The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 43 Discussion

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Isa 9:8-13 The Lord Sent A Word Into Jacob...[Yet] The People Turn Not Unto Him That Smites Them

Isa 9:8  The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.
Isa 9:9  And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
Isa 9:10  The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.
Isa 9:11  Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;
Isa 9:12  The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Isa 9:13  For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.

"Neither did they seek the Lord of hosts" was true because this is what they did throughout the history of ancient Israel:

1Ki 14:22  And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.
1Ki 14:23  For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.
1Ki 14:24  And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

What those verses tells us is that Israel wanted to follow the customs, the celebrations of the nations which the Lord cast out before them, in direct opposition to this commandment:

Deu 12:29  When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
Deu 12:30  Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
Deu 12:31  Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
Deu 12:32  What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

Following in the steps of Christ, I certainly do not observe days, months, times or years (Mat 12:1-8; Joh 5:17-18, Gal 4:9-10, Col 2:8). But it so happens that our study this week about 'the Lord sending a word unto Jacob' is being delivered to you on the day this world calls 'Easter Sunday'. Easter Sunday is preceded by a seven day period called 'holy week'. "Holy week" starts on what is called Palm Sunday.  This 'holy week' is part of a 44 day period of time which is called 'lent', and 'lent' begins on what is called "ash Wednesday".

I mention all of this because I was just recently asked about "the true meaning of Palm Sunday", as the question was phrased. Of course I was then compelled to point my questioner to all the verses we are all so familiar with which demonstrate that our Savior did not keep days, months, times or years of any kind. But in the process of answering that question, I also noticed that even the religious scholars acknowledge that no such observances were kept in the church of the first century.

Here are some excerpts from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Week on this subject:

"Holy Week in the Christian year is the week immediately before Easter. The earliest allusion to the custom of marking this week as a whole with special observances is to be found in the Apostolical Constitutions (vs 18, 19), dating from the latter half of the 3rd century and 4th century. "

Obviously Christ, whose steps we are commanded to follow, had not kept this "tradition of men" (Col 2:8). I was quite surprised to read this in that same Wikipedia article:

In the Moravian Church, the Holy Week services (Passion Week) are extensive, as the Congregation follows the life of Christ through His final week in daily services dedicated to readings from a harmony of the Gospel stories, responding to the actions in hymns, prayers and litanies, beginning on the eve of Palm Sunday and culminating in the "Easter Morning" or Easter Sunrise service begun by the Moravians in 1732.

Contrast all of that to this story about our Lord and His apostles:

Mat 12:1  At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.
Mat 12:2  But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
Mat 12:3  But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
Mat 12:4  How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
Mat 12:5  Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
Mat 12:6  But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.
Mat 12:7  But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
Mat 12:8  For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Christ appealed to David doing that which was not lawful and to the priest's profaning the Sabbath to justify His and His apostles actions, claiming that He is "greater than the temple, [and that] the Son of Man is Lord even of the sabbath day".

If there is still any doubt about how the holy spirit has demonstrated how Christ detests outward rituals which have no affect upon our hearts, we are clearly told:

Joh 5:17  But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
Joh 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Those are some of the rejected "words sent into Jacob [by] the Lord":

Isa 9:8  The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.

This is not a positive application of the names 'Jacob and Israel'. These verses are being addressed to an unfaithful, murderous harlot, who is as shameless of her own Godless and sinful ways as were Sodom and Gomorrah:

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

Isa 1:10  Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

Isa 3:9  The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

Rev 11:8  And their [those who witness for Christ] dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

These words are not just being addressed to us as God's elect who are granted to come out of that harlot. Just as Christ Himself directly addressed the apostatized religious system of His day, that is what He did hundreds of years earlier, here in Isaiah, to His apostate wife, who He calls 'Jacob and Israel'. That is also what you and I will be made to do at the appointed time.

Yes, it is true that Christ spoke to the multitudes in parables for the express purpose of blinding them to the gospel He had brought to those who were to be His first faithful wife:

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

But it is equally true that Christ spoke directly to His adversaries, and He warned them also of His impending judgment which was coming upon them for accusing Him of the very sins they themselves were practicing:

Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [spiritually, Babylon, Babylon, Rev 11:8] thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Joh 8:26  I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.

Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

Joh 8:39  They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Joh 8:45  And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
Joh 8:46  Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?
Joh 8:47  He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

The opportunity to minister to you is such a wonderful blessing. Being united in the mind of Christ, is the "good and... pleasant" of which King David spoke:

Psa 133:1  A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

Just ask anyone who was at the Australian Conference last week, and just think of how blessed we are to be able to gather around our computers and share the very mind of Christ!

We are admonished to do this as often as we are given to do so:

Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

While there are times when I am pressed for time to stay current on my e-mails and still prepare these studies, I must confess that I truly enjoy this ministry the Lord has given me, and it truly is "good and pleasant" to speak to those whom the Lord has given to understand and "receive the things of the spirit" (1Co 2:13-14). I know all of our teachers will say the same thing.

While it is right and proper for us to first apply these words inwardly, let us never be guilty of ignoring these words we have been given:

Mar 13:9  But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.

Indeed we ought all to see ourselves as chief... of... sinners (1Ti 1:15). But we need to always be prepared to "speak to the world those things which [we] have heard of him".

Just as we all first ridiculed and rejected Christ and placed our words and works above the Word of God, so will this world react to our proclamation of His judgments in the kingdoms of men:

Isa 9:9  And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
Isa 9:10  The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.

That is just the old Israeli way of saying, 'We are going to make America great again'. Not one of us, when we first heard that we have no free will, just naturally rejoiced in that Truth.  Maybe we had not gotten exactly what we willed, but we would just try harder, and we were determined to do even better, all in our own strength. We all, at first, reject the Lord's rule in our lives. We are willing to let Christ be our co-pilot, but we are not willing to let Him plan and execute our entire trip and be the pilot of that trip. It is at that point our judgment begins, if it is so ordained, yet even then we are still stubborn and "stout of heart". When Assyria first invaded Israel they did not carry away the whole nation at one time. It happened in stages with the tribes of Zebulon and Naphtali being the first. Remember what we just read in this same chapter:

Isa 9:1  Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.

An even more graphic example and type of this "stoutness of heart" spirit within us and within the whole religious world is the story of Israel's reaction to Christ's judgment upon Korah and company. This is the history of God's own called-out people. This is how we, and this world, react when we are corrected by Christ for our sins:

Num 16:25  And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
Num 16:26  And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.
Num 16:27  So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.
Num 16:28  And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.
Num 16:29  If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me.
Num 16:30  But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.
Num 16:31  And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:
Num 16:32  And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
Num 16:33  They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.
Num 16:34  And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.
Num 16:35  And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
Num 16:36  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 16:37  Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed.
Num 16:38  The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
Num 16:39  And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar:
Num 16:40  To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.

Even carnal logic dictates that any of us would now know what is the Lord's mind concerning those He has anointed to be our leaders and to set us an example of Godly living. The heresy of the heretic has been revealed for what it is, and this is that heresy which afflicts the entire religious world to this day:

Num 16:1  Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
Num 16:2  And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:
Num 16:3  And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

"All the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them" is the exact same spirit which today tells us that we should expect to be 'united only in the essentials, be tolerant in the non-essentials, and show love in all things'.

This "earth" opened its mouth and swallowed up the heretics. The 'earth' is doing the same thing today to the Korahs among us. In the same miraculous way, those who despise the Lord's leadership are swallowed up by the most obvious false doctrines and descend down into the depth of the earth and its darkness and death. And what is the reaction to this miraculous event from the spirit of Korah within us:

Num 16:41  But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD.
Num 16:42  And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.
Num 16:43  And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
Num 16:44  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 16:45  Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.
Num 16:46  And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun.
Num 16:47  And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.
Num 16:48  And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
Num 16:49  Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.
Num 16:50  And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.

"The plague was stayed" until the next rebellion of the kingdom of our old man at the waters of Meribah:

Num 20:2  And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
Num 20:3  And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!
Num 20:4  And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?
Num 20:5  And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.

This is us, and this is this world when the Lord's judgments come upon us. We actually have the nerve to refer back to the Lord's earlier correction as if we had not learned a thing. Again we must suffer and die, "by little and by little" (Exo 23:30; Deu 7;22). Even the very best of the kingdom of our old man must not be allowed into the kingdom of God (1Co 1:29, 1Co 15:50).

Num 20:6  And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them.
Num 20:7  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 20:8  Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
Num 20:9  And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
Num 20:10  And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
Num 20:11  And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
Num 20:12  And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
Num 20:13  This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.

In other words:

1Co 1:25  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.
1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Our own flesh, as well as the flesh of the princes of this world, is slow to learn that we must be very attentive to every word of our Lord. The New Testament tells us this Rock they drank of was a spiritual Rock which followed them throughout their journeys, and we are told "that Rock was Christ"! Asking the people, "Must we fetch you water out of this Rock" and then 'smiting the Rock twice', after being told to "speak to the Rock", is nothing short of rebellion and taking selfish credit for what the Lord was doing, and the Lord will have no part of any such a spirit.

1Co 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

The next type of our rebellion and the rebellion against our Creator by the princes of this world is during the journey by way of the Red Sea, to avoid going through Edom.

Num 21:4  And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
Num 21:5  And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
Num 21:6  And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
Num 21:7  Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
Num 21:8  And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent [Hebrew: seraph], and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Num 21:9  And Moses made a serpent [Hebrew: nachash] of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

It is while we are "in the wilderness" that we receive the types and shadows of the promise of our salvation, regardless of the timing of the fulfilling of that promise.

There are more rebellions and more and more dying out of the kingdom of our old man. It continues until there is no one left to die:

Num 14:22  Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
Num 14:23  Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:

Num 26:63  These are they that were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.
Num 26:64  But among these there was not a man of them whom Moses and Aaron the priest numbered, when they numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.
Num 26:65  For the LORD had said of them, They shall surelydie in the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

Or, as Christ puts it:

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

Isaiah tells us this same spirit continues unabated in the flesh of all men, and the Lord's judgments are just as severe as ever.

Isa 6:9  And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isa 6:10  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
Isa 6:11  Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
Isa 6:12  And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

Which brings us to our last two verses in our study today:

Isa 9:11  Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him [Ephraim - vs 9, or Israel - vs 12] and join his enemies together;
Isa 9:12  The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Isa 9:13  For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.

Amos repeats this same message, telling us what is within our own flesh:

Amo 4:9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Amo 4:10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Amo 4:11 I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand ...plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Amo 4:12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
Amo 4:13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.

The Lord has sent a word into Jacob, informing us that He gives us our very thoughts (Pro 16:1).

We are devoured by our enemies because "the people turn not to Him that smites them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts". That is why we and the princes of this world are called:

2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

Now let's go back to Isaiah 6, and notice who is sent to tell all of this to the Lord's harlot wife:

Isa 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

We need not wonder when we are to do this. Just as "the time is come that [we must be judged as] the house of God" (1Pe 4:17), in like manner as these days have come upon us, when the time comes for us to follow our Lord's steps and "speak to the world", as it was with Him, so shall it be with us. It will be unavoidable because:

Mar 13:9  But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.

This entire prophecy is True within, and at the appointed time it will be true without as Habakkuk assures us:

Hab 2:2  And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
Hab 2:3  For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
Hab 2:4  Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

Our faith in these words is a gift from God (Eph 2:8), and it is this gift which causes us to rejoice to be counted worthy to suffer with Christ, knowing that if we do suffer with Him we will also be glorified with Him:

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
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.

Next week, Lord willing, we will discover the meaning of "the head and the tail" as those words appear throughout scripture.

Here are the verses we will study next week as the Lord provides:

Isa 9:14  Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
Isa 9:16  For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
Isa 9:17  Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

[Questions or comments can be directed to the author at vinsmike@gmail.com]