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And He built His sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which He has established forever.

The title, Psalms 78:69, and is speaking of when the LORD chose Judah over Ephraim (Israel), the elect remnant over the masses, as His habitation, “the mount Zion which He loved.” As we know, this is the description of Zion found in Hebrews 12, after God the Father corrects those who become His children, and we arrive as we have, perfected into His habitation. As we’ve seen, this is the same preparation written of in Isaiah 40, a chapter which tells of ideas that have polluted our thinking, the filth we have picked up in the journey, being washed away by the word of God as He reveals things only He knows. We know the chapter ends telling of this washing renewing our strength so we are by it able to rise up on wings as eagles, a rising into the air also spoken of by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 & 17. There it also says the LORD descends from heaven, with a shout, and the voice of an archangel, a shout, spoken of in Psalms 78:65, described as the LORD seemingly awakening from sleep and putting His enemies to a perpetual reproach.

Psalms 78 begins with a superscription saying it’s a Maschil of Asaph, meaning it’s an understanding, giving instruction, about our gathering (to the LORD in one body, under David, the king God chooses). This parenthetical aspect is written of in the Psalm’s conclusion. As we have seen in previous posts, this same Psalm, in verse 2, also tells of the riddles, dark sayings, which the LORD says are things kept secret since the foundation of the world. This aspect of the secrets, as we’ve seen, are the things only known to the LORD, the Father, which Isaiah 40 speaks of, and which we have in other posts seen mentioned in ending Deuteronomy 29:29.

This last-mentioned verse says, “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.” The verse is referring us back to earlier in the chapter (Deuteronomy 29) where we are told of when the LORD, through Moses, led the people through the wilderness for forty years. It says, only at the end of it did they understanding what it was: a preparation, washing away all the corrupted ideas and thinking learned in Egypt, ESTABLISHING them so they could enter the Promised land.

Deuteronomy 29
1 These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb [while they were in a state of desolation].
2 And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;
3 The great temptations [seeing the LORD work those events while speaking through Moses, and not being sure {doubting} it was the LORD’s presence among them] which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:
4 Yet the LORD has not given you a heart [a mind] to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.
5 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and your shoe is not waxen old upon your foot.
6 You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink: that you might know that I am the LORD your God.
7 And when you came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them:
8 And we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh.
9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.
10 You stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,
11 Your little ones, your wives, and your stranger that is in your camp, from the hewer of your wood unto the drawer of your water:
12 That you should enter into covenant with the LORD your God, and into his oath, which the LORD your God makes with you this day:
13 That he may establish you to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto you a God, as he has said unto you, and as he has sworn unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;
15 But with him that stands here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:
16 (For you know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which you passed by;
17 And you have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)
18 Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood;
19 And it come to pass, when he hear the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:
20 The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.
21 And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law:
22 So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the LORD has laid upon it;
23 And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor bears, nor any grass grows therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:
24 Even all nations shall say, Wherefore has the LORD done thus unto this land? what means the heat of this great anger?
25 Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:
26 For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:
27 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:
28 And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, AS IT IS THIS DAY.
29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Friends, when people ask how we got here, how did this nation under God become overrun by her enemies who hate her, the answer is spoken of above. The curse therein alluded to, the naturally occurring result of allowing in (foreign) corrupt and perverted ideas, is mention in the prior chapter.

Deuteronomy 28
43 The stranger that is within you shall get up above you very high; and you shall come down very low.
44 He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him: he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.
45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you, till you be destroyed; because you hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you:
46 And they shall be upon you for a sign and for a wonder, and upon your seed for ever.
47 Because you served not the LORD your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;
48 Therefore shall you serve your enemies which the LORD shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon your neck, until he have destroyed you.

The elect, God awakened in them, are those He’s pulled from these fires into His understanding. He has breathed His word of life unto us, to be exhaled, to awaken and pull the still sleeping masses into His (exhaled word) air with Him. These are the instructions we are given in the Maschil of Asaph, which is when He sand the redeemer to lead His flock out of the curse they’ve brought upon themselves by neglect and forgetfulness.

Psalms 78
40 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert [when because of their corrupted thinking, leaned in Egypt, they were unable to recognize the LORD among them]!
41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God [doubted His presence], and limited [by not following His advice] the Holy One of Israel.
42 They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.
43 How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan [the place where they departed from God].
44 And had turned their rivers into blood [the words and ideas that flow from them to the masses are seen as what is draining away their life]; and their floods, that they could not drink.
45 He sent divers sorts of flies among them [drawn to and flying around the dung pile it was], which devoured them; and frogs [the unclean spirits that had been hidden in the water forced out into the light {like democrat congress women}], which destroyed them.
46 He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labor unto the locust [the invaders now coming from the south].
47 He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost [the vine of Sodom and the powerful standing in high places, brought down by this word of God, which was waiting frozen in heaven, reserved for this moment and sent].
48 He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts [the flocks that ignorantly follow these misleading shepherds, the same word and understanding sent to them].
49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath [which is His word sent], and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.
50 He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;
51 And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:
52 But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea [the masses] overwhelmed their enemies.
54 And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased.
55 He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
56 Yet they tempted [again questioned His presence among them] and provoked the Most High God, and kept not his testimonies:
57 But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
59 When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:
60 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;
61 And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy’s hand.
62 He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance.
63 The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage.
64 Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation.
65 Then the LORD awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouts by reason of wine.
66 And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach.
67 Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:
68 But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.
69 And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he has established for ever.
70 He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:
71 From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

The name Asaph is from the Hebrew word ‘acaph, meaning to gather. It is the word twice rendered “taken away” in Isaiah 57 as were are told of none understanding this gathering is to take God’s people away from the evil, so they are not there when it destroys itself.

Isaiah 57
1 The righteous perish [wander away {from the places of evil}], and no man lays it to heart [understands]: and merciful men are taken away [‘acaph – gathered], none considering that the righteous is taken away [‘acaph – gathered] from the evil to come.
2 He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.
3 But draw near here, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.
4 Against whom do you sport yourselves? against whom make you a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are you not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood.
5 Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the cliffs of the rocks?
6 Among the smooth stones of the stream is your portion [worn down by the waters]; they, they are your lot: even to them have you poured a drink offering, you have offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in these?
7 Upon a lofty and high mountain have you set your bed: even there went you up to offer sacrifice.
8 Behind the doors also and the posts have you set up your remembrance: for you have discovered yourself to another than me, and are gone up; you have enlarged your bed, and made you a covenant with them; you loved their bed where you saw it.
9 And you went to the king with ointment, and did increase your perfumes, and did send your messengers far off, and did debase yourself even unto hell.
10 You are wearied in the greatness of your way; yet said you not, There is no hope: you have found the life of your hand; therefore you were not grieved.
11 And of whom have you been afraid or feared, that you have lied, and have not remembered me, nor laid it to your heart? have not I held my peace even of old, and you fear me not?
12 I will declare your righteousness, and your works; for they shall not profit you.
13 When you cry, let your companies deliver you; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that puts his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;
14 And shall say, Cast you up, cast you up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my people.
15 For thus say the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.
17 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart [in his corrupt reasoning].
18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.
19 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, say the LORD; and I will heal him.
20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
21 There is no peace, says my God, to the wicked.

This gathering, the ‘acaph, is described earlier in Isaiah 11:12 as the stem that grows out of the dry root of Jesse, which is the cut off king line of David again appearing to gather the LORD’s scattered flock.

Isaiah 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.
34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.

Isaiah 11
1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem [geza’] of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
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;
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:
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.
5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
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.
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.
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.
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.
10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign [nec] of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
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.
12 And he shall set up an ensign [nec] for the nations, and shall assemble [‘acaph] the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
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.
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.
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 dry-shod.
16 And there shall be a 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.

As we have seen, the “stem” spoken of in verse 1, is the dry stump [geza’] of a cut-down tree, from which shoots forth the Branch. Again, we know this Branch is the reestablished king line, growing after a long period without any signs of life, as the LORD describes in Matthew 24:32 & 33.

Matthew 24
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
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.
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Truly I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

The sign the LORD is speaking of in verse 30 is the ensigns spoken of in Isaiah 11:10 & 12, where it is from the Hebrew word nec. Here is the end of the mystery, the nec is the pole upon which Moses lifted the fiery serpent (Numbers 21:9 & 10), which the LORD speaks of in John 3:14 & 15.

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 choice that brings self-destruction], that light [understanding] is come into the world, and men loved darkness [choose to remain ignorant] rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that does evil hateth 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.

Luke 12
49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?
50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!
51 Suppose you that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:
52 For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.
53 The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
54 And he said also to the people, When you see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway you say, There comes a shower; and so it is.
55 And when you see the south wind blow, you say, There will be heat; and it comes to pass.
56 You hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that you do not discern this time?
57 Yea, and why even of yourselves judge you not what is right?

Numbers 21
5 And the people spoke against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loathes this light bread.
6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. [these are the same as the “evil angels” spoken of in Psalms 78:49 above, messengers with death-filled venom in their mouths]
7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against you; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make you a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole [nec]: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looks upon it, shall live.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole [nec], and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

This is the understanding that must be lifted as the light, the fiery serpent, which combats the venom and darkness, and gives life again to the world.

Isaiah 40
21 Have you not known? have you not heard? has it not been told you from the beginning? have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he that sits upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in:
23 That brings the princes to nothing; he makes the judges of the earth as vanity.
24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock [geza’] shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
25 To whom then will you liken me, or shall I be equal? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who has created these things, that brings out their host by number: he calls them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one fails.
27 Why say you, O Jacob, and speaks, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
28 Have you not known? have you not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Psalms 60
1 O God, you have cast us off, you have scattered us, you have been displeased; O turn yourself to us again.
2 You have made the earth to tremble; you have broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shakes.
3 You have shown your people hard things: you have made us to drink the wine of astonishment.
4 You have given a banner [nec – your sign] to them that fear you, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah [THINK!].
5 That your beloved may be delivered; save with your right hand, and hear me.
6 God has spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem [I will rightly divide the burden that is upon their shoulders], and mete out the valley of Succoth [and make the prepared My habitation].
7 Gilead [this mountain of testimony] is mine [see Deuteronomy 29:29 above], and Manasseh [this thing you have forgotten] is mine; Ephraim [the masses] also is the strength of mine head [will be My crown]; Judah is my lawgiver [through the elect remnant will My law come];
8 Moab is my wash-pot [this entrance is where they will be cleansed]; over Edom will I cast out my shoe [I will take possession of the whole house of Isaac]: Philistia, triumph you because of me.
9 Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?
10 Will not you, O God, which had cast us off? and you, O God, which did not go out with our armies?
11 Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
12 Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.

As we saw in the prior post, the above, Isaiah 41:1, is the LORD speaking, after, in the chapter before, telling of His revealing things only known to Him. The verse is a synopsis of what follows, again, after the preparation spoken of in the previous chapter, the purification by washing away corrupt ideas, by His word, by which His elect renew their strength and mount up on wings of eagles to meet Him in the air. As we have seen, the air is the word He is exhaling, which those who’ve joined Him inhale, and by it are quickened into life, themselves becoming able to exhale the same life-giving words to others.

This description is as the LORD describes in Matthew 24 when He says the eagle will gather where the carcass is, which we understand is the dead body of Christ, the church without His air, dead without His spirit in them.

Matthew 24
27 For as the lightning [understanding] comes out of the east, and shine [through those He sends – told of verse 31 below] even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28 For where-so-ever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened [the church is seen to be without any understanding of God’s word], and the moon shall not give her light [the civil government no longer publicizing the knowledge of God], and the stars shall fall from heaven [God’s people without understanding and fallen from their fixed position in heaven], and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken [and removed, because they no longer shine their lights]:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven [taking the place of the light that are now darkened, and giving understanding into this void]: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven [rightly dividing the word of God] with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet [to gather all to the throne of God, and to His judgment], and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise you, when you shall see all these things [when you see this life and light, after a long period without them], know that it [the end of the age of corruption, and the beginning of the age of light and new life] is near, even at the doors.
34 Truly I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

The carcass the LORD speaks of is the “islands,” the dry places were the word of God isn’t heard, mentioned in Isaiah 41:1, and later further described in verse 17, saying, “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.”

Isaiah 41
1 Keep silence before me, O islands; 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, called him to his foot, 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? 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.
6 They helped every one his neighbor; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.
7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smooth 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. [These verses tell of the chief men among God’s people, who’ve led them away from God, in the judgment continuing to make idols they are encouraging people to follow.]
8 But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend [who heard the voice of God, believe what He said and therefore acted].
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 [in this man-created hell], and you men of Israel; I will help you, says the LORD, and your redeemer [who has come to pull you from the fire into His air and life], 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 [My Spirit] 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 [this new heaven and new earth, upon the ashes and ruin of the old].
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 of them; or declare us things for to come.
23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, 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, and he shall come: 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, yea, there is none that hears 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 counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
29 Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.

The molten images, the spirits of confusion, the idols these misleaders have created, are those also spoken of by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 10.

Jeremiah 10
1 Hear you the word which the LORD speaks unto you, O house of Israel:
2 Thus says the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
6 Forasmuch as there is none like unto you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is great in might.
7 Who would not fear you, O King of nations? for to you does it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto you.
8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish [the gain they got from leaving God], and gold from Uphaz [replacing God with gold], the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.
10 But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
11 Thus shall you say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.
12 He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
13 When he utters his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightning with rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasures.
14 Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder [the makers of idols they put in God’s place] is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
15 They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
16 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.
17 Gather up your wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.
18 For thus says the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so.
19 Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous; but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.
20 My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
21 For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.
22 Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.
23 O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walks to direct his steps.
24 O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.
25 Pour out your fury upon the heathen that know you not, and upon the families that call not on your name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.

The one who comes from the north, mentioned in Isaiah 41:25 above, who the LORD sends out of Babylon (confusion), is spoken of in the pattern of Zerubbabel. This north country is also spoken of in Jeremiah 10:22. The use of this term, the “north,” are spiritually spoken to refer to the corruption of the king line when Jehoram king of Judah married Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel; and also to refer to this ending in Jerusalem and Judah being overrun and taken by Babylon (confusion). This latter aspect, as we know, historically led to Coniah, the father of Shealtiel, the father of Zerubbabel, taken captive into Babylon.

As we know these three men are all mentioned in the blood line of Jesus, recorded in Matthew 1:12, which says, “And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel.” We know from Ezra 2:2 that Zerubbabel was one of those returned to Jerusalem and Judah from the captivity (came out of the north). We are also told, in Haggai 2:21 that Zerubbabel became the governor of Judah (not king, even though he was in the king line, because they were still ruled by Babylon, meaning confusion).

The same king line is recorded in 1 Chronicles 3 in such a way it causes some confusion about whose son Zerubbabel is. There we are told he is the son of Pedaiah, while in all other occurrences we are told his father is Shealtiel. Understanding this omission comes when we translate the meaning of the names given in 1 Chronicles 3, where is revealed what was known and now forgotten (sayings that have become dark). Through Coniah (Jeconiah – Jehovah will establish) God would reestablish, when they ask (Shealtiel – I have asked God) He will hear and send a redeemer (Padaiah – Jehovah has ransomed), who will come out of Babylon (Zerubbabel – zarab babel – flow away from confusion).

The word babel is itself from the word from the Hebrew word balal, a word meaning both to mix with and also to thereby become confounded (polluted). It is the word appearing, in Genesis 11:7 & 9, imn telling of when God allowed the ideas of men to be mix with the truth given them, which “confounded” all language and produced the state of confusion (Babylon).

Babylon is the story of man’s natural state of disremembering, by progressively elevating (building His own towers trying to reach heaven) his own ideas, and slowly, incrementally, replacing (God’s) truth. This is where it leads, to this day, when all language is corrupted by twisted opinion and lies, resulting in outright rejection and hostility to even the most basic self-evident truths. This degeneration comes by the known lie that says man, by accepting these corrupt ideas, can reach utopia. The underlying motive is, a few men, the broadcasters and communicators of the lies, think it will get them into paradise, as they say to hell with everyone else. (Which it never does, because heaven is the state of a mind at peace, by well-order thoughts that recognize and accept reality, which we now see they can never reach, no matter what they gain. If allowed, they will keep insatiably searching for what they can never find, even until they destroy the world and all in it.)

It is into this state of total confusion (chaos) God sends order, in the form of His voice thundering through those He has chosen to send His light. It comes by His revealing things once known, but by neglect are forgotten and abandoned. This means of redemption (Padaiah) is what man also forgets, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of prophecy, Jehovah’s Salvation appearing by His word spoken through men willing to sacrifice themselves for Christ’s sake. This is now the throne of God with man, plainly seen as God with us, His king and kingdom reestablished in His glory. (Hold on! It’s hear {the time}.)

Hebrews 13
6 So that we may boldly say, The LORD is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.

Revelation 19
9 And he said unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See you do it not: I am your fellow-servant, and of your brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he does judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he has on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And LORD Of Lords.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

The name Padaiah is from the Hebrew word padah and the LORD’s name Yah (Jehovah).

Here is the definition from the Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: #6299: padah (pronounced paw-daw’) a primitive root; to sever, i.e. ransom; generaly to release, preserve:–X at all, deliver, X by any means, ransom, (that are to be, let be) redeem(-ed), rescue, X surely.

There is a great explanation of this forgotten and reestablished redeemer given by Elihu (God is Jehovah), recorded in Job 33. There in verse 28, padah is rendered “He will deliver” in telling of the messenger found and sent, and the deliverance that comes to those who receive his report as Salvation by God’s word.

Job 33
1 Wherefore, Job [all you that are hated by the corrupt and perverted world], I pray you, hear my speeches, and hearken to all my words.
2 Behold, now I have opened my mouth, my tongue has spoken in my mouth.
3 My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart: and my lips shall utter knowledge clearly.
4 The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty has given me life.
5 If you can answer me, set your words in order before me, stand up.
6 Behold, I am according to your wish in God’s stead: I also am formed out of the clay.
7 Behold, my terror shall not make you afraid, neither shall my hand be heavy upon you.
8 Surely you have spoken in mine hearing, and I have heard the voice of your words, saying,
9 I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me.
10 Behold, he finds occasions against me, he counts me for his enemy,
11 He puts my feet in the stocks, he marks all my paths.
12 Behold, in this you are not just: I will answer you, that God is greater than man.
13 Why do you strive against him? for he gives not account of any of his matters.
14 For God speaks once, yea twice, yet man perceives it not.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumbering upon the bed;
16 Then he opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction,
17 That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.
18 He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.
19 He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain:
20 So that his life abhors bread, and his soul dainty meat.
21 His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out.
22 Yea, his soul draws near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.
23 If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness:
24 Then he is gracious unto him, and says, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.
25 His flesh shall be fresher than a child’s: he shall return to the days of his youth:
26 He shall pray unto God, and he will be favorable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness.
27 He looks upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;
28 He will deliver [padah] his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light [understand].
29 Lo, all these things works God oftentimes with man,
30 To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light [understanding] of the living.
31 Mark well, O Job, hearken unto me: hold your peace, and I will speak.
32 If you have anything to say, answer me: speak, for I desire to justify you.
33 If not, hearken unto me: hold your peace, and I shall teach you wisdom.

Isaiah 32
1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.
2 And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
3 And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.
4 The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammers shall be ready to speak plainly.
5 The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.
6 For the vile person will speak villainy, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
7 The instruments also of the churl are evil: he devises wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks right.
8 But the liberal devises liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.
9 Rise up, you women that are at ease; hear my voice, you careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.
10 Many days and years shall you be troubled, you careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.
11 Tremble, you women that are at ease; be troubled, you careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
12 They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
13 Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:
14 Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
15 Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
19 When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.
20 Blessed are you that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.

Isaiah 35
1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.
3 Strengthen you the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you.
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
10 And the ransomed [padah] of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

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 mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though a host 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 he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine 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, Seek you my face; my heart said unto you, Your face, LORD, will I seek.
9 Hide not your face 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, then the LORD will take me up.
11 Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine 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 on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Continuing from the previous post: the title is the final verse (31) of Isaiah 40, a chapter telling of those things only the LORD knows. This revelation by the LORD at His appearing, His being seen again, comes by His uniquely definitive act of untying dark saying, things kept in secret from the foundation of the world, which (the act of revealing Himself) is what renews the strength of those who’ve waited for Him. As we saw in the prior post, those strengthened, rise up from the dead carcass of the LORD’s body, from the dead church, quickened into life, on wings as eagles, to meet Him in the air.

Isaiah 40
1 Comfort you, comfort you my people, says your God.
2 Speak you comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she has received of the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.
3 The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.
6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
7 The grass withers, the flower fades: because the spirit of the LORD blows upon it: surely the people is grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
9 O Zion, that brings good tidings, get you up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that brings good tidings, lift up your voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
10 Behold, the LORD God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
13 Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor has taught him?
14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
18 To whom then will you liken God? or what likeness will you compare unto him?
19 The workman melts a graven image, and the goldsmith spreads it over with gold, and casts silver chains.
20 He that is so impoverished that he has no oblation chooses a tree that will not rot; he seeks unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.
21 Have you not known? have you not heard? has it not been told you from the beginning? have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he that sit upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in:
23 That brings the princes to nothing; he makes the judges of the earth as vanity.
24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
25 To whom then will you liken me, or shall I be equal? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who has created these things, that brings out their host by number: he calls them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one fails.
27 Why say you, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
28 Have you not known? have you not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

The above, rising up to meet the LORD, after the preparation which leads us to understand He is the one revealing Himself through opening our understanding to things only He knows, has already occurred in the elect, after listening to the one crying in the wilderness. This is where the next chapter of Isaiah begins, verse 1 telling of dry places of the earth, those who haven’t heard this latter rain, to keep silent so the masses can renew their strength.

The word “renew,” in Isaiah 40:31, is the Hebrews word chalaph, meaning to change, as in to pass by or pierce through something, as in growing up (passing through childhood and becoming a man). This is speaking of the plan of salvation, the process begun at the foundation of the world, the preparation that now culminates in perfection as the many parts are seen as One.

1 Corinthians 13
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly [ignorant of the larger picture]; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity [the LORD, through us, freely giving what is needed for life: this word of God, by which men live].

It is the change the LORD reminds us of, as we saw in the previous post, in Isaiah 46, when in the early verses He describes the worthlessness of following idols (the creations {ideas}) of men. He then, in verse 8, speaks of the renewal, by remembering things we knew but have forgotten.

Isaiah 46
1 Bel bows down, Nebo stoops, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast.
2 They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.
3 Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb:
4 And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.
5 To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?
6 They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he makes it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.
7 They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.
8 Remember this [only the true living God can save], and shew yourselves men [put away partial understanding and childhood]: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors [you who have wandered away from what you once knew].
9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east [the eagles from the sunrise], the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
12 Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness:
13 I bring near my righteousness [on wings of eagles]; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

Exodus 19
4 You have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.
5 Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
6 And you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

This is the rising up to meet the LORD at His coming, that has occurred to those who have received this word, His calling through these messages, as the true word of God, in which the LORD has revealed Himself. This is what Paul had just told the Thessalonians, recorded in 1 Thessalonians 2, saying that by receiving the word of God as His words, they were in the presence of the LORD at His coming. In the verses between these statements, Paul describes the resistance and persecutions that came upon those raised, quickened, to life. He says it was the same as those in Jerusalem encountered, from the adversaries among them (as there were adversaries opposing the rebuilding of Jerusalem). He later, in 1 Thessalonians 4, when speaking to those who have already risen to life by receiving the LORD at His coming, tells the living not to lose hope for those who remain asleep (dead). He tells them there hope is in knowing the LORD will come to all, in the same manner as he came to them, and we (the living) wouldn’t be joined with them until we are all changed. The final change comes very quickly, when we all rise in One Body, in the air, meaning we are breathing in, and then out, the same breath of the LORD, the life-giving word He is exhaling. This is why Isaiah then call all those speaking otherwise to keep silent before Him, so all who hear can be renewed (changed) and strengthened (quickened) to life.

1 Corinthians 15
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [the firstborn from the dead] was made a quickening spirit.
46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
47 The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the LORD from heaven.
48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our LORD Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be you steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the LORD, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the LORD.

1 Thessalonians 2
1 For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain:
2 But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as you know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.
3 For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile:
4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which tries our hearts.
5 For neither at any time used we flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak of covetousness; God is witness:
6 Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ.
7 But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherishes her children:
8 So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because you were dear unto us.
9 For you remember, brethren, our labor and travail: for laboring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.
10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and un-blamably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:
11 As you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father does his children,
12 That you would walk worthy of God, who has called you unto his kingdom and glory.
13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when you received the word of God which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually works [brings the change] also in you that believe.
14 For you, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for you also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews [those who think they are the true believers {Christians and Jews} and think they know everything, while knowing nothing but their own self-created corruption]:
15 Who both killed the LORD Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:
16 Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.
17 But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.
18 Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.
19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even you in the presence of our LORD Jesus Christ at his coming?
20 For you are our glory and joy.

1 Thessalonians 3
1 Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone;
2 And sent Timothy, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellow-laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you [as was promised in the pattern of Coniah {Jehovah will reestablish the throne through his seed}, through whom the LORD came – cut off and now replanted], and to comfort you concerning your faith [the pattern of the Comforter sent to remind us of this word of God, which, in us, has the power to change us into His likeness – quickened into quickening spirits, the LORD alive in us]:
3 That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.
4 For truly, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and you know.
5 For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labor be in vain.
6 But now when Timothy came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, and that you have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you:
7 Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith:
8 For now we live, if you stand fast in the LORD.
9 For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God;
10 Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?
11 Now God himself and our Father, and our LORD Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.
12 And the LORD make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:
13 To the end he may establish your hearts un-blamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our LORD Jesus Christ with all his saints.

1 Thessalonians 4
1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the LORD Jesus, that as you have received of us how you ought to walk and to please God, so you would abound more and more.
2 For you know what commandments we gave you by the LORD Jesus.
3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication:
4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor;
5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:
6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the LORD is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.
7 For God has not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
8 He therefore that despises, despises not man, but God, who has also given unto us his holy Spirit.
9 But as touching brotherly love you need not that I write unto you: for you yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
10 And indeed you do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia [the houses of dead flesh]: but we beseech you, brethren, that you increase more and more;
11 And that you study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
12 That you may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that you may have lack of nothing.
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the LORD, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the LORD shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the LORD himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the LORD in the air: and so shall we ever be with the LORD.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 5
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the LORD so comes as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction comes upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness [ignorance], that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 You are all the children of light [understanding], and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others [not showing signs of life – “I and the children God has given me are for signs and wonders,” as life in a dead world, and light into darkness, call the sleeping to REPENT and awaken into their inheritance, which is Jehovah]; but let us watch and be sober.
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
9 For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our LORD Jesus Christ,
10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also you do.
12 And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you, and are over you in the LORD, and admonish you;
13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.
14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly [without order], comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.
15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
16 Rejoice evermore.
17 Pray without ceasing.
18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
19 Quench not the Spirit.
20 Despise not prophesying.
21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our LORD Jesus Christ.
24 Faithful is he that calls you, who also will do it.
25 Brethren, pray for us.
26 Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss.
27 I charge you by the LORD that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.
28 The grace of our LORD Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

Isaiah 41
1 Keep silence before me, O islands [dry place of the earth, which haven’t heard this latter rain]; and let the people renew [chalaph] 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, called him to his foot, 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? 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.
6 They helped every one his neighbor; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.
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 of them; or declare us things for to come.
23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, 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, and he shall come: 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, yea, there is none that hears 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; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.

Psalm 17
1 Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.
2 Let my sentence come forth from your presence; let your eyes behold the things that are equal.
3 You have proved mine heart; you have visited me in the night; you have tried me, and shall find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of your lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
5 Hold up my goings in your paths, that my footsteps slip not.
6 I have called upon you, for you will hear me, O God: incline your ear unto me, and hear my speech.
7 Show your marvelous lovingkindness, O you that saves by your right hand them which put their trust in you from those that rise up against them.
8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of your wings,
9 From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.
10 They are enclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.
11 They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;
12 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is your sword:
14 From men which are your hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly you fill with your hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.
15 As for me, I will behold your face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with your likeness.

I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

The title is the LORD speaking of the plan of salvation, and more precisely, how the age is corrupted, ended, and created anew. He is speaking of the ordered creation; with the foreknowledge of the course the world would take, planning the process of its restoration by reestablishing ideas taught and then forgotten. Prior to this statement, speaking of how the world would be recreated by the word of God, the LORD tells of it and its corruption in two brief parables, the first speaking of the restoration, the second describing the total corruption that would precede it.

Matthew 13
31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
33 Another parable spoke he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
34 All these things spoke Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spoke he not unto them:
35 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

The above tells of the good seed the LORD planted, who is considered the least by the totally corrupted world. Growing from dry ground, this tree becomes the lodging place for the birds of the air, who are the eagles risen from the dead carcass to meet the LORD. (Of course, these are references to Isaiah 53:2, Matthew 24:28, and 1 Thessalonians 4:16 & 17.)

Isaiah 53
1 Who has believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Matthew 24
27 For as the lightning [understanding into the darkness] comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west [upon all]; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28 For where-so-ever the carcass is [the dead body of Christ – the dead church], there will the eagles be gathered together [those who found Him, rising up from the dead carcass].
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken [the voice spoken of in Hebrews 12:24 thru 29]:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds [where the waters are held, the word of God reserved until this moment in time] of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather [this contrasted with the misdirection of the false prophets and false christs in verses 23 & 24] together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and puts forth leaves [when the first life shoots forth after a long period of no visible signs of it], you know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Truly I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

1 Thessalonians 4
8 He therefore that despises, despises not man, but God, who has also given unto us his holy Spirit.
9 But as touching brotherly love you need not that I write unto you: for you yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
10 And indeed you do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that you increase more and more;
11 And that you study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
12 That you may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that you may have lack of nothing.
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the LORD, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the LORD shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the LORD himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the LORD in the air: and so shall we ever be with the LORD.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

The parable that follows in Matthew 13:33 is speaking of the unfaithful, who, leaving God, worked their corruption into His holy place until it was totally corrupted. “Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” Matthew 16:12

The title, which appears in Matthew 13:35, is quoted from Psalms 78:2, where it is translated, “I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:” The “dark sayings” here are riddles, meaning they are parables that aren’t known; from the Hebrew word chiydah, which is from the word chuwb, meaning to tie a knot (as in the riddle needing to be untying). As we have often discussed, the meanings in these parables are found in the written word of God when He leads us to them. As the LORD told us, the Comforter (the Holy Spirit) reminds us of what was once revealed and known, but is now hidden in the self-inflicted ignorance of those teaching and leading God’s people. This ignorance is the dry ground, from where grows the tree the LORD plants.

These meaning are found in Ezekiel 17, where in verse 2 chiydah is rendered “riddle” as the LORD commands the son of man to put forth a “riddle.” In it, he speaks of God’s people carried into Babylon (confusion), out of which He will rescue them, though the lowly deliverer He raises to be the greatest of trees, in whose branches all fowl shall dwell.

Ezekiel 17
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, put forth a riddle [chiydah], and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;
3 And say, Thus says the LORD God; A great eagle with great wings, long-winged, full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:
4 He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffic [Babylon – confusion]; he set it in a city of merchants.
5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.
6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.
7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.
8 It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.
9 Say you, Thus says the LORD God; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof.
10 Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind touches it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.
11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know you not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and has taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon;
13 And has taken of the king’s seed, and made a covenant with him, and has taken an oath of him: he has also taken the mighty of the land:
14 That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.
15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that does such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?
16 As I live, says the LORD God, surely in the place where the king dwells that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons:
18 Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and has done all these things, he shall not escape.
19 Therefore thus says the LORD God; As I live, surely mine oath that he has despised, and my covenant that he has broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head.
20 And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he has trespassed against me.
21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and you shall know that I the LORD have spoken it.
22 Thus says the LORD God; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon a high mountain and eminent:
23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.
24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken and have done it.

Verse 13 above is speaking of the king line being cut off, historically as Coniah was carried into Babylon, spiritually as God’s people were carried into confusion and no longer able to see or hear Him. The word therein rendered “made” is the Hebrew word karath, the same word translated “cut off” in verse 17, and in Daniel 9:29, which tells of Messiah being “cut off.”

This is the same event described in the riddle telling of when the LORD cropped off the twig that would be planted and grow into a great tree.

Friends, this plan, the engineered providence of the LORD God Almighty, was written long ago to be the means of our salvation. In Psalms 78 we are told these things must be taught to every generation, passed on, first to prevent darkness, and if abandoned as light to be found again.

Psalms 78
1 Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings [chiydah] of old:
3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to become the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he has done.
5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:
6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:
7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:
8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God.
9 The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
10 They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;
11 And forgot his works, and his wonders that he had shown them.
12 Marvelous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as a heap.
14 In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.
15 He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.
16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
17 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the Most High in the wilderness.
18 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
19 Yea, they spoke against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
20 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?
21 Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;
22 Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:
23 Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,
24 And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.
25 Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full.
26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind.
27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:
28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.
29 So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;
30 They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths,
31 The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.
32 For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.
33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.
34 When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God.
35 And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.
36 Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.
37 For their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant.
38 But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.
39 For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passes away, and comes not again.
40 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!
41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
42 They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.
43 How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan.
44 And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink.
45 He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.
46 He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labor unto the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost.
48 He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.
50 He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;
51 And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:
52 But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased.
55 He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
56 Yet they tempted and provoked the Most High God, and kept not his testimonies:
57 But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
59 When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:
60 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;
61 And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy’s hand.
62 He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance.
63 The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage.
64 Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation.
65 Then the LORD awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouts by reason of wine.
66 And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach.
67 Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:
68 But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.
69 And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he has established for ever.
70 He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:
71 From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

When the LORD, in Matthew 13:35, speaks of this plan kept in riddles (chiydah), He, instead of calling them riddles, says they are things kept secret from the foundation of the world. He is telling of the plan to write the full meaning through many different writers, to be corporately and comprehensively perfected at this time to raise up His people from the dead. This is what is spoken of in Hebrews 11 when we are told of all the witnesses before us, not made perfect without us, God reserving the perfection for this time.

Hebrews 11
39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

Hebrews 12
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

I tell you the truth, we are those who have died and are now raised from death into life, in this next age now come.

Colossians 1
25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
26 Even the mystery which has been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
29 Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.

Ephesians 2
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved;)
6 And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

When the LORD, in Matthew13:35, speaks of the “foundation of the world,” it is His interpreting the Hebrew word qedem, the word in Psalms 78:2 translated “old.” The Greek word He uses, rendered “world,” is kosmos, which is describing when everything (the plan of salvation) was put together – set in order.

Isaiah 46
3 Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb:
4 And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.
5 To whom will you liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?
6 They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he makes it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.
7 They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he stands; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.
8 Remember this, and show yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O you transgressors.
9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient [qedem] times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executes my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
12 Hearken unto me, you stouthearted, that are far from righteousness:
13 I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

Psalms 138
1 I will praise you with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto you.
2 I will worship toward your holy temple, and praise your name for your lovingkindness and for your truth: for you have magnified your word above all your name.
3 In the day when I cried you answered me, and strengthened me with strength in my soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD, when they hear the words of your mouth.
5 Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD.
6 Though the LORD be high, yet has he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knows afar off.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me: you shall stretch forth your hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and your right hand shall save me.
8 The LORD will perfect that which concerns me: your mercy, O LORD, endures for ever: forsake not the works of your own hands.

And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

The above is the LORD speaking of the end, recorded in Matthew 24:22, a chapter discussed in the previous post and many others. The passage continues by telling us not to go where men are saying Christ can be found, because these are the misleaders among God’s people, false prophets and false christs, who don’t know Him and therefore have no idea where or how to find Him. He says after these men have misled all, then shall the sun (Church) and moon (civil government) be darkened (meaning they become without understanding and truth). Because of this darkness, the stars (God’s people) shall fall (have fallen) from heaven (their fixed positions that come with understanding). With this comes the shaking of heaven and earth, which we’ve discussed in detail as the foretold earthquake that comes before the fire.

Then we shall see the LORD coming as does the light of the rising sun into the darkness (understanding dispelling ignorance). As we’ve seen, “seeing” Him is as He describes in John 14, through sight that comes to those who love and keep His word. The blindness, the darkness of the ignorant mind, as Paul describes it in 1 Corinthians 2 and does the LORD ending John 14, is from the false preaching and false teaching of the prince (princes) of the world.

1 Corinthians 4
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to naught:
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the LORD of glory.
9 But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him.
10 But God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he that is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who has known the mind of the LORD, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.

John 14
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
19 Yet a little while, and the world sees me no more; but you see me: because I live, you shall live also.
20 At that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
21 He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
22 Judas says unto him, not Iscariot, LORD, how is it that you will manifest yourself unto us, and not unto the world?
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
24 He that loves me not keeps not my sayings: and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
28 You have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If you loved me, you would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
29 And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, you might believe.
30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world comes, and has nothing in me.
31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.

As we know from Ephesians 2, the spirit of Satan, which makes men his princes, is the preaching and teaching of those who think themselves the wise of this world. The false gospel, corrupted ideas, that replace the true God and blind men to Him, is as pervasive as the air we breathe, so much so that all the world is blinded. It is into this darkened state the LORD comes and seizes (harpazo) us into His air (out of the fire these men’s ideas and leading have caused). This is the quickening, to life from the dead, now only taken hold of those who’ve received His light (understanding) at His coming.

Ephesians 2
1 And you has he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us [brought us to life] together with Christ, (by grace [this gift He is giving, that must be received] you are saved;)
6 And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.

Matthew 24
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. [When men are in the fires of Babylon {confusion}, and so conditioned to accept it as normal, they don’t even know they’re in hell.]
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
27 For as the lightning [understanding into the darkness] comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west [upon all]; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28 For where-so-ever the carcass is [the dead body of Christ – the dead church], there will the eagles be gathered together [those who found Him, rising up from the dead carcass].
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken [by the voice spoken of in Hebrews 12:24 thru 29]:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds [where the waters are held, the word of God reserved until this moment in time] of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather [this contrasted with the misdirection of the false prophets and false christs in verses 23 & 24] together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and puts forth leaves [when the first life shoots forth after a long period of no visible signs of it], you know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Truly I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

We have also, many times, seen this good news, the gospel, these tidings of good things and publishing peace, is the peace the LORD left with us, to be found at this time by those who’ve loved and kept (uncorrupted, in pure form) His word (as given). Paul, in 2 Corinthians 4, plainly tells us, if this gospel is hidden, it is hidden from those who are lost. He says, this blindness comes from following the god (men as idols in God’s place) of this world: those who don’t know the way to Christ, but are still telling people where and how to find Him.

2 Corinthians 4
1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the LORD; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the LORD Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

Friends, this is the end, an advent missed by all the blinded world and only appearing to those the LORD has chosen and pulled from death into life. It is the “consummation” spoken of by Daniel in ending Daniel 9, and is the flood of God’s word sent as the latter rain to save those who’ve before followed world into death. This is the flood, as in the days of Noah, which the LORD speak of above, that none of the wise of this world believed or received, until by it they’ve been carried away and in it drowned. These waters are what is poured upon the desolate, as Daniel 9 ends describing.

The same Hebrew word Daniel uses in ending Daniel 9 also appears as other prophets describe the same ending. As we have seen many times, the Hebrew word rendered “consummation” in Daniel 9:27 is kalah, meaning a full end. It is the word used in the most precise portrayals of the end; the last appearing as it is translated “riddance” in Zephaniah 1:18.

Zephaniah 1
7 Hold your peace at the presence of the LORD God: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD has prepared a sacrifice, he has bid his guests.
8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.
9 In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.
11 Howl, you inhabitants of Maktesh [the hollow place in the jawbone of the ass, from where God made the waters flow, reviving the spirit of strength, see Judges 15:19 – the post of 19 November 2018], for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles [niyr], and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.
13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hastens greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance [kalah] of all them that dwell in the land.

Zephaniah 2
1 Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;
2 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’s anger come upon you.
3 Seek you the LORD, all you meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be you shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.

This end, the consummation and riddance, is spoken of in Nahum 1:8 & 9 where it is rendered “utter end.” Nahum is the comforter, the avenger of God, who brings the light (understanding again into our minds, by reminding us of the words the LORD has spoken). His prophecy is to Nineveh, a name we have seen as connected to the Hebrew word niyr, which is the light that remains in us, even in the dead where it is dormant and waiting to, in this way, be trimmed to shine into brilliance.

Nahum is said to be an Elkoshite, meaning through him God will ensnare. This ensnaring and avenging is by the word of God, which is brought to light for the benefit and welfare of those who receive it. To those who reject it and remain with their own corrupted ideas, their table becomes the trap in which they are caught and held. REPENT!

Matthew 12
…An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah:
40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth [what Jonah called hell {Sheol, the habitation of the dead}– Jonah 2:2].
41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here.
42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

Nahum 1
1 The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
2 God is jealous, and the LORD revenges; the LORD revenges, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserves wrath for his enemies.
3 The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
4 He rebukes the sea, and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers: Bashan languishes, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languishes.
5 The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
6 Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.
7 The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knows them that trust in him.
8 But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end [kalah] of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.
9 What do you imagine against the LORD? he will make an utter end [kalah]: affliction shall not rise up the second time.
10 For while they be folded together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.
11 There is one come out of you, that imagines evil against the LORD, a wicked counselor.
12 Thus says the LORD; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more.
13 For now will I break his yoke from off you, and will burst your bonds in sunder.
14 And the LORD has given a commandment concerning you, that no more of your name be sown: out of the house of your gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make your grave; for you are vile.
15 Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that brings good tidings, that publishes peace! O Judah, keep your solemn feasts, perform your vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through you; he is utterly cut off.

Nahum 2
1 He that dashes in pieces is come up before your face: keep the munition, watch the way, make your loins strong, fortify your power mightily.
2 For the LORD has turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches.
3 The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.
4 The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall jostle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightning.
5 He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defense shall be prepared.
6 The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.
7 And Huzzab [those who are taking their stand with their idols] shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts.
8 But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.
9 Take you the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.
10 She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melts, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness [words of ignorance].
11 Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion’s whelp, and none made them afraid?
12 The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin [what they have torn apart].
13 Behold, I am against you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions: and I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall no more be heard.

Nahum 3
1 Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departs not;
2 The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the jumping chariots.
3 The horseman lifts up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcasses; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:
4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that sells nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.
5 Behold, I am against you, says the LORD of hosts; and I will discover your skirts upon your face, and I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.
6 And I will cast abominable filth upon you, and make you vile, and will set you as a gazing-stock.
7 And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon you shall flee from you, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for you?
8 Are you better than populous No [the multitudes before you, whose idols they trusted in, but were destroyed], that was situate among the rivers [whose words and ideas flow to the people/sea], that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea [the multitudes deceived by the waters that flowed to them], and her wall was from the sea [the masses their ways/ideas confused]?
9 Ethiopia and Egypt [darkness {ignorance} and its captivity] were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim [agitation and the lack of God’s word] were your helpers.
10 Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
11 You also shall be drunken: you shall be hid, you also shall seek strength because of the enemy.
12 All your strong holds shall be like fig trees with the first-ripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Behold, your people in the midst of you are women: the gates of your land shall be set wide open unto your enemies [as it is this day]: the fire shall devour your bars.
14 Draw you waters for the siege, fortify your strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brick-kiln.
15 There shall the fire devour you; the sword [this word of God] shall cut you off, it shall eat you up like the cankerworm: make yourself many as the cankerworm, make yourself many as the locusts.
16 You have multiplied your merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoils, and flees away.
17 Your crowned are as the locusts, and your captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun arises they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
18 Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria [you who’ve progressively degenerated by steps into communism, thinking you have a right to take innocent life, control people, and take, by vote or extortion, the wealth {property} of God’s people]: your nobles shall dwell in the dust: your people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathers them.
19 There is no healing of your bruise; your wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of you shall clap the hands over you: for upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?

Isaiah uses the word kalah twice, in Isaiah 10:23 & 28:22, both rendered “consumption.”

Isaiah 10
20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
22 For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
23 For the LORD God of hosts shall make a consumption [kalah], even determined, in the midst of all the land.
24 Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts, O my people that dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite you with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against you, after the manner of Egypt.
25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.
26 And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb [when the people rose up and came out against those agitating them]: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt [as a flood overflowing the adversaries].
27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off your shoulder, and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing [the anointing mentioned in Daniel 9:24.

The scourge that comes, mentioned above in verse 26, is the disciplinary correction spoken of in Isaiah 28:15 & 18 and the “whip” in Nahum 3:2 (all from the word showt). In Hebrews 12:6, quoting Proverbs 3:11 & 12, we are told: “My son, despise not you the chastening of the LORD, nor faint when you are rebuked of him: 6 For whom the LORD loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.”

Isaiah 28
5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sit in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.
9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us [these men, in their pride, don’t think they need to be corrected]: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus says the LORD God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believes shall not make haste.
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.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goes forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
21 For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim [as a great breaking forth of waters upon the enemies, David saying in 2 Samuel 5:20, “The LORD has broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters.”], he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon [Joshua 10:11, when God cast down great hail stones from heaven upon the enemies, meaning the word frozen in heaven, reserved for this moment, sent for this purpose – to make a full end], that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
22 Now therefore be you not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the LORD God of hosts a consumption [kalah], even determined upon the whole earth.
23 Give you ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech. [It’s all so simple to understand, if we just listen to His voice, and do the Father’s will.]

Psalms 44
1 We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work you did in their days, in the times of old.
2 How you did drive out the heathen with your hand, and planted them; how you did afflict the people, and cast them out.
3 For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your countenance, because you had a favor unto them.
4 You are my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.
5 Through you will we push down our enemies: through your name will we tread them under that rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our enemies, and have put them to shame that hated us.
8 In God we boast all the day long, and praise your name for ever. Selah.
9 But you have cast off, and put us to shame; and go not forth with our armies.
10 You make us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves.
11 You have given us like sheep appointed for meat; and have scattered us among the heathen.
12 You sell your people for naught, and do not increase your wealth by their price.
13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.
14 You make us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.
15 My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face has covered me,
16 For the voice of him that reproaches and blasphemes; by reason of the enemy and avenger.
17 All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten you, neither have we dealt falsely in your covenant.
18 Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from your way;
19 Though you have sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
21 Shall not God search this out? for he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yea, for your sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake, why sleep you, O LORD? arise, cast us not off for ever.
24 Wherefore hide you your face, and forgets our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaves unto the earth.
26 Arise for our help, and redeem us for your mercies’ sake.

Thus has the LORD God shown unto me: and, behold, the LORD God called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part. Amos 7:4

As we have seen in previous posts, the fire is what comes after the earthquake, which is a reference to Elijah and the events recorded in 1 Kings 19. There we are told of when the LORD passed by, and a great wind rent the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces. After the wind came an earthquake, and finally a fire. We are told the LORD wasn’t in any of these but was the small voice Elijah heard.

These events, wind, earthquake, and fire, are then explained as the chapter continues by telling of what Elijah heard: the voice telling him to anoint Hazael king over Syria, Jehu king over Israel, and Elisha the prophet in his room (in Elijah’s place). These three men, more precisely their works, are what brings the wind, earthquake, and fire, in action and reaction. The first destroys the high places (mountains) in which men have mistakenly put their trust (the rocks), the second destroys then foreign idols (Baal – ideas of man), and the third is sent to end the evil (the calves) put in God’s place, which Jehu didn’t destroy.

These are what, in a pattern of Elijah (Jehovah is God), brings out of the cave into the light, into sight, the LORD as the still small voice heard. The name of the three men, whose works bring the LORD into our sight and opens our ears to his voice, describe this precise process. Hazeal means seeing God, Jehu the son of Nimshi means knowing He is God come to our rescue, Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, says this is the salvation of God, born of judgment, making plain his intentions and plan.

The fire is the same fire spoken of in the prior post and many before, as it is described by Peter in 2 Peter 3, which ends the old and corrupted heaven and earth.

2 Peter 3
1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
2 That you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the LORD and Savior:
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the LORD as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The LORD is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the LORD will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements [stroicheion – foundational ideas of the corrupted world] shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
15 And account that the longsuffering of our LORD is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him has written unto you;
16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
17 You therefore, beloved, seeing you know these things before, beware lest you also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stead-fastness.
18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

1 Kings 19
1 And Ahab told Jezebel [the currently established churches – idol worshippers, all fallen from the truth and God {except the very elect}] all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the [false] prophets with the sword [with this word of God].
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not your life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.
3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
6 And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baked on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.
7 And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for you.
8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What do you here, Elijah?
10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What do you here, Elijah?
14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
15 And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when you come, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shall you anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shall you anoint to be prophet in your room.
17 And it shall come to pass, that him that escapes the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him.
19 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.
20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray you, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to you?
21 And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.

(What’s the point of all this? We are supposed to see the patterns and understand they are written for our time, to enlighten us. Once we see, we should understand we are repeating mistakes that are products of flawed human thinking, and alter our course. The flaws are ideas that say there are short cuts into happiness by removing all boundaries of civilization, and abandoning correct rules of human interaction we digress into confusion and chaos, which bring self-destruction. These daily dissertations revealing the unseen deep meaning in God’s written word are meant to first reveal God to us in the appearance of His advanced intellect in engineering such an incalculably elaborate {noninvasive} plan of salvation, and realizing, in response, we enthrone Him in His appropriate place above all other voices advising us. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second greatest commandment is, act toward others as you would have them act toward you {reciprocal security, of life, liberty, and property – the formula for civilization, and the whole duty of man}.)

Matthew 24
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many [as they have – all except the very elect].
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure [not be deceived by the false churches’ false teaching and false prophesying] unto the end, the same shall be saved.
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.
15 When you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso reads, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray you that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before. [He told us, in John 14:20, “At that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” He will be in us and will come to each of us, as does the light of the sun rising.]
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
27 For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. [As understanding that brings our sleeping {dead} mind to life from the dead – quickening us away from the abomination that have cause our death.]
28 For where-so-ever the carcass is [the dead body of Christ – His church], there will the eagles be gathered together.
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
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.
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Truly I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for you know not what hour your LORD does come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman [the heads of the family] of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be you also ready: for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man comes.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he comes shall find so doing.
47 Truly I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delays his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looks not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

When the LORD tells us to flee Judea when we see the abomination in the holy place and speaks of its mention by Daniel, He is ultimately referring us to Jeremiah. In Daniel 9:2 Daniel tells of reading and receiving his understanding from Jeremiah (and other books), and uses the exact word Jeremiah uses to describe the abominations. As we have previously studied, the Hebrew word rendered “abomination,” by Daniel and Jeremiah, is shiqquwts, literally meaning filthy and polluted, as in ideas [idols] that corrupt all thinking. As we know, this is the filth the LORD washed from His disciple’s feet, as I do yours, with the waters of the word of God, washing away the corrupted ideas picked up along the way, which have polluted all thinking and blinded all minds from seeing the LORD. (Blinded by what Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 4:4 {see below}, which are the abomination in the holy place.)

John 14
19 Yet a little while, and the world sees me no more; but you see me: because I live, you shall live also.
20 At that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
21 He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
22 Judas [Judah – here the elect as the leaders who will see Him again] said unto him, not Iscariot [not the adversary, the betrayers within – see post of 13 May 2019], LORD, how is it that you will manifest yourself unto us, and not unto the world?
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
24 He that loves me not keeps not my sayings: and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

2 Corinthians 4
1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the LORD; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the LORD Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
11 For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

Again, here following are the abominations as described by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 32:34. There the LORD describes them as He is, because of them, rooting the people from the land. This is per His warning in Deuteronomy 29, where in verse 17 this filth and pollution (shiqquwts) are first spoken of as the chapter describes them as what breaks the covenant, and by their (the idols/ideas) own nature they destroy any who follow them. This is what Daniel realized, later after God’s people have been rooted out of the Promised Land and are in Babylon (confusion), and what he repents of in hope of returning, from the confusion, again to the Promise. Daniel also knew the way back was by repentance, which he would have also known from 2 Chronicles 7:14, where the LORD gives Solomon the pattern, as He speaks of building the LORD’s house, which we are, His habitation in the land He has chosen.

Deuteronomy 29
9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.
10 You stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,
11 Your little ones, your wives, and your stranger that is in your camp, from the hewer of your wood unto the drawer of your water:
12 That you should enter into covenant with the LORD your God, and into his oath, which the LORD your God makes with you this day:
13 That he may establish you to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto you a God, as he has said unto you, and as he has sworn unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;
15 But with him that stands here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:
16 (For you know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which you passed by;
17 And you have seen their abominations [shiqquwts], and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)
18 Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood;
19 And it come to pass, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:
20 The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.
21 And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law:
22 So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the LORD has laid upon it;
23 And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor bears, nor any grass grows therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:
24 Even all nations shall say, Wherefore has the LORD done thus unto this land? what means the heat of this great anger?
25 Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:
26 For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:
27 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:
28 And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.
29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. [Think!]

2 Chronicles 7
11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD, and the king’s house: and all that came into Solomon’s heart to make in the house of the LORD, and in his own house, he prosperously effected.
12 And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice.
13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
16 For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
17 And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and shall observe my statutes and my judgments;
18 Then will I establish the throne of your kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David your father, saying, There shall not fail you a man to be ruler in Israel.
19 But if you turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.
21 And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why has the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house?
22 And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore has he brought all this evil upon them.

Jeremiah 32
26 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
28 Therefore thus says the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans [those who use their words {advice} to manipulates people into doing evil], and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon [the corrupt ideas ruling this world, produce desolation and a state of total confusion], and he shall take it:
29 And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city [Jerusalem, the pattern of fires Peter speaks of], and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.
30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands [their creations – ideas that replace God], says the LORD.
31 For this city has been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,
32 Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
33 And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
34 But they set their abominations [shiqquwts] in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.
35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
36 And now therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof you say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence;
37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:
38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
42 For thus says the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.
43 And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof you say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
44 Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, says the LORD.

Daniel 9
1 In the first year of [Esther’s son, who is also called Cyrus] Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;
2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
3 And I set my face unto the LORD God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O LORD, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from your precepts and from your judgments:
6 Neither have we hearkened unto your servants the prophets, which spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
7 O LORD, righteousness belongs unto you, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you.
8 O LORD, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.
9 To the LORD our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him;
10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed your law, even by departing, that they might not obey your voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
12 And he has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven has not been done as has been done upon Jerusalem.
13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand your truth.
14 Therefore has the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he does: for we obeyed not his voice.
15 And now, O LORD our God, that have brought your people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have gotten you renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
16 O LORD, according to all your righteousness, I beseech you, let your anger and your fury be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people are become a reproach to all that are about us.
17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of your servant, and his supplications, and cause your face to shine upon your sanctuary that is desolate, for the LORD’s sake.
18 O my God, incline your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our supplications before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies.
19 O LORD, hear; O LORD, forgive; O LORD, hearken and do; defer not, for your own sake, O my God: for your city and your people are called by your name.
20 And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;
21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel [man of God – phrase only appears twice in New Testament, describing Timothy, and the perfect man – See 1 Timothy 6:11 telling of what we “flee,” and 2 Timothy 3:17 of this same perfection that allows us to understand and impart understanding], whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give you skill and understanding.
23 At the beginning of your supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show you; for you are greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations [shiqquwts – filth and pollution, blinding all minds – the confusion mentioned above] he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things.

As we saw in the previous post, the above, Psalms 72:18, is David speaking of the LORD “alone” doing wonders. His wonders are further explained in Psalms 51:4 where the same Hebrew word (bad) is again rendered “only” in saying our sins are against God alone. David there speaks of the LORD’s correction and forgiveness as His salvation. David says this is what opened his mouth to teach others in the same correction, while also telling of God’s sure mercies. The “wondrous” things that only the LORD does are spoken of often using the Hebrew word pala’, as they are precisely described, again by David, in Psalms 40.

Psalms 51
1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of your tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only [bad], have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight: that you might be justified when you speak, and be clear when you judge.
5 Behold, I was shaped in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part you shall make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop [sprinkling the blood of your sacrifice, your corrective word –see Hebrews 12:24 below], and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which you have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence; and take not your holy spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of your salvation; and uphold me with your free spirit.
13 Then will I teach transgressors your ways; and sinners shall be converted unto you.
14 Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, you God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O LORD, open you my lips; and my mouth shall show forth your praise.
16 For you desire not sacrifice; else would I give it: you delight not in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 Do good in your good pleasure unto Zion: build you the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then shall you be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon your altar.

Hebrews 12
11 Now no chastening [correction] for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the LORD:
15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
17 For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
18 For you are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: [You are not those who’ve turned away from God’s correction and sold your birthright to keep what you lusted for]
20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
22 But you are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
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 [by accepting the Father’s correction],
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.

Psalms 40
1 I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
3 And he has put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
4 Blessed is that man that makes the LORD his trust, and respects not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
5 Many, O LORD my God, are your wonderful [pala’] works which you have done, and your thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto you: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire; mine ears have you opened: burnt offering and sin offering have you not required.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
8 I delight to do your will, O my God: yea, your law is within my heart.
9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, you know.
10 I have not hid your righteousness within my heart; I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation: I have not concealed your lovingkindness and your truth from the great congregation.
11 Withhold not you your tender mercies from me, O LORD: let your lovingkindness and your truth continually preserve me.
12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart fails me.
13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.
14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.
15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.
16 Let all those that seek you rejoice and be glad in you: let such as love your salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.
17 But I am poor and needy; yet the LORD thinks upon me: you are my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.

Psalms 52
1 Why boast you yourself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endures continually.
2 The tongue devises mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
3 You love evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.
4 You love all devouring words, O you deceitful tongue.
5 God shall likewise destroy you for ever, he shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place, and root you out of the land of the living. Selah.
6 The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him:
7 Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.
9 I will praise you for ever, because you have done it: and I will wait on your name; for it is good before your saints.

Psalms 51:4 above is quoted by Paul in Romans 3:4 as he, the LORD speaking through his writing, described this correction as the circumcisions of the heart, meaning removing the flesh from our reasoning. In other words, we aren’t controlled by, nor do we act based upon momentary shortsighted lust; but we remove it (lust/flesh) from ruling over our thoughts and act according to what we understanding to be the best way to continuing in peace. This is the process (Jerusalem – yarah shalam) of being taught and founded upon the ideas, the ways, of peace and security (civilization) that flow from God. These are found in the His written word, the oracles of God, the word He has inspirited men to write as His hand, which word effectually works as the power in man that changes his nature. In the change that occurs is God’s power and plan seen, His righteousness manifested by changing us away from our unrighteousness, and making His righteousness ours.

Romans 2
1 Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whosoever you are that judges: for wherein you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you that judges do the same things.
2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
3 And think you this, O man, that judges them which do such things, and does the same, that you shall escape the judgment of God?
4 Or despises you the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
5 But after your hardness and impenitent heart treasure up unto yourself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life:
8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that does evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
10 But glory, honor, and peace, to every man that works good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
11 For there is no respect of persons with God.
12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
15 Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
17 Behold, you are called a Jew, and rests in the law, and make your boast of God,
18 And know his will, and approve the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;
19 And are confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,
20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which have the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.
21 You therefore which teaches another, teaches you not yourself? you that preaches a man should not steal, do you steal [from God and from His people by extorting money in His name to fulfill your lust for (mammon) things]?
22 You that say a man should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery [haven’t you left God and joined yourself to idols – ideas of your own creation]? you that abhors idols, do you commit sacrilege?
23 You that make your boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonor you God?
24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
25 For circumcision truly profits, if you keep the law: but if you be a breaker of the law, your circumcision is made uncircumcision.
26 Therefore if the uncircumcision keeps the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge you, who by the letter and circumcision do transgress the law?
28 For he is not a Jew [Judah – a leader of God people], which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 But he is a Jew [Judah], 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 [seek the praise of men is the adultery and idolatry earlier mentioned – lusting for the approval of men].

Romans 3
1 What advantage then has the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?
2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That you might be justified in your sayings, and might overcome when you are judged.
5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)
6 God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?
7 For if the truth of God has more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?
8 And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.
9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one.
13 Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
19 Now we know that what things so-ever the law says, it says to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believes in Jesus.
27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

Romans 4
1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, has found?
2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he has whereof to glory; but not before God.
3 For what says the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
4 Now to him that works is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
5 But to him that works not, but believes on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith [believing the report and receiving the gift of God’s correction] is counted for righteousness.
6 Even as David [see Psalms 32:1 & 2 below] also describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works,
7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD will not impute sin.
9 Comes this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.
10 How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:
12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
15 Because the law works wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
17 (As it is written, I have made you a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickens the dead, and calls those things which be not as though they were.
18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall your seed be.
19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb:
20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our LORD from the dead;
25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Psalms 32
1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputes not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile [no deception].
3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me: my moisture [the substance of life, as a flame of a lamp deprived of its oil] is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
5 I acknowledge my sin unto you, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
6 For this shall every one that is godly pray unto you in a time when you may be found [the acceptable time]: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
7 You are my hiding place; you shall preserve me from trouble; you shall compass me about with songs [ron – shouts] of deliverance. Selah.
8 I [the LORD in me] will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go: I will guide you with mine eye.
9 Be you not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto you.
10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusts in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.
11 Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, you righteous: and shout for joy, all you that are upright in heart.

Psalms 33
1 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
2 Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
3 Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.
4 For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.
5 He loves righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.
6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as an heap: he lays up the depth in storehouses [the deep meanings are held in store, reserved for this time, to be revealed by Him].
8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
10 The LORD brings the counsel of the heathen to naught: he makes the devices of the people of none effect.
11 The counsel of the LORD stands for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.
13 The LORD looks from heaven; he beholds all the sons of men.
14 From the place of his habitation he looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth.
15 He fashions their hearts alike; he considers all their works.
16 There is no king saved by the multitude of a host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
17 A horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.
18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.
22 Let your mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in you.

Verse 6 above is quoted by Peter in 2 Peter 3:5, a chapter where Peter is telling of the ignorance of men, also describing them as those who wrestle with the scriptures to their own destruction. Therein he, the LORD speaking through his writing, tells of the foundational ideas of these men, describing them as elements, from the Greek word stoicheion, that melt away in the fires these same ideas have caused. Peter says the fires end the old heaven and earth, which are inevitably destroyed by their own ignorance. He says we look for a new heaven and earth, wherein dwells righteousness (a kingdom where God’s ideas reign), which is what we hope for, as say the final verses of Psalms 33 above.

2 Peter 3
1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
2 That you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the LORD and Savior:
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the LORD as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The LORD is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the LORD will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements [stroicheion – foundational ideas of the corrupted world] shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
15 And account that the longsuffering of our LORD is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him has written unto you;
16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
17 You therefore, beloved, seeing you know these things before, beware lest you also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stead-fastness.
18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

As we know, the LORD appearing to pull us the fire these men have caused is the event the false prophets have twisted into their rapture idol. Those who refuse to receive this truth, will never take his hand and be pulled from the fires, and will, therefore, perish in them.

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 – hold down] that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity does already work [the power of the prince of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience]: only he who now lets [katecho – hold you down – the preacher or teacher you follow] will let [hold you down], until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked [the same wicked men spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 3:2 below, who can’t be reasoned with and therefore perish] be revealed, whom the LORD shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness [this understanding] of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders [deceptions],
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, 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:
2 And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.
3 But the LORD is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.
4 And we have confidence in the LORD touching you, that you both do and will do the things which we command you.
5 And the LORD direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.
6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother that walks disorderly [because they refuse to receive this grace of God and have chosen instead to keep their idols], and not after the tradition which he received of us.

Isaiah 66
4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spoke, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.
5 Hear the word of the LORD, you that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.
6 A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that renders recompense to his enemies.
7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.

And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.

In the above, Luke 24:51, Luke, the risen LORD speaking through him, is describing (witnessing to) the events after the LORD’s resurrection was realized (understood). Luke’s witness prior to this chapter is an after the fact chronology including the LORD’s ministry and the unbelief and ignorance of those He was leading and teaching – to get them to this point of His resurrection in them.

His witness continues into Acts, the first eight verse giving a synopsis of the LORD’s mission and ours. These are written as patterns, as Ezekiel’s wheel within a wheel, events, that when understood, enable us to see and ACT in the same ways and be warned away from repeating the mistakes of others. The latter is seen as Acts 1 continues with Peter describing Judas (Judah – as the leaders, the ruling class), who is said to be “the guide to them that took Jesus.”

Luke, in giving the scriptural justification for replacing Judas, in Acts 1:20, quotes Psalms 69:25, which gives a precise and fuller description of the types who betray the LORD, then and now, as did those in the house of David. The Psalm tells of the gift of God given through David’s just rule and his faithfulness to God’s leading. Those who should have received what was for their benefit, instead, in rejecting it, turned it into the snare in which they are caught, as was Judas. This pattern is carried forward in who the other true apostles chose to replace the betrayer. They choose Justus, who is also called Matthias, names meaning he believes in just rule and freely giving the gift that was given for all by God. The one who isn’t chosen, is Joseph, who is also called Barsabas (Bar-tsaba), names telling of the one who is for now separated from his brethren because he is a warrior reserved for a time of war (as I have been).

Psalms 69 A Psalm of David
1 Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.
2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
3 I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.
5 O God, you know my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from you.
6 Let not them that wait on you, O LORD God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek you be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.
7 Because for your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face.
8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children.
9 For the zeal of your house has eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached you are fallen upon me.
10 When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.
11 I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.
12 They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is unto you, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of your mercy hear me, in the truth of your salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the water-flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
16 Hear me, O LORD; for your lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of your tender mercies.
17 And hide not your face from your servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.
18 Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.
19 You have known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor: mine adversaries are all before you.
20 Reproach has broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
23 Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.
24 Pour out your indignation upon them, and let your wrathful anger take hold of them.
25 Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute him whom you have smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom you have wounded.
27 Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into your righteousness.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
29 But I am poor and sorrowful: let your salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that has horns and hoofs.
32 The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.
33 For the LORD hears the poor, and despises not his prisoners.
34 Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moves therein.
35 For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.
36 The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.
To the Chief Musician [to the masters of assemblies, given from one shepherd]

The “acceptable” time David speaks of in verse 13 above is from the Hebrew word ratsown, and in context is leading us to Deuteronomy 33:16 where it is rendered “good will” in telling of when God’s word came from the fire in the bush. The passage above goes on to speak in the same terms as does Jonah from the belly of the fish, which we know tells of his being consumed and held by the underlying cause of what was agitating the masses into a storm. Jonah’s and Joseph’s separation are intended to be understood in concert, as a pattern of the LORD’s separation while He is hidden by the blindness caused by false apostles, the guides who’ve betrayed him.

Jonah 2
1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly,
2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and you heard my voice.
3 For you had cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all your billows and your waves passed over me.
4 Then I said, I am cast out of your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.
5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet have you brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.
7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto you, into your holy temple.
8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
9 But I will sacrifice unto you with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.
10 And the LORD spoke unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

Deuteronomy 33
13 And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that couches beneath,
14 And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon,
15 And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,
16 And for the precious things of the earth and fullness thereof, and for the good will [ratsown] of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.
17 His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns [single horn {rhino – powerful} as the masters of assemblies, giving words given by the one shepherd]: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim [those who receive this second blessing – the free gift of God’s teaching], and they are the thousands of Manasseh [those who’ve forgotten what they once knew].

Friends, this time and the advent in our midst is the time the LORD has spoken of since the beginning. It is sent as a free gift in an acceptable time, when He has heard our prayers and come for the Salvation of His people. The simple but necessary requirement is it must be received, He must be received at His appearing and His kingdom.

2 Timothy 3
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.
10 But you have fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,
11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the LORD delivered me.
12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
14 But continue you in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing of whom you have learned them;
15 And that from a child you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

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 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.

There is no better place where the “acceptable” time is described than Isaiah 49, where in verse 8 the word ratsown again appears. It is a well know passage quoted by Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:2 where he is speaking of the separation from those who refuse to believe this gospel. The chapter ends with his quoting several other scriptures that tell of God living in us, that He is our Father, and explaining that the separation from idols is the prerequisite (preparation). One of the quotes, 2 Corinthians 6:17, is from Isaiah 52:11, a chapter that tells of the arm (work) of the LORD revealed in His preaching this gospel, bringing tidings of good, and publishing peace (yarah shalam – Jerusalem). Receiving the report is the only necessary step that must be taken, receiving the grace and mercy, the Father’s free gift. Those who reject the message perish, “because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”

Isaiah 49
1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, you people, from far; The LORD has called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother has he made mention of my name.
2 And he has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand has he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver has he hid me;
3 And said unto me, You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
4 Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.
5 And now, says the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.
6 And he said, It is a light thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
7 Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose you.
8 Thus says the LORD, In an acceptable [ratsown] time have I heard you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you: and I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;
9 That you may say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.
10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that has mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.
12 Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim [double {blessing}].
13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD has comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
14 But Zion said, The LORD has forsaken me, and my LORD has forgotten me.
15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget you.
16 Behold, I have graven you upon the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.
17 Your children shall make haste; your destroyers and they that made you waste shall go forth of you.
18 Lift up your eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live, says the LORD, you shall surely clothe you with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on you, as a bride does.
19 For your waste and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed you up shall be far away.
20 The children which you shall have, after you have lost the other, shall say again in your ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.
21 Then shall you say in your heart, Who has begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?
22 Thus says the LORD God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
23 And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
25 But thus says the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contend with you, and I will save your children.
26 And I will feed them that oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

2 Corinthians 6
1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that you receive not the grace of God in vain.
2 (For he says [in Isaiah 49:8 above], I have heard you in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored [rescued] you: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
3 Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:
4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watching, in fasting;
6 By pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,
7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
8 By honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true;
9 As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;
10 As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
11 O you Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged [the understanding God has given us is increased before your eyes].
12 You are not straitened in us [you are not restricted by our teaching], but you are straitened in your own bowels [but your own ignorance and rejection of His gift is what restricts you].
13 Now for a recompense in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be you also enlarged [let God’s understanding free you from what is restricting you].
14 Be you not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion has light with darkness?
15 And what concord has Christ with Belial? or what part has he that believes with an infidel?
16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? for you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people [Leviticus 26:12].
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be you separate, says the LORD, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you [Isaiah 52:11].
18 And will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty [2 Samuel 7:14].

Leviticus 26
4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
5 And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
6 And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.
7 And you shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
8 And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
9 For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.
10 And you shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.
11 And I set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.
12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.

Isaiah 52
1 Awake, awake; put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.
2 Shake yourself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose yourself from the bands of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
3 For thus says the LORD, You have sold yourselves for naught; and you shall be redeemed without money.
4 For thus says the LORD God, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
5 Now therefore, what have I here, says the LORD, that my people is taken away for naught? they that rule over them make them to howl, says the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed.
6 Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that does speak: behold, it is I.
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings good tidings, that publishes peace; that brings good tidings of good, that publishes salvation; that says unto Zion, Your God reigns!
8 Your watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.
9 Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The LORD has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
11 Depart you, depart you, go you out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go you out of the midst of her; be you clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.
12 For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your reward.
13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
14 As many were astonished at you; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.

2 Samuel 7
… Thus saith the LORD, Shall you build me an house for me to dwell in?
6 Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.
7 In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build you not me a house of cedar?
8 Now therefore so shall you say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took you from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel:
9 And I was with you whithersoever you wentest, and have cut off all your enemies out of your sight, and have made you a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.
10 Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,
11 And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the LORD telleth you that he will make you a house.
12 And when your days be fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, which shall proceed out of your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you.
16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established for ever before you: your throne shall be established for ever.
17 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.
18 Then went king David in, and sat before the LORD, and he said, Who am I, O LORD God? and what is my house, that you have brought me hitherto?
19 And this was yet a small thing in your sight, O LORD God; but you have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O LORD God?
20 And what can David say more unto you? for you, LORD God, knowest your servant.
21 For your word’s sake, and according to your own heart, have you done all these great things, to make your servant know them.
22 Wherefore you are great, O LORD God: for there is none like you, neither is there any God beside you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
23 And what one nation in the earth is like your people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for your land, before your people, which you redeemed to you from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?
24 For you have confirmed to yourself your people Israel to be a people unto you for ever: and you, LORD, are become their God.
25 And now, O LORD God, the word that you have spoken concerning your servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as you have said.
26 And let your name be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of your servant David be established before you.
27 For you, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed to your servant, saying, I will build you a house: therefore has your servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto you.
28 And now, O LORD God, you are that God, and your words be true, and you have promised this goodness unto your servant:
29 Therefore now let it please you to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue for ever before you: for you, O LORD God, have spoken it: and with your blessing let the house of your servant be blessed for ever.

Psalm 72
1 Give the king your judgments, O God, and your righteousness unto the king’s son.
2 He shall judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with judgment.
3 The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.
4 He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.
5 They shall fear you as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.
6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.
7 In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
9 They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.
12 For he shall deliver the needy when he cries; the poor also, and him that has no helper.
13 He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.
14 He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.
15 And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised.
16 There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.
17 His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.
18 Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things.
19 And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.
20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

The title is Isaiah 53:3, well known to be describing the one who rises as new life from a dry ground, who is “despised” and rejected by those who are unable to recognize him. As we know, the reason they are unable is that they haven’t believed the report, and therefore the arm (work) of the LORD isn’t revealed to them. As we’ve seen in a previous post, the Hebrew word rendered “despised” is bazah, which means to place no value on.

As we have seen in previous posts, the word bazah is used in Jeremiah 22:28 as Jeremiah asks if Coniah is a despised idol, or a vessel wherein is no pleasure. Jeremiah, in verse 21 where the LORD speaking through him, tells of God’s people not listening to Him or obeying His voice, which is their manner from their youth. The reason is always the same, the people can’t see or hear God because of who they are looking at and listening to, which is to the builders building their own houses as the LORD’s house, the house of David, remains desolate.

Jeremiah 22
5 But if you will not hear these words, I swear by myself, says the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.
6 For thus says the LORD unto the king’s house of Judah; You are Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make you a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.
7 And I will prepare destroyers against you, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down your choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore has the LORD done thus unto this great city?
9 Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.
10 Weep you not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goes away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
11 For thus says the LORD touching Shallum [the LORD’s final proclamation of judgement upon the corrupted seed line] the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more:
12 But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.
13 Woe unto him that builds his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that uses his neighbor’s service without wages, and gives him not for his work;
14 That says, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cuts him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
15 Shall you reign, because you closest yourself in cedar? did not your father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? says the LORD.
17 But your eyes and your heart are not but for your covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
18 Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah LORD! or, Ah his glory!
19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up your voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all your lovers are destroyed.
21 I spoke unto you in your prosperity; but you said, I will not hear. This has been your manner from your youth, that you obeyed not my voice.
22 The wind shall eat up all your pastors, and your lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shall you be ashamed and confounded for all your wickedness.
23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makes your nest in the cedars, how gracious shall you be when pangs come upon you, the pain as of a woman in travail!
24 As I live, says the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck you thence;
25 And I will give you into the hand of them that seek your life, and into the hand of them whose face you fear, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon [the abominations, false teaching, the confusion that rules over and makes desolate], and into the hand of the Chaldeans [those who uses their words to control and manipulate, to hold God’s people in death].
26 And I will cast you out, and your mother that bare you, into another country, where you were not born; and there shall you die.
27 But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.
28 Is this man Coniah [Jehovah will establish – raise to life out of the confusion] a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
30 Thus says the LORD, Write you this man [Jehoiakim] childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

The earth-shaking (voice of God) will not stop until the wicked have been shaken from their hold on the earth.

2 Chronicles 36
1 Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz [Jehovah has seized {the throne away from the kings}, also called Shallam {retribution}] the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s stead in Jerusalem.
2 Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
3 And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem, and condemned the land in a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
4 And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and turned his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt.
5 Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.
6 Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.
8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin [Coniah – who the LORD will reestablish, after he rises from the confusion] his son reigned in his stead.
9 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
10 And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.
11 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
12 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD.
13 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.
14 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.
15 And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:
16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.
18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.
19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.
20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
23 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth has the LORD God of heaven given me; and he has charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.

Jeremiah speaks of the seventy years, the threescore and ten years mentioned in verse 21 above, in Jeremiah 25:11 & 12.

Jeremiah 25
4 And the LORD has sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but you have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
5 They said, Turn you again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD has given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
6 And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
7 Yet you have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that you might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
8 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because you have not heard my words,
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.
10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.
11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, says the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

Verse 10 above is quoted in Revelation 18:23, where the perpetual desolations that are coming have come in the fire after the earthquake. As we’ve seen in previous posts, heaven and earth shaking to shake the wicked from them, is mentioned in Job 38 and Hebrews 12. The fire that follows is what causes men to hear the still small voice (of the LORD speaking). See 1 Kings 19:11 & 12.

Revelation 16
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
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.
20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
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.

Revelation 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 show unto you the judgment of the great whore [the unfaithful church and nation in total – who left God and took up idols] that sits upon many waters:
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.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth.
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.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns.
8 The beast that you saw was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit [confusion that is the product of the endless fall away from God], and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
9 And here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains [the seven churches the LORD is speaking to through John], on which the woman sits.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he comes, he must continue a short space.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings [represent all the kings of the world – civil governments, all ruled by confusion and ignorance], which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast [in confusion/Babylon].
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast [Babylon – a Mystery no longer].
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is LORD of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
15 And he says unto me, The waters which you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
16 And the ten horns which you saw 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.
17 For God has put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which you saw is that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.

Revelation 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.
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.
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.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she has filled fill to her double.
7 How much she has glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she says in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
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 judges her.
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,
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 your judgment come.
11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buys their merchandise any more:
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,
13 And cinnamon, and odors, 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.
14 And the fruits that your soul lusted after are departed from you, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from you, and you shall find them no more at all.
15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
16 And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to naught. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
20 Rejoice over her, you heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets; for God has avenged you on her.
21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in you; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in you; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in you;
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in you; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in you: for your merchants were the great men of the earth; for by your sorceries were all nations deceived.
24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

Revelation 19
1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the LORD our God:
2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he has judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
3 And again they said, Alleluia And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.
4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all you his servants, and you that fear him, both small and great.
6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia: for the LORD God omnipotent reigns.
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready.
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
9 And he said unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See you do it not: I am your fellow-servant, and of your brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he does judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he has on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And LORD Of Lords.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Psalms 22
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
2 O my God, I cry in the day time, but you hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But you are holy, O you that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in you: they trusted, and you did deliver them.
5 They cried unto you, and were delivered: they trusted in you, and were not confounded.
6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised [bazah] of the people.
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
9 But you are he that took me out of the womb: you did make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.
10 I was cast upon you from the womb: you are my God from my mother’s belly.
11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and you have brought me into the dust of death.
16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
19 But be not you far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste you to help me.
20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion’s mouth: for you have heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
22 I will declare your name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise you.
23 You that fear the LORD, praise him; all you the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all you the seed of Israel.
24 For he has not despised [bazah] nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither has he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
25 My praise shall be of you in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindred of the nations shall worship before you.
28 For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and he is the governor among the nations.
29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the LORD for a generation.
31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he has done this.

Woe unto those that observe lying vanities, because they forsake their own mercy.

Hear the word of the LORD, “The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.”

The title is Ecclesiastes 12:11 and is the LORD telling of the means by which He is leading us into life, showing us the day He has foretold, which has now arrived. I urge all to realize this is the day of the LORD, a time for all to REPENT and come to His light (understanding). Solomon, in Ecclesiastes 12, is calling all to remember the Creator, before this day comes, so when it does, as it has, we are prepared to see it and join Him in His work of repairing the house of David, which He HAS first raised up in us (as we saw in the prior post, from Amos 9).

Ecclesiastes 12 is speaking of the Creator and those who’ve become His children (youth) by learning at His feet, and, by it, receiving understanding. Solomon then speaks of the evil day, when understanding (light) has vanished from His people, and even though He sends rain from the cloud (His word, corrective advice, from where the ignorant can’t understand), the keepers of the house, by rejection, only see their own darkness (ignorance).

The “youth” Solomon (the LORD in him) speaks of in verse 1 is from the Hebrew word bchurowth, which only appears two other times. One of these is in Ecclesiastes 11:9 in a passage giving understanding (context) to what is meant in chapter 12. The one other use, also describing the pattern of our day, is found in Numbers 11:28 where it is used to describe Joshua’s relationship to Moses.

Ecclesiastes 11
1 Cast your bread upon the waters: for you shall find it after many days.
2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for you know not what evil shall be upon the earth.
3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall be [if the word from heaven moves men toward God or away from Him, there shall it remain].
4 He that observes the wind shall not sow; and he that regards the clouds shall not reap.
5 As you know not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so you know not the works of God who makes all.
6 In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening withhold not your hand: for you know not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
7 Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:
8 But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity.
9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth; and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth [bchurowth], and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes: but know you, that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
10 Therefore remove sorrow [ka`ac – vexation {an inability to grasp understanding – that leads to an evil conscience}] from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh: for childhood and youth [shacharuwth – being drawn away {by sorrow and the flesh}] are vanity.

Ecclesiastes 12
1 Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth [bchurowth], while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them;
2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few [the work of sowing and casting bread {the word of God and understanding} has stopped, because the shepherds and husbandmen feed themselves {their god is their belly}], and those that look out of the windows be darkened [they look but see nothing except their own ignorance],
4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low;
5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goes to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern [these all speak of the waters stopped and the house therefore departing].
7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was [the earth will again become without form and void – founded on confusion upon which is build nothing of value/emptiness]: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
8 Vanity of vanities, says the preacher; all is vanity.
9 And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed [warning of the coming inevitable consequences, as I warn of now – Be awakened by the shaking], and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.
12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Number 11 begins by speaking of the people’s ignorance of the manna, not knowing it was the bread of heaven, the word of God, sent so they would, by it, live. The chapter continues and tells of the people, in their ignorance and dissatisfaction, lusting for flesh. The flesh is then manifested as the seventy men (flesh) the LORD, in Moses, chooses and manifest Himself before (removing the veil and showing Himself in Moses). These men are the pattern of the first fruits, and the word of God sent in them is the flesh men lust for. Be enlightened and be warned.

Numbers 11
1 And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.
2 And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched.
3 And he called the name of the place Taberah [seems to be combining the Hebrew words tabniyth and ba’ar, therefore meaning the pattern of all consuming fire {that comes after the voice shaking heaven and earth – see Hebrews 12:12 thru 29 below]: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.
4 And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?
5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic:
6 But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.
7 And the manna was as coriander seed [gad – as seed among the crowd], and the color thereof as the color of bdellium [badal – separated, as the right divided word of God].
8 And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.
9 And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.
10 Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.
11 And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore have you afflicted your servant? and wherefore have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people upon me?
12 Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that you should say unto me, Carry them in your bosom, as a nursing father bears the sucking child, unto the land which you swore unto their fathers?
13 Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.
14 I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
15 And if you deal thus with me, kill me, I pray you, out of hand, if I have found favor in your sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.
16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with you.
17 And I will come down and talk with you there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon you, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you bear it not yourself alone.
18 And say you unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and you shall eat flesh: for you have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and you shall eat.
19 You shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;
20 But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that you have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?
21 And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and you have said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.
22 Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?
23 And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD’s hand waxed short? you shall see now whether my word shall come to pass unto you or not.
24 And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle.
25 And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spoke unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.
26 But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad [these names tell of the word of God, as waters boiling up and flooding out]: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.
27 And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.
28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young [bchurowth] men, answered and said, My LORD Moses, forbid them.
29 And Moses said unto him, Envy you for my sake? would God that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!
30 And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
31 And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day’s journey on this side, and as it were a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.
32 And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.
33 And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.
34 And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah [where their lust brought them into the grave]: because there they buried the people that lusted.
35 And the people journeyed from Kibrothhattaavah unto Hazeroth [into a place of protection, apart from the graves of those who lusted]; and abode at Hazeroth.

Hebrews 12
11 Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the LORD:
15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
17 For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
18 For you are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more [they refused to hear the word of God’s correction]:
20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast [those who couldn’t be corrected away from what they lusted for – and as Esau, traded their birthright to keep what they lusted for] touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
22 But you are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
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.

The one speaking, as the all consuming fire, which consumes those who oppose it, is the same one Solomon describes in Ecclesiastes 12:11 as “one shepherd,” from who the word is given, which is only received by the wise. When he says the words are as nail fasted by the masters of assemblies, the word rendered “masters” is ba’al (the same word as Baal). Seeing this as an intentional contrast meant to distinguish between the LORD’s minsters and those preaching their own words (the advice, the voices {ideas} from the many different origins and authors), we see the point. It is to focus His people’s attention on the one voice the LORD God Almighty Himself raises to prominence and establishes as His throne. His is the throne where the one shepherd is heard as the voice of God, ending the darkness and removing the confusion (babel) of the many different babbling voices.

Joel 1
1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel [vison of God – opened by God].
2 Hear this, you old men, and give ear, all you inhabitants of the land. Has this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
3 Tell you your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
4 That which the palmerworm has left has the locust eaten; and that which the locust has left has the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm has left has the caterpillar eaten.
5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep; and howl, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the cheek teeth of a great lion.
7 He has laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he has made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD’s ministers, mourn.
10 The field is wasted, the land mourns; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languishes.
11 Be you ashamed, O you husbandmen [ba’al]; howl, O you vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languishes; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
13 Gird yourselves, and lament, you priests: howl, you ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withheld from the house of your God.
14 Sanctify you a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,
15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
19 O LORD, to you will I cry: for the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the field.
20 The beasts of the field cry also unto you: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Joel 2
1 Blow you the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD comes, for it is nigh at hand;
2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there has not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
3 A fire devours before them; and behind them a flame burns: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
7 They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:
8 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
9 They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
11 And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executes his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
12 Therefore also now, says the LORD, turn you even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repents him of the evil.
14 Who knows if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare your people, O LORD, and give not your heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.
19 Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and you shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savor shall come up, because he has done great things.
21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.
22 Be not afraid, you beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree bears her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.
23 Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he has given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
26 And you shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that has dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
27 And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come.
32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

Joel 3
1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
3 And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.
4 Yea, and what have you to do with me, O Tyre [false rock in which people mistakenly put the trust], and Zidon [those who hunt souls, to consume them to fulfill their lusts], and all the coasts of Palestine [the invaders {with the lying ways and deceptions} who seek to change of culture {have nationally removed it from under God} to consume us]? will you render me a recompense? and if you recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head;
5 Because you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:
6 The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have you sold unto the Grecians, that you might remove them far from their border.
7 Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither you have sold them, and will return your recompense upon your own head:
8 And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD has spoken it.
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 pruning-hooks 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 from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: 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 shall be a desolation, and Edom 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 for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwells in Zion.

Psalms 70
1 Make haste, o God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O LORD.
2 Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt.
3 Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha.
4 Let all those that seek you rejoice and be glad in you: and let such as love your salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.
5 But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: you are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying

Psalm 72
1 Give the king your judgments, O God, and your righteousness unto the king’s son.
2 He shall judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with judgment.
3 The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.
4 He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.
5 They shall fear you as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.
6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.
7 In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endures.
8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
9 They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.
12 For he shall deliver the needy when he cries; the poor also, and him that has no helper.
13 He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.
14 He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.
15 And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised.
16 There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.
17 His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.
18 Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things.
19 And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.
20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.