Isaiah chapters 40-66, part 3


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Compare Isaiah 40-66 with the New Testament books - Hebrews to Revelation.

First published on the 25th of September 2016 — Last updated on the 8th of April 2018

In the previous studies we looked how the book of Isaiah from chapter 40 compares to the New Testament books.

The seven Books before Hebrews describe the seven church ages. These start with the Book of Ephesians which represents the first church age. The seventh book is Philemon which describes an escaped slave that learned the teachings of the apostle Paul. So in the seventh age, individuals have to escape the doctrines of the Laodicean church and return to the teachings of Paul and the apostles.

The seventh age ends with the Coming of the Lord Jesus to catch away His true church. Then the rest of the saved Christians and the world will go into the great Tribulation and the Gospel will go back to the Jews.

So the next Book is to the Hebrews.

The great sign of our times is that God has allowed the Jews to return to their homeland to await the Messiah.

Book 58   Hebrews   

After the Church Ages, the Gospel returns to the Jews.

ISAIAH 58:1   Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

Two prophets, Moses and Elijah, will bring the Jews to accept Jesus during the Tribulation, so that their transgression when they crucified Christ and all their sins can be forgiven them.

ISAIAH 58:12And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

During the great Tribulation the Jews will be restored to their Messiah as the 2000 year breach that has separated them since they rejected Jesus, is finally repaired by the end of the Tribulation. The Jews will then also build on the New Testament foundations of the apostles, as these foundations were the basis of Christian belief throughout the many generations of all seven church ages. The paths of righteousness which Christians follow from the New Testament will also be dwelt in by the Jews as they return to their Messiah.

ISAIAH 58:14   Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

At the end of the Tribulation the Jews will ride high as they will govern the earth. The twelve tribes of Israel (which is the surname of Jacob), who are named from the twelve sons of Jacob, finally receive their reward.

ISAIAH 44:5… and surname himself by the name of Israel.

Next follow three Books that give us sound advice on how we should live:

James, Peter and John.  

These three apostles went up Mount Transfiguration and saw the preview of the Coming of the Lord. Moses represented the resurrection of the dead saints. Elijah represented the living saints who are caught up to heaven.

Now these three apostles give us advice on how we should prepare for the actual Coming of the Lord Jesus.

Because of sin, we cannot see God’s plan as clearly as we would like. So we require three attributes :

  1. Faith which is our foundation that we build on.
  2. Hope which gives us a goal to aim for.
  3. Love (Charity) which is the way in which our faith works to achieve the goal.

I Corinthians 13:12  For now we see through a glass darkly…

I Corinthians 13:13   And now abideth faith, hope and charity…
GALATIANS 5:6   For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

God’s plan is too deep for us to grasp - the details are too complex. We find ourselves in a bewildering world of complexity. Are we dying or being born?  A tidal wave of unknown unknowns batters us as we search desperately for the meaning of it all.

The next three Books recommend a plan of worthwhile action.

  1. The one Book of James puts the emphasis on faith.
  2. The two Books of Peter put the emphasis on hope.
  3. The three Books of John puts the emphasis on love.

I Corinthians 13:13  And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Charity means love. Love that goes out to those in need, without expecting anything back.

The greatest attribute is charity or love (not a hope for reward or a fear of punishment). That is why three books deal with love.

Book 59   James

  1. FAITH. James does not suggest a theoretical faith in terms of what we know of the Bible (although this is good) but rather a robust faith that shows itself by means of good and useful works. These good works are not just to help others who are in need, but also to set an example and show them the right way in terms of dress, behavior and belief.

What we know in our minds (the seal in our foreheads) must produce useful Biblical works (the seal in our hands). We live at a time where the world is going into the mark of the beast in the forehead, which is the brainwashing of the mind to believe unscriptural denominational traditions. These ideas then produce the mark in our hands, whereby we serve the human traditions of our particular church.

Here are some examples of the wrong works that Christians do today.

If by our works we do any of these unscriptural traditions, it merely shows that there is something wrong with our faith. If we were strictly scriptural in what we believed, we would not do these things.

James 2:17  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

: 22   … by works was faith made perfect

ISAIAH 59:2   But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

Iniquity is knowing something is wrong but doing it any way. James does not want us to have faith in God and then mess up in our works in the way we serve God. These wrong works tend to kill our faith.

ISAIAH 59:3      For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

If, as saved Christians, our works are not good, and if what we speak does not line up with what is written in Scripture, and is thus perverse as it is a lie, then we are on the wrong path and we will be straightened out in the great Tribulation.

ISAIAH 59:6  Their webs (deception) shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity

Following church traditions leads us to do many things that are not Scriptural. Christians are so trapped in their denominational churches that they are scared to stand up for what is written in the Bible. Thus they prefer to hold onto the traditions they have been taught. These traditions will not save them from the great Tribulation. Iniquity means they know it is wrong but because everyone else is doing it, so they also do it.

ISAIAH 59:9   Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.

We do not judge matters by what is written in Scripture. Going to church is supposed to enlighten us. But Christians still remain ignorant of so much Scripture, and do so many things contrary to Scripture. So we actually spend a lot of our time walking in darkness. It has to be this way because Jesus is the Light, and He stands outside the church according to Revelation Chapter 3.

REVELATION 3:14   And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write;
REVELATION 3:20   Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

When the light is outside, the inside is dark because darkness is simply the absence of light. Thus many Scriptures remain obscure. God never told Eve to repent. Why? God explained to the serpent and to Adam what they had done wrong when He said "Because you have ......" . But God never explained to Eve what she had done wrong. Why? Matthew and Mark emphasize one angel at the tomb of Jesus. Luke and John state that there were two angels. What are they trying to tell us?  What is the Name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit?  What is the Name of God?  So Christians today walk in obscurity. We know somethings but are baffled by many other points of Scripture.

The reason is that the preachers do not understand much Scripture themselves. Ask a preacher why Jesus twice wrote with His finger in the dust when questioned about an adulterous woman, and you will see how they slip sideways to evade and dismiss the question. They will not know the answer, but cannot admit their ignorance. They cannot admit that this gesture is important, so they justify their ignorance by trivializing the incident. Why are they so unlikely to know what this Scripture means?  Because the Word stands outside the door of their church.

Book 60   First Peter.

  1. HOPE. This Book has an emphasis on hope. Hope is the target that faith aims at, but it takes faith to realize our hopes.

1 Peter 1:3  … hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

I Peter emphasizes that the First Coming of Jesus demonstrated that He could raise the dead.

The fact that Jesus could rise from the dead enables us to have a great hope for the future.

Even if we are to die, we know that Jesus can raise us from the dead. He proved His ability to do this when He raised Himself from the dead.

ISAIAH 60:1   Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

When Jesus did arise from the dead then the Light of the Gospel did shine. “He is risen” is the Gospel. This Man Jesus had beaten death, and thus every other person who believes in Him can also have that great hope that he or she will also arise from the dead one day.

ISAIAH 60:2   For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

Isaiah prophesies that in a dark and sinful world, the “LORD shall arise” from the dead.  Jesus was the first Man to beat Death and come back in an immortal Body that can never die again.

ISAIAH 60:3   And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

The rising of Jesus from the dead. This will be the brightest light for the Gentiles. Knowing that we can rise from the dead is an incredible hope when we are faced by the pain and anguish of death.

Book 61   Second Peter

 

I Peter reminded us that Jesus, during His First Coming, demonstrated His power to raise the dead.

II Peter focuses on when He will raise the dead. This will be at His Second Coming.

Our great hope for the future is the coming of the Lord as this is when He will raise us from the dead.

Our biggest enemy is death. Death may well beat us in this life. But the resurrection is an incredible hope for the future as the resurrection cancels out death.

II Peter 3:8  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night

ISAIAH 61:2  To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,(His first Coming when He proved that He could raise the dead) and the day of vengeance of our God; (His Second Coming when He will raise the dead)

Hope gives us something to look for that is bigger than us and is beyond our personal lives and limitations.

II Peter 3:12   Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God

The coming of the Lord to marry His Bride inspires us with hope for the future.

ISAIAH 61:10   I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

Jesus and His Bride will live happily ever after as they rule for eternity.

II Peter 3:13  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth.

The end of all our hopes is the new heavens and the new earth. Then we blend into eternity.

Book 62   First John

  1. Love: Here the emphasis is on charity or love. Love is the means whereby our faith can operate in order to achieve the goals of our hope.

ISAIAH 62:5  For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.

A wedding is the most obvious and public manifestation of love.

I John 4: 8  For God is love

I John 4:11   Beloved, if God so loved us,  we ought also to love one another

I John 5: 3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments

If we find it difficult to obey the Bible, then it means that we do not love God.

Book 63   Second John

II John 1:1   The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth(the elect lady symbolizes the true church that God has elected).

The idea of love is now focused onto “love in the truth”.  It is essential that we love truth - God’s Word.

We must love God (easy). We must love people (not so easy). We must love Truth (very difficult).

II John 1:4   I rejoiced greatly when I found of thy children walking in truth

We cannot walk in the Truth unless we have someone to guide us. Isaiah speaks of Moses leading the Jews to safety through the Red Sea. Isaiah then prophesies of the Spirit of the Lord that causes us to rest from sin and unbelief by living in us and controlling us through the Holy Ghost baptism. Then the Holy Spirit within us can lead us, and make us love His truth.

ISAIAH 63:12That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?

ISAIAH 63:13     That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?

Moses led the Jews to safety.

Now Isaiah prophesies that God will do the same for His church if we respond to the leading of the Spirit.

ISAIAH 63: 14     As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.

God guides the Christians even when they walk down into the valley of the shadow of death. They will fear no evil. Death in this life opens the Door to a better life in Heaven.

 

God guides Christians to make a Name for Himself. Not to make a name for the Christians.

God expects Christians to be saved and to do good works. But those are mere basics. What God really wants from us is to know the truth from Scripture, and to make sure we walk in truth - not in our church traditions.

John 4:24   God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.

If we do not have truth, our worship is not of great value.

Book 64  Third John.

Loving Truth has one big challenge: It will make us realize that church leaders are in error.

Then, do we love Truth enough to stand up to the church leaders and pastors, even if we get thrown out of the church. Or do we stay "popular", and remain part of the error.

John commends Gaius for walking in the truth.

But being aware of truth also makes one aware of error.

John only has time to mention one error.

So he highlights the biggest error of the first church age : human leadership by a dominating pastor. This terrible evil that has entered the church - A dominating church leader Diotrephes who loved his pre-eminent position. Pastors claim to be the head of the church. If the pastor’s name is Jim, you must address  him as Pastor Jim. The title “pastor” gives him pre-eminence. Other ministries do not get this recognition. Yet the word “pastor” is only mentioned once in the New Testament. In the Bible, the word "pastor" was never attached to any person's name. So there is no Scripture for the dictatorial powers that the pastors assume is their right. But we Protestants copy the Catholics, and the Catholic Pope rules the Catholic church as a dictator.

III JOHN 1:9  I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.

The apostles have written the New Testament for the benefit of all the churches but like Diotrephes, today’s pastors reject many Scriptures that disagree with the beliefs of their denomination. They do not want to receive the Truth.

Diotrephes rejected the apostle John who wrote Scripture. (Today pastors  reject many Scriptures as they focus on interpreting human quotes in terms of their own understanding and opinions).  As self-appointed head of the church, Diotrephes had usurped the authority to throw people out of the church who disagreed with him.  Only a pastor usurps this kind of authority over the people.

III John  1:9   Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.

:10   …prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

ISAIAH 64:6

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Isaiah condemns us all. Thus we are all on the wrong path. So the human leaders of our churches, who force their congregations to believe their viewpoints, have not guided the churches down the path of truth. Human leadership is taking the church away from the written Word of the apostles and into the great Tribulation.

Our moral and dress standards are dropping, as what we call righteousness is little better than a filthy rag that needs to be discarded.

According to the apostle John, the biggest problem with the church is the leadership.

What did John the Baptist say about the religious Jewish leaders of his day.

Matthew 3:7   But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Basically he said that the religious leaders were a bunch of snakes with poison in their mouths (the unscriptural lies that they tell while claiming to preach the truth).

So religious leaders have always been the main enemy of truth, starting with Nimrod who began the Babylonian mysteries.

ISAIAH 64: 7  And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

The Name of God has been forgotten because church leaders have replaced it with the three titles Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  The three separate Persons in the Godhead cannot have one Name for all three. Especially since no Name is given to the Holy Spirit in Scripture.

The pastor claims to be the head of the church. No body can have two heads.  Thus  Jesus has to go outside the church when the pastor is inside the church. Being outside the church, His face is hidden from us. John has twice mentioned the word iniquity. It means that we know we are doing wrong when we submit to a pastor running and controlling the church. We know we are doing wrong when we build our faith on the quotes of a person rather than the written Word of God.

Book 65  Jude   

Now we come to the second-last Book, just before the Revelation finishes up the Bible.

Here Jude feels compelled to give us a final warning about the awful danger of church leadership.

Jude is the last letter that is written to Christians. He builds on the approach of James, Peter and John in his desire to offer us guidance on how to cope at the end. What do we need to focus on?  The sad part of Jude’s letter is that he cannot close on a cheerful or optimistic note but is forced to speak out against the great evil that is corrupting and misleading the churches.

The greatest problem the churches have is the human leaders of the church.

The evils of human leadership in the New Testament church are just the same as they were in the Old Testament. Human nature never changes. The desire for religious power over people simply corrupts the leaders. In Revelation, John sees a woman (a church) riding on and controlling an awful demonic power.  The church rides to power on this awful spirit. So what does that tell us about the leaders of the church?

ISAIAH 65:1   I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not

The leadership of the churches has taken Christians away from the Bible. We get saved, and then we rush off into church traditions rather than following Scripture. Then God has to compel outcasts, who are not part of the church systems, to believe in His wedding preparations. Jesus once preached that a king invited guests to a wedding and they all refused. He then told his servants to bring in the unwanted outcasts. The saved Christians want "churchianity", not the Bible which explains God’s wedding plans.  So God will find some riff-raff who will actually obey His Bible, and they will go into the wedding supper of the Lamb. The saved Christians in the churches will go into the great Tribulation where they will reap the fruits of human thinking and human opinions.

ISAIAH 65:2   I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;

Christians love human opinions and traditions. They crave worldliness. They are obsessed with their denominational doctrines. They prefer church to Christ.

Jude 1:18  there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

Standards just keep dropping as time goes on. As it was in the days of Sodom, so it will be at the time of the Coming of the Lord.

ISAIAH 65:3    A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face;

We have developed "churchianity", supposing that gain is godliness, and indulging in immodest dress because women love worldly dress. We stand up for church traditions which is bad, but then we condemn those who want to be Scriptural, which is far worse. Condemning true believers of the Bible really provokes God.

Jude 1:23  We should be hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

Christian women used to wear long dresses. In 1963 the miniskirt arrived. This swept the world, but Christian women opposed it. Then Christian women began to accept the miniskirt, and eventually the Christians began to oppose and scorn the modest women who kept on wearing long dresses.

The same goes for high heels. It started in the world and then swept into the church.

The map of Italy looks like a high heeled boot.

 

 

Italy

 

A woman who wears high heels is simply advertising the influence that Rome has over her and her church. Look at a typical Pentecostal woman in a church on Sunday. Blue jeans and high heels. They are an exact image of Rome. And remember, a women represents the church. If Rome is the beast, then the image to the beast is growing amongst the Protestants.

But be careful. Sicily is an island and looks just like the rock that Daniel saw strike the image in the feet.

Notice the spur on the back of the boot. A horse rider wears a spur. This is how Revelation Chapter 6 introduces the antichrist, as a horse rider.

ISAIAH 65:5  Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou.

Competitive Christianity.  Each denomination thinks that they are better than the others. Thus Christians feel safe in belonging to a denomination because they seriously think that they have need of nothing. Having got saved, they are just waiting for the Coming of the Lord. So they accept no correction from people outside their denomination.

Jude 1:19  they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

Sensual means they are dominated by their senses. What they think is nice and suits them,  like makeup, immodest dress, women cutting their hair short, and beat music for worshipping God. The Bible makes absolutely no mention of a drum. But since rock and roll music started in the 1950’s to teach youth how to rebel, so this beat music has swept into the churches, as the churches keep following the world. Each denomination wants to keep their people happy in the denomination. Disco music, with the name of Jesus, keeps people happy. People dance around and wave their hands while the beat music plays in church, just like they do in a disco. Then they stop when the music stops. This is bubble dancing.

Christians gather in their secluded huddles called denominations. You can only belong if you behave and believe like them.

ISAIAH 65:7   Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the LORD,

We learn bad habits from our previous generations and their traditions. Our leaders cause us to copy the example of the the Jews who escaped Egypt (symbolizing getting saved)  but died in the wilderness because they did not believe God’s Word of promise. After getting saved we become careless and unscriptural in our beliefs. Korah and Dathan were the leaders who led many Jews to their deaths in the wilderness. Always the religious leaders. That is where the real problem lies.

Jude lists some of the bad leaders whose attitudes are copied by our modern church leaders. Christians copy the sinful example of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and Cain who rejected truth.

Jude warns us against following church leaders like Core (Korah) who contradicted God’s Word by opposing Moses who was God's prophet, and Balaam, a preacher who pursued financial gain, just like Judas.

ISAIAH 65:11But ye are they that forsake the LORD (the written Word), that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, (church leaders are swayed by numbers and follow the majority) and that furnish the drink offering unto that number (we do communion, without foot washing, in the morning because everyone else finds that this is most convenient. Jesus introduced communion at night time together with foot washing, but that is too inconvenient for us, and we want to keep our church members comfortable)

ISAIAH 65:12  Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.

Denominational church members, even though they are saved from hell, are still heading for the Tribulation because Jesus stands outside the door of the church, and we do not listen to His Word. All Christians who do not worship the image of the beast in the Tribulation will be killed.

Revelation 13:15   And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

ISAIAH 65:15   And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name:

Our denominational names are a curse. We call ourselves Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists etc.

We should just be called Christians.

We have also lost the Name of God as we quote three titles. The Name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit is not a Name.

We no longer baptize in the Name of Jesus Christ as the apostles did.

Jude 1:25   To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.

God will rule in the future, both in the Millennium, and in the new heavens and the new earth.

ISAIAH 65:17   For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

So in the end God will set up a better system.

ISAIAH 65:18   But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

Those who want to believe the truth have to regard the apostles as being their true leaders.  These believers will be rejected by the church leaders for being Scriptural, and for claiming that the Name of God is Jesus Christ. But they will finally get their reward at the end. We may be rejected now, but we will be rejoicing then.

“I create Jerusalem a rejoicing” means that the Jews will finally come to receive the Gospel during the Tribulation.

ISAIAH 65:20There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.

During the Millennium, the Jewish survivors of the Tribulation and the heathen who never heard the Gospel and who survived Armageddon, will once again live to be almost 1 000 years old, just like it was before the Flood.

We live to 70 and regard a child as being 7 years old, which is one tenth of a life time. So a child of 100 is only one tenth of a life of 1 000 years. But anyone who sins will be crushed in the Millennium where Jesus will rule with a rod of iron. A sinner of 100 years will have no excuse as they will be old enough to know the difference between right and wrong, despite having only lived for one tenth of a life time.

ISAIAH 65:25The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.

The Millennium will be a wonderful 1 000 years of peace. And that is just the warm up for Eternity.

Book 66  The Revelation

This is the final picture, and sadly most of it is concerned with the error and evil that is in the church system.

So error is far more prevalent in the church system than what we care to think.

ISAIAH 66: 1Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?

Earth is but a footstool. We should be obedient to the spiritual kingdom of God’s Word. But where is God’s house as we have rejected His Word from our churches?

God now looks for the individual. Not the wealthy who arrogantly express their self-satisfaction that they are in need of nothing.

ISAIAH 66:2  …but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

ISAIAH 66:3    Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.

(Trinity, mega churches, rock-n-roll music, Christmas trees, Easter eggs, denominations, pastor domination, church leaders involved in politics, Christianity turned into “Big Business churchianity”, mini skirts, “as it was in the days of Sodom, so will it be at the Coming of the Son of Man”, marriage, divorce, and re-marriage)

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 spake, they did not hear (we no longer believe what is written in the Bible. Thus Jesus stands outside the church door): but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not (Our modern world with its excesses is going to be destroyed in the Tribulation. The church has drifted into modern worldliness, which does not impress God as He stands outside the church)

ISAIAH 66:5  Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; (take the Bible seriously) Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, (reject baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ)  said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, (this is the last age when the Lord comes to catch away His people) and they shall be ashamed (when they are left behind in the great Tribulation).

ISAIAH 66:6   A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, (the Gospel goes back to the Jews in the Tribulation) a voice of the LORD that rendereth recompence to his enemies (Israel is under attack in the Tribulation, with two prophets to defend her during that time.)

ISAIAH 66:7  Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.   (Israel travailed 2 000 years ago to bring forth Messiah as a Child Who had to grow up and die. This time He just appears to the Jews. The  Jews have returned to their homeland and soon Messiah will suddenly return to the Jews)

ISAIAH 66:8   Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once?  (144 000  Jews are born again)  for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. 

The great Tribulation is only three and a half years long. So the Jewish remnant accept Jesus as Saviour and are born again in a short frame of time.

ISAIAH 66:12For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream:

The Jews are forgiven and reconciled to Jesus by the same Gospel that saved the Gentiles.

ISAIAH 66:15   For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.

ISAIAH 66:16   For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

The Lord returns after the Tribulation to destroy the world systems at Armageddon.

ISAIAH 66:18    it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.   (Armageddon is the gathering of nations. That massive destruction will establish the glory of God in the eyes of all the survivors of Armageddon)

ISAIAH 66:19   And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them  (the survivors of Armageddon) unto the nations … to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles (the heathen who had never heard the Gospel)

ISAIAH 66:20   And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, (Jesus will establish a new Temple for the millennium. The heathen who never heard the Gospel and who survived the Tribulation will then have to serve God)  saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD (the Jews who survive the Tribulation)

ISAIAH 66:21   And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD. (The Jewish survivors will be the priesthood in this new millennium Temple)

ISAIAH 66:22  For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain..

The millennium  is not the new heavens and the new earth. It is “as” the new heavens because Christ is King and rules the earth. It is the “first” heaven, the first taste of heaven on earth.

But sin is so awful that God leaves a reminder of its consequences to ensure that no-one in the millennium is unaware of the fate of unbelievers and those who fought against the Jews.

ISAIAH 66:24   And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me:

In the Millennium, King Jesus and His Bride (the true church) will rule in righteousness, and the Jews will govern the earth.

Isaiah closes off with this happy state of affairs. The righteous finally have their reward.

 

To finish off, let us look at Isaiah Chapter 39.

The 39th Book of the Bible is Malachi, which is the closing of the Old Testament.

Isaiah, in Chapter 39, speaks of the good king Hezekiah who got a present from Babylon, and invited the Babylonians to come and see all his treasures. Babylon was filthy rich, and Hezekiah wanted to impress Babylon, and show the Babylonians that he was just like them as he also had a lot of wealth.

This was his fatal mistake. These events happened more than 700 years BC. Yet Isaiah chooses this moment to cut off his version of the Old Testament.

Those Jews got cut off about  120 years later when Babylon took them into captivity.

Malachi wrote his prophecy about 400 BC. So Isaiah stopped about 300 years before Malachi.

What is God thereby trying to teach us?

When the righteous get involved with Babylon (the denominational church systems) then God draws a line and decides to cut them off. The actual cutting off may happen much later, but the fatal mistake was made when the righteous wanted to compare themselves with Babylon. After that their doom was sealed. Many years may still have passed, but it made no difference as their final fate has been decided. Once the righteous invited Babylon in, the writing was on the wall, and they were doomed to fall many years later.

When the righteous meddle with the errors of Babylon, which symbolizes denominational religion, then it is all over. The path to the great Tribulation has been chosen and the Tribulation will overwhelm the saved Christians that are in those systems. A denomination is any religious system that bases their beliefs on the statements or quotes of a man, without running these quotes through the Bible to make sure that they are Scriptural.

 

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” — 1 Corinthians 16:23