dig deep to build upon the Rock, is all of us when we hear and know the Lord’s words and adamantly refuse to obey Him (Luk 6:46-49). That part of our walk is also symbolized by the “great whore [who] sits upon many waters”.  The ‘waters’ upon which she sits are explained as:

Rev 17:15  And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

This harlot “sits” upon and dominates “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” and “rules over the kings of the earth” as a “tutor and governor”:

Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Who is this “great whore”? We are never left to guess what the significance of any of the symbols of the revealing of Jesus Christ are within us. This is that great harlot:

Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
Isa 1:3  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Isa 1:4  Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

That’s right! It is the Lord’s own people who are “laden with iniquity” and “have forsaken the Lord” for the bed of “the kings of the earth”. Are not we “[His people… the Israel of God” to whom “circumcision avails nothing”?

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

All who have ever considered themselves to be “Christians” but refuse to wear Christ’s apparel or eat His bread… all who call Him ‘Lord, Lord’, while steadfastly refusing to “do the things [He] says (Luk 6:46) are within this great whore. Inwardly it is we who have all had our part in “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth”, and the whole world is at this very moment either  part of this system or is under her dominance because the Lord Himself takes from us “the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water” of His Word:

Isa 3:1  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,
Isa 3:2  The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
Isa 3:3  The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
Isa 3:4  And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

When that happens, we all become partakers in the system of the great whore who will not eat the Lord’s bread or wear His clothes:

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.

Rev 17:15  And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

The first chapter of Isaiah goes on to tell us plainly that this “harlot” is the Lord’s own people who have appropriated His name but have forsaken Him and His ways… His bread and His apparel:

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

It was Christ’s own “harlot” people who murdered Him, forcing Pilate, the hand of Rome, to crucify Him “when [Pilate] was determined to let Him go”:

Act 3:13  The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.

The only thing which has changed in the past 2,000 years is that those who now claim to be ‘the spiritual Israel of God’ are now the 40,000 plus conflicting so-called ‘Christian” denominations of men instead of being exclusively physical Jewish converts, as was the case before the apostle Peter’s visit to the house of the Gentile Roman Centurion Cornelius.

If Jesus Christ were again on the earth today in a body of “flesh and bone”, teaching the same doctrines He taught 2,000 years ago, it would again be ‘His own’ who would reject and crucify Him. Only this time “His own” would be the nominal Christian churches of this world:

Joh 1:10  He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
Joh 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

It is the same today. Those who claim to be “His own” do not receive Him. It is the Christian churches who are most adamant about their own doctrine which teaches us, “All that is needed for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing when confronted with evil.” If by “do nothing” they mean that ‘doing none of the things Christ commanded us will lead evil to dominate our lives’, then they would be right. However, that is the last thing any activist Catholic or Protestant means when he says, “All that is needed for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing when confronted with evil.”

Contrast those words of activist Christian ministers with these passivist words and actions of Christ:

Mat 5:38  Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Mat 5:39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

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.

Some ‘Christian’ ministers brag that the American Revolutionary War and the American Civil War were both fought only because the Christian ministers of those days protested the evils of their time and inspired the resistance to those evils, which led to both those wars. It is claimed by many ministers that it was American ministers who convinced our government to enter both World Wars to resist the evil of that time. It is a rare Christian minister who does not encourage those in their charge to protect themselves and their families and their country with deadly force if need be. Being led “as a sheep to the slaughter” is not to be read in their Bibles, even though this is what we are plainly told:

Act 8:32  The place of the scripture which he [the Ethiopian eunuch] read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

Christian ministers, instead of following in the footsteps of Christ, almost universally encourage those in their charge to go out and fight for God and country when called upon to do so.

Does Christ encourage us to resist evil in any way other than inwardly against the sins of the flesh? There is no denying that we are commanded to “resist the devil” as our inward tempter who is always appealing to the lusts of our flesh:

Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

No! The Lord does not anywhere in scripture tell us to resist outward evil against ourselves, our families or our country. The exact opposite is what He taught, and that is also the example He set for us to follow”. “Hide [ourselves]”? Yes, indeed! “Flee to the next city”? Yes indeed:

Pro 22:3  A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

Repeated in:

Pro 27:12  A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.

We are never told to make ourselves a doormat for the world:

Mat 10:23  But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.

Nevertheless, the doctrine of Christ is the exact opposite of ‘good men resisting evil’:

Mat 5:38  Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Mat 5:39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

The life of Christ, the Creator of all, is worth more than the lives of all men of all time. Yet when Peter drew his sword to defend the Lord, this is what the Lord Himself told Peter, and this is what He is telling all of this age who are given to receive it:

Mat 26:51  And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear.
Mat 26:52  Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
Mat 26:53  Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
Mat 26:54  But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

“The scriptures [must] be fulfilled”, and Christ refused to fight against His Father’s will, which was that He go to the cross “as a lamb to the slaughter” and not resist the evil men of this world for whom He was sent to this earth to redeem.

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

What is the Father’s will for us? What scriptures must be fulfilled in our lives? Just as with Christ, “the scriptures [must] be fulfilled” as they pertain to us as those who are sent by Christ as His Father sent Him:

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

In Christ’s own words He is sending us for the very same purpose:

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

Did Christ’s Father send Him to keep us from having to die? Indeed, He certainly did die for us:

Luk 22:19  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luk 22:20  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

Does the fact that Christ died for our sins mean that we are not expected to die daily and be crucified with Him daily? Such is the false doctrine of a substitutionary atonement. Once again, the scriptures teach the exact opposite of the doctrines of the great whore. The scriptures actually teach that Christ wants us to also be led as sheep to the slaughter, and we are to “die daily… be crucified with Christ… [and] fill up in [our] flesh what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ”:

Psa 44:22  Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

Does the New Testament agree with what King David says here?

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.

In chapter 12 Paul beseeches us all:

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

And in Colossians we are told:

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

The same commission is given to us all:

Php 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; [“His body’s sake, which is the church”, Col 1:24]

While it is another study for another time, the fact is that our “living sacrifice” of our bodies is symbolized by the scapegoat of Leviticus 16, and as such we really are ‘sent by Christ as His Father sent Him… that the world through Him might be saved’ (Joh 3:17 and Joh 20:21).

This brings us to the first verses of our study today:

Isa 59:15  Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
Isa 59:16  And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.

If Christ is within us, after we come to see that the truth failed within us first, then we become this man who departs from evil and “makes himself a prey” to be led to the slaughter by those who have not yet come to see that “truth failed” within themselves.

It is true that “there in none good, no not one”, and when “He saw there was no intercessor… His arm brought salvation unto Him, and His righteousness… sustained Him” because He is now living in those who are offering themselves as living sacrifices, just as His Father sent Him to die for our sins.

Contrary to the false doctrine of a substitutionary atonement, Christ did not die so we would not have to die. He died to His flesh so we, too, could be “crucified with Him” and yet He will live His life in us as we “present [our physical] bodies to Him as a living sacrifice”:

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

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.

Rom 8:10  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Gal 4:19  My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

If “the mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from generations… is now made manifest [within] His saints” then it is we who, as the Lord Himself was sent by His Father, are also sent by Christ “that the world through Him might be saved”.

Let’s read it again”

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

We are Christ only through Christ and as an integral part of His “one body”:

1Co 12:12  For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
1Co 12:13  For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
1Co 12:14  For the body is not one member, but many.

Therefore, we are not Christ independent of His “many member[ed]… one body”, but as His “one body” we are indeed “Jesus of Nazareth” Who was sent by His Father, and as His Father sent Him “even so” are we sent by Him “that the world through Him might be saved”.

These are His own words making us to know that truth:

Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Mat 25:45  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

Who exactly are we? Let’s let the Lord Himself answer that question:

Act 22:6  And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.
Act 22:7  And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

We are not the head of the body, but we are Christ’s body, and as such we must “die daily” as His “scapegoat… living sacrifice” and we are “crucified with [Him]… daily”. It is in that capacity that we each “fill up what is lacking of His afflictions” and we, too, are “saviors” through whom “all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins” are atoned:

Lev 16:21  And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:
Lev 16:22  And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

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

Col 1:24  Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,

That is how “the world through Him might be saved” (Joh 3:17. That is how “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world”:

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

1Jn 2:2  He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

It is “in Christ” that we identify with these words which concern Him and Him in us:

Psa 45:7  you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;

This principle is repeated in the book of Hebrews:

Heb 1:9  Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Which brings us to our next verse addressed to us as the Christ of Christ:

Isa 59:17  For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.

Notice how the holy spirit inspired the apostle Paul to incorporate part of this verse into his epistle to the church at Ephesus:

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world [G165: ‘aion’, age], against spiritual wickedness in high places. [G2032: ‘epouranios’, heavens]
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;
Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Remember that in the Hebrew language many things are stated twice in a different form for emphasis. As ‘clothing’ and ‘cloak’ are one and the same, so, too, are ‘vengeance’ and ‘zeal’ one and the same in:

Isa 59:17  For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.

Jehu was commissioned by the Lord to destroy all the house of Ahab as the Lord’s vengeance for all the evils King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel, had done against Him and against His people, Israel. Jehu was very zealous to accomplish that commission:

2Ki 10:11  So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.
2Ki 10:12  And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing house in the way,
2Ki 10:13  Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen.
2Ki 10:14  And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them.
2Ki 10:15  And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him: and he saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand. And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.
2Ki 10:16  And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD. So they made him ride in his chariot.
2Ki 10:17  And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained unto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the LORD, which he spake to Elijah.

It is true that these are not the days of vengeance for the Lord’s people to take their revenge upon those who oppress them, and we are told:

Deu 32:35  To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
Deu 32:36  For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.

The Lord’s “judgment” and His ‘wrath’ and His ‘vengeance’ are all one and the same. It is all first to be accomplished within the kingdom of our own old man within us. It is first accomplished within the Lord’s own people:

Jer 25:4  And the LORD hath sent unto you [to all of us] all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
Jer 25:5  They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
Jer 25:6  And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
Jer 25:7  Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
Jer 25:8  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words,
Jer 25:9  Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
Jer 25:10  Moreover I will take from them [from us] the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.
Jer 25:11  And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

Luk 21:21  Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
Luk 21:22  For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

Then, after burning up the kingdom of our old man within each of us, the Lord will use us to accomplish His vengeance upon the kingdoms of the old man in the rest of mankind “in the day of His vengeance”:

Deu 32:43  Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.

Eze 25:14  And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD.

Psa 119:139  My zeal [His vengeance] hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.

Eze 5:13  Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury in them.

As Christ told Pilate:

Joh 18:36  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world [kosmos]: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

The time is coming when the kingdoms of this world will be the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ:

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

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world [kosmos] are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Then as Paul tells us:

2Co 10:3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not [now] war after the flesh:
2Co 10:4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) [within the kingdom of our old man]
2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2Co 10:6  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

So, let’s remember these words are first for us:

Isa 59:18  According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.

The Lord’s vengeance is His wrath, and it is also His judgments. They are all one and the same. If He loves us as His elect in this age, then His wrath is poured out upon us in measure, and as we are given to endure it. His judgments, His wrath and His vengeance are all for the purpose of teaching us His righteousness:

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.

Just two chapters later we are instructed of the “excellent… work” of the Lord in dealing mercifully with us according to our ability to receive His judgments:

Isa 28:27  For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
Isa 28:28  Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.
Isa 28:29  This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

If we “learn righteousness” that ‘learning’ is His work which He performs within us. We have nothing in which we can boast outside of Him:

Job 23:10  But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
Job 23:11  My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.
Job 23:12  Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Job 23:14  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

In this age, it is not given us to take our own vengeance. It is rather given us on behalf of Christ to suffer with Him and never, in this age, seek to take vengeance upon our enemies:

Rom 12:17  Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
Rom 12:18  If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
Rom 12:19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Php 1:28  And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
Php 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

Our suffering at the hand of our adversaries is really at the hand of the Lord, and it “is to [our enemies] an evident token of [our] perdition”. To us it is an “evident token… of [our] salvation” because we “are counted worthy” to suffer with Him:

Act 5:41  And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

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.

When we have learned that His judgments, His vengeance and His wrath are all one and the same and they are for our good then we will have been given the beginning of the fear of the Lord:

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

Remember that in the Hebrew Old Testament everything is stated twice for emphasis. Therefore “the knowledge of the holy” is the same as “the fear of the Lord”.

“The fear of the Lord is [also] the beginning of knowledge”:

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

Notice how “the fear of the Lord” is contrasted with “despising wisdom and instruction”. When that hatred for the Lord’s ways is burned out of us, then the Lord begins to work His ways within us, preparing us to be His instruments of His judgments, His vengeance and His wrath:

Jer 51:19  The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.
Jer 51:20  Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
Jer 51:21  And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;
Jer 51:22  With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;
Jer 51:23  I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.
Jer 51:24  And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.

Nothing will be permitted to come between Him and us:

Isa 59:19  So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

It is with a flood of lies the great red dragon and His children come against us:

Rev 12:14  And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Rev 12:15  And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
Rev 12:16  And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
Rev 12:17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The woman that brings forth the manchild is the same woman known as “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots, and of abominations of the earth” out of whom the Lord’s “remnant of her seed” must all come. The earth opening her mouth to help the woman is not an act of selfless charity, rather it is just a statement of fact that the world drinks in the lies of the great red dragon.

The Lord never forsakes His children whom He knew from “before the world began” as His elect of this age (2Ti 1:9 and Tit 1:2).

Isa 59:20  And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
Isa 59:21  As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

The Lord’s “covenant is with them [and His] spirit is upon thee” tells us that the ‘them’ and the ‘thee’ are both His elect “and [He has] put in [their] mouths [His] words”. The Lord’s words do not depart out of the mouths of His elect because “[His] spirit [which is His words (Joh 6:63)] is upon [us]”. Anyone who departs from His words does not have His spirit upon them, and they are lost on the sea without a rudder to guide them. They have no way to know Truth from error as do the Lord’s elect:

1Jn 4:5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

“Thy mouth… the mouth of thy seed… the mouth of thy seed’s seed” conveys to us the fact that the Lord’s work and His words are within His elect and are indeed “from henceforth and for ever”.

“The Redeemer” who “comes to Zion” is of course, Christ coming to us in this age first, and then through us… “through [our]… mercy” He will also come to all the rest of mankind:

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35  Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

That is our study for today concluding chapter 59. This is a chapter dominated by the Lord’s admonitions that we are to remember the pit from which we are saved. As always, this chapter ends with the encouraging words of the Lord mercies which words are in our mouths “henceforth and forever”.

Isa 59:21  As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

Chapter 60 begins with the very encouraging words of just how special we are to our Lord, and how blessed we are as His firstfruits to whom “the sea shall be converted”:

Isa 60:1  Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
Isa 60:2  For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
Isa 60:3  And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Isa 60:4  Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.
Isa 60:5  Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.
Isa 60:6  The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.
Isa 60:7  All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.
Isa 60:8  Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?