7 – 10 October 2024
Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.
The word above, in Psalms 106:43, also appearing in verses 7 & 33, rendered “provoked,” is marah, meaning “to be (causatively, make) bitter (or unpleasant); (figuratively) to rebel (or resist; causatively, to provoke):–bitter, change, be disobedient, disobey, grievously, provocation, provoke(-ing), (be) rebel (against, -lious).”
This occurrence is the “provocation” when God’s people reject His voice through those He sends in His name, whom they, because of His flesh veil, refuse to obey. What follows this initial inevitable event is His more assertively declaring Himself present through an ever-increased brilliance, His Glory, which becomes undeniably self-evident.
The declaration of His presence by those speaking His word and the refusal to obey His command to do so, is the provocation of Moses in the desert of Zin, at Meribah (mriybah), which kept him from entering the Promised Land.
The title verse tells us it (marah) is men elevating their own counsel, their advice they obey, above the LORD’s.
This sequence of events is described earlier, before the title verse, saying:
32 They angered him also at the waters of strife [mriybah], so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:
33 Because they provoked [marah] his spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips.
34 They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them:
35 But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.
36 And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.
37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils [shed – only used here and Deuteronomy 32:17],
38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan [in pattern, the heathen now possessing this nation]: and the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.
40 Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.
41 And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand.
43 Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked [marah] him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.
Deuteronomy 32
15 But Jeshurun [God’s people prospering under His command] waxed fat, and kicked: you are waxen fat, you are grown thick, you are covered with fatness [prosperity]; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.
17 They sacrificed unto devils [shen – demons, misleaders, and dividers possessed by Satan], not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
18 Of the Rock [from where His word flows] that begat you you are unmindful, and have forgotten God that formed you.
19 And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.
20 And he said, I will hide my face [paniym – presence] from them, I will see what their end [‘achariyth – until these last days when I Am seen again] shall be: for they are a very froward generation [that twisted and perverted all truth], children in whom is no faith [therefor, they doubt My presence].
21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
22 For a fire is kindled in my anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell [here and now present, when all are subject to Satan and his devils], and shall consume the [old and totally corrupt] earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains [the corruption that pervades all government].
The current institutional degeneration of all truth and all good judgment is described in the word in the title verse rendered “brought low,” from the three times used Hebrew word, makak, meaning “to tumble (in ruins); figuratively, to perish.” It is used with affinity to the macac, meaning “to liquefy; figuratively, to waste (with disease), to faint (with fatigue, fear or grief):–discourage, faint, be loosed, melt (away), refuse, X utterly,” and maqaq, meaning “to melt; figuratively, to flow, dwindle, vanish:–consume away, be corrupt, dissolve, pine away.”
Job 24
12 Men groan [na’aq – only used here and Ezekiel 30:24] from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded [chalal] cries out: yet God lays not folly to them. [Ezekiel 30:24 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon {the power of their own confusion, turned into delusion and insanity}, and put my sword {My word} in his hand {revealing the darkness in their works}: but I will break Pharaoh’s arms {the works of the tyrants in power}, and he shall groan {na’aq} before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded {chalal} man.]
13 They are of those that rebel [marad] against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof [understanding].
14 The murderer [with words and ways that bring death] rising with the light [speaking against this understanding] kills the poor and needy, and in the night [this time of ignorance] is as a thief [unknown].
15 The eye also of the adulterer [the unfaithful] waits for the twilight [when this understanding is taken away by the thief], saying, No eye shall see me: and disguises his face [to keep himself and his intentions unknown].
16 In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.
17 For the morning [when this understanding comes] is to them even as the shadow of death [revealing the ignorance in them]: if one knows them [their evil intentions], they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.
18 He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholds not [they refuse to see] the way of the vineyards [that bring forth good fruit].
19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so does the grave those which have sinned.
20 The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.
21 He evil entreats the barren [scepter] that bears not: and does not good to the widow [My people who have no living man to protect and defend them].
22 He draws [into destruction] also the mighty with his power: he rises up, and no man is sure of life.
23 Though it be given him [to think] to be in safety, whereon he rests; yet his [evil] eyes are upon their ways.
24 They [the wicked and the powerful] are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low [makak – they melt away from the heat of the fires they create]; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn [that is without seed].
25 And if it be not so now [yet], who will make me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?
The only other use of makak comes in the Ecclesiastes 10:18.
Ecclesiastes 10
1 Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor: so does [so do we perceive death in] a little folly [cikluwth – foolishness] him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor.
2 A wise man’s heart [mind] is at his right hand [when he is looking toward this sun rising]; but a fool’s heart [mind] at his left [when his back is turned to its light].
3 Yea also, when he that is a fool walks by the way [turns his back and wanders away from the light], his wisdom fails him, and he says to everyone [that remains in the light] that he is a fool.
4 If the [evil] spirit of the ruler rises up against [over] you, leave [nuwach] not your place [in the light]; for yielding [marpe’ – the cure is not joining in their evil] pacifies [nuwach] great offenses [separates you from their evil crimes].
5 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun [by this understanding you’ve received], as an error which proceeds from the ruler:
6 Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich [with these treasures] sit in low place [shephel – without any worldly honor or power]. [The word shephel only appears here and in Psalms 136:23, the passage, speaking of the LORD, says, “23 Who remembered us in our low estate {shephel}: for his mercy endures forever: 24 And has redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endure forever. 25 Who gives food to all flesh: for his mercy endures forever. 26 O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endures forever.”]
7 I have seen servants upon horses [in power], and princes walking as servants [I Am] upon the earth.
8 He that digs a pit shall [blindly] fall into it; and whoso breaks a hedge [this protection the LORD has provided], a serpent [with poisonous words] shall bite him.
9 Whoso removes stones [from whom flows this word] shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaves wood [cuts down the upright speaking as the LORD commanded] shall be endangered thereby.
10 If the iron is blunt, and he does not whet [sharpen] the edge [paniym – to receive the LORD’s presence with us, in us], then must he put to more strength [more understanding]: but [sharpened] wisdom is profitable to direct [kasher – succeeds; easily rightly divides: discerns, receives, meaning and gives understanding].
11 Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment [kachash – without this gospel: good spell, God’s spell spoken by Him with us, in us]; and a babbler is no better [than a serpent whose words are poison].
12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious [freely giving this word of God]; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.
13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness [cikluwth]: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness [destructive insanity: denying truth and self-evident reality ].
14 A fool also is full of [poisonous] words: a man [without God’s wisdom] cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him [that he will listen and obey]?
15 The labor of the foolish wearies every one of them [that hear and obey him], because he knows not how to go to the city [the way into the LORD’s kingdom, where is peace and security].
16 Woe to you, O land [‘erets – earth], when your king is a child [without understanding], and your princes eat in the morning [their own words and ways before the day breaks, not waiting for this light to come]!
17 Blessed are you, O land [‘erets – earth], when your king is the son of nobles [chor – pure, born again out of corruption], and your princes eat in due season [waiting for this light to come shining this understanding from east to west], for strength, and not for drunkenness [not making the mind dysfunctional]!
18 By much slothfulness the building [like the mind] decays; and through idleness of the hands [not doing the necessary work to keep the mind from decay] the house drops through.
19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money [keceph – silver, these riches from God’s] answers all things [provides this feast and this wine].
20 Curse not the king, no not in your [corrupt] thought [by which you contradict the LORD speaking and working unknown]; and curse not the rich [those who have this understanding] in your bed-chamber [where you sleep in death without this understanding]: for a bird of the air [those risen into heaven by the LORD’s strength] shall carry the voice, and that which has wings [speaking His word that raises us with Him] shall tell the matter.
The word “blunt,” in verse 10 above, is from the four times used Hebrew word qahah, meaning “to be dull.” In all its other uses it is rendered “set on edge.” This phrase appears in a Hebrew idiom that says children’s teeth are set on edge because their father ate sour grapes. Both passages (Jeremiah 31:29 & 30 and Ezekiel 18:2) are accompanied by the LORD describing how he sharpens iron with iron: His Spirit with us working to raise Himself, His presence, in us.
Jeremiah 31
1 At the same time [‘eth], says the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people [My children raised in My image and likeness].
2 Thus says the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace [this gift, these treasures] in the wilderness; even Israel [those who, by faith, receive this promised end], when I went to cause him to rest.
3 The LORD has appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn you.
4 Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel: you shall again be adorned with your tabrets, and shall go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
5 You shall yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.
6 For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise you, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.
7 For thus says the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish you, praise you, and say, O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel.
8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travails with child together: a great company shall return thither.
9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 Hear the word of the LORD, O you nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock.
11 For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
14 And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says the LORD.
15 Thus says the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah [the city on the hill – from where the light will shine], lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel [Rachel – the teachers of God’s people, who are yet barren] weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
16 Thus says the LORD; Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears: for your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
17 And there is hope in your end, says the LORD, that your children shall come again to their own border.
18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; You have chastised [corrected] me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn you me, and I shall be turned; for you are the LORD my God.
19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed [by this teaching], I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
20 Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spoke against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, says the LORD.
21 Set you up waymarks, make you high heaps: set your heart toward the highway, even the way which you went: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these your cities.
22 How long will you go about, O you backsliding daughter? for the LORD has created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
23 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless you, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.
24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks.
25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.
26 Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
27 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.
28 And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, says the LORD.
29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge [qahah].
30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eats the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge [qahah].
31 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah [when I save My people from the consequences of the degenerative ignorance that consumed them and brought death upon all humanity]:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they break, although I was a husband unto them, says the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says the LORD, [by this instruction] I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
35 Thus says the LORD, which gives the sun [the church] for a light [to give this understanding] by day, and the ordinances of the moon [just civil government] and of the stars [My enlightened people] for a light by night, which divides the sea [revealing the heart, minds, of men] when the waves [of proud men] thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
36 If those ordinances depart from before me, says the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.
37 Thus says the LORD; If heaven [where only, at the LORD’s throne, does this understanding remain eternally uncorrupted] above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth [of the old and corrupt, restoring them again] searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says the LORD.
38 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel [the favor of God] unto the gate of the corner [the entry, the return of God’s people to Him].
39 And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb [this right assessment that heals their wounds], and shall compass about to Goath [when the shepherds hear this word from the flock].
40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes [the ruin caused by the enemies mixed among us], and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron [the words of darkness], unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east [the return of strength when they look toward the sun {sons} rising], shall be holy unto the LORD [when He raises the dead to life again]; it shall not be plucked up [out of His hand], nor thrown down [by the men they follow] any more forever.
Ezekiel 18
1 The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,
2 What mean you, that you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge [qahah]?
3 As I live, says the LORD God, you shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.
4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins, it shall die.
18 As for his father, because he oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity.
19 Yet say you, Why? does not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son has done that which is lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes, and has done them, he shall surely live.
20 The soul that sins, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
22 All his transgressions that he has committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he has done he shall live.
23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? says the LORD God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
24 But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die.
25 Yet you say, The way of the LORD is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?
26 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dies in them; for his iniquity that he has done shall he die.
27 Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.
28 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
29 Yet says the house of Israel, The way of the LORD is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?
30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, says the LORD God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby you have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, O house of Israel?
32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies, says the LORD God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live you.
The LORD has sharpened His children and made us the instrument of His threshing. The harvest time is at hand, and the LORD has called and sent His children into His field to reap.
Isaiah 6
8 Also I heard the voice of the LORD, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here Am I; send me.
9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear you indeed, but understand not; and see you indeed, but perceive not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert [repent and be corrected by this teaching], and be healed.
11 Then said I, LORD, how long? And he answered, Until [now when] the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
Matthew 21
28 But what think you? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard.
29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.
30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.
31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus says unto them, Truly I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
32 For John [the dove, this sign of Jonah, this sign of the end reached] came unto you in the way of righteousness [repentance and correction, taking all below the surface of these waters, this life-giving word from the mouth of God], and you believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and you, when you had seen it, repented not afterward, that you might believe him.
33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:
34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him [as they did].
40 When the LORD therefore of the vineyard comes, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
42 Jesus says unto them, Did you never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the LORD’s doing, and it is marvelous in [opening] our eyes?
43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a [faithful] nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
Isaiah 41
1 Keep silence before me, O islands [you without my word among My people]; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.
2 Who raised up the righteous man from the east [as the rising of the sun, giving understanding upon the earth], called him to his foot [resurrecting me to life], gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.
3 He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.
4 Who has wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning [to this same life]? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I Am he.
5 The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came [‘athah – at the LORD’s arrival].
6 They [ignorant of his arrival, they turned to their idols they created] helped every one his neighbor; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage [trust in the idols we call by the LORD’s name].
7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smooths with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the soldering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
8 But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called you from the chief men thereof, and said unto you, You are my servant; I have chosen you, and not cast you away.
10 Fear you not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God: I will strengthen you; yea, I will help you; yea, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against you shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with you shall perish.
12 You shall seek them, and shall not find them, even them that contended with you: they that war against you shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught.
13 For I the LORD your God will hold your right hand, saying unto you, Fear not; I will help you.
14 Fear not, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel; I will help you, says the LORD, and your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15 Behold, I will make you a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: you shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shall make the hills as chaff.
16 You shall fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and you shall rejoice in the LORD, and shall glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21 Produce your cause, says the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, says the King of Jacob.
22 Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen: let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end [‘achariyht – the last days] of them; or declare us [shama’ – that we may obey] things for to come.
23 Show the things that are to come [‘athah – at the LORD’s arrival] hereafter [‘achowr – at this end], that we may know that you are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
24 Behold, you are of nothing, and your work of naught: an abomination is he that chooses you.
25 I have raised up one from the north [among the ignorant], and he shall come [‘athah – at the LORD’s arriving]: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treads clay.
26 Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that shows, yea, there is none that declares [shama’ – obeys], yea, there is none that hears [shama’ – obeys] your words.
27 The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that brings good tidings.
28 For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counselor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
29 Behold, they are all vanity [worthless]; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.
Isaiah 30
8 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to [now] come forever and ever:
9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things [that make the ignorant feel good while they follow them into destruction], prophesy deceits:
11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel [I Am] to cease from before us.
12 Wherefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly at an instant [when the stones “immediately cry out”].
14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
15 For thus says the LORD God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall you be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and you [who choose to remain silent in ignorance] would not.
Psalms 27
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though a host [the armies of darkness] should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
5 For in the time of trouble [ra’ – evil] he shall hide [tsaphan] me in his pavilion: in the secret [cether] of his tabernacle shall he hide [cathar] me; he shall set me up [ruwm – raise me] upon a Rock [revealing His presence when His word flows from me as living waters].
6 And now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.
7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When you said, [diligently] Seek you my face [paniym – presence]; my heart [mind] said unto you, Your face [paniym – presence], LORD, will I [diligently] seek.
9 Hide [cathar] not your face [paniym – presence] far from me; put not your servant away in anger: you have been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
10 When my father and my mother forsake me [when my teachers and leaders go into corruption], then the LORD will take me up [‘acaph – gather me into His ONE BODY].
11 Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of my enemies.
12 Deliver me not over unto the will of my enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
14 Wait [qavah – expect, and join] on [‘el – with] the LORD [when He appears]: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart [giving understanding to your mind]: wait [qavah – expect, and join], I say, on [‘el – with] the LORD [when you see Him among you].
