Ezekiel 32:17–32 A Lament Over Pharaoh and Egypt – Part II

[Study Aired September 23, 2024]

INTRODUCTION

Today’s study concludes the Lord’s words regarding Pharaoh, king of Egypt and the Egyptians. It show us the end result of the judgement of Pharaoh and the Egyptians together with the mighty nations that are accomplices to Egypt. In the final analysis, Pharaoh, the Egyptians and the multitude of the strong nations of this world shall all be brought to the grave. In other words, the beast or the flesh of the entire human race shall die through the Lord’s judgement.  This study helps us to know those who shall be part of the second death, that is, those who shall be in the lake of fire.

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.

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

The cities and empires whose destruction are indicated together with Egypt at the end of this chapter include Assyria, Elam, Meshech, Tubal, Edom and Sidon. All these cities and empires shall end up in the pit or death together with Egypt, through the Lord’s judgement. Does it mean that all is lost for the multitude of these cities and empires? No. The Bible says that there is hope for a tree if it is cut down. Trees represent the people of the world. Therefore, there is hope for the human race of every generation and nation.

Job 14:7  For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. 
Job 14:8  Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;
Job 14:9  Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. 
Job 14:10  But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
Job 14:11  As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:
Job 14:12  So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.
Job 14:13  O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
Job 14:14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.  

We Must First End Up in the Pit

Eze 32:17  It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 32:18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit. 

As indicated in the previous study, the number twelve means foundation and the fifteenth day of the month signifies the time that we are given new lease of life when the Lord comes to deliver us from our old man or flesh as He builds our foundation in Him.

Isa 38:4  Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying,
Isa 38:5  Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
Isa 38:6 And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city. 

The multitude of Egypt in verse 18 refer to the people of the world who are dominated by the flesh. The daughters of the famous nations symbolize the physical churches of this world or Babylon. Verse 18 is therefore foretelling of the evil experience that humanity together with our brothers and sisters in Babylon must endure for their old man or flesh to be put to death, that is, go down into the pit. As the Lord’s elect, we are to wail for these multitude of Egypt and the daughters of famous nations as we judge them or cast them down during the lake of fire age. According to Strong’s Dictionary, “wail” in verse 18 means ‘to groan’. The reason we are to groan for humanity and our brothers and sisters in Babylon is that their salvation depends on us as we wait to be perfected for their salvation.

Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

2Co 5:2  For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:

2Co 5:4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

Eze 32:19  Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised. 
Eze 32:20 They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes. 

To understand verses 19 and 20, we need to know that, as explained in previous studies, the Lord has endowed our old man or flesh which is referred to as Tyrus or Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, with beauty and resources to flourish. Beauty here implies the attractiveness of our flesh. As a result of the attractiveness or beauty of our flesh, all humanity succumb to their flesh. That is to say that we all worship or are dominated by the beast or our flesh.

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

The beauty that the Lord has bestowed on our flesh or the attraction of the flesh is what causes our flesh to be proud. As we are aware, pride always comes before a fall.

Eze 27:3  And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. 
Eze 27:4 Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty. 

Eze 28:17  Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

Pro 16:18  Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. 
Pro 16:19 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

In verse 19, the Lord is rhetorically asking whether any can surpass the beauty of our flesh. What we need to know is that in spite of her beauty or attractiveness, she shall be destroyed or put to death through the Lord’s judgement. This judgement is symbolized here in verse 20 as the sword. We are also told that this destruction of our flesh or our old man is not only for us His elect but also for the multitude of Egypt, that is, the people of the world including our brothers and sisters in Babylon. It is through the Lord’s judgement that our old man or flesh dies and as a result, we are able to learn righteousness. In this life, it is the flesh of the Lord’s elect that is being put to death through the Lord’s judgement. In the lake of fire age, the flesh of the whole of the human race together with our brothers and sisters in Babylon shall also be put to death.

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.

It is the Lord’s elect who shall administer the Lord’s judgement to all humanity in the lake of fire age.

Isa 42:1  Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Eze 32:21  The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword. 
Eze 32:22  Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword: 
Eze 32:23  Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living. 

Verse 21 says that the strong among the mighty or the mighty chiefs shall be in the grave together with godless people, Pharaoh and his helpers. As we have indicated, Pharaoh represents our old man or flesh. The mighty chiefs here signify the rulers of this world who are not given to know Christ and therefore are dominated by the flesh. Verse 21 is therefore saying that we His elect, together with the rulers of this world, the godless people of this world and all that help our flesh, shall be judged and as a result, our flesh or old man shall be brought to death.

In verse 22, Asshur which is the same as Assyria is mentioned here as being in the grave with his whole army as a result of being slain by the sword. Assyria and her company represent Babylon and her multitude of followers. What this verse is saying is that all the multitude in Babylon are spiritually dead, being put to death through false doctrines propagated by this army of horsemen, that is, false messengers with two hundred million false doctrines.

Rev 9:13  And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
Rev 9:14  Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
Rev 9:15  And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
Rev 9:16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2Co 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Verse 23 show us that the grave of the Assyrians are at the uttermost part of the pit. This is another way of saying that our brothers and sisters in Babylon shall be the last on the line for their old man or flesh to be put to death through the Lord’s judgement.

Eze 16:53  When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:

Eze 16:55  When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

It is worth noting in verse 23 that the Assyrians were noted for causing terror in the land of the living. This terror is the false doctrines that is propagated in Babylon by these horsemen (false messengers) which causes us much pain.

Joe 2:4  The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
Joe 2:5  Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
Joe 2:6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. 

Eze 32:24  There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit. 
Eze 32:25  They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of them that be slain.  

Elam was one of the places which God’s people were exiled according to the Book of Isaiah. It was in Shushan, in the province of Elam that Daniel had a vision from the Lord by the river Ulai. They were warlike people who kept the Lord’s people captives. Elam therefore represent Babylon where the Lord’s people are kept captives and cannot worship the Lord in a way that will please Him.

Isa 11:11  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

Dan 8:2  And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.

In order for the Lord’s elect to be free to worship the Lord in truth and in spirit, Elam or Babylon must be destroyed within us through the Lord’s judgement.  In the Book of Jeremiah, the Lord has promised that Elam shall experience the wrath of the Lord as He comes to judge her.

Jer 49:34  The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
Jer 49:35  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
Jer 49:36  And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.
Jer 49:37  For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them: 
Jer 49:38  And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD.
Jer 49:39 But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.

This end result of this judgement by the Lord is what we are shown in verse 24 and 25 where Elam and her multitude are slain by the sword and are therefore brought to the grave or the pit. This implies that Babylon or Elam within us shall be dealt with by the Lord and this will happen in this age.

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. 
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.

Outwardly, Elam and her multitude representing our brothers and sisters in Babylon shall be judged and brought to experience the second death together with people of the world who are symbolized here in verse 24 as uncircumcised people. As noted in the case of the destruction of Assyria where it was noted for causing terror in the land of the living, Elam is also accused of causing terror in the land of the living. This is all to show us that Assyria and Elam are the same as Babylon as they take the Lord’s people captives. As indicated earlier, causing terror in the land of the living means making the Lord’s people suffer or be in pain as a result of the false doctrines propagated in Babylon.

Joe 2:6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. 

In both verses 24 and 25, we are also told that Elam and her multitude shall bear their shame with them who go down the pit. As indicated in verses 24, those who go down the pit are the uncircumcised people who represent the people of this world who are dominated by their flesh. This implies that in the lake of fire age, many shall be ashamed including our brothers and sisters in Babylon. This is contrary to the Lord’s elect who shall not be ashamed.

Rom 10:11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 

Isa 54:4  Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. 
Isa 54:5  For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
Isa 54:6 For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.

Eze 32:26  There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living. 
Eze 32:27  And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. 
Eze 32:28 Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain with the sword. 

Meshech means ‘drawing out’. It represents a people of the line of Japheth, son of Noah. Tubal, on the other hand, means ‘thou will be brought’. The grandson of Noah was called Tubal and therefore they are also a tribe that descended from Noah. In Psalm 120, we are told that it is really a curse to dwell in Meshech as the Psalmist was praying for the Lord’s deliverance from people that hate peace and are always speaking lying words.

Psa 120:1  A Song of degrees. In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.
Psa 120:2  Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue. 
Psa 120:3  What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
Psa 120:4  Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
Psa 120:5  Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
Psa 120:6  My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. 
Psa 120:7 I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.

During the Lord’s life on earth, He was accusing the people of Jerusalem that they do not know the things which will bring them peace. Thus, Jerusalem is just like Meshech and Tubal who hate peace. This means that Meshech and Tubal also represents Jerusalem which is in bondage with her children – that is Babylon. In Psalm 120, we saw that the Psalmist was crying to be delivered from lying lips and from deceitful tongue in his sojourn in Meshech. This is Babylon which thrives on the propagation of false doctrines through their false ministers of the gospel.

Luk 19:41  And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
Luk 19:42  Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 
Luk 19:43  For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
Luk 19:44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

Verses 26 to 28 therefore show us the end result of the Lord’s judgement of Meshech and Tubal. That is to say that Babylon shall be destroyed or put to death and her lot shall be among the uncircumcised people of the world. As the Lord’s elect, Babylon within us must be put to death in our walk with Christ. Outwardly, the physical churches of this world or Babylon shall be destroyed in the fulness of time when those whom the Lord has put in their hearts to destroy her rise up against her.

Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 
Rev 17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

In verse 27, we are told that Babylon shall not lie among the mighty of the uncircumcised people who died with their weapons of war. That is to say that our brothers and sisters in Babylon shall be the last on the line to be saved.

Eze 32:29  There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.

Edom means red and it speaks of our Adamic nature which is our flesh. Edom is also known as Idumea. The people of Edom were descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother and therefore represent our flesh or old man. This is what the Lord says concerning dealing with Edom, our flesh:

Eze 25:12  Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them;
Eze 25:13  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword.
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.

The Lord’s vengeance on Edom by the hand of His elect implies that judgement of the Lord’s elect, which destroys our old man or flesh, is the vengeance upon Edom. Edom’s kings and princes represent the devil and his cohorts who empowers our flesh. The death of our flesh or old man means the devil’s influence or hold in our lives is limited. Thus, the death of Edom is also the death of its kings and princes. The slaying of Edom by the sword means that it is the fire of the word of the Lord which destroys our flesh. Edom lying in the grave with the uncircumcised means that our flesh is not different from the flesh of the people of the world, as all flesh of humanity shall end up being destroyed or end up in the grave. In this age, it is the Lord’s elect who are given to overcome the flesh or Edom. The rest of humanity shall eventually have the victory over Edom or the flesh during the lake of fire age.

Amo 9:12 That they (His elect) may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.

Eze 32:30 There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit. 

Zidon in the Old Testament is the same as Sidon in the New Testament. It is a city of Phoenicia, north of Tyre and it means hunting. In the Book of Judges, Sidon is portrayed as a quiet and secure city with no one possessing authority to correct them.

Jdg 18:7  Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was none in the land, possessing authority, that might put them to shame in anything, and they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with any man.  (ASV)

In this sense, Sidon is Babylon as our brothers and sisters there feel secured in this life and do not have Christ as their Lord to correct them.

Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

However, the Lord shall judge her in the fulness of time when her sins have reached the heavens.

Eze 28:20  Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 28:21  Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it,
Eze 28:22  And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
Eze 28:23  For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Eze 28:24 And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD. 

Here in verse 30, we are shown the end result of the Lord’s judgement where Sidonians together with the princes of the north (their leaders) shall be destroyed as they lie slain with the sword with the uncircumcised. As indicated earlier, the sword which is the instrument of judgement, is the spirit of the Lord’s mouth and His brightness which destroys our flesh or old man. In Ezekiel 28:24 above, we are told that Sidon is like a pricking briar and a grieving thorn unto the house of Israel. We know from the Lord’s words that briars and thorns represent the false doctrines of man’s wisdom and tradition propagated in Babylon which is the terror of the Sidonians in verse 30.  The spirit of the Lord’s mouth is therefore like the hail that comes to destroy these refuge of lies.

Eze 2:6  And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.       

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. 

Eze 32:31  Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord GOD. 
Eze 32:32  For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.

As we have indicated in earlier studies, Pharaoh signifies our old man or flesh. The slaying of Pharaoh and all his army by the sword symbolize the destruction of our flesh using the sword as the instrument of judgement by the Lord. In verse 32, the Lord is saying that He has caused His terror in the land of the living. The Lord’s terror is His judgement and it is His judgement that our flesh and that of the people of the world who do not know the Lord (uncircumcised) are destroyed or slain. It is through the Lord’s judgement that we are made capable of waging war against everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of the Lord and bring into captivity our old man or flesh.

2Co 10:4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 
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;  

We are grateful to our Heavenly Father for His faithfulness in dealing with everything that impede our growth in Him. May His Name be Praised !!

Isa 36:1-11 On Whom do You Trust? - Discussion

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Isa 36:1-11 On Whom Do You Trust?

Isa 36:1  Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.
Isa 36:2  And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.
Isa 36:3  Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder.
Isa 36:4  And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
Isa 36:5  I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
Isa 36:6  Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.
Isa 36:7  But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?
Isa 36:8  Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
Isa 36:9  How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
Isa 36:10  And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
Isa 36:11  Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.

Chapters 36-38 tell us that Hezekiah was one of the best kings of Judah, and in these three chapters of Isaiah we are informed of his mistakes and his successes. We are also informed of how he trusted the Lord to deliver him and his people from the hand of the king of Assyria. "All these things happened unto [Judah], and they are written for our admonition..." (1Co 10:11). In these three chapters we will learn how we first fail to trust in the Lord for our safety. Then eventually, if and when the Lord wills, we learn to depend on Him even in the face of the very worst circumstances.

To learn these lessons we must first look back to Hezekiah's father's way of dealing with the threatening Assyrians, who are the same people as the people of Babylon. Hezekiah's father was Ahaz, and Ahaz was not a good king, and he did not trust in the Lord at all. This is what Hezekiah's father, Ahaz, did when he was facing an invasion by Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel:

2Ki 16:1  In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.
2Ki 16:2  Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father.
2Ki 16:3  But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.
2Ki 16:4  And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
2Ki 16:5  Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.
2Ki 16:6  At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.
2Ki 16:7  So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
2Ki 16:8  And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.
2Ki 16:9  And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.
2Ki 16:10  And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.
2Ki 16:11  And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus.

Contemplate how pleased the Lord is with us when we show the confidence in Him which Ahaz shows to the king of Assyria, telling him "I am your son: come up and save me..."

2Ki 16:7  So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.

I cannot help but wonder how different things would have been had Ahaz shown the same faith in the Lord that he had in the powers of this world and of this age. But trusting in the Lord was not written in Ahaz's book. So let's continue with this story  and see what we can learn:

2Ki 16:12  And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.
2Ki 16:13  And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar.
2Ki 16:14  And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of the altar.
2Ki 16:15  And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.
2Ki 16:16  Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.
2Ki 16:17  And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.
2Ki 16:18  And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria.
2Ki 16:19  Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
2Ki 16:20  And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

Just like King Saul before him when he returned from the slaughter of Amelek, King Ahaz was determined to serve the Lord wearing his own clothes and eating his own food (Isa 4:1). He just wanted to use the Lord's name to take away the shame of completely denying the name of the Lord before all. Such a complete denial will come in time, but it must come slowly so as to sweep away as many of the people as possible.

Hezekiah was not a perfect man, but he was far more faithful to the Lord than was his father, Ahaz. According to the first verse of this book of Isaiah, Hezekiah is the last king of Judah under whom Isaiah prophesied:

Isa 1:1  The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

So it is in the reign of the last of these four kings, the reign of Hezekiah, that our story begins:

Isa 36:1  Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.
Isa 36:2  And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.

More details concerning what is written about King Hezekiah "for our admonition" (1Co 10:11) are to be found in the book of 2nd Kings 18. Here we learn that as a type of us, Hezekiah's faith in the Lord wavered in the face of the armies of Assyria. His lack of faith causes him to repent of his rebellion against the king of Assyria, and to pay a huge fine for doing so.

2Kings 18 also tells us that Sennacherib had actually sent two other captains with Rabshakeh. He sent them from Lachish because he himself was at that moment besieging Lachish:

2Ki 18:1  Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
2Ki 18:2  Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.
2Ki 18:3  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.
2Ki 18:4  He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
2Ki 18:5  He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.
2Ki 18:6  For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.
2Ki 18:7  And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.
2Ki 18:8  He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
2Ki 18:9  And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.
2Ki 18:10  And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.
2Ki 18:11  And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes:
2Ki 18:12  Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.
2Ki 18:13  Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.
2Ki 18:14  And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
2Ki 18:15  And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house.
2Ki 18:16  At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

We will continue on to the next verse in this chapter in just a moment, but first let's consider what we just read. These are words of very high praise for Hezekiah within us. As the churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia within us, the Lord first tells us that He is aware of what positive things we have done. He has not yet spoken anything negative about Hezekiah. But we are told to "hear what the spirit says to [all] the churches", and we are also to listen to all the spirit has to say concerning King Hezekiah within us. To begin with, it is all very positive:

2Ki 18:3  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.
2Ki 18:4  He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. [Meaning "a copper thing"]
2Ki 18:5  He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.
2Ki 18:6  For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.
2Ki 18:7 And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.
2Ki 18:8  He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

So it is with all seven of the churches of Asia (Revelation 2-3). The Lord first tells us what we do that is right before He tells us that our persistent sins nullify all our 'righteousnesses':

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.

Eze 18:24  But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.

"He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him." In the same breath we are told "the Lord was with him... and he rebelled against the king of Assyria and served him not, [and] he smote the Philistines..." Wow! what faith Hezekiah had in the Lord's strength to protect him and to prosper him. He did not allow the sin of his father, Ahaz, to be his example to follow. Under siege from the northern kingdom of Israel, allied with Syria, Ahaz had voluntarily placed himself under the sovereignty and protection of the King of Assyria, and had given the Lord's treasures as a gift to him. He had even changed the construction of "the house of the Lord for the king of Assyria". Hezekiah, unlike his father, depended solely on the Lord to deliver him from the king of Assyria. At least he did so at first, and then after he stumbles, he again depends on the Lord.

Here again is what his father, Ahaz, did to protect himself when under siege:

2Ki 16:7  So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
2Ki 16:8  And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.
2Ki 16:9  And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.

2Ki 16:17  And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.
2Ki 16:18  And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria.

Ahaz placed his faith in the king of Assyria. In other words, it was in the lies of Babylon, telling us the Lord's words cannot be trusted and the Lord answered Ahaz "according to the multitude of his idols" (Eze 14:1-9).

On the other hand, Hezekiah at first rebelled against his father's faithlessness, and he rebelled against depending upon Babylon and the Assyrians for his strength and for his protection.

It is only "through much tribulation" (Act 14:22), and only through "suffering with the Lord" (Rom 8:17 and 2Ti 2:12), that we must enter into the kingdom of heaven. For that very reason the Lord shows us this fiery trial of Hezekiah's faith. Let us now go back and continue reading in 2nd Kings 18, and resume where we left off:

2Ki 18:13  Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.
2Ki 18:14  And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

This is where we learn the meaning of "fiery trials" (1Pe 4:12), that "all things [really do] come alike to all" (Ecc 9:2). We will now learn through Hezekiah's example "that it is only through much tribulation that we must enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Act 14:22), and this is where we learn that it is the "trial of [our] faith" which is precious to God (1Pe 1:7), and that Hezekiah, as a type of us, at first "falls seven times" (Pro 24:16) before returning to the Lord and again depending solely upon Him for his protection from all the powers of Babylon which seek to destroy us.

Whenever we think we will never be so foolish as those before us we are shown that Hezekiah repeats the very same sins of his father, just as Isaac repeated the sin of his father Abraham in denying his wife (Gen 12:19 and 26:7):

2Ki 18:15  And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house.
2Ki 18:16  At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

As our old man demonstrates time after time, he is never satisfied with our momentary submission. Our submission must be completely either to the Lord or to the adversary. Neither will tolerate half-hearted, double-minded service as the scriptures make so very clear:

Luk 16:13  No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Rom 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Jas 1:8  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

With this principle in mind, notice how the king of Assyria shows his appreciation for the gift of repentance Hezekiah had sent him asking for his mercy. This is in the very next verse demonstrating for us how the adversary shows us his 'mercy' upon us, if we are the Lord's elect:

2Ki 18:17  And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field.

The king of Assyria, gladly took Hezekiah up on his offer to cave in and submit to him and obey his commandments, and he laid a heavy burden upon Hezekiah which Hezekiah was willing to pay, and yet Hezekiah's submission made absolutely no difference at all. Submitting to the lies of Babylon must be supported by even more lies, and those lies with even more lies. In time it becomes clear that there is no end to Babylon's demands upon us. But at the appointed time, if it is written in our books to be in the first resurrection, we will be crushed to powder and given to repent in this age and return to serving the Lord, and we will again rebel against the lies of Babylon, as did Hezekiah::

Isa 36:3  Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder.
Isa 36:4  And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
Isa 36:5  I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
Isa 36:6  Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

This is the message of Rabshakeh, the message of Babylon, to each of us:

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Rev 13:5  And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Rev 13:6  And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

You and I are "His tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven". When anyone demands of us that we submit to their lies then it is they who are fulfilling these verses.

"Pharaoh king of Egypt" is our own flesh and our own will, which cannot make war against our beast and his father the devil (Joh 8:44). The adversary falsely accuses us of depending upon our own flesh to deliver us from their lies.

The Lord's elect are acutely aware that our enemy is much more than just our flesh. When we read: "We wrestle not against flesh and blood" we understand that this is like saying "it was not this man or his parents that sinned" (Joh 9:3). Of course that man sinned and so did His parents, and of course the carnal mind is enmity against God (Rom 8:7), but there is much more to the purpose for that man being born blind, and there is much more to our struggle than just our flesh and our carnal mind:

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, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Here are some of the words of "the rulers of the darkness of this world, [and] spiritual wickedness in high places" to the new man within us:

Isa 36:7  But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?

Even when we are obedient to the Lord, the adversary is gifted at accusing us of being disobedient to the Lord. Hezekiah, as a type of us, was being obedient in refusing to let the people offer their offering just wheresoever they chose to do so. So also our obedience is cast as blasphemy against the Lord and as Lording it over the Lord's flock. But the truth remains that we are commanded to worship nowhere but at Jerusalem:

Deu 12:5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: [1Co 3:16]
Deu 12:6 And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:
Deu 12:7 And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee.
Deu 12:8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

The Lord's "Jerusalem" is now His body, and it is with His body alone we are now to worship, and certainly not with the false doctrines and lies of Korah and the false doctrines and lies of Babylon.

The adversary's spokesperson continues with his attempt to intimidate us:

Isa 36:8  Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
Isa 36:9  How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

The first thing the adversary will do is to shout at us, and I quote word for word: "You have got to believe what we are saying, or you will be cast into the lake of fire."

Then "the rulers of the darkness of this world, [and] spiritual wickedness in high places" even claim to be speaking for the Lord Himself:

Isa 36:10  And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
Isa 36:11  Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.

The adversary will always claim to be speaking for the Lord and indeed the Lord has told us this about the spiritual wickedness in our heavens:

Isa 10:5  O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
Isa 10:6  I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

Babylon and the Assyrians within us are our rebellious old man who really is indeed "the people of [the Lord's] wrath". Those who have 'examined themselves' in this life, and have 'judged themselves' in this life (1Co 11:31), and "have overcome the wicked one" in this life (1Jo 2:13-14), know that they have been the first to "fall into the ground and die" (Joh 12:24-25), and that they are "the first to trust in Christ" in this life (Eph 1:12); these know that they "shall not be hurt of the second death/lake of fire", and need never fear rejecting any and all of the lies of Rabshakeh, and the lies of Babylon.

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

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

1Jn 2:13  I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
1Jn 2:14  I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil [meaning in this life, because the devil is not a factor during the thousand years, Rev 20:1] 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.
Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh ["the wicked one"] shall not be hurt of the second death.

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Next week, Lord willing, we will continue to learn more about how we are to wage this life and death spiritual warfare "against spiritual wickedness in the heavens" of our hearts and our minds.

Here are the verses for our next study:

Isa 36:12  But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
Isa 36:13  Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.
Isa 36:14  Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you.
Isa 36:15  Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Isa 36:16  Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;
Isa 36:17  Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
Isa 36:18  Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Isa 36:19  Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
Isa 36:20  Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
Isa 36:21  But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
Isa 36:22  Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 75 Discussion

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Isa 19:20-25  Blessed Be Egypt My People, and Assyria The Work of My Hands, and Israel Mine Inheritance

Isa 19:21  And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it.
Isa 19:22  And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them.
Isa 19:23  In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.
Isa 19:24  In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land:
Isa 19:25  Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

The spiritual message for us in these verses is that all of mankind, "each in his own order... beginning at the house" will come out of Egypt, spend time in the promised land, apostatize, be carried off into Babylon, and only after 70 years of captivity, will they all be dragged back to what is now "the Israel of God", which will never again apostatize.

"There [will] be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians." But the only way for that to happen is for Egypt and Assyria to go through Israel, and that highway is elsewhere called "a highway... of holiness" (Isa 35:8) which can only be realized through the three step process of going from Egypt to Israel, from Israel to Assyria, and from Assyria "return" back to Israel.

Here again in Isaiah 19 is more of the doctrine of "as in Adam all die, so in Christ... the last Adam...  shall all be made alive" (1Co 15:22 and 1Co 15:45). Egypt, Assyria and Israel are three Middle Eastern countries which typify the three steps which must be taken to complete the plan of God for all of mankind. That is what Egypt, Assyria and Israel represent in these last five verses of Isaiah 19.

These verses we are covering today are part of the scriptures which have proceeded out of the mouth of God (Mat 4:4) and which will never pass away (Mat 24:14-15, and Mat 24:31-35), because:

2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Therefore Egypt, Assyria and Israel always have been the three steps toward the kingdom of God, and Egypt, Assyria and Israel will continue to be that three-step process all the way through the lake of fire.

When we wonder and speculate whether certain verses of scripture pertain to the millennium or to the lake of fire we are forgetting that any discussion which excludes the present, "he that reads let him understand" part of the Words of Christ, is sure to come to less than a complete and truthful Biblical conclusion. It is also true that any discussion of the prophecies of scripture which fails to include the past, the present and the future application of the scriptures, the 'is, the was and the will be' characteristics of the words of Christ, will always lead us to a wrong incomplete conclusion, because this is what Christ said of His own words:

Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations [Egypt, Assyria, and Israel]; and then shall the end come.
Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

When will "the end [and] the abomination of desolation" take place? There is no need to speculate about the timing of these prophecies because Christ tells us how we are to apply these His Words:

Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Christ's words are, were and they always will be, applicable to our present lives simply because "My Words shall not pass away". "All these things" includes "the end [and] the abomination of desolation". "Whoso reads, let him understand" applies to all of Christ's words, not just Matthew 24:15.

It was also Christ Himself who inspired Isaiah to write the words of this prophecy of Isaiah. This entire prophecy of Isaiah begins with these words:

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.

Therefore this prophecy also has an 'is, was and will be' characteristic to it. Egypt, which is the Biblical symbol for the whole world, "all... in Adam", will, "each in his own order, do sacrifice and oblation... unto the Lord... and they shall return even to the Lord".

Isa 19:21  And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it.

This will happen "in that day". There are no meaningful 'sacrifices or oblations' which are not preceded by the judgment of the Lord's wrath upon the kingdom of our rebellious old man because we are told:

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

But Christ said, "When you shall see all these things, know it is near, even at the doors." It is true that "the doors" of all mankind must see "all these things", but it is also true that "all these things" must first begin to be seen by God's elect who are the house of God, at whose house "all these things", all these judgments, must begin (1Pe 4:17).

What we need to notice is that "all these things" includes "the abomination of desolation" (Mat 24:15), "the end of the age" (Mat 24:14) and "gather[ing] His elect... with the sound of a trumpet... from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (Mat 24:31).

Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

Mat 24:31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Again, this 31st verse concerning the gathering together of God's elect, is immediately followed by these words in verse 32:

Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Isa 19:22  And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them.

This verse sounds as though it is addressed to the physical nation of Egypt and to that nation alone, but Isa 19:22 is not the sum of [His] Word concerning the meaning of the name Egypt. Here is a verse which demonstrates that all of God's people come up out of 'spiritual Egypt', and while there is time spent in the promised land under judges, kings and prophets of God, all of God's people still have to be carried away into the lies and life of Babylon, with all of her doctrines and traditions (Hos 11:5), before they can "come out of her" and begin the construction of the true house of God which will be more glorious than the temple of Solomon and will be the home and the dwelling place of "the desire of all nations".

Hos 11:5  He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return.

Hag 2:6  For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
Hag 2:7  And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
Hag 2:8  The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
Hag 2:9  The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place [in Christ] will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.

This is the true "latter house" whose glory will be greater than the glory of the temple of Solomon:

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

2Co 6:16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 

Spiritual Babylon is also spiritually called Sodom and Egypt.

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.

Christ's sacrifice was for "all in Adam" (1Co:15:22), and we are one and all 'spiritual Sodom and Egypt where...our Lord was crucified' before we, too, are smitten of the Lord and are brought to "return... unto the Lord" (Isa 19:20-21).

Isa 19:23  In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.

As is always the case in the prophecies of the Old Testament, "that day" is the day of the Lord's judgments upon the kingdom of our rebellious old man, and when those judgments have done their work, we will then all say with Isaiah:

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.

All the leaders of this present age, both Babylonian and secular leaders, who despise the judgments of the Lord, will in time be dethroned and will be placed under the authority of "the very elect". The reason all earthly authority will be wielded by "the Lord and His Christ" is that they measure up to "the pattern which was shown to [us] in the mount", while the leaders of this age and the ministers of Babylon do not measure up to the pattern which is Christ.

Exo 25:40  And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.

Exo 26:30  And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shewed thee in the mount.
Exo 27:8  Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.

So the Lord is very conscientious about His dwelling place and the place of His rest, as we saw in the previous chapter of Isaiah:

Isa 18:3  All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.
Isa 18:4  For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

Spiritual Jerusalem is the place of His rest:

Psa 132:13  For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.
Psa 132:14  This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.

Joe 3:17  So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

This "measur[ing]" of the temple is a very important point, and it is repeated for us in the scriptures again in:

Zec 2:1  I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand.
Zec 2:2  Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof.
Zec 2:3  And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him,
Zec 2:4  And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein:
Zec 2:5  For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.
Zec 2:6  Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the LORD.
Zec 2:7  Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.
Zec 2:8  For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you [Egypt and Assyria]: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
Zec 2:9  For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me.
Zec 2:10  Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD.
Zec 2:11  And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee.
Zec 2:12  And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.
Zec 2:13  Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.

The "many nations" of Zechariah 2:11 are symbolized by Egypt and Assyria who will "be joined unto the Lord through "the [true] Israel of God", which is simply those who know that a physical pedigree is "but dung" unto the Lord (Php 3:8), and being "Abraham's seed" and being "a Jew" is  now, in Christ, a spiritual matter, which now includes true disciples out of every nation, tongue and people.

Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

Isa 19:24  In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land:
Isa 19:25  Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

Israel is "third with Egypt and Assyria... in that day" because we are all Egypt first, Babylon, which is the same as Assyria, second, and then we are Israel third. Egypt and Assyria typify the first and second beasts. Egypt typifies the world, and Assyria typifies the religions of the world, and "Israel [is] third with Egypt and with Assyria". How can that be? How is Egypt "blessed", and how can it be said that Assyria is "the work of My hands"?

Here is the answer to those questions:

Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in [the] Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11  In whom also we [of all nations] have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

God is working all things after the counsel of His own will, and what is His own will? He makes that very clear:

1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

What that means is that as Egypt we are His people, and that Assyria within us is the work of His hands, and "Israel [is] the third with Egypt and with Assyria". It is all the Lord's work, and it all has His blessing, and He calls it "the work of my hands". He tells us in no uncertain terms "That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in the Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth... even in Him." "The Christ" is this entire experience of evil. That is the very composition of "the Christ"!

Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Rev 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.

We have already been told that the salvation of the whole world is the very reason Christ's Father sent Him into this 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.

Then, as we just quoted, He tells us exactly what He wills for all men:

1Ti 2:3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Some argue that 2Ti 2:4 should read 'Who desires all men to be saved', not "Who will have all men to be saved...", but even if we were to translate 'will' as 'desire', nothing changes, and God will still "Have all men to be saved and come unto the knowledge of the Truth" simply because:

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

None of us were ever given the choice of whether we wanted to be placed on this earth "in Adam", and yet that is exactly where we all find ourselves. Every man who has ever lived, with the exception of Christ, was first here "in Adam", and that is the equation we are given for the salvation of those who will in time be given to know the salvation that is "in Christ". Life in Christ will be given to "all in Adam":

1Co 15:21  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

But salvation is not just a matter of Christ dying for our sins. His very death demonstrates the truth of these verses which plainly tell us that "Judgment... must... first begin... at the house of God".

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
1Pe 4:14  If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
1Pe 4:15  But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.
1Pe 4:16  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

If we are but 'the beginning of the judgment of God', then it follows that all others must also be judged. There is no salvation without judgment. So we, too, must "fill up what is behind of the afflictions of the Christ" (Col 1:24). We, too, as "the Christ... [must with Christ be] the scapegoat... a living sacrifice... dying daily... being crucified with Christ". The truth of the scriptures concerning our salvation is that "No man can enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels have been fulfilled" (Lev 16:10; Rom 12:1; 1Co 15:31; Gal 2:20; Rev 15:7-8).

The one thing all these verses demonstrate is that the false doctrine of a "substitutionary sacrifice" and of Christ dying for us so we don't have to die, is an insidious lie which has been, and is being, used by the adversary to rob millions of any hope of salvation in this age. Yes, it is by God's own design, and it is He who is working even that evil work. Nevertheless it is imperative that "we be not ignorant of His devices":

2Co 2:11  Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

As we have shown so many times, the phrase "that day" refers to "the great day of the Lord". It is called "the judgment of the great day... the great day of His wrath... [and it is] the seven last plagues which fill up the wrath of God" on the kingdom of our rebellious old man. That "judgment of the great day" is the time when "Israel... shall... be third with Egypt and with Assyria".

Deu 31:17  Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?
Deu 31:18  And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.

Zep 1:14  The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

Jud 1:6  And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

Even though we know that physical Israel cannot enter into the true "Israel of God", we have a hard time seeing the name 'Israel' in a negative light and thinking of Israel as "third with Egypt and with Assyria". After all, the name 'Israel' means:

H3478
יִשְׂרָאֵל
yiśrâ'êl
yis-raw-ale'
From H8280 and H410; he will rule as God; Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity: - Israel.

H8280 means:

H8280
שָׂרָה
śârâh
saw-raw'
A primitive root; to prevail: - have power (as a prince).

H410 means:

H410
אֵל
'êl
ale
Shortened from H352; strength; as adjective mighty; especially the Almighty (but used also of any deity): - God (god), X goodly, X great, idol, might (-y one), power, strong. Compare names in “-el.”

Jacob's name was changed to Israel after wrestling with Christ all night:

Gen 32:24  And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
Gen 32:25  And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
Gen 32:26  And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
Gen 32:27  And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
Gen 32:28  And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

Immediately after this encounter with Christ, Jacob, who had just been told "for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed", goes out to meet his brother, Esau, and bows himself to the ground before Esau seven times and proclaims himself Esau's servant and Esau as his Lord:

Gen 32:3  And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
Gen 32:4  And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now.

Gen 33:1  And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.
Gen 33:2  And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.
Gen 33:3  And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
Gen 33:4  And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.
Gen 33:5  And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.

Bowing himself "seven times" before Esau is telling us that Jacob knew that without the Lord softening Esau's heart, he was helpless against him and his "four hundred men". It is the same with us as "the house of God" in this age. We have no strength in ourselves to overcome our flesh. It is only through the mercy of our Lord that judgment must begin with us, and we must "fill up" what is behind of the afflictions of Christ", we must be "hated of all men" and be "crucified with Christ", and we must fulfill in our lives "the seven plagues of the seven angels":

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:

Through it all we, like Jacob, must acknowledge that "we have this treasure in earthen vessels", which "earthen vessels" are typified by Esau, and without Christ, Esau, our flesh, is indeed "[our] Lord Esau". It is only through the provisions of Christ that we can 'have power with God and with men, and prevail' against 'our Lord, Esau', our own beastly flesh.

But through Christ we do 'have power with God and with men', and we prevail and will be the saviors of this world who will "judge the mount of Edom [Esau]":

Oba 1:18  And the house of Jacob [spiritual Israel] shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau [our old man] for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.

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.

Another example of Israel being third is found in these verses:

Eze 16:46  And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.
Eze 16:47  Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.
Eze 16:48  As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.
Eze 16:49  Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
Eze 16:50  And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.
Eze 16:51  Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.
Eze 16:52  Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.
Eze 16:53  When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:
Eze 16:54  That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.
Eze 16:55  When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

"Thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters... and Samaria and her daughters... then you and your daughters" is the same as saying:

Isa 19:24  In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land:
Isa 19:25  Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

This also is accomplished only "in that day... the judgment of the great day of the Lord... the great white throne judgment... when the fulness of the Gentiles be come in":

This is the meaning of "Israel... shall... be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land."

Rom 11:25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

Apostate Israel within us is "that great city wherein our Lord was crucified" (Rev 11:8). Our old man is "The first man Adam" within us, and He "cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (1Co 15:44-50).

Christ is called "the last man, Adam" because "all in Adam", including all Egyptians and all Assyrians, "shall be made alive" through "the last man, Adam", and it will all be accomplished through "the way of [the Lord's] judgments":

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.

Next week we will, Lord willing, cover the entire six verses which comprise the whole of Isaiah 20, and we will see that Egypt must be judged before she can be called "My people".

Here is Isaiah 20:

Isa 20:1  In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;
Isa 20:2  At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
Isa 20:3  And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;
Isa 20:4  So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
Isa 20:5  And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.
Isa 20:6  And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 61 Discussion

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Isa 14: 24-27 I Will Break The Assyrian In My Land, And Upon My Mountains Tread Him Under Foot

Isa 14:24  The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
Isa 14:25  That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.
Isa 14:26  This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
Isa 14:27  For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

As we learned earlier in this prophecy, the Assyrians and the Babylonians are the same Chaldean peoples. The Assyrians were the earlier of the two empires with its capital of Nineveh.

Isa 23:13  Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.

Isa 47:1  Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.

1Ki 11:29  And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field:
1Ki 11:30  And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces:
1Ki 11:31  And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:
1Ki 11:32  (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:)

Isa 8:1  Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz. [Hasting to the booty, swift to the prey]
Isa 8:2  And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.
Isa 8:3  And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz.
Isa 8:4  For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

Later the king of Assyria also conquered the southern kingdom of Judah and took its king, Manasseh, captive to Assyria:

2Ch 33:11  Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
2Ch 33:12  And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,

Manasseh was one of the worst kings of Judah, but like King Ahab of the northern kingdom of Israel, Manasseh humbled himself while in Assyrian captivity in Babylon, and the Lord had great mercy on Manasseh and returned him to the throne of Judah.

2Ch 33:13  And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God.

During the days of the king of Assyria,​ Babylon was but one of the cities of the Assyrian empire. When Assyria conquered Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel, the king of Assyria sent many men from Babylon to occupy the cities of Israel because Babylon, at that time,​ was subject to the king of Assyria:

2Ki 17:24  And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.

But after God had used Assyria to punish His own people,​ He then used the Babylonians to destroy the king of Assyria and to usurp rulership over all the cities and kingdoms of the Chaldeans:

Isa 10:12  Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.

It is this verse of Isa 10:12 to which our study today refers:

Isa 14:24  The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
Isa 14:25  That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.

What Christ and His Father had "sworn... [and] thought... and [had] purposed", and what they purpose to this very day, is to "punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks". This 'king of Assyria is but an earlier symbol of the king of Babylon, who is just an earlier symbol of the second beast of Revelation 13.

Both of these kings defy their Creator. Let's look at what each of these men ha​s said in their heart in defiance of their Creator:

Here is the boasting of the king of Assyria:

2Ki 18:31  Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern:
2Ki 18:32  Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The LORD will deliver us.
2Ki 18:33  Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
2Ki 18:34  Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?
2Ki 18:35  Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?

Here is the boasting of the king of Babylon:

Dan 4:30  The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?

And this is the what the beast within every man does:

Rev 13:5  And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Rev 13:6  And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Rev 13:7  And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

Is this not exactly what the kings of Assyria and Babylon do? Of course it is. Just as the king of Babylon, a Chaldean, followed the king of Assyria, who was also a Chaldean, so also here in their final manifestation we again have two appearances of the same beast within all men. But instead of being called 'the king of Babylon' here in his final Biblical manifestation he is called "another beast coming up out of the earth":

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

This second beast "comes up out of the earth", as contrasted with the first beast which "came up out of the sea":

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that he was the "head of gold" on the doomed image of which Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed and then forgotten. No doubt the Babylonian empire was superior to the Assyrian empire simply because Babylon conquered Nineveh and the Assyrians. The truth is that both were the same Chaldean peoples, as Isaiah demonstrates many times.

Here are but a few of many examples how both Assyria and Babylon are called 'Chaldeans':

Isa 23:13  Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.

Isa 43:14  Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.

Isa 47:1  Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.

So it is with the two beasts of Revelation 13. The 'sea' is as much a part of the '​earth' as Assyria is a part of the Chaldeans, as these verses demonstrate:

Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Gen 1:2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Exo 15:10  Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
Exo 15:11  Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Exo 15:12  Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.

Now that we know that the Assyrians and the Babylonians are one and the same very religious Chaldean peoples,​ we can understand why these verses concerning the king of Assyria are here with this parable against the king of Babylon, and we will also understand why the Lord tells us He will "break the Assyrian in [the Lord's] own land, and upon [His] mountains.

Isa 14:25  That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.

But there is one more little nugget we can glean from the judgment of the Lord upon "Babylon the Great" (Rev 17: 5). That nugget is given to us in the last two verses of our study. After addressing both the king of Babylon and the king of Assyria in this 14th chapter of Isaiah, the very next verse tells  us this:

Isa 14:26  This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
Isa 14:27  For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

What we are being told here is what we are really being told everywhere we read about the judgment of Babylon. Babylon is not judged in a vacuum. The Truth is that the judgment of Babylon is the judgment of the whole world, as we were just told: "This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations".

So once again Babylon is not just the Christian world, rather Babylon is "the whole earth... all nations", and all the "kings of the world" over whom "Babylon the great" has been given dominion for so long.

Notice what happened to Nebuchadnezzar,​ the king of Babylon which has been written for our sakes:

Dan 4:1  Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.
Dan 4:2  I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me.
Dan 4:3  How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.
Dan 4:4  I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace:
Dan 4:5  I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.
Dan 4:6  Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream.
Dan 4:7  Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof.
Dan 4:8  But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying,
Dan 4:9  O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.
Dan 4:10  Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.
Dan 4:11  The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth:
Dan 4:12  The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it.

We know that the kingdom of Babylon did not rule over the entire physical planet, but it did rule over everything of any consequence at that time, including eventually, Egypt.

Jer 46:24  The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
Jer 46:25  The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him:
Jer 46:26  And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD.

What is said of Babylon in scripture symbolizes what is being said of the whole world:

Isa 14:26  This ["parable against Babylon" -​ Isa 14:4] is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.

Isa 14:4  That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!

This universal application of the judgment of the king of Babylon here in Isaiah is the same message being given to us in Revelation 17 and 18. Look at how universal the influence of Babylon The Great is stated to be. Babylon's dominion is over "the kings 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 17:15  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.

Cities like Jerusalem, Babylon, Tyre, Sidon, etc. in scripture are always addressed as women. Women in scripture, are always the Biblical symbol of both true and false religion. It is religion which is "that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth". This particular woman,​ who reigns over the kings of the earth,​ has a special hatred for the Lord's elect. The fact is that all religions of men harbor deep-​seated enmity against Christ and His doctrine. They one and all hate the doctrine of Christ mainly because Christ's doctrine teaches us that none of us are free to do as we please:

Gen 45:4  And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6  For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7  And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

That was the same conclusion the Lord delivered to Nebuchadnezzar when Daniel interpreted his dream about the tree that nourished the whole earth:

Dan 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

That is the same message Christ gave to Pilate when Pilate thought Christ's life was in his hands:

Joh 19:11  Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

And finally that is also the same message Christ has for us concerning the affairs of this earth since the time of His death and resurrection:

Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

These verses are telling us that even the thoughts and actions of all whose religion is contrary to the doctrine of Christ are actually as much a work of Christ through the power given Him by His Father as Joseph's brothers selling him into Egyptian slavery and the Jews delivering Christ up to Pilate to be crucified​. It was all nothing more or less than "what [His] hand and [His] counsel determined before to be done".

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

It wa​s the religious leaders who delivered Christ up to be crucified,​ and it will always be that same "great city" which will again deliver Christ up to be crucified again:

Luk 13:33  Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

Physical Jerusalem typifies "the great city" which still wants to destroy those who follow the Lord:

Rev 11:7  And when [the "two witnesses"] shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
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.

When the Lord's hypocritical people were removed from Jerusalem, they were taken to Babylon:

2Ki 24:15  And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
2Ki 24:16  And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.

Babylonian captivity produced a spirit of true repentance in just a very few of those who knew what the Lord had done to Jerusalem. It was only a small minority of the Lord's people who came out of Babylon to rebuild the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, and our Lord tells us it is and always will be that way, until the end:

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

What this chapter is revealing to all with eyes that see and ears that hear, is that God's calling is to all men everywhere, and it is this whole world which makes up "Babylon the great,​ the mother of harlots and of abominations of the earth."

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.

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

So the king of Assyria and the king of Babylon are both just earlier manifestations of this great city which is also called "the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth". It is of this system that all who have been​ given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God are commanded:

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will learn that even our most personal weaknesses and faults must be destroyed and burned up before we can come back to the kingdom of God.

Those weaknesses and faults are symbolized as the nations which are​ closest to us. Israel's most intimate enemy was the Philistines, and these are our verses for our next study which will bring us to the end of this chapter:

Isa 14:28  In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.
Isa 14:29  Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
Isa 14:30  And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant.
Isa 14:31  Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.
Isa 14:32  What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 52 Discussion

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Isa 11:1-8 He Shall Smite The Earth With The Rod of His Mouth

Isa 11:1  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
Isa 11:2  And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
Isa 11:3  And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
Isa 11:4  But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
Isa 11:5  And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
Isa 11:6  The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
Isa 11:7  And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
Isa 11:8  And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.

No one who claims to believe in the Bible as the Word of God doubts that these verses are a prophecy of the kingdom of God and Christ's authority over that kingdom. It is universally accepted that when Christ takes His kingdom He will "smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and [that] He shall slay the wicked... with the breath of His lips".

The question which will occupy this study is, "When exactly will Christ begin to "judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth"? When exactly does Christ begin to "smite the earth with the rod of His mouth"?"

Before we give you the Biblical answer to these questions, let'​s go back and notice whom the Lord has chosen to oppose and resist the coming of this day when Christ will smite the earth with the rod of His mouth. Here are the ending verses of the previous chapter, which remind us with whom we are at war, and therefore who it is who rules the earth at this time, and who it is who will be smitten with the breath of His mouth:

Isa 10:24  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.
Isa 10:25  For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.
Isa 10:26  And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
Isa 10:27  And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
Isa 10:28  He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages:
Isa 10:29  They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.
Isa 10:30  Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.
Isa 10:31  Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee.
Isa 10:32  As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
Isa 10:33  Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.
Isa 10:34  And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.

The Assyrian will smite us with a rod after the manner of Egypt, who also enslaved God's people. There is no way of avoiding enslavement to either Egypt or Assyria. All mankind will come up out of Egyptian slavery, go through a wilderness experience, tempt their own Savior "ten times", die in the wilderness, and through that "deadly wound", enter into the land of promise, conquer many giants in that land, but then turn their backs on their first love, and be carried away as captives into Assyria. It will be there, from Babylon, the land of Shinar, the land of Assyria, the land of great pride in our ownselves, that we will be finally be granted the deliverance and salvation and the peace of mind we all seek:

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;

Rev 2:3  And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Rev 2:4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Rev 2:5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

Hos 11:3  I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.
Hos 11:4  I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.
Hos 11:5  He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return.
Hos 11:6  And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.
Hos 11:7  And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.

This is not something which takes place in the millennium. This is all taking place in our lives, the lives of those who are "the Israel of God, [which] is not of Abraham". All of this takes place because God "makes us [all] to err from [His] ways", through our marred condition and composition "in [His] hands...[under] the law of sin which [He has placed] in [our] members... after the counsel of His own will":

Isa 63:16  Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father [the Father of "the Israel of God" - Gal 6:15-16] , our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.
Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
Jer 18:7  At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Of ourselves, we are as natural brute beasts doomed to destruction:

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;

That is the reason we all are brought to our wits' end (Psa 107:27), and we are brought to cry out with the apostle:

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

The first five verses of our study today answers the apostle's question, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death" into which we all have been placed:

Isa 11:1  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
Isa 11:2  And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
Isa 11:3  And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
Isa 11:4  But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
Isa 11:5  And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

"A rod out of the stem of Jesse" will "judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked."

It is few indeed who profess to believe the scriptures that doubt these words are a prophecy of the coming of Christ to rule this earth "with the rod of His mouth". But what is not known by most is that this is not as much a prophecy of life during the coming millennium as it concerns the "kingdom of God... within you" here and now. What is understood by very few is that the words of this prophecy primarily concern the 'earth' as that word is meant by the scriptures themselves as in this verse of scripture:

Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

This entire twenty-second chapter of Jeremiah is addressed to the king of Judah and Jerusalem and to all of his subjects:

Jer 22:1  Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
Jer 22:2  And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:

The opposite of 'heaven' is not 'hell'. Scripturally, the opposite of 'heaven' is the 'earth'. There is coming a time when the outward kingdoms of this earth will become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, but that certainly is not yet the case in its outward sense:

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.

"The king of Judah" was the king of one of "the kingdoms of this world". The kings of Israel and Judah were all physical descendants of Abraham, and the kings of Judah were all descendants of King David of whom it was prophesied:

Act 2:30  Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;

Rom 1:3  Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;

In the next chapter of Romans, Paul makes this revolutionary 'replacement theology' statement:

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

The apostle Paul acknowledges the affection he had toward his 'kinsmen according to the flesh'.

Rom 9:3  For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

However, Paul knew that the things of the flesh were being superseded by "the things of the spirit", and Paul knew that included being physically descended from Abraham or King David. Paul is speaking under the inspiration of the holy spirit when he tells us:

Rom 9:1  I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
Rom 9:2  That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
Rom 9:3  For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
Rom 9:4  Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
Rom 9:5  Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
Rom 9:6  Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
Rom 9:7  Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Rom 9:8  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

Here we have the most prolific New Testament writer plainly establishing that most hated doctrine, which is disparagingly referred to as "replacement theology". Later Paul makes clear that physical fleshly pedigree and physical descent from Abraham is no longer a factor in our relationship with our Creator when he tells us this:

2Co 5:14  For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
2Co 5:15  And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more [after the flesh].
2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

This is not a doctrine of men. It is the holy spirit which is teaching us "the children of the promise are counted for the seed", and to  make this perfectly clear, we are told that "Jerusalem that now is, is in bondage with her children" whereas the Gentile Galatians are now called by the holy spirit "as Isaac was, the children of promise". This is not a doctrine of men. Jerusalem is now "in bondage with her children", and the holy spirit goes on to tell us:

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.

Here is the holy spirit's replacement theology in a nutshell:

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, brethren [Gentile Galatians], 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 are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

This accords with the doctrine of Christ Himself who was first to go to the Gentile Samaritans with these words:

Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

The kingdom of God is no longer connected to Jerusalem or Samaria. It is now a spiritual 'mountain', a spiritual kingdom of those who worship God in spirit and in truth.

This is the kingdom with which the verses of Isaiah 11:1-5 primarily concern themselves:

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

The kingdom and the promises all pertain to Christ, and that kingdom is now being given to Christ, the king of His kingdom. Let's look at those verses again.

Isa 11:1  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
Isa 11:2  And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
Isa 11:3  And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
Isa 11:4  But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
Isa 11:5  And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

"He is a Jew which is one inwardly", and "behold the kingdom of God is within you". "He is not a Jew which is one outwardly", and "the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father".

Psa 89:2  For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.
Psa 89:3  I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,
Psa 89:4  Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.

Where a 'throne' is, there must be a king and a kingdom. Christ's kingdom is said to be "establish[ed] in the very heavens... within you".  The scriptures reveal the what and the where of "the very heavens", and we have an indepth discussion of the location of the kingdom of heaven being within us at this link here.

It is this spiritual inward kingdom of "mount Sion... unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem" with which our study today is concerned.

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels.

That being the case, we are of necessity being delivered from a spiritually inward kingdom of Assyria of which we are told:

Isa 10:24  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.
Isa 10:25  For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.
Isa 10:26  And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.

It is when 'the Lord of hosts stirs up a scourge for the king of Assyria according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb' that:

Isa 11:6  The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
Isa 11:7  And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
Isa 11:8  And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.

The wolf, the leopard, the lion, the bear, the asp and the cockatrice are one and all "the power of the enemy" within us, and they are all subdued and dominated by Christ who has been given all power in heaven and in earth, who now lives His life within us and who has given us that same power "over all the power of the enemy".

Luk 10:19  Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Luke 10:19 is the fulfilling in our lives of every word of Isaiah 11. Like the apostle Paul in whom Christ dwelt, if a venomous beast with his venomous false doctrines does attach himself to us, we simply shake him off into the fiery burning flames of the Truths of the Word of God.

Act 28:3  And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
Act 28:4  And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.
Act 28:5  And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.

These verses here in Isaiah 11 have nothing to do with the disposition of the physical animals in the kingdom of God during the millennium as we have most generally been taught. If beasts were subdued to this degree, then there would be no need for a rod of iron with which to subdue 'strong nations afar off'.

Mic 4:3  And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

It is also evident that after the millennium the nations do indeed "learn war" again in very short order:

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

The increasing of beasts within the kingdom of God is one of the means used by the Lord to keep His work on His schedule, and they are also used by the Lord throughout prophecy to discipline the Lord's people for their sins:

Deu 7:22  And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.

Eze 14:21  For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?

It will be those who know the mind and the words of the Lord who will be used by Him as His "battle axe and weapons of war" against all those whom He has first used to discipline us.

We will be "the rod of His mouth"? The Lord will use us to execute his rule and His judgments upon the "kingdoms of this world"? This what we are told throughout the scriptures:

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

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.

Eze 3:10  Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.
Eze 3:11  And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.

Eze 3:17  Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

You and I are called to be the Lord's anointed to do the very things He did for His Father:

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

The words of this chapter of Isaiah will be accomplished within our lives in this age only after the Lord has destroyed the king of Assyria within us, brought us to our wits' end and subdued all the beasts within us in this age. These words have nothing to do with the disposition of beasts during the millennium where we will be judging the nations of this world and ruling them with a rod of iron:

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

So once again the 'is' character of the Word of God is given priority, and the beasts of the earth are now being subdued within the Lord's elect, preparing them to be the instruments through which all men will be granted to subdue the beasts within themselves and in time come to be at peace with their Creator.

Next week we will see another demonstration of how the words of this chapter apply to this present age. The cockatrice cannot hurt us even now, even as we live in these earthen vessels  where the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth within us in this age.

Isa 11:9  They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
Isa 11:10  And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
Isa 11:11  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
Isa 11:12  And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Isa 11:13  The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
Isa 11:14  But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
Isa 11:15  And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.
Isa 11:16  And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 48 Discussion

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Isa 10:12-15 The Judgment o​f The King o​f Assyria

Isa 10:12  Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
Isa 10:13  For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:
Isa 10:14  And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.
Isa 10:15  Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.

Notice carefully what we are told here in verse twelve:

Isa 10:12  Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.

The word 'wherefore' refers back to the previous four verses:

Isa 10:8  For he [the king of Assyria] saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
Isa 10:9  Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?
Isa 10:10  As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;
Isa 10:11  Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

We are told here that because of the pride of the king of Assyria he will be punished only "when the Lord has performed His WHOLE work upon M​ount Zion and on Jerusalem". The King of Assyria and the King of Babylon are the enemies of God's symbolic people of Israel. Assyria and Babylon typify "Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth".

Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Inwardly and spiritually Isaiah 10:5 is telling us that "when the Lord has perfomed His whole work upon M​ount Zion and on Jerusalem", at that point, if indeed we are 'Judah and Jerusalem', our names have been​ written in heaven, and we have been given "power over all the power of the enemy":

Luk 10:19  Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luk 10:20  Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

The inward application will be the focus of this study. However let's never forget that the inward application of the Word is only the 'Is' portion of a Christ who "is, was and will be". This Truth is repeated twelve times in various forms in the Book of Revelation, meaning it is a foundational Truth as well as an extremely important fact to keep in mind as we strive to know who our Lord is and what He is doing with His creatures.

Here are just two of those twelve entries of this all important description of our Lord and His character:

Rev 1:8  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Rev 1:17  And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
Rev 1:18  I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Rev 1:19  Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;

So when we are told "that when the Lord hath performed His whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria and the glory of his high looks", those words have a dispensational application which includes the past historically, the inward present, as well as an end-of-the-ages 'lake of fire' application.

"When the Lord has performed His whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem" speaks to the whole work which is now being done in His judging His own house, the house of God".

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

The work which is yet to come will be performed upon those who will be raised up from the dead who "obey[ed] not the gospel of God" in this age. That will take place only at that  'great white throne judgment'. Those who will come up in that latter resurrection will still be afflicted  with this spirit of the proud, self-righteous, and rebellious "King of Assyria". At that time the Lord will send His firstfruits to do what His Father sent Him to do, which is "that the world through Him might be saved":

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.

Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

That is the dispensational application which we must never deny, otherwise we are denying one third of the 'is, was and will be' character of Christ who is His word (Joh 1:1). We will return to this dispensational application of these words in next week's study. Our emphasis today though will be on the inward application of the judgment of this spirit of the king of Assyria within each of us.

We will, Lord willing, always focus first on the inward application, yet it is of utmost importance that we realize that the inward, spiritual application of these Words of God are always to be taken as being true only in downpayment, "earnest" form at this present time. Like Christ while standing before Pilate, we know and must confess that we are kings, yet we must also be aware and confess that "[our] kingdom is not of this age":

Joh 18:35  Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?
Joh 18:36  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world [Greek: aion - age]: if my kingdom were of this world [age], then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence [this age].
Joh 18:37  Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

Christ had no illusions that Pilate would "hear [His] voice" and set Him free, or that Pilate would give his power over to Christ in this age. Christ said these words to Pilate for our sakes, so we would know that we, too, are really even "now the sons of God... [are now] kings and priests", and yet this is true only in "earnest", downpayment form, and we do not yet have "the purchased possession".

Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

The apostle John confirms this Truth:

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

So it is inwardly and spiritually when we are told:

Isa 10:12  ... when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, [He] will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.

This judgment of the King of Assyria also is taking place "now" within us in downpayment form, in "earnest... until the redemption of the purchased possession", and that judgment requires that we continue to punish the fruit of the stout heart of the King of Assyria and the glory of his high looks [by] bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ:

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;

There will not be one person in the first resurrection who has not himself experienced the punishment of the fruit of the stout heart of the King of Assyria, and the punishment of the glory of his high looks.

We have a story which typifies what must be done within us before we will be able to enter into the temple in heaven (Rev 15:7-8). This is not simply a history lesson. This is a type of us (1Co 10:11). This is the story of the fruit of the stout heart, and the glory of the high looks of King Nebuchadnezzar within us being punished by our Lord:

Dan 4:19  Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies ["Judah and Jerusalem. This dream is to God's firstfruits].
Dan 4:20  The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth;
Dan 4:21  Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation:
Dan 4:22  It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.
Dan 4:23  And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him;
Dan 4:24  This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king:
Dan 4:25  That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
Dan 4:26  And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. ["He himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire" 1Co 3:16]
Dan 4:27  Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.
Dan 4:28  All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
Dan 4:29  At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
Dan 4:30  The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
Dan 4:31  While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
Dan 4:32  And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

Nebuchadnezzar, as a type of us, was given the heart of a beast for seven years, just as we are given the heart of a beast "until the seven plagues of the seven angels are fulfulled":

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
Rev 15:2  And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

Standing on the sea of glass is the same as being in the temple, inasmuch as the "molten sea" was reserved for only the priests, the sons of Aaron [2Ch 4:6], who typified Christ as our high priest. Because the priests typify the elect firstborn, this chapter concludes with these words:

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.

Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon [typifying God's elect], cannot receive or sit upon his throne until the seven years of judgment and the destruction of his stout heart and the glory of his high looks are accomplished and he knows that the heavens rule on his earth. Nebuchadnezzar's seven​ years of punishment until the wrath of God against him is fulfilled typifies our own punishment under the seven plagues and not being able to enter into the temple until the seven plagues which fill up the wrath of God against Babylon The Great within us are fulfilled in our lives.

Before his judgment, Nebuchadnezzar typifies our own old man, who must first be judged and destroyed. He is just a later version of the King of Assyria, who is also a type of our own proud rebellious, yet religious, flesh. Our flesh just naturally believes in the false doctrine of free moral agency. It is that false doctrine which leads us to say:

Isa 10:13  For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:
Isa 10:14  And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.

Let's look closely at these two verses and notice the self aggrandizement the King of Assryia within us places upon himself:

Isa 10:13  For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and [I] have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:
Isa 10:14  And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.

This is my flesh and your flesh. If we so much as deny these following verses of scripture, which we all do in our own time, then we are the King of Assyria whose proud heart must be destroyed. Our inability to see what is in these verses is because of "the pride of life", the fruit of the false doctrine of 'free moral agency', which is one of the last lies we are granted to relinquish:

Gen 45:4  And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6  For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7  And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

The preparations of the hearts of Joseph's brothers and their agreement among themselves to sell him as a slave into Egypt were "from the Lord". While there are many other examples of the truth that God Himself hardens our hearts and makes us to err from His ways, I will quote just one more section of scripture which makes this point:

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

The King of Assyria within us is "captive to the law of sin which is in [our] members", and he is helpless to do anything about it. We are all so full of ourselves and so subject to "the pride of life" (1Jo 2:16), that this very same story is repeated to us through two other kings in scripture who are given this same mind of:

Isa 10:13  For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:

The King of Babylon

The first additional example is the King of Babylon, who is also an Assyrian and who actually conquers the King of Assryia and his capital of Nineveh. But the King of Babylon carries on in the same spirit of the "pride of life":

Isa 14:13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Isa 14:14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

We are very unrealistic in our unlimited pride of our hearts. How can we exalt our throne above the stars of God? How can we possibly be like the most High when this is the actual truth of who we really are?:

Isa 14:15  But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.
Isa 14:16  Those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you: 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, (ESV)

Isa 14:21  Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.
Isa 14:22  For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD.

'Sheol' is the unseen, the grave, and the King of Babylon says all these grandiose things "in [his] heart". But in reality he is nothing "like the most high", and instead he is "brought down to sheol", and he is "the man  who made the earth tremble".

The King of Tyre

Another king possessed by this same pride of life is a third Biblical type of whom we are before we are humbled and brought to know our Lord and His work in our lives. This king also in his heart thinks he is a god. But our hearts are "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jer 17:9), so the Lord clears the air at the very beginning of this story:

Eze 28:1  The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
Eze 28:2  Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

In spite of the Lord telling us this prince, this king, "is a man... and not a God", that he simply "sets [his] heart as the heart of God", and that he has all the fantasies expressed in the rest of this chapter only "in [his] heart", the churches of this world, the churches of the great harlot and her daughters, still believe and teach that Isaiah 14 and this 28th chapter of Ezekiel are not at all about "a man [whose] heart is lifted up [to] think [he] is a God".

Rather, the churches of this world and the commentaries almost all teach that these two chapters of scripture are about the fall of Satan from the heavens, back some time before the Garden of Eden. The fact is that the scriptures actually teach us that Satan and his angels, by God's design, still haunt the heavens and that the Lord calls heavenly assemblies from which He sends evil spirits to "trouble [King] Saul" (1Sa 16:14-15), and to be lying spirits in the mouths of all of King Ahab's prophets (1Kg 22:22), and that to this very day the heavens must yet be cleansed with better things than the blood of calves and goats:

Heb 9:19  For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself [into the hearts and minds of His people who "are the temple of God" (1Co 3:16)], now to appear in the presence of God for us:

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

2Co 6:16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

The Truth is that this same proud heart of the kings of Assyria, Babylon and Tyrus is still in all men to this very day, and we all still "sit in the temple of God, [maintaining that we] are God":

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who ["That man of sin... the son of perdition" within us all] 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.

Of ourselves we cannot see this man of sin within us. It takes the spirit of God to reveal him to us, so we are told:

2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

The old English word 'let' means 'to restrain', and it is our old man, our carnal mind, which restrains us from seeing ourselves for the pompous, would-be 'god' which we think "in [our] hearts" we are. "The spirit of His mouth" which destroys "that Wicked... man of sin" within us all, are these very words of scripture which reveal "that Wicked... man of sin [is] the pride of life... in [our own] hearts" which restrains the day of the destruction of this "man of sin... sitting in the temple of God, [by] showing himself that he is God".

But that day of revealing who he is, is inevitable, "and that man of sin... that Wicked [will] be revealed [and] the Lord [will] consume [him] with the spirit of His mouth", which includes these very words:

Isa 10:15  Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.

It is humanly impossible for us, with our carnal mind which is enmity against God, to understand the depth of our own apostasy and our own helplessness to do anything about our wretched and miserable and naked condition. We may think in our hearts, and we may act as if we think we are God, but this is far closer to reality:

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Then what ​is to be done if we are completely helpless to save ourselves from the captivity we are in to the law of sin in our members? There is only one thing to do, and that is to cry out along​ with the apostle, to our Lord:

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

We must be humbled and have the pride of the King of Assyria, the King of Babylon and the King of Tyre burned out of us before we can know that the fiery solution to our helpless and hopeless predicament is the death and destruction of our old man. Only then can we (and we must) express our gratitude for the provision God has 'devised to bring back to Himself His banished'.

2Sa 14:14  For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it. (CLV)

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

That really is 'good news'. That is the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we have been humbled to see that we cannot even sin of ourselves and that even our sins are a work of the Lord, "an experience of evil" the Lord has given us to humble us, then we can rejoice with the apostle Paul at the means He has devised and has revealed to us as to who will deliver us from the body of this death:

Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

"Jesus Christ, our Lord" is the new man within us, and as he grows within us our old man dies daily.

Joh 3:30  He [Christ] must increase, but I [the old man] must decrease.

Next week, Lord willing, we will learn what it means for our old man, the King of Assyria within us, to decrease until there is very little left of him and his ways:

Isa 10:16  Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.
Isa 10:17  And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;
Isa 10:18  And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standard bearer fainteth.
Isa 10:19  And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 47 Discussion

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Isa 10:5-11 O Assyrian, The Rod of Mine Anger

Isa 10:5-11 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
Isa 10:6  I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
Isa 10:7  Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
Isa 10:8  For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
Isa 10:9  Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?
Isa 10:10  As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;
Isa 10:11  Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

Outwardly 'Assyria' is what we today call Iraq. Iraq is home to what used to be universally accepted as "the cradle of civilization". It is the home of the tower of Babel, the ancient city of Nineveh, the capital of the kingdom of Assyria, and 'Assyria' is also the land of Babylon, the symbol of all the false religions which dominate mankind.

The ruins of Nineveh have been excavated just outside the present city of Mosul in northern Iraq. The city of Babylon has been excavated near the present city of Hillah in central Iraq. There are just 317 miles (510 kilometers) between the two cities. Both were used by God to punish His own unfaithful, hypocritical, rebellious people.

This is how the name Babylon is used in both the Old and the New Testaments:

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.

Here is how the name 'Babylon' is applied in the New Testament;

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.

Just as God used Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ezekiel and all of His prophets, to show Israel how He was about to punish them for their unfaithfulness and hypocrisy, so in the New Testament He uses "one of the seven angels which had the seven vials", His modern day prophets (Rev 19:10 and 22:8), to reveal to us the fullness of His wrath against our own unfaithful and hypocritical ways.

Babylon and Assyria are one and the same, so we are told:

Isa 10:5-11 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.

Assyria symbolizes our own lives while we are under the influence of the twisted false doctrines of Assyria, which is but an earlier form of Babylon. Being the exact same ethnic people, these two cities both symbolize the same thing in scripture.  They symbolize our lives while we live under God's wrath (Jer 51:7) in 'that great city wherein our Lord was crucified'. Assyria and Babylon both symbolize where we are spiritually while "the wrath of God abides on [us]".

Joh 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

While being dominated by Assyria we live lives which are in total darkness because "the wrath of God abides on [us]. Isaiah has already told us the Lord has taken His Truth from us:

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,

If indeed the Lord has, at this time, removed from us "the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water", then what that means is there is not one single doctrine of Babylon and Assyria which has not be tainted with the heresies of that carnal-minded kingdom.

Isaiah has already informed us:

Isa 9:19  Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.

In that darkened state we are totally unaware of what the Lord has done to us, so we still want to claim His name. What we do not want is to do what He tells us to do. This is how Isaiah portrays our life under the Lord's wrath, where we live while we are under Assyria's dominance in our life:

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.

Being carried away as a captive into Assyria and Babylon does not change our hearts or minds. We must "come out of her" before that change will come:

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

The Lord Himself places us into this sad position for the very purpose of giving Himself the occasion and the opportunity He is seeking to pour out His wrath upon "the seat [Greek: thronos - throne] of the beast" within us:

Rev 16:10  And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat [Greek: thronos - throne] of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
Rev 16:11  And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

Assyria, which is the same as Babylon, is pictured here in Revelation 17 as a harlot "woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus". Those are the words the holy spirit has chosen to describe the effects of the false doctrines of this great harlot upon the lives of all "the kings of the earth... and the inhabitants of the earth". All men, including each of us in our own time, "have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication". That 'wine' is the "old wine", the law of Moses, which is called "a carnal commandment", and our old man finds that 'old wine', the doctrines of the Old Testament, the law of Moses, to be far more appealing than the "new wine... the law of Christ".

Luk 5:37  And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.
Luk 5:38  But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.
Luk 5:39  No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.

Gal 6:2  Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

One lesson we must learn in these studies is that the law of Moses is the same as the law of the Gentiles, both of which are "carnal commandment[s]... for the lawless and disobedient..." Those are the laws of Assyria and Babylon.

Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law [of Moses], do by nature the things contained in the law [of Moses], these, having not the law [of Moses], are a law [of Moses] unto themselves:
Rom 2:15  Which shew the work of the law [of Moses] written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;

Here in the book of Hebrews, the law of Moses is even called "a carnal commandment":

Heb 7:14  For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
Heb 7:15  And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,
Heb 7:16  Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

Being 'a carnal commandment" for a carnal nation, the law of Moses was never designed for a righteous man, but it was designed, like the laws of the Gentiles, for the lawless and disobedient:

1Ti 1:9  Knowing this, that the law [of Moses] is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
1Ti 1:10  For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

Our greatest enemy is the proud, rebellious, hypocritical old man within us all who uses the carnal commandments of the law of Moses to justify nullifying the law of Christ. We simply are not given, by nature, to see ourselves as the hypocrites the Lord has made us to be and hardened our hearts to become:

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

But in the darkness that is the kingdom of the beast within us, we cannot see ourselves as the hypocrites we are. To the contrary it is natural for us to think that we would never have disobeyed God's commandment against eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There are those who want to "punch Adam in the nose" for being so foolish and rebellious, not knowing that expressing such a sentiment is itself in rebellion against the law of Christ. We all read the story of Cain and Abel, and we just naturally wonder how Cain could possibly have committed such a heinous act against his own "righteous [brother] Abel" (Mat 23:35). We read of Noah's drunkenness, of Abraham's denying his own wife, of Jacob cheating his brother out of his blessing, of the nation of Israel rebelling against God ten times in the wilderness, of King David's adultery and the subsequent murder to hide his adultery, and we think that we ourselves would never have eaten of the forbidden fruit, or killed our own brother or any of those heinous sins of which we read because we think we are better than that.

The lesson in every case, of course, is that those men and those sins are types of us, and those very sins will even be required of us:

Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Mat 23:36  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

The scriptures are the Word of God which does "not pass away" and which is always addressed to "this generation":

Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Which generation will not pass away until all these things be fulfilled? We are not left to guess. That generation is the generation of "whoso readeth" in every generation since Christ.

Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

That being the case, we must come to see that we are the generation of whom all the blood of all the prophets who have been slain from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Christ Himself and the blood of "His Christ" will be required.

Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
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.

If we are granted to see the truth of Luke 11:49-51, then when we read of how the Lord brought His people up out of Egypt, we can recognize that the 'Egypt' out of which He is bringing us is the Egypt of our own taskmaster. Our own ruthless old man, who dominated us, was our enemy used by God to drive us to our wits' end until we are forced to cry out to Him to send us a Savior:

Exo 3:7  And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt [in sin], and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

There has never been a "taskmaster" so ruthless and demanding as our own brutish pride and  our own sinful nature. 'Egypt' typifies the rebellious, carnal-minded flesh, the "taskmaster" into which we, and all men, are just naturally born as slaves to our own proud, selfish, carnal desires. However God has mercy on us and hears our cries to be delivered from the power of our flesh, and then, after a short time of great gratitude, it is we, who again, just naturally become a nation who is very self-righteous, and yet at the same time we are very rebellious and sinful, and we must be punished by our own God who brought us up out of Egypt. Now He uses another king, the king of Assyria, as His instrument of punishment upon us:

Isa 10:5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.

Then at our own appointed time, our flesh wants to return to Egypt, but the Lord has determined that action will not be permitted. Instead, after we come up out of Egypt and after we spend our preordained time in a land flowing with milk and honey, we are predestined to begin to take our many blessings for granted and to lose our first love (Rev 2:4) and come to the point that we must be punished for our sins by being ruled over by the king of Babylon, who is in the land of Assyria.

We are told that this is the predestined order of events in:

Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
Hos 11:2  As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
Hos 11:3  I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.
Hos 11:4  I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.
Hos 11:5  He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return.
Hos 11:6  And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.
Hos 11:7  And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.

Why do we marvel that Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, that Noah got drunk at the first opportunity, that Abraham twice denied his wife, or that Israel rebelled against their own deliverer and wanted to return to Egypt after being miraculously delivered out of that oppression and bondage?

Num 14:4  And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

The reason we read all those stories and marvel at the lack of faith of those who have come before us is that we hypocritically think that we are above such foolishness and such spiritual immaturity. It is while we are still steeped in all the lies of Babylon, where we do not yet have a clue that what we think is light is, in reality, deep spiritual darkness. At that point we actually abhor the True 'Light'.

Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40  And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

At that point in our "experience of evil" (Ecc 1:13, CLV) we believe that the darkness of lies and false doctrines are the light of God's Words, and so again we are told:

Joh 3:19  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Joh 3:20  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
Joh 3:21  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Our deeds reflect our doctrine. If we love our enemies, then we have no problem coming to the 'light', because "the Light" tells us to do so. If we are hypocrites, we will not "come to the light, lest [our] deeds should be reproved".

Which brings us to our next verse in today's study:

Isa 10:6  I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

God has sent Assyria and Babylon against the people of His wrath with a charge to take the spoil, to take the prey and to tread them down like mire of the streets. There can be no better words to describe what the great harlot and her daughter harlots do to those upon whom she sits and rules. She uses us to her own benefit just as any harlot would. And how do we, in our blinded, darkened state, feel about being so used by our oppressor? This is what the scriptures reveal to be our state of mind while being so physically, mentally and spiritually abused:

Jer 5:30  A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
Jer 5:31  The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

Does this great harlot, Assyria and Babylon, see herself as the harlot who the Lord says she is? No, of course not. The Jews did not realize they were crucifying their own Savior. None of us, while we were attending and tithing to the churches of this world, thought we were part of the great harlot system which has "deceived the whole world" (Rev 12:9). We do not just naturally see ourselves as those who crucified Christ. Neither did literal Assyria realize the depth of their own brutality, and yet this is who we are:

Isa 10:7  Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.

We have already seen that, while in Assyria, we are incapable of seeing ourselves as having to give an accounting for "the blood of all the prophets from Abel to Zacharias".

But we are Assyria, and as such we do not see ourselves as the brute beasts which we are. In that state of mind we certainly do not realize that we were made in such a state for the specific purpose of being "taken and destroyed".

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;

Neither do we see ourselves symbolized by the great harlot, Babylon. Rather, this is what we say, and this is what we do at that point:

Pro 30:20  Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Saul of Tarsus did not feel condemned for "breathing out slaughter against the church", and he felt no remorse for having supervised the stoning of Stephen. This is how he did feel:

Php 3:4  Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
Php 3:5  Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Php 3:6  Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Php 3:7  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

It was Saul's zeal for the law of Moses which compelled him to persecute the church. His light was total darkness and spiritual blindness, and at that time he was glorying in his zeal. That is what we also do while we faithfully and zealously serve Assyria. It is our goal to break down any barriers against the expansion of our evangelistic Assyrian, Babylonian kingdom, which zeal is expressed in these words:

Isa 10:8  For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
Isa 10:9  Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?

No city had withstood Assyria - not Calno, Carchemish, Hamath, Arpad, Samaria or Damascus. They had all succumbed to the zeal of the kings and princes of Assyria. It was in His zeal that Saul of Tarsus had supervised the stoning of Stephen, because the law of Moses required that we hate our enemies. There was no doubt that the doctrines of Christ were enmity against the law of Moses. Every time Christ had said "You have heard it said by them of old... but I say unto you..." those words of Christ, from Saul's law-oriented perspective, were the equivalent of an insurrection against the law of Moses, and were therefore worthy of the death of Christ and of all of His followers.

Act 7:57  Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him [Stephen] with one accord,
Act 7:58  And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
Act 7:59  And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

Act 9:1  And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
Act 9:2  And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

Saul of Tarsus' trip to Damascus was a terrible experience for Saul of Tarsus, but it was the best thing that ever happened to the apostle Paul. As we will come to see, after the Lord uses Assyria to punish His hypocritical people, He then uses the remnant of His people to punish Assyria and Babylon.

But until the Lord's wrath against our hypocrisy is filled up against us, Assyria and Babylon, typifying the great harlot, are given to spoil us. Assyria is the rod of His wrath against us, His own people, who, as slaves of Assyria and Babylon, are still saying within ourselves:

Isa 10:10  As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;
Isa 10:11  Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

Physical Assyria and physical Babylon are the symbols of the spiritual kingdoms which have enslaved all "the kings of the earth", including, but not at all limited to, those who are the Lord's own chosen people.

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.

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.

The Lord's chosen people are symbolized by Jerusalem and Samaria, the capitals respectively for the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel. The fact that Israel is a divided nation is an indication of just how far from our God we are, who at one time claimed the name of Christ. While we will not again see the phrase, "His hand is stretched out still", we will continue to see that His hand is still stretched out against His own people who have completely forsaken Him

"All the families of the north, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon", all being "of the north", symbolize those who the Lord uses to judge His completely apostatized and godless people, because judgment comes out of "the north" (Eze 9:1-2).

Next week we will see how the Lord, after sending Assyria and Babylon to punish and to humble the pride of His own chosen people, will then give judgment into the hands of His saints, and through His chosen few He will judge the pride and the rebellious hearts of the kings of Assyria and Babylon.

Isa 10:12  Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
Isa 10:13  For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:
Isa 10:14  And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.
Isa 10:15  Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 35 Discussion

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The Lord Shall Shave With A Razor That Is Hired... by The King of Assyria

Isa 7:19  And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.
Isa 7:20  In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.

Isaiah continues to reveal to us more of the details of our judgment at the hands of the king of Assyria. We have learned that Assyria symbolizes those people and things which the Lord uses in our lives to pour out upon us His indignation and the fury of His wrath. The king of Assyria, we have seen, is the same as the king of Babylon because Babylon and Assyria are one and the same people, the Chaldeans.

This is what we have learned about the symbolism of the king of Assyria:

Isa 10:5  O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
Isa 10:6  I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

So the Biblical symbolism of the instrument of God's wrath, His indignation and His judgment upon His own people is "the king of Assyria who is soon to become the king of Babylon. It is actually the King of Babylon who carried off Judah into captivity, but the Assyrians and the Babylonians are both the same Chaldean peoples, and those people are the Biblical symbol of spiritual Babylon, by whom God is in the process of judging His people.

Christ tells us that He will give His husbandmen care of His vineyard and He will "go into a far country for a long time". He tells us He will send prophets and His own son to His husbandmen and that His own husbandmen, His own people will persecute and slay His prophets and they will kill His own Son, and that after "a long time", He will come and pour out His wrath upon His own people who have rejected Him, His prophets and His Son.

With this understanding in mind, let's continue with this revelation of what our long drawn-​out judgment entails:

Isa 7:19  And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.

"They shall come" refers to the Assyrians, who we have seen are also the Babylonians. We are told that Assyria is the symbolic rod in the hand of God to punish his own apostate people. Babylonians being the very same Chaldean people whom the Lord actually uses to punish Judah and Jerusalem symbolize the wrath of God upon us as we live in bondage to her and to her doctrines. She literally buys and sells "the souls of men":

Rev 18:1  And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 
Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 
Rev 18:10  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. 
Rev 18:11  And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: 
Rev 18:12  The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Rev 18:13  And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

"Babylon the great...  is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." What are these "foul spirits" that reside in "Babylon the great"? These "foul spirits" are the very spirits we are admonished against believing and we are commanded to try against the words of Christ:

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every [foul] spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

These foul spirits are the 'Assyrians' who come and "rest...in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.

The Hebrew word for 'rest' here in this verse is the same Hebrew word behind the second 'rest' in this verse:

Exo 23:12  Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest [H7673:​ shabath]: that thine ox and thine ass may rest [H5117:​ nuach], and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

The fact is that when we are in Babylon, believing her horrendous doctrines, we are at 'rest' in that bondage (Gal 4:1-10), and like Israel in the wilderness we prefer the bondage of Egypt to the trials that come with being a servant of Christ.

Christ even tells us that as His bond servants we must enter into His rest:

Heb 4:6  Since therefore it remains for some to enter into it, and those who formerly had good-news did not enter because of disobedience,
Heb 4:7  again he appoints a certain day, Today, saying in David after so long a time (as it is said), Today if ye will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.
Heb 4:8  For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken about another day after these things.
Heb 4:9  There remains therefore a Sabbath for the people of God.
Heb 4:10  For a man who has entered into his rest, he has also rested from his works, as God did from his own. (ASV)

Hebrews 4:10 likens our ceasing from our evil works to God ceasing from His creation of this evil physical realm, both of which must come to an end.

Jesus Christ is the Word (Joh 1:1). He is our sabbath. His doctrines are our 'rest'.

So the Adversary and his ministers, who "appear as angels of light" (2Co 11:14), also rest in their doctrines. They rest "in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes", all of which will, at the appointed time be devoured by the fiery words of the Truths of Christ and His doctrine, His "rest".

1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble [thorns and bushes]; 
1Co 3:13  Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

"...Saved; yet so as by fire" tells us that our fiery judgment is working God's good work within us and is purifying our heavens (Heb 9:23). The "wood, hay, [and] stubble" are the "desolate valleys... thorns, and... all bushes" upon which the king of Assyria will come and rest within us. The great harlot with all of her  blasphemous false doctrines, thrives upon our natural carnal mind which is "enmity against God":

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 
Rom 8:8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

"And they shall come..." refers back to the Assyrians of two verses earlier:

Isa 7:17  The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

Assyria and Babylon were physical nations in Isaiah's day, but those nations typify spiritual Babylon today.

These 'desolate valleys, holes of the rocks, and all thorns and all bushes, in which the Assyrians will "rest", are the "wood, hay and stubble" false Babylonian doctrines which must be lost and burned up before any of us can enter into the temple of God in heaven. 'Suffering loss' is not for some sinner somewhere 'out there'. Every man's works will be tried by fire, and every man will suffer loss before any man will be "saved, yet so as by fire".

Another way of understanding this point is to realize that all of our judgments are essential and integral parts of the "one event" (Ecc 9:2) we must all endure.

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.

These seven angels accomplish the same mission given to the king of Assyria. They pour out upon all men the seven vials which are filled with, and which fill up the wrath of God.

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. 

When we know that 'heaven' is the realm of the spirit within us,​ this verse becomes personally applicable,​ and we can understand how that has been true for every person in whom Christ has dwel​t since His coming "made of a woman, made under the law".

The scriptures tell us the Lord will do nothing to His unrepentant people except he reveal it first to His servants the prophets.

Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? 
Amo 3:7  Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. 
Amo 3:8  The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?

When will the Lord "reveal His secret unto His servants the prophets? The answer to that question is in verse 8: "The lion has roared, who will not fear? the Lord God has spoken, who can but prophesy?"

"The Lion has roared... the Lord has spoken" is in the Hebrew 'piel stem', and it is in the 'perfect mood':

H8765
Stem -Piel     See [H8840]
Mood -Perfect     See [H8816]

When we "see [8840] this is what we find:

H8840
Piel

a) Piel usually expresses an "intensive" or "intentional" action.

Qal                  Piel 
He broke             he broke to pieces,  he smashed
He sent              he sent away,  he expelled

b) Sometimes the Piel introduces a new meaning to the Qal form. 
He counted           he recounted,  he told
He completed         he paid,  he compensated
He learned           he taught

c) Piel expresses a "repeated" or "extended" action. 
He jumped            he skipped,  he hopped

"The Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?" is both an "intentional and intensive" work of the Lord. Indeed, if "the Lord has spoken [intentionally and intensively expressing a repeated or extended action, an is, was, and will be action] who can but prophesy?"

When we examine the significance of the 'perfect mood' we discover that this also points to the is, was, and will be nature of what we are being told in this verse:

H8816
Perfect

The Perfect expresses a completed action.

1) In reference to time,  such an action may be:

1a) one just completed from the standpoint of the present 
"I have come" to tell you the news

1b) one completed in the more or less distant past 
in the beginning God "created"
"I was (once) young" and "I have (now) grown old" but
"I have not seen" a righteous man forsaken

1c) one already completed from the point of view of another 
past act 
God saw everything that "he had made"

1d) one completed from the point of view of another action 
yet future 
I will draw for thy camels also until "they have done"
drinking

2) The perfect is often used where the present is employed in
English.

2a) in the case of general truths or actions of frequent
occurrence--truths or actions which have been often
experienced or observed
the grass "withereth"
the sparrow "findeth" a house

2b) an action or attitude of the past may be continued into
the present
"I stretch out" my hands to thee
"thou never forsakest" those who seek thee

2c) the perfect of intransitive verbs is used where English
uses the present; The perfect in Hebrew in such a case
emphasises a condition which has come into "complete
existence" and realisation
"I know" thou wilt be king
"I hate" all workers of iniquity

2d) Sometimes in Hebrew,  future events are conceived so vividly and so realistically that they are regarded as having virtually taken place and are described by the perfect. 

2d1) in promises,  threats and language of contracts
the field "give I" thee
and if not,  "I will take it"

2d2) prophetic language
my people "is gone into captivity"
(i.e. shall assuredly go).

This is just a very verbose way of telling us that this prophecy has an is, was and will be character to it, and that it is, was and will be fulfilled in every generation since it was first given.

What this means for us is that "surely the Lord God will do nothing" - He has already spoken that which He is and what He will be doing. What this means for us is that while the world is blinded to these words, these very words must be repeated by us as "His servants the prophets". What this means is that you and I, if indeed we are the prophets of Christ, can, and indeed we must,​ prophesy by simply repeating and being faithful to His words.

For example, we must prophesy these words:

Rev 18:8  Therefore shall [Babylon's] plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 
Rev 18:10  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. 

When we speak those words, those who are given to receive them will rejoice to know that this is what is taking place within them, and those who are not given to receive these words will experience them outwardly at the end of this age, as well as having to experience their final fulfillment in the spiritual lake of fire, where their own wickednesses will correct them:

Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

Jeremiah 2:19 is simply another way of saying:

Isa 7:19  [The Assyrians] shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.

So in practical fact, this curse which is coming upon the Lord's people is being brought upon them at the hands of the Lord's prophets, and the king of Assyria is really nothing more than an instrument of the Lord to bring evil upon His own rebellious, backslid people.

Isa 10:5  O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. 

Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:4  These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
Rev 11:6  These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

Here is how the Lord's witnesses shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy... and smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will":

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.

Isa 42:25  Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart. 

Zep 3:1  Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! [Babylon the great, the harlot Jerusalem, Isa 1:21 and Rev 17 1-5]
Zep 3:2  She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God.

Rev 11:10  And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

"The Lord God has spoken who can but prophesy?":

Isa 7:20  In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.

Ezekiel was among those who were carried into Babylon in the fulfilling of this prophecy of Isaiah. The Babylonians and the Assyrians are one and the same people.  Outwardly these are both who we today call Iraqis. To this day that nation is both spiritually and physically the enemy of the Lord's people, and may well be used again to judge those who hypocritically claim the name of Christ.

Here is what Ezekiel was given to tell us about what must take place both inwardly and outwardly:

Eze 5:1  And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair. 
Eze 5:2  Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.
Eze 5:3  Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.
Eze 5:4  Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.
Eze 5:5  Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.
Eze 5:6  And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.
Eze 5:7  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you;
Eze 5:8  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations. 
Eze 5:9  And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations. 
Eze 5:10  Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.
Eze 5:11  Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.
Eze 5:12  A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.
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. [Rev 15:8]
Eze 5:14  Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by.
Eze 5:15  So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it. 
Eze 5:16  When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread: 
Eze 5:17  So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.

Ezekiel knew that having one's head and beard shaved by another was, in the scriptures, a way of greatly humiliating one's enemies as this account of what the king of Moab did to King David's emissaries demonstrates:

2Sa 10:1  And it came to pass after this, that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead.
2Sa 10:2  Then said David, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me. And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.
2Sa 10:3  And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee, to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?
2Sa 10:4  Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.
2Sa 10:5  When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed: and the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.

This is the New Testament version of this prophecy of the humiliation of the Lord's enemies in Isa 7:20, Eze 5 and 2Sa 10:

Rev 6:12  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Rev 6:14  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 
Rev 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? 

Ezekiel 5:14 tells us: "I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it." Revelation 6:17 tells us "the wrath of the Lamb:

Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Isaiah tells us that God considers His own symbolic wife to be a harlot. She is the recipient of all this His wrath:

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Isa 1:22  Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
Isa 1:23  Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

God's elect acknowledge that every word of Ezekiel 5 is within their own flesh. No man can enter into the temple of God until Ezekiel​ 5 is fulfilled, and Babylon and the kingdom of our old man is completely burned up and slain by the the Lord's sword, His Word. From that moment on God's elect must not compromise as a harlot does, and for that reason God's elect are "hated of all men" and "lie dead" in the streets of that great harlot city (Mat 10:22 and Rev 11:8).

In the Lord's time and in His order we who are called "Jerusalem above... the Israel of God" as well as physical Israe​l will be judged and will eventually be brought to repentance and restored to Him.

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 

But according to the scriptures this all involves "a long time",​ and we must take note that the Lord had a relationship with His "husbandmen" before He "went into a far country for a long time". We also need to take note that the rebellion of His husbandmen takes place during this "long time" their Lord is away from them.

Luk 20:9  Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time.
Luk 20:10  And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty.
Luk 20:11  And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty.
Luk 20:12  And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out.
Luk 20:13  Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him.
Luk 20:14  But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. 
Luk 20:15  So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them?
Luk 20:16  He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.

"Let us kill him that the inheritance may be ours" is typified by Joseph's ten brothers wanting to kill him:

Gen 37:8  And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams [his inheritance], and for his words.

Gen 37:20  Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams [his inheritance].

The unfaithful 'husbandmen' of Luke 20 are just another type of the Lord's unfaithful wife of Isaiah 1:21 and Ezekiel 16.

As a part of all mankind we must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Mat 4:4 and Luk 4:4). The blood of all the prophets are required of "this generation [the generation of] he that readeth" (Luk 11:50-51 and Mat 24:15). For that reason we must all be Joseph's brothers before we can become Joseph. We must all first be those of whom is required the blood of all the prophets and of the Heir Himself, the blood of Christ. We all must come to see ourselves as 'the chief of sinners' before we will then become "Jesus of Nazareth" (Act 22:8). That is why it is so appropriate that Saul of Tarsus was "breathing out slaughter against the [Christ of Christ]" before he was stricken down on the road to Damascus and transformed into a mighty soldier of Christ. Saul of Tarsus typifies me and you.

But when Christ apprehends us and begins to destroy the wicked, rebellious, self-​willed, husbandman within us, His judgment is not right at that moment all over and done with. Christ Himself makes that very plain:

Joh 15:2  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

Judgment begins at the house of God, but our judgment does not stop just because we are struck down on the road to Damascus and apprehended of  our Lord. Our judgment does not end just because He catches our eye while we are denying Him before this world for the third time (Act 9:1-22 and Luk 22:54-62). The Truth is that it is after we are apprehended then​ our judgment begins in earnest.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

But it is earlier in this same chapter we are told:

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
1Pe 4:14  If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
1Pe 4:15  But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.
1Pe 4:16  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

These verses are telling us the same message as:

 Isa 7:20  In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.

Conclusion

Anyone who refuses to tell us about the necessity of being judged in this age and of being "partakers of Christ's sufferings" is a stranger whose voice sends those who know the voice of the True Shepherd fleeing from that man and rejoicing to know His voice:

Joh 10:1  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
Joh 10:2  But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
Joh 10:3  To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
Joh 10:4  And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. 
Joh 10:5  And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

Joh 10:14  I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 

Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

Next week, Lord willing, we will begin to see how it is that part of that "long time" that our Lord is "gone into a far country" is a time of great spiritual immaturity, as is revealed in these verses:

Isa 7:21  And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
Isa 7:22  And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 33 Discussion

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Isa 7:17- The Lord Shall Bring Upon Thee... The King of Assyria

Isa 7:17  The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

Remember that from Isaiah 6 onward​ is what Isaiah has been sent to tell God's people as per God's commission to Isaiah in that chapter. The preceding five chapters have already established that Isaiah was sent to "Judah and Jerusalem" to show them just how far from their God they now are. Isaiah 1:1 and verse 21 reveal that the great harlot of scripture is "Judah and Jerusalem", and here in chapter seven we are being told that because Jerusalem has become a murderous harlot, the Lord is sending "the king of Assyria against Judah and Jerusalem in judgment for her infidelity and her promiscuity. Judah and Jerusalem were not willing to be faithful to Christ, her legitimate and lawful husband. Therefore:

Isa 7:17  The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

...from the day Ephraim departed from Judah

What is the spiritual significance of "from the day Ephraim departed from Judah"?

The breakup of the kingdom is, in effect, the beginning of our spiritual judgment. Israel did not depart from Judah without a reason. Rehoboam, the son of King Solomon was not a man who cared for either his subjects or his Creator. His self-​centered greed brought about the breakup of the kingdom into the nations of Judah and Israel (also known as Ephraim). Israel had God's name but did not want to wear His apparel or eat His bread (Isa 4:1).

The phrase "from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah" signifi​es that the beginning of our judgment is signaled by some deceitful, distressing experience in our lives which is only "the beginning of sorrows". Christ tells us what we need to understand about the beginning of our judgment:

Mat 24:5  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:6  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Our judgment begins when we are deceived into believing that Christ's death was in substitution for our own death. We are in effect told that Paul lied to us when he said:

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.

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

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

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:

Here is what precipitated the judgments which the Lord brought upon Israel,​ which were the sorest judgments since "the day that Ephraim departed from Judah":

1Ki 12:12  So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day.
1Ki 12:13  And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him;
1Ki 12:14  And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
1Ki 12:15  Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

It is of utmost importance for us to notice that all these words are addressed to those who claim to have a relationship with their God. But instead of being merciful to the Lord's people, the rulers of the Lord's flock just naturally tend to abuse His flock. That is what Rehoboam did to the Lord's people,​ and that is what we all do to the Lord's prophets and the Lord's true disciples.

Just as He had done with self-​righteous Job, the Lord began to take down the hedge He had about Israel during the reigns of Kings David and King Solomon. Spiritually speaking the Lord was in type and shadow 'Gone into a far country for a  long time':

Luk 12:45  But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
Luk 12:46  The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

Luk 20:9  Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time.

It was during this time that the Lord sent Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, Elijah, Elisha, and all His prophets to Israel. As "types of us" Israel first must hate the Lord's prophets:

Act 7:52  Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

In her negative application, ​Israel ​is the great harlot with whom we at first are made to be so drunken with her false doctrines that we cannot see our own rebellious sins and iniquities. It is such strong delusion that we do not even realize what is taking place when the Lord begins to punish us for our sins:

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.

In the outward realm, also​,​ many orthodox Christians are at this moment rejoicing in the election of our new president here in the United States. They are in total defiance of the doctrines of Christ and are so drunk on the doctrines of the great harlot that they are praising God that He has given them a leader who has promised to be the hero both of the Christian community and of the LGBTQ community. That is exactly where ancient Israel stood when the prophets were sent to her to show her her own nakedness and sins.

Eze 5:1  And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.
Eze 5:2  Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.
Eze 5:3  Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.
Eze 5:4  Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.
Eze 5:5  Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.
Eze 5:6  And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.
Eze 5:7  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you;
Eze 5:8  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations. 
Eze 5:9  And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations.
Eze 5:10  Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.
Eze 5:11  Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.
Eze 5:12  A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.
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. 
Eze 5:14  Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by.
Eze 5:15  So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it.
Eze 5:16  When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread: 
Eze 5:17  So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.

The repeated phrase "a third part" tells us this is the long process of being judged. With no spiritul bread or any spiritual water (Eze 3:1),​ Israel is so promiscuous that Isaiah tells us that God considered His own symbolic wife to be a harlot:

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

God's elect cannot compromise as a harlot does, and for that reason they are "hated of all men" and "lie dead" in the streets of that great harlot city (Mat 10:22 and Rev 11:8).

In the Lord's time and in His order (1Co 15:23), we who are called "Jerusalem above... the Israel of God" as well as physical Isr​ae​l will be judged and will eventually be brought to repentance and be restored to Him.

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

But according to the scriptures, this all involves "a long time", and in making that point, we must take note that the Lord had a relationship with His "husbandmen" before He "went into a far country for a long time". We also need to realize that the rebellion of His husbandmen takes place during this "long time" their Lord is away from them.

Luk 20:9  Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time.
Luk 20:10  And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty.
Luk 20:11 And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty.
Luk 20:12 And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out.
Luk 20:13  Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him.
Luk 20:14  But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.
Luk 20:15  So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them?
Luk 20:16 He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.

"Let us kill him that the inheritance may be ours" is typified by Joseph's ten brothers wanting to kill him:

Gen 37:8  And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams [his inheritance], and for his words.

Gen 37:20  Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams [his inheritance].

As a part of all mankind ​we​ must live by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God (Mat 4:4 and Luk 4:4). The blood of all the prophets is required of "this generation [meaning of the generation of] he that readeth" (Luk 11:50-51; Mat 24:15). For that reason we must all be Joseph's brothers before we can become Joseph. We must all first be those of whom is required the blood of all the prophets and of the Heir Himself, the blood of Christ, before we can become "Jesus of Nazareth" (Act 22:8). That is why it is so appropriate that Saul of Tarsus was "breathing out slaughter against the [Christ of Christ]" before he was stricken down on the road to Damascus and transformed into a mighty soldier of Christ. Saul of Tarsus typifies me and you.

But when Christ apprehends us and begins to destroy the wicked, rebellious, self-​willed husbandman within us, His judgment is not at that exact moment over and done. Christ Himself makes that very plain:

Joh 15:2  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

Judgment begins at the house of God, but it does not end just because we are struck down on the road to Damascus and apprehended by our Lord. Our judgment does not end just because He catches our eye while we are denying Him before this world for the third time (Act 9:1-22 and Luk 22:54-62). The Truth is that after we are apprehended our judgment begins in earnest.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

That is the spiritual significance of "from the day Ephraim departed from Judah".

The LORD shall bring upon thee...the king of Assyria

So who and what does the king of Assyria symbolize? It will help us to understand who and what the king of Assyria symbolizes when we notice where the exiles of the Lord's people, Israel, with its capital of Samaria, were sent by this king of Assyria:

2Ki 17:6  In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

But look at another city that was part of the Assyian empire at that time:

2Ki 17:24  And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.

Babylon at this time was under the dominion of the king of Assyria, and we are told that the Lord sends "the king of Assyria" to chasten and scourge His unfaithful harlot wife. But​ the king of Assyria is soon to be subdued by his own rebellious city of Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar. Of course it was Babylon, under King Nebuchadnezzar,​ who would later carry away Judah and Jerusalem into Babylonian captivity for the same adulterous reason Israel was carried away into Assyria.

Yet Isaiah tells Judah and Jerusalem that He will bring "the king of Assyria" against Judah and Jerusalem. He can say that simply because these two cities are the same pe​ople. They are "the king of the north"​,​ and judgment comes out of the north (Eze 9:2).

So who do these two kingdoms symbolize? A better way to ask that question is what do these two kingdoms symbolize?

This is the function of those who are used by our Lord to correct His unfaithful, and promiscuous people:

Isa 10:5  O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.

There it is! The rod of the Lord's indignation is "the king of Assyria [and] the king of Babylon", who are one and the same people. They symbolize the judgment that comes upon Christ's apostatized people in all ages.

Now that we know who and what these kings symbolize, let's look at what the Lord's indignation accomplishes:

Eze 21:31  And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.

Eze 22:31  Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD. 

Zep 3:8  Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.

The Lord's symbol for His indignation is this "King of Assyia", who later is replaced by the king of Babylon. It is through this symbol that "all the earth shall be dovoured with the fire of [His] jealousy".

When we put these verses together with the verses in the book of Revelation, which also tell us of a harlot woman who​m​ the Lord has ordained to bear rule over all nations, we find that the Lord uses the same symbolism:

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

Who is this woman who "reigns over the kings 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.

Lo and behold! This woman who deceives and rules over "the kings of the earth" and who is "drunken with the blood of the saints" is also called "Mystery Babylon The Great", and it is through this woman we are told the Lord will "gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy" (Zep 3:8).

While it is true that a few of the Lord's people do come out of Babylon, those who choose to leave Babylon to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple of the Lord are few and a mere fraction of those who were there in Babylon. And even then, many of those who did return to Jerusalem brought their Babylonian ways and their Babylonian wives with them and had to be purged of that unacceptable position in which they found themselves, and in which we find ourselves.

Ezr 9:1  Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, [who had been brought there from Babylon and other Assyrian cities] doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
Ezr 9:2  For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.

This very condition is the fruit of the Lord's wrath against His adulterous people. It is by the agency of the kings of Assryria and Babylon that He chastens and scourges His own people, and,​ as we read in Zephaniah, it will be with this same symbolic people, those who symbolize all religion in opposition to Christ, that Christ will chasten and scourge "all the earth", as we have already witnessed and as we are still witnessing outwardly every day:

Zep 3:8  Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.

So we now know that the king of Assyria symbolizes "the rod of [the Lord's] indignation". That is why in our next study the Lord tells us:

Isa 7:18  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.