Bible Study: March 8, 2023

Tonight we will finish up chapter 27 tonight, which was a very hopeful scripture. The series of chapters that we're in right now are very future-oriented, talking about the millennium, even when we get into some prophecies here in chapter 28, 29, and the early 30s. Very hopeful because, as we're going to see, God will show us what is going to happen. And, of course, the end result is the magnificent return of Jesus Christ, the establishment of a government on earth that will be good for all of mankind. And we see people turning to God, you know, for the most part. We know from Revelation that not everyone will, but we can pray that everyone will see the goodness of God, and certainly that we do in our lives. So just to bring us up to speed to where we were last week in Isaiah 27, we were talking about people returning. Remember, we talked about the vineyard, we visited chapter 5, where God was talking about His people. Here we find the vineyard talked about again in chapter 27. He talks about Israel coming back after having lost their lands, being scattered throughout all the nations. And you remember in verse 5 there, He kind of gives a kind of the means of reconciliation between man and God. In verse 5, take hold of my strength, look to God, look to God, you know, cling to Him, make peace with God, and He'll make peace with us. It's a very simple but a very beautiful thing of what God wants is for all men to be reconciled to Him. So in last week we ended in chapter 9, or not chapter 9, verse 9 of chapter 27. And in that verse, it was talking about how the sin of Jacob would be covered. And basically, He would be putting away all the idols from among Him. It says there in verse 9, He will make all the stones of the altar like chalk stones that are beaten to dust, wooden images and incense, altars shall not stand. Throughout the Old Testament, we see God telling Israel, you know, don't look at what the foreign lands are doing. Don't cling to their gods. And when they turn back to Him, just like you and I, clear the landscape of the altars, clear the landscape of all the other gods, serve God alone. And that is exactly the picture that's showing there in verses 7, 8, and 9. And we came to verse 10. You know, Israel will return to God, is what He says there. They will beat those altars to chalk, and they will get rid of all those images and incense. And yet in verse 10, He says that the fortified city will be desolate. And verses 10 and 11 are interesting verses because they can mean a couple of different things.

Some commentators will say that verse 10 is talking about Jerusalem. Now we'll look at a couple of verses about Jerusalem because Jerusalem was desolate. They were at the time that they fell to the Babylonians. They were decimated. People were carried off captive. And so even when they came back, the city was desolate, and it could have a future implication as well. On the other hand, it could be all the other cities that we talked about in those chapters 13 to 23 that talked about how all these other cities would fall and be left desolate. So could be one, could be Israel, the house of Israel that He's talking about, could be the foreign cities, or could just be the world at that time, that every city, every city is going to suffer, and every city is going to suffer desolation and being brought low because of the sins that are in them. So let's look at verse 10 here. It says, yet the fortified city will be desolate. So even though Israel repents and turns to God in verse 9, yet the fortified city will be desolate. Fortified would be a strong city, something that is difficult to conquer. The habitation will be forsaken and left like a wilderness. There the calf will feed, and there it will lie down and consume its branches. So let's look at a few verses because in Jeremiah, it does talk about Jerusalem being left desolate. So if we turn over to Jeremiah 44, looking at my notes here, we're in verse 11. Yeah, Jeremiah 44. I'm reading ahead, I'm sorry, just to refresh my mind of what I just wrote just a day ago. Jeremiah 44. Yeah, Jeremiah 44 verse 1. The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwell in the land of Egypt. Now you'll remember that when Babylon was conquering, there was a group of Jews that were going to go to Egypt. God had told them not to go to Egypt, stay there, stay there and serve Babylon. They went anyway. So here in verse chapter 44, he's talking to those people.

The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwell in the land of Egypt, who dwell at Mignal, at Tapanese, and in the country of Pathros, saying, Thus as the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, you have seen all the calamity that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah. And behold, this day they are in desolation, and no one dwells in them. Why? Because of their wickedness, which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense and to serve other gods whom they didn't know, they nor you nor your fathers. However, I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Don't do this abominable thing that I hate, but they didn't listen or incline their ear to turn from their wickedness to burn no incense to other gods. So my fury and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they are wasted and desolate as it is this day. So, Jerusalem, you know, you'll remember, earlier on, in Ahaz's time, God said, Assyria will not enter into Jerusalem. They will come, they will come, and they will be close to the borders, and they will taunt you, and they will terrify you, but they will not enter Jerusalem, and Assyria didn't.

Jerusalem didn't learn their lesson. Judah didn't learn their lesson, and so Babylon did. God allowed Babylon to come in and conquer Jerusalem, and that city lay desolate. So when we read in Isaiah 27 about, yet the city will lie desolate, yes, they returned, but the city is still there. It has been conquered, and God always explains the reason why. He always says why it happened.

Not because they always, people turn away from God, and He withholds their blessings and takes it away from them.

So we can also talk, you know, so we could, we could turn some other verses about Jerusalem being conquered as well, but let's go back, and we can, we can talk about some of the cities that we read about already in Isaiah.

Let's go back to Isaiah 13, because these other cities, the cities of all those nations and lands around Israel that we spoke of that God said, will lie desolate, and those lands were. We look at Isaiah 13. It's the burden against Babylon, and eventually Babylon is left desolate as well.

They, God uses them to punish Judah. They become prideful. They taunt the God, brought the Medes and Persians in, and humbled Babylon. So in verse 9, verse 9, yeah, Isaiah 13 verse 9, So we're talking clearly about an end time.

So, you know, we could, we could rehearse many, many things that we've talked about over the last several weeks. But when we talk about this fortified city, you know, it could be the whole world that God is talking about. The Lord, the world has been just laid desolate. Now it did happen in that area of the world in the Middle East. Remember when we were back in the Middle East and we were talking about the earth, and at that time it was the earth as it was known then. And basically it was the Middle East and that northern part of the Mediterranean Sea.

But in the end time, it's the whole world. God talks about the world being desolate. And so you have this fortified city, and when Christ returns and Israel is brought back to their promised land, and they are now repentant and humble before God, yet you have this desolation that is still all around. And you remember, well, we can go forward to Isaiah 61 where God says they will rebuild the ruins, the cities, not all the cities, some like Babylon will never be rebuilt. So you have this picture, if we go back to Isaiah 27, 10, talking about, okay, the desolation has occurred because mankind has rejected God, and yet you have the fortified cities that are still laying desolate, and there's just livestock that is habitating in them.

As we talk about in Babylon, we see that picture that Babylon will never be rebuilt. It will just be animals that graze there. So if we look at verse 11, then we continue in that in Isaiah 27, it says, Now in verse 11, it looks like God is talking about Israel because the verbiage that's there in verse 11 can draw us back to another prophecy back in Deuteronomy 28 that talks about what happens when Israel turns from God and no longer follows Him.

So let's go back to Deuteronomy 32, that song of Moses that we've turned to a few times as we've been in these prophecies. And you remember the latter chapters of Deuteronomy talk about the latter end of Israel near the end time. In Deuteronomy 32, we see verbiage that is very similar to what God is inspiring Isaiah to write in Isaiah 27. It says, And the Lord has surrendered them.

So we see this time, you know, when you look at, we'll come back to chapter 28 here in a few verses later on, we get into Isaiah 28, where God is talking about it through Moses, you know, in the latter days, here's what's going to happen. You're going to turn from God, and these blessings that you have gotten used to enjoying are going to be taken away, and there's going to be this devastation that comes upon the people. And we learn just how important God's blessing is, and when it's no longer with us, how difficult life is when we're living in a world that doesn't have God in it anymore.

So if we go back to Isaiah 27, we say it's a people of no understanding. Therefore, he who made them will not have mercy on them, and he who formed them will show them no favor. That's a very sad day, you know, when we look at that and think, you know, it's a very sad day for God, too, that he has to bring his people to the point where they have to suffer the consequences and find out what life without God is like.

Not a pleasant thing at all. Now, you know, if we look at verse 11, you may have thought, when its bowels are withered, they will be broken off. And that may remind you of Romans, Romans 11. So let's go forward into the New Testament in Romans 11. Later on, we'll get into chapter 28. We're going to look at a verse that kind of shows us how God builds our knowledge, how God builds the Bible, how God has built, you know, civilization, our experiences, man's experience leading up to the return of Jesus Christ. But here in chapter 11, we find Paul talking about God, you know, not God casting away his people, if you will.

The Jews had always seen themselves as God's people. And yet when Jesus Christ came, some people believed in Jesus Christ, but others didn't. They just sort of, they just didn't follow him. And so you had some who were understanding and some didn't, and you have this split in the Jewish nation. And we see this in verse 16. We see this in verse 16 where Paul talks about the branches, the branches that are being cut off, similar to what we've just read here in verse 11 of Isaiah 27, when his boughs are withered, they will be broken off.

In Romans 11, verse 16, we read this, for if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. The basic concept, right? And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree. Now he's talking about the Gentiles here being grafted into the olive tree because some of them, some of the Israelites, those branches have been broken off.

They no longer, they do not believe in Jesus Christ as a Savior. Same situation we have with the Jews today. So he's talking about, of course, the Gentiles, as they understand, they're grafted into the olive tree. So it says here, being a wild olive tree, if you were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, don't boast against the branches.

But if you do boast, remember that you don't support the root, but the root supports you. Our root is in Jesus Christ. We have no reason to be proud of anything about us. It's God who gives us the knowledge. It's God who gives us the, the even ability to understand the Bible. It has nothing to do with us except His mercy on us and His Holy Spirit that leads us to understanding. You will say, verse 19, then, branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.

Well said, because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Don't be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore, consider the goodness and severity of God on those who fell, severity, but toward you, goodness, if.

And I always say that's one of the biggest little words in the Bible, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, which when Christ returns, there will be Israel that does repent, Ezekiel 7 tells us that Israel will loathe themselves for what they have done. They also, if they don't continue in unbelief, will be grafted in for God is able to graft them in again.

For if you were cut out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will those who are natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?

So what God is saying is He's opened our minds. He's made us family. He has made us part of those branches that need to remain very well connected to Jesus Christ. Just like in John 15, where it talks about stay attached to the vine.

But don't let pride. Don't think it's about you. Just be thankful and humble and grateful to God that He has opened our minds to be part of what we now know and understand. Some don't, but He can bring them back in as well. We know when Christ returns, as we've read in Joel 2, Jeremiah 31, His Spirit will be poured out on all nations, and they will understand.

We hope the vast majority of them will come to understand God. So if we go back to Isaiah 27, we see this kind of hint of what the New Testament will talk about. You cannot understand the New Testament without understanding the Old Testament. You can't understand the latter parts of the Old Testament without understanding the early.

Oftentimes, it's said that you can't understand the Bible unless you understand the book of Genesis. You can't understand the world we live in unless you understand the book of Genesis, where there's so much of the beginning of things that have continued through society. So anyway, I'm getting off the subject here, but let's go back to Isaiah 27 here.

So God is showing that there's still going to be the ruins that have to be rebuilt. People will come back to God, and there's this activity that will have to occur when Jesus Christ returns to earth. And then in verse 12, He talks about this gathering that's going to happen. Here are those three words.

God knows exactly where His people are. He knows exactly where Israel is. And when He says that one by one, I'm going to bring you back to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you'll be brought back there. He knows exactly where His people are. And in verse 13, Here's the great trumpet.

We celebrate the day of the Feast of Trumpets. We read about that a little bit back in Leviticus 23 in the Holy Days. Very little said about trumpets then, but later on in Numbers 10, we read about what the purpose of the trumpets in Israel were. We see the trumpeteer. We talk about a trumpet, Jesus Christ, and the Olivet Prophecy. And of course, in the book of Revelation, we see what those trumpets are at the time of the end, leading up to the return of Jesus Christ, little by little. Little by little, God reveals what His plan is for mankind and for this earth. So it shall be, in that day, the great trumpet will be blown. They will come who are about to perish in the land of Assyria. So He gives some clues of where His people, you know, His people, when He talks about His people, it's the Israel, right? The Israel who yielded to God, the descendants of Abraham, where they are, they will come who are about to perish in the land of Assyria. They're about to perish, but God says not all of them will be wiped out. There's that remnant this there. They will come who are about to perish in the land of Assyria. And they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, there's some of the outcasts that will be over there in Egypt. And they will come there, you know, when at the time of Jerusalem's fall to Babylon, some fled to Egypt. Apparently, in that day, there will be some in the land of Egypt, too, or wherever God, the spiritual Egypt is. Of course, we know the spiritual Egypt is the world we live in, too, when you get into the New Testament times. And they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, and they shall worship the Lord in the holy mount of Jerusalem. And then we come back there, and then we have that beautiful picture that we have in Isaiah 2 that, you know, everyone will come to the mountain of the house or the mountain of the Lord, the Mount Zion, to worship God. So you have out of this devastation, you always have the hope, the beautiful world where Jesus Christ returns, and He truly brings peace, harmony, joy to a world that has been absolutely battered, all because of their choice to follow Satan and not yield to God. So we come to chapter 27, the end of it. Let me look at my notes here for just a minute. Yeah, we should look at Jeremiah 30 in relation to that, the last few verses there. Jeremiah 30. You know, we've been in this chapter before where it talks about the time of Jacob's trouble and how this fear and trembling comes on. It's this time that is there. But in verses 8 through 11, we see God bringing the people back. We have, you know, these verses, if we can place ourselves in verses 5, 6, and 7 and see and imagine what it would be like when you're living in a time of peace and you're not prepared for war, and the devastation that comes from it and the terror that comes from it. And then in verse 8, it's always God who brings out to the other side, comparing it to what it's like, the pain that a woman goes through when she's bearing a child, but then the joy that's there when that child is born. In verse 8 then, following this terrible time of Jacob's trouble, says, That would be Assyria that we were talking about, or Egypt, or wherever God's people have been that they've been in captivity.

Remember that? We read all those prophecies where God says, So you see God bringing his people, bringing his people back, they will be an example to the rest of the world, they will be that holy nation that exemplifies God's way of life when they come back. Let's also turn forward to the book of Amos. The number Amos is a contemporary of Isaiah as well. In Amos 1-1, we see the same kings that Amos was prophesying under that Isaiah was. If we look at the last chapter of Amos 9 and verse 13, let's look at verses 11 as well.

Stopping down to verse 13, We have these sure words from God. Later on in Isaiah, you'll remember chapter 55, where God says, My word, when it goes out, it won't come back to me void. It will happen exactly the way I said. We've already seen in the prophecies in chapters 13-23 of those that have been fulfilled. This is exactly the way that God said they would be fulfilled when we speak of Babylon, when we speak of Tyre, and we see the improbable things that happened with these cities. Yet, it is exactly the way God said, even naming Cyrus, 150 years before Cyrus was born, and citing in verse 45, See, I have named you before you ever were. Israel, people, everywhere, trust in God. Because his word is absolutely sure, and he will make it come to pass.

Okay, let me pause. Any questions on chapter 27? We'll move into chapter 28. We'll get into some prophecies here that appear to be end-time prophecies leading up to the return of Jesus Christ. We'll talk about that a little bit here. First one is going to be about Ephraim. You know, all of Israel, God's people. Mr. Shaby? Yeah, Floyd? Yes, sir. You read a verse in Jeremiah where it talks about God, the prophets, when he sends them, they rise early, and he sends them. There's meaning behind that, and I believe it is you have a mission to do, do it, and get busy with it, and don't waver. The other thing is, I feel, I would like to have your thoughts on this. Do you think the delivery will be more forceful, powerful, in days to come, like the prophets, when they were sent, the two witnesses, when they speak? I mean, is it going to be more direct? You know what we're doing now? Yeah. I had someone mention about how Mr. Armstrong, when he preached, he was a voice crying out in the wilderness, and that he didn't feel maybe that we might have been doing that since Mr. Armstrong passed away. But I feel that the delivery might change towards the later days. I was just wondering what your thoughts are on that. You know, I mean, God will lead us where he wants to, but yes, I believe the delivery has to be stronger. I mean, we have to make a statement. We have to be able to say what is really going on and not just kind of couch it in terms. God expects people to be bold. You look at the examples of the apostles, they were bold, right? They spoke boldly. We know the truth, and we need to be proclaiming it boldly, especially in a world now where it just seems to be disintegrating so quickly. I mean, there are lies that are just out there. I mean, we have people that are exposing things in the world. We can see things going on in the world. And God's always say, cry aloud, spare not, right? Tell my people their sin.

God will lead us into that. But yes, I do believe the message is going to be much stronger in the years ahead.

I'm sorry. Yeah, go ahead, Garda, then Bob.

Okay. Verse 13 there, the closest chapter is interesting because the mention of the great Trump, that it's almost an unmistakable time marker of when this thing should probably be happening. But then the reference to both Syria and Egypt, when you think about ancient Israel, the context of them with these nations is that they were slaves in those nations.

And if you apply the, I guess, the type and anti-type concept, it's possible that what's suggesting here is that they will have to come out of those, whatever those nations are now.

It's more an indication of the status than even their location. They'll probably be under subjugation at that time, and God has to take them out of that.

Yeah, I mean, the Bible talks about being captive, right? It's hard for us to imagine captivity, but the Bible sure indicates that, right? And bringing people back.

Bringing back, of course, that's the land over in the Middle East that they were promised. But yeah, Bob?

Yes, Mr. J.B. This is in reference to verse 11, where it says, hello?

Yes, this is in verse 11, where it says, for these people have no understanding.

So, in general, the world doesn't know what we understand, but back in the 90s, when apostasy started, the writers of the worldwide news were laughing at the British.

The US had written a prophecy booklet, and they said they're looking for extra-biblical stuff. So those were the writings of those apostates in 1995.

They didn't believe that stuff, so they threw out their understanding. And curiously, last week, I read the news from Jerusalem Post that King Charles will be crowned and will be consecrated with oil, anointed with oil from Jerusalem, the ones that are drawn in Jerusalem.

We understand that, but some people threw their understanding out, and so that just struck me when I saw verse 11.

It's interesting you bring that up, because we have the series of Beyond Today programs, and we're going to be doing some 30-second ads on networks across there, because we're going to talk about that coronation.

This is kind of like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to throw the truth of God out there in no uncertain terms.

We have this series of five programs we're going to be advertising, but we have that anointing oil to tie those things right back to David.

Why this throne? What is this throne over in England? Why is it so popular? Why is it so visible? And tie that right back to the throne that Jesus Christ will be.

That'll be coming out here, I mean, in the next month, I think, in the middle of April, is when we're beginning those programs and starting that advertising in a lot of ways to throw that truth back out there to people.

We think the way the ads are going to be that it'll draw people to the program and to the website where we can kind of chronicle about the kingdom of God and the return of Jesus Christ.

Mr. Shaby?

Yes, sir.

It's interesting, that anointing, everything, that oil will come from the vicinity of Mount Avalla there in Jerusalem.

Yeah, I mean, how everything ties back there is kind of undeniable. I mean, you have to have your eyes closed if you don't see the tie between the throne of England and in Israel.

But that'll be pointed out, but I'm sure people will have their, well, maybe some will hear and see the truth of the Bible. That's what we're going to tie it to in God's Word.

Okay, let's move on to Chapter 28 then.

Now, God, again, these prophecies that we go into for the next five, six chapters here are quite pointed.

You know, they're not the same as the prophecies we read in Chapters 13 to 23. They had to do with some nations, but as we're going to look through these, we're going to see that these are more not the same as they were back then.

Not all about the then fulfillment. We've already had that foundation that what God says will happen will happen, but these are going to be talking about what's happening as we lead up to the return of Jesus Christ.

So, verse 1, God begins with woe. Here's what's going to happen. Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim.

So, when he talks about the crown of pride, I mean, we think of crowns, I mean, we think of pride, and Ephraim in this case is talking about Israel.

You know, sometimes God will use Ephraim as just all of Israel, just like sometimes it's Jesurin, sometimes it's Jacob. But here's Ephraim.

And Ephraim is going to be this proud, this proud nation on earth, right? And so we look at the world around us today and we see America.

We see, I mean, we see pride, right? We believe we are invincible. We no longer really, you know, the nation itself doesn't really look at the blessings that we have come from God, so we yield to Him. We more and more about ourselves.

So we have this enormous pride that the whole world, you know, pride that blinds and pride that leads you into a fall, as it tells us in there. And we have this crown of pride to the drunkards of Ephraim.

Now, I'm going to say, you know, when we get into these chapters here and you look at the commentaries of the world, they don't get the return of Jesus Christ. They don't get who Israel is at the end of the age. They don't get Jesus Christ returning and bringing Israel back to their promised land.

Some of these prophecies, they think, were fulfilled that they're only about Jews and were fulfilled in 1948 when the little nation of Israel in the Middle East there began.

And some of those, some were brought back, but this is talking about the house of Israel and not just Judah. So we have the crown of pride. We're going to have this pride that marks God's people, His people of Israel, to the drunkards of Ephraim.

And as I read the commentary, some of them just say, you know, they're given to intoxicating drink. And of course, you know, there's that physical part of intoxication.

But really, it's the spiritual drunkenness that we're going to talk about here as we talk about it in drunkards, because God talks about drunkenness, not just about drinking too much wine or too much, you know, hard liquor or whatever, but the spiritual drunkenness.

We have that symbolism throughout the New Testament, and it's a very telling thing that we have when we get into there. When we talk about the drunkenness of Adam, probably even as I say drunkenness, it's going to counter up some thoughts in your mind about drunkenness.

Let me get to that a little bit when we get to verse 2, though. Let me go on through here.

Woe to the crown of pride to the drunkards of Ephraim. They have become drunk. You know, when we're intoxicated, we don't think straight, we don't make right decisions.

We go off and do things that we would never do. If we were sane and if we had our wits about us, just like if we depart from God's way and we're not living by His Holy Spirit, we default to our old way of doing things.

We're going to make silly mistakes, do things that we regret, but when we're led by God's Holy Spirit, we make right decisions, we see the right thing when we're led by God.

So we got this drunkenness that God is talking about, and then He talks about this fading beauty that's there among Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower.

You know what? What nation, what group of nations has been more beautiful than the English-speaking nations of the earth for the last 200 years?

You have the British Empire, that was the toast of the world. You have America, that's a beautiful country physically that has been just a light to the world.

The government that God is allowed to be here has been a blessing to all the world around us. We are blessed to live in a time like this and enjoy blessings that we're told that no other nation has ever enjoyed in this time.

But their glorious beauty, and beauty isn't just about the physical, right? There's the spirit in a people as well. Their glorious beauty is a fading flower.

Now, the Bible talks about fading flowers. It talks about man being a fading flower, the grass that withers away. You know, we're born.

We go through our childhood into adolescence, young adulthood. There's the vibrance, there's the strength, there's the beauty as we build our career and build our lives.

Then our lives begin to wane, and the beauty begins to fade, and the strength begins to fade.

Let's look at a few of those, because God uses the similar analogies throughout the Bible to pick the picture of what he's looking at. Keep your finger there in Isaiah 28. Let's go forward with Isaiah 40.

As we go through the book of Isaiah, we come back to these same concepts and analogies over and over again as God progresses this book to the end of it, where he talks about the kingdom of God. Let's look at Isaiah 40 in verse 6.

Verse 6, the voice said, cry out, and he said, well, what will I cry?

All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it.

Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, we all disappear, our vitality wanes, we die, but the word of our God stands forever.

That speaks to God's purpose. We have a time here on earth. This is just part of what God has in mind for us. His will is that all will yield to Him, all will repent, all will be able to receive the gift of eternal life. The word of our God stands forever.

David talks about the same thing. If we go back to Psalm 103. The people that God inspired, and the words that we have written before us, it's the same inspiration, the same God who's writing these verses. Let's begin in verse 11. I'm going to come down to verse 15. It's always good to get the context.

For He knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourishes, for the wind passes over it, and it's gone, and its place remembers it no more.

But the mercy of the eternal is from everlasting to everlasting, on those who fear Him and His righteousness to children's children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments, to do them.

God's mercy is sure. His word lasts forever to those who yield to Him and adopt His way of life.

I turn back to Isaiah. I hope you're still in Psalm. Let's look at Psalm 90 as well.

Psalm 90 in verse 5.

I'm just going to read 5. You can read 3 and 4 later as well.

In the morning it flourishes and grows up. In the evening it's cut down and withers.

We have these continuing analogies.

The time of Isaiah, they would have had some of these psalms.

When Isaiah is saying this, it's like, our time on earth is there.

But here's this nation. Here's Ephraim. They're a beautiful nation, but they fade. They've been beautiful. They've been productive.

But it's all gotten to their minds. They no longer give God credit for anything that He has done.

They become proud. We can turn to all those verses about, pride comes before a fall, leads to destruction, and so their beauty fades.

Xavier?

Hi, Brother Chibi. We read that last week, who the king of such is when we behave like that, or when a person practices such.

What was it? Job 41? He's king over the children of pride, Satan is.

Yep. Very good.

Okay, so let's go back to Isaiah 28. We get the picture of what God is talking about here.

We've got a nation that has been vibrant, exciting, beautiful. It's beginning to fade.

If we've got our eyes open, we see that happening. In our nation today, it's becoming less and less vibrant. It's beginning to fade.

Even here, some of the commentators on the news are talking about our decline. I heard that from a commentator, and it caught my ears.

We are in a state of decline. Even they see what's going on in the world around us. I hope we all have our eyes wide open as well.

Let me just read verse 1 and finish it up here.

Throughout this chapter, we're going to come back to this intoxicating drink. Let's pause there and look at this intoxicating drink.

What does it do to men? We know what it does physically, but there are some verses about that. Let's go to Proverbs 31.

Proverbs 31 is about the virtuous woman, but the lead-in chapter is a mother telling her son who will be king.

Here's the pitfalls to be watching out for.

She tells her that if you can find a woman like this, she's worth more than rubies.

Leading up to that, here's what she tells him. Proverbs 31 verse 4.

It's not for kings, O Lemuel. It's not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes intoxicating drink.

Doesn't mean you should never have a drink.

Don't get drunk because you lose your wits at that point, lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the justice of all the afflicted.

This is what happens. If you get drunk, people can lure you into something. You make some decisions that aren't wise.

Watch what's going on.

She's talking about intoxicating drink, the wine of the world. It's a thing to be aware of.

We could go to Hosea. Hosea, you know, forward in the Bible. Hosea comes after Daniel.

Daniel, Hosea, verse 11. Remember, Hosea is a contemporary of Isaiah as well. The same for kings that Isaiah was prophesying under. Hosea prophesied as well.

They were saying similar things, as you would expect. The people of God do, all speaking the same thing.

Here in chapter 4, verse 11, it says, Harlotry, wine and new wine, enslave the heart.

They enslaved the heart. They throw harlotry in there. Is it just harlotry, physical harlotry? No.

We know that if we come back, if we go to the end of the Bible, the time right before Jesus Christ's return, we see wine.

We see this drunkenness, what it leads to, and the abominations that it results in. Revelation 17.

Revelation 17.

Of course, we talked about the Beast Power 4. We've done a Bible study, but we went through all the Book of Revelation.

So we remember these things, and you remember them from sermons you've heard as we've gone through the fall Holy Days.

Let's just pick it up in verse 1 here. We're going to read through the first six verses, but we're going to see this analogy in living color, if you will, at the end time.

It's not there talking about physical wine, but the spiritual intoxication, the spiritual drunkenness, the spiritual wine that people drink that leads to an awful society.

One of the seven angels who had the seven bulls came and talked with me, saying to me, Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters.

Spiritual harlotry, it's talking about here. The nations have committed harlotry with this Babylon, mystery religion, Babylon, the society that's extant at that time.

I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

They reveled in all the evil that was going on at that time. They were made drunk. They lost their senses.

Look at the world around us today. Some of the things we have to marvel and think, what has happened to the world? How can they call this good?

It's like they're drinking from some wine cup that you and I are not familiar with.

We need to remain that way and stay apart from the world and not try to figure out what they're doing because they are drinking from a cup that is absolutely going to lead to nothing but misery.

With whom the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

And so, He carried me away in the spirit of the wilderness. I saw a woman, church, sitting on a scarlet beast, which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Not of God. Power derives from Satan, as we read in Revelation 13. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, adorned with golden precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.

Here we have this wine cup, and the world is drinking from it. All the evil it spews out, all the things that they put into their minds.

And on her forehead a name was written, Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and of the abominations of the earth.

And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. What satisfied them? Killing God's people, wiping out His truth, destroying anything about God they can.

We know from Revelation 13, it's the power of Satan is this. Satan is always dedicated to wipe out God and His people at any cost.

And the world has gone mad at this time because they are drunk with the blood of the saints. They are drunk with the abominations that's being poured out of the media, poured out of the powers that be at that time, and they have lost all their senses.

And so when we look at Isaiah 28, when we look at the world before the time before Jesus Christ returns, when we look at Isaiah 28, we see the people of Ephraim, God's people who He has richly blessed, who did know God, who He has given, He has given blessings and even His word to.

You know, they've become drunk. They've lost their minds, if you will.

Now, this is certainly an end-time thing. It happened, of course, when they turned from God, but this is a different feel in this thing. To those who are overcome with wine, they no longer see clearly.

Let's go back to Isaiah 28, verse 2.

Behold, behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one.

Well, in the old days, in the time of ancient Israel, the mighty and strong one was Assyria, and He used Assyria to conquer Israel.

He used Babylon to conquer Judah when they would not yield to God, and they wouldn't listen to the words that He had to say, listen to the prophets that were there, where they were crying aloud and sparing not and telling the people their sins, but they would not.

They wouldn't listen. Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one, like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm.

You know, again, hail is one of those things. It's rare in our lives, but it's destructive when it comes. When the Bible talks about hail, it's talking about this army, this stuff that happens, like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm.

We don't have to turn back to Joel 2. We've been to Joel 2 other times, where it talks about this army that marches forward, and everything before it loses its color, they run in fear because it's a devastating army.

But the interesting thing is when you look at this hail, you see this back in Revelation as well. God uses the same analogy about this hail back in Revelation 16.

In verse 21, right before chapter 17 that we just read, in chapter 16, talking about the bulls, the bulls of the seventh trumpet, those trumpets that sound, and the trumpet that sounds when Jesus Christ is about to return to the earth, that we read about in the end of chapter 27.

In Revelation 16, it says, Now that's the literal hail, but here we have this hail. So maybe it is a literal hail that God is talking about here, but he's talking about this strong one that's going to come, like a tempest of hail.

It's going to be devastating. In Revelation 16, 21, it's a torment on people. And so this torment comes. It will come like a tempest of hail, a destroying storm.

I think we've all lived in places where there's been destroying storms. Last week, I think it was last week, there was these windstorms that came through Ohio.

You can see the destruction of that when you look at the devastation that happens in some areas because the wind just comes in and blows everything down.

People without power, which is a trial, when that happens with us, and that's just minor compared to what's going to happen.

But God has a mighty and strong one. He says in Jeremiah, people of Judah, turn back to me. There's someone from the north, watch what's going on here.

Like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, like a flood of mighty waters overflowing. Just devastating. Like a flood storms come through and you see those pictures, it just wipes out everything, everything in its in its path.

Like a flood of mining waters overflowing, who will bring them down to the earth with his hand.

Well, they're awfully proud. They think nothing can overthrow them. Can't possibly fall. Economy's too strong. Military whites too much. Endless money. We can print it from now until forever and we're never going to run out of money and nothing can affect us.

But all these things happen. And it says, God will bring them down to the earth with his hand because he says, as we bred in Obadiah and other places, any lofty thing will be brought low.

The crown of pride, he repeats it, the crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, will be trampled underfoot, and the glorious beauty is a fading flower.

A fading flower which is at the head of the verdant valley. Goes back and repeats what he did in verse one for emphasis. Which an observer sees, he eats it up while it is still in his hand. Oh, I missed the first there. Which is that the head of the verdant valley, like the first fruit before the summer, which an observer sees, he eats it up while it is still in his hand. It's an interesting verse that God puts there at the end of it when he repeats about the fading flower like the first fruit before the summer. Of course, in Israel fig trees, you would have these... Hold on just a second, Becky, let me finish this thought and then I'll be with you. The fig trees, and you would get some early figs. And so before the figs would be ripe at the end of the summer and people would just eat those figs because they were kind of like, this is the time for picking, it's kind of a foretaste of what would be coming.

When I look at this verse, the commentaries don't really help in understanding what it is except that something that will happen if you like the first fruit and snatch it up. Don't wait. Take it while it's there and don't wait for the rest of the fruit. And I have to wonder when I see the comments about a fading flower and a people that are drunk and decisions that are getting made and you kind of look at this fading flower and no longer the zenith of power, no longer the wisdom that was there, no longer the courage, no longer the saneness of a people, but a people that has gone completely astray in their thoughts and their actions. And could it be that what God is saying there is that this is a fading flower and when this the floods come, when the tempest comes, when all these things come that will bring them down, could it be? Could it be that that first fruit, let's take it while it's there and not wait any longer. Let's not wait for the fig tree to be fully in bloom. Let's take the fruit now and eat it up while it's in his hand. And could it indicate that this suddenly, the sudden destruction of Israel, the sudden destruction of his people will come just at a time when the world or these things that come against it think now is the time. Now is the time to do that. There's no reason to wait any longer. That's just some speculation, but something to think about when you read these verses and know where we are and how far we've come down, not just in America, but the whole world in the last three years. How far, far different in every way, shape, and form everything is in the world today than it was even three years ago. Now, Becky, I made you wait for a while, but Becky, are you still there? Do you want to make a comment? You're fine. It was just on the hill. I was on joke 38. It reminded me of joke 38. 22. Okay. Houses of the snow or seeing the storehouses of the hill, which are reserved for the times of trouble. Oh, yeah, we read that last week, too. That's right. Okay. Yeah, we were just there, but it still reminded me of it again was all. Okay. Okay. Very good. Oh, yeah, Dale.

Yeah, thank you. I thought of drunkenness and, you know, nadad and abayu, how they offer strange incense. And like a quote, a verse here, God's warning to, you know, those who are called, at least we can apply to us, that says, to not drink wine or strong drink you your sons with you when you go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest you die should be a statute forever throughout the generation. So seems like nadad and abayu were likely, I can't say 100%, but they were likely, you know, drunk. They weren't sound minded what they were doing. Their senses were dull, right? No, when our senses are dull, we make decisions. Yeah. Yeah. And just one other scripture that might talk about how we're so gone astray and it says in Romans chapter one, you know, about the reprobate mind. Yeah. Of course, that applies to sexual immorality, but I think it would apply to other things as well, would you? I agree. Yes, it is a mind that becomes totally corrupt in every way. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And just it just one other brief comment about the word reprobate the Greek it's part of the meaning seems to be spiritually or morally useless. That's a good way to for that's a good way. Yeah, totally useless. Yeah. Thank you.

Yeah, Becky. Just on what Dale was saying, I don't know where it is right off hand, but there is the verse that talks about how our conscience can become seared. Yeah, but basically, you know, corrupt were corrupted beyond what, in my opinion, is fixable at this point. So that reminds me of what Dale was saying. That's in 1 Timothy. I don't know this chapter versus 1 Timothy there. We got to be conscious that we don't let our consciousness become seared because then when they can't be rehealed, right?

We lose our sense. Okay, let's do a couple more verses. And because in verse five here, we say in that day, right? So leading up from all these first four verses we've had in Chapter 28, we come to in that day, the Lord of Hosts. We have a nation that God is blessed. It was beautiful. It has faded. It has become drunk on all the things. And, you know, it's been eaten up while it's still in his hand. But in that day, verse five, the Lord of Hosts will be for a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty.

Well, his kingdom will come. There was a beautiful kingdom there for a while that God was blessing. It lost its way, but Christ will return. There will be a beautiful kingdom that shows up that will truly be beautiful, truly be righteous, truly lead people to a way of life that will be beautiful.

To a way of life that will be a lasting way of life of everything good. And that day the Lord of Hosts will be for a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of his people. Well, this clearly ends time, right? Because, you know, we could go back to Isaiah 6, where God defines what the remnant of that people is in verse 13 of Isaiah 6.

Yet a tenth will be in it and will return and be for consuming as the terribim, the tree, the door, and the oak. So we talked about that several times. So here he's talking about this remnant again. It's after the destruction. Not all of Israel will be destroyed and the people, but the remnant will return.

We see this continuing to show up in these prophecies. So this is clearly end time. The Lord of Hosts will be for a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of his people for a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment and for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

Well, we know that Jesus Christ, you know, he is the ultimate judge, right? He is the perfect judge. We even see in the world around us today justice that is only given based on party lines. We see that more and more in justices, right? It's like, well, what kind of judge do you have?

Because he's going to make it based on what his beliefs are, which may be different than this guy's belief. And you have this perverted justice that we see emerging in our country that we didn't think we could ever see, but we see that happening around us. But Jesus Christ is the righteous judge. We can turn to some verses there. The spirit of justice, and we I guess we actually should. Let's go forward because Isaiah talks about this later on as well. So Isaiah 51. Isaiah 51 and verse 5, I think it is. Yeah, let's pick it up in verse 4. Isaiah 51 verse 4, Listen to me, my people, give ear to me, my nation, for law will proceed from me.

This is God speaking, right? I will set the laws. And his laws aren't there to just kind of clamp us down and to subdue us. His laws are there to set us free so we can enjoy life and enjoy all the things that people always say they want.

The only way to achieve that, happiness, joy, peace, unity, is through living God's way. Law will proceed from me, and I will make my justice rest as a light of the peoples. My righteousness is near. My salvation has gone forth, and my arms will judge the peoples. The coastlands, notice that, you know, when you draw the picture of where are the English-speaking people today that, you know, fulfill those prophecies of Genesis 49. Their lands are pretty blessed with coastlands. England has more coasts than any other nation in Europe. America is blessed with coastlands. Australia is blessed with coastlands. Canada is blessed with coastlands, right? Myra, the coastlands will wait upon me, and on my arm, they will trust.

You know, God is a God of justice. Let me get, well, let's turn back to Psalm 67. I got some others here as well, but I don't want to take too much more of your time. We'll finish up here, but let's go back to Psalm 67. Psalm 67. Then we'll talk about the gates, and then we'll close for the night.

We didn't get nearly as far as I thought we would tonight, but that's okay. We should take this slowly and make sure we understand it. Psalm 67. Verse 4. Well, you know what? Again, let's just read the first four verses. I hate to just pull one verse out so we can see the whole context. Part of the Bible studies is to see the Word of God and how it all interacts with one another and flows so perfectly. Verse 1, God be merciful to us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us.

Say, law, that your way may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God. Let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you shall judge the people righteously and govern the nations on earth. Say, law, God will be the righteous judge. On that day, justice will be exactly justice.

No one will be able to look at God and say, that wasn't fair. You didn't base that on anything. Everyone, there will be no partiality. Judgment and justice will be exactly the way it should be, something that we see quickly fading from the world around us. Right? Mr. Shady, which scripture is that, please? That was Psalm 67 verse 4. Thank you. So we go back to verse 8 here, or verse 6 in chapter 28 of Isaiah. And for strength, he says, for a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment. So when Christ returns, he will be the righteous judge.

People who will be sitting in those seats will be led by his Holy Spirit. They will judge righteous judgment under him. And he will be for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. When we turn back the battle at the gate, you're guarding the way into your country, right? You turn the battle back. I'm not going to let that enter into my gates.

So we can think about where God talks about gates, right? He talks about the Sabbath day, for instance, in Exodus 20. No work will be done within your gates. Keep the commandment in your gates. Make sure that in your gates, evil, sin, departure from God's way doesn't happen in your gates. You can't control what goes on in the outside world, but in our gates, we can turn back that battle. Make sure that there's nothing going on there that can't happen or that should happen the other six days a week, but not at the Sabbath day.

In Jeremiah 17, we see this word show up many times in Jeremiah 17. Do I have the right scripture there? Jeremiah 17 verse 19. Let's just read through these, because here, when God says turn back the battle at the gates, Jerusalem had gates. The cities of old have gates. We have gates that we need to turn back the battle, and in our territories, righteousness is what we always stand for and not let it come in. It's very interesting in Jeremiah 17, 19, through the next several verses how God talks about that in relation to the Sabbath day.

19. Go and stand in the gates of the children of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, and say to them, Hear the word of the eternal, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 20. Thus says the Lord, Take heed to yourselves, bear no burden on the Sabbath day, don't bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.

Don't carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day as I commanded your fathers. 21. But they didn't obey, nor incline their ear, but they made their next stiff that they might not hear or receive instruction. That's the resistance that we talk about. When we talk about Ahaz, he was a very resistant king. I'm just not going to listen to what God says. I don't want anything from him. And we have to be on guard that we don't let that come to us and have our next step, that we just don't listen to what God has to say.

22. It shall be, if you heed me carefully, says the Lord, to bring no burden through the gates of the city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work on it. 23. Then shall enter the gates of this city, kings and princes, sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, accompanied by the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city shall remain forever.

24. In those verses, God uses the Sabbath day, keeping the things holy in God, and that He has called us to live our lives in deference and holiness to Him, and respect what He has in our gates to make sure we're living that way.

When we do it, He will bring that blessing. I think in chapter 28, we'll end in verse 6 for tonight. He will be for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. Don't let it in. Don't let the world and its ideas and its compromise and its latency and attitudes into your life. Keep the Word of God carefully, diligently, exactly. Know it and practice it and stand in the gap, as it says in Ezekiel, for that. Now, I'll just reference because Dale talked about wine and preaching, and in verse 7, we get into that, right? Because God does have, for ministers, kind of a thing about not taking intoxicating drink when you're about to teach the Word of God. Make sure you've got a very, very clear head when you're doing that. So let's just stop there for tonight, and I'll open it up for any other discussion or any other questions we have. We'll pick it up at verse 7 next week. Yeah, Betsy. Betsy, you're going to have—yeah, there you go.

I have a header in Psalm 67. I don't know where, when it came from, but I've got Commission of the Church, and it really does fit what the Church's Commission is. There you go. It really does. Yeah, that's excellent. Very good. Beautiful. Thank you.

Anything else, anyone? Just to mention to Becky, I think it's 1 Timothy 4 verse 2 about the conscience seared with a hot iron. 1 Timothy 4-2. Hear that, Becky? Very good. Okay, yeah, Xavier.

Shavey, your picture was clear, but your picture did jump from your screen to Maggie's screen for a second. But separate from that, we read where it says Babylon, the greatest drunk with the blood of saints. But we know that the adversary in the system doesn't love any man or woman, anyone of mankind, because Revelation 1824 tells us that in her is from the blood of not only the saints and the prophets, but everyone who's ever been slain in New York. Yeah, that's a good point to remember. Satan would like all of mankind dead, right? He wants to wipe out mankind because of the future that God has planned for mankind as potential. Yeah, good point for us to remember.

Yeah, the English-speaking countries, Canada, Australia, Britain, and the US, God-fearing countries, are turning their back on God at alarming rate, turning away from Him. And that's why He turned them over to a debased mind because they didn't want to retain Him in their knowledge. And that's why they're trying to get the message of God. And that's why they're trying to get the message of God. They didn't want to retain Him in their knowledge. And that's why I think we see so unsound thinking because you can't think straight once God turns you over to debased mind. Yep, you're exactly right. Romans 1 is clearly—I was there for the Gentile nations, right? It explains what happened to them, it clearly explains what's going on in the world today. When you turn against God and you don't want Him anymore, that's what you descend into.

Okay. Okay, well, let me let you all go. It's very—it's been—thank you for all being here tonight. Great to be with you. I always say this is a highlight of my life, so a highlight of my week. So it's good to be with you and everything. So everyone have a wonderful rest of the week. We'll see those of you who've been at it this week. And the rest of you will look forward to seeing you next Wednesday, okay? Bye, Professor Shady. Thank you very much, everyone. Good night. See you, Zayd, here. See you guys. Have a good evening. Bye. You too, German. Lisa, cheers. Yep.