Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command you me. I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.
The above, Isaiah 45:11 & 12, is the LORD continuing the revelation of Himself and His sons, the signs and wonders of His appearing and kingdom. The word used in describing the “signs,” in Isaiah 8:18, is ‘owth, the same word, in Isaiah 44:25, saying He frustrates the “tokens” of (the now known) liars, and make diviners (false prophets) mad, that turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolish.
These last aspects are those we’ve seen In 1 Corinthians 1:19, where Paul quotes from Isaiah 29:14. Paul also describes these men’s work as the lying signs and wonders of the wicked in power, and by them (their known lies now turned the delusions of their madness) holding God’s people down (withhold and let, from katecho). It is into this condition the LORD comes, revealing these wicked men, consuming them with Spirit of His mouth (the mouth of God) as He destroys them with the brightness (giving understanding) of His coming (from the cloud with the latter rain).
2 Thessalonians 2
5 Remember you not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now you know what withholds [katecho – holds down, keeps people from rising] that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity [anomia] does already work: only he who now lets [katecho] will let [will hold down, keep people from rising], until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked [anomos – the lawless, those who use their power, violating any law in their way, using lies to hold God’s people locked down] be revealed, whom the LORD shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness [epiphaneia – epiphany] of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan [resisting God] with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion [as it is this day, the world marked by mass {mask} delusion], that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
13 But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the LORD, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our LORD Jesus Christ.
15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
16 Now our LORD Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which has loved us, and has given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,
17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
2 Thessalonians 3
1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the LORD may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you [received as the word from God’s mouth, and the presence of the LORD Jesus Christ at His coming]:
2 And that we may be delivered from unreasonable [atopos – men whose mind can’t be changed by truth] and wicked [poneros] men: for all men have not faith.
3 But the LORD is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil [poneros].
The word epihphaneia only appears five other times, all rendered “appearing” in telling of the moment of realizing we are “in the presence of the LORD Jesus Christ (Jehovah’s Salvation personified, in the son {sons} of man) at His coming.” Four of these five times are in 1 & 2 Timothy, and the other in Titus 2:13.
Titus 2
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing [epiphaneia] of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;
14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise you.
1 Timothy 6
11 But you, O man of God, flee these things [of the ungodly]; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto you are also called [kaleo], and have professed a good profession before many witnesses.
13 I give you charge in the sight of God, who quickens all thing [bring to life from the seed], and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
14 That you keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing [epiphaneia] of our LORD Jesus Christ:
15 Which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and LORD of lords;
16 Who only has immortality, dwelling in the light [understanding] which no man can approach unto; whom no man has seen, nor can see [only God reveals His secret things]: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen.
17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy;
18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to your trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called [antithesis gnosis pseudonumos – {avoid} the opposite of, what is falsely named, knowledge – the lies now called science and truth, when they are men’s corrupted opinions at best, and more often outright known lies from known liars – from false prophets and false teachers in church and state]:
21 Which some professing [this is the “evil” profession contrasted with the “good profession,” my calling {kaleo}, spoken of in verse 12 above] have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.
2 Timothy 1
6 Wherefore I put you in remembrance that you stir up the gift of God, which is in you by the putting on of my hands.
7 For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
8 Be not you therefore ashamed of the testimony of our LORD, nor of me his prisoner: but be you partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
9 Who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
10 But is now made manifest by the appearing [epiphaneia] of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death, and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
11 Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles [a teacher of those who don’t know God].
12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which you have heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
14 That good thing which was committed unto you keep by the Holy Ghost which dwells in us.
2 Timothy 4
1 I charge you therefore before God, and the LORD Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing [epiphaneia] and his kingdom;
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
5 But watch you in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of your ministry.
6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the LORD, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing [epiphaneia].
Isaiah 44
21 Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for you are my servant: I have formed you; you are my servant: O Israel, you shall not be forgotten of me.
22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed you.
23 Sing, O you heavens; for the LORD has done it: shout, you lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.
24 Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, and he that formed you from the womb, I am the LORD that makes all things; that stretches forth the heavens alone; that spreads abroad the earth by myself;
25 That frustrates the tokens [‘owth] of the liars, and makes diviners mad; that turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolish;
26 That confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers; that says to Jerusalem, You shall be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, You shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof:
27 That says to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up your rivers:
28 That says of Cyrus [the LORD of the furnace – see Genesis 15:12 and Revelation 9:2], He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, You shall be built; and to the temple, Your foundation shall be laid.
Isaiah 45
1Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus [the LORD of the furnace], whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;
2 I will go before you, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:
3 And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, which call you by your name, am the God of Israel.
4 For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called you by your name: I have surnamed you, though you have not known me.
5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded you, though you have not known me:
6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
8 Drop down, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.
9 Woe unto him that strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioned it, What makes you? or your work, He has no hands?
10 Woe unto him that says unto his father, What beget you? or to the woman, What have you brought forth?
11 Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command you me.
12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.
13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, says the LORD of hosts.
14 Thus says the LORD, The labor of Egypt [of your oppressors], and merchandise of Ethiopia [of those covered in darkness, ignorance] and of the Sabeans [of the drunkards, those whose minds are stupefied], men of stature, shall come over unto you, and they shall be yours: they shall come after you; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto you, they shall make supplication unto you, saying, Surely God is in you; and there is none else, there is no God.
15 Truly you are a God that hides yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior.
16 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.
17 But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: you shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.
18 For thus says the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he has established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek you me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.
21 Tell you, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who has declared this from ancient time? who has told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside me.
22 Look unto me, and be you saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
24 Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
25 In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.
The word, in Isaiah 45:11, rendered “ask” is the Hebrew word sha’al (meaning, “to inquire; by implication, to request; by extension, to demand”) with which the LORD leads us to Job 21:29, where the question is, where are the wicked and who knows their “tokens” (lying signs and wonders). These are those brought forth to their own destruction, and we are asked who will declare their wickedness to their face. We know from 2 Thessalonians 2:8 thru 10, it is the LORD at His coming, who destroys them (their deception) with the brightness of His coming.
Job 21
27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which you wrongfully imagine against me.
28 For you say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?
29 Have you not asked [sha’al] them that go by the way? and do you not know their tokens [‘owth],
30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.
31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he has done?
32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.
2 Thessalonians 2
8 And then shall that Wicked [anomos – the lawless, those who use their power, violating any law in their way, using lies to hold God’s people locked down] be revealed, whom the LORD shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness [epiphaneia – epiphany] of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan [resisting God] with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
John 3
11 Truly, truly, I say unto you, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and you receive not our witness.
12 If I have told you earthly things, and you believe not, how shall you believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
13 And no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 That whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation [krisis – the decision], that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
The LORD asks and answers these questions that shake the world, to, out of it, shake the wicked.
Hebrews 12
22 But you are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living [zao] God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels [who have seen God and are sent to preach His word],
23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel.
25 See that you refuse not him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused him that spoke on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven:
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he has promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
27 And this word, Yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Job 38
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
2 Who is this that darkens [gives ignorant] counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up now your loins like a man; for I will demand [sha’al] of you, and answer you me.
4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if you have understanding.
5 Who has laid the measures thereof, if you know? or who has stretched the line upon it?
6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid [yara’ – the teacher and teaching] the corner stone thereof;
7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling-band for it,
10 And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,
11 And said, Here shall you come, but no further: and here shall your proud waves be stayed?
12 Have you commanded the morning since your days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;
13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
14 It is turned as clay to the seal [it is God’s signature pressed, from heaven, into the earth]; and they stand as a garment.
15 And from the wicked their light is withheld [understanding is unattainable because they are without faith], and the high arm [works of ignorance, of the conceited and proud] shall be broken.
The windows in heaven are open, and the latter rain has come shaking the earth’s foundations. Amen!
Isaiah 24
10 The city of confusion [delusion] is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.
11 There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.
12 In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.
13 When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.
14 They shall lift up their voice [qowl], they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea.
15 Wherefore glorify you the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.
16 From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who flees from the noise [qowl – the voice of God’s people declaring, making known, the lying signs and wondered of the wicked – who’ve deceived the world and led it into mass-delusion] of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that comes up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake [ra’ash].
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
Joel 3
9 Proclaim you this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all you heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause your mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
13 Put you in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice [qowl] from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake [ra’ash]: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
17 So shall you 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.
18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth out of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt [the oppressors] shall be a desolation, and Edom [the enemies mixed among us] shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwells in Zion.
Haggai 2
4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel [born, brought to life, by coming out of confusion], says the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua [Jehovah’s Salvation personified], son of Josedech [born from the righteousness of Jehovah – the purified priesthood], the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land, says the LORD, and work: for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts:
5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so my spirit remains among you: fear you not.
6 For thus says the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake [ra’ash the LORD’s voice will shake] the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
7 And I will shake [ra’ash] all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts.
8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of hosts.
9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, says the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, says the LORD of hosts.
10 In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
11 Thus says the LORD of hosts; Ask [sha’al] now the priests concerning the law, saying,
12 If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.
13 Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.
14 Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, says the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
15 And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD:
16 Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the press-at for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.
17 I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labors of your hands; yet you turned not to me, says the LORD.
18 Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid, consider it.
19 Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, has not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.
20 And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying,
21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake [ra’ash] the heavens and the earth;
22 And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, everyone by the sword of his brother.
23 In that day, says the LORD of hosts, will I take you, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel [from sha’al – through whom the LORD asks the questions He then answered] the , says the LORD, and will make you as a signet [chowtham – the seal of pressed into the earth, the LORD’s signature, in Job 38:14]: for I have chosen you, says the LORD of hosts.
Zechariah 4
5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Know you not what these be? And I said, No, my LORD.
6 Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the LORD of hosts.
7 Who are you, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shouting, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
8 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me unto you.
10 For who has despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?
12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?
13 And he answered me and said, Know you not what these be? And I said, No, my LORD.
14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the LORD of the whole earth.
Zechariah 10
1 Ask [sha’al] you of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds [from where comes His understanding], and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.
2 For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.
3 Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts has visited his flock the house of Judah, and has made them as his goodly horse in the battle.
4 Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every governor together.
5 And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the LORD is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded [confused and deluded into madness].
Psalms 74
1 O God, why have you cast us off forever? why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old; the rod of your inheritance, which you have redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein you have dwelt.
3 Lift up your feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy has done wickedly in the sanctuary.
4 Your enemies roar in the midst of your congregations; they set up their ensigns [‘owth] for signs [‘owth – the lying signs and wonders of the wicked].
5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.
6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.
7 They have cast fire into your sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of your name to the ground.
8 They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.
9 We see not our signs [‘owth]: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knows how long.
10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme your name for ever?
11 Why withdraw you your hand, even your right hand? pluck it out of your bosom.
12 For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You did divide the sea by your strength: you brake the heads of the dragons [those who devour men by the deceptions that lurk below the surface] in the waters.
14 You brake the heads of leviathan [the serpent, whose venom is in their words] in pieces, and gave him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15 You did cleave the fountain and the flood: you dried up mighty rivers [words of the wicked, that flow into the sea: all humanity].
16 The day is your, the night also is your: you have prepared the light [understanding] and the sun [the church to shine your light – this word to the ignorant and delusional].
17 You have set all the borders of the earth: you have made summer and winter [the seasons of life and sleep].
18 Remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed your name.
19 O deliver not the soul of your turtledove [the one You’ve sent as the sign we’ve reached the expected end] unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of your poor for ever.
20 Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark [ignorant and without truth] places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.
21 O let not the oppressed return ashamed [let them come to the expected end]: let the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Arise, O God, plead your own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth you daily.
23 Forget not the voice of your enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against you increaseth continually.