Bible Study: May 3, 2023

Okay, so we remember last week we closed the Bible study talking about the lake of fire, and I think we had a pretty nice discussion on that last week. We completed chapter 30, and we were talking about Tofet, and we were talking about the fire, the Kahennah fire that's in Jerusalem, and how that lake of fire would be there at the false prophet of the beast would be thrown into it at the time of Christ's return, and that there was a statement made in our UCG Bible commentary that perhaps, just perhaps, that lake of fire would burn throughout the millennium.

If that's the case, it would be a constant reminder to people of what the faith of the wicked is. In ancient Israel, that Kahennah fire was constantly burning. That was where they threw trash. That was where I understood they even threw corpses, the corpses of the vile criminals and whatever that weren't going to be buried. They would just burn them in that fire, and it was an ever-burning fire, they say.

So it's kind of hard to imagine an ever-burning fire, but apparently that was it. So there is that lensome credence to the fact that that fire would be burning throughout the millennium into the white throne judgment.

Of course, at the end of the thousand years, it says Satan. Satan is cast into that fire as well. So it generated a lot of conversation last week, and probably some thoughts in your mind. I know that we left last week with a question from Berta. I hope Berta is on tonight because I'm going to answer her question on Isaiah 66 verse 24. But a few others wrote or called with some comments on what we talked about as well. So I thought we would open the Bible study tonight with that.

So let's start right at the very end of the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 66. Isaiah 66. And in verse 24, the very last verse in this book, that is so full of so much information. You know, prophecy that has been fulfilled, prophecy yet to be fulfilled, prophecies about the Messiah, how we should be living, all the lessons we can learn from Isaiah. It's almost like a complete book in itself, but it ties so much together.

And of course, Revelation and Zachariah and some of the other prophecies we've been going to help tie Isaiah together and to validate everything God has said. But Isaiah 66 verse 24 says this is it says, They shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against me, for their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be in abhorrence to all flesh. And when you look at the last few verses there of Isaiah 66, it's a fitting end.

It's a fitting end to the book of Isaiah because what God is doing is contrasting the people who will follow Him and the millennium and of course, the time beyond the millennium where people will live forever and will all be working with God in whatever capacity He has. You know, keeping in mind 1 Corinthians 2.9 that says, Eye hasn't seen, ear hasn't heard, it hasn't entered into the hearts of man, the wonders that God has prepared for those that love Him. If you look in verse 22 and verse 23, it talks about those people. It talks about the attorney. It talks about you and me.

As long as we remain loyal to God, learn His way, allow Him to grow us and develop us into who He wants us to be. Verse 22 says, for as the, as well even before that, it'll talk, it says in verse 21, I will take some of them for priests and Levites, says the eternal, for as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your descendants and your name remain, and it shall come to pass it from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the eternal.

So what he's saying is this is what will happen forever.

You can see there you have the Sabbath day that God created. They will, they will, there will continue to be observing that. But then in verse 24, you have the other people who do not yield to God. Those who, you know, in Revelation 20, I think it's verses 14 and 15, says, well, we cast into the lake of fire because they will not yield to God. They will reject Him, and they simply will not do what He says. In verse 24, you have that contrast. They shall go forth. These people in verse 23, they'll go forth, and they're going to look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against me, where their worm doesn't die and their fire is not quenched. They shall be in abhorrence to all flesh. So you have this vision. The people who will have eternal life can go out, and they will look, they will look on this, this fire that's there, where these wicked people in Revelation 20 verses 14 and 15, where they're cast into the lake of fire. And it talks about these, these who have transgressed against me, who will not yield to God, for their worm does not die. Now, you know, if today we live in an age where bodies are embalmed, and they don't naturally decay where we can see them, but if bodies were to just lie without, you know, and lie out and and putrefy, there would be, and it's not a pretty picture, worms, right, that would develop in them.

And if you keep your finger there in Isaiah 66, go back to Exodus 16.

God talks about a worm there as well, that the kind of picture is what he's talking about there.

Again, if a body is just thrown out, a body dies, it is laid there to just decay and putrefy, which the human body, the fleshly body would do, it would develop, it would develop these worms, right?

Exodus 16 verse 20 says, and God, oh here he's talking about the the manna, you know, gathering the manna, and remember the command was, gather just enough that you will need for now, for that day, but if you leave some till morning, there's going to be worms growing in it.

Verse, and that's what he's talking about in verses 19 and 20 here. Moses said, don't let no one leave any of it till morning, notwithstanding, there were some who didn't listen to God, to listen to Moses, right? Notwithstanding, they did not heed Moses, but some of them, some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank, and Moses was angry with them. So here's this decayable matter that would just breed worms and stank the same way that a body would do. So God is showing, here's what the natural carnal fleshly mortal man is. Of course, we have an Ecclesiastes. As an animal dies, so does a man die, and his flesh will decay. We've talked about that. We talked about corruption, if you remember, and that Jesus Christ's body never did corrupt. He was resurrected in three days and three nights. But you have this mortality, the end of life, the second death, if you will, the lake of fire that people are born, that thrown into, and their body is corrupt, and it just decays, and it no longer exists. So people will see those of us who yield to God. I mean, it'll be a very sad event when we see people that are thrown into the lake of fire, because they simply will not yield to God. It won't be, it'll just be an event that, you know, it'll just have an effect on us, right? So we'll see this happen, and their worm does not die. It means that the memory of this sticks with us. It doesn't mean that they're going to sit there or burn there forever. Their worm doesn't die. This is their legacy forever. Some will have eternal life. Some the legacy is going to be, they chose eternal death by the actions that they took.

For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They're thrown into that lake of fire, that lake of fire that doesn't stop burning. They die, but we will, but people, when they look on that, when they look on that, it will be, it will be a memory of what transpired, what these people were like. So the last sentence there, they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh. I think there will probably be sadness that some didn't yield to God, but there will also be a picture of how awful and evil it is to yield against God, because those of us who yield to God, who will yield to God, will know unending joy. Then we'll see the misery that mankind has brought upon himself and that Satan has because he's cast into that fire as well. Now Jesus Christ used the same analogy in the book of Mark. So let's turn to Mark Mark 9.

And as he was talking about this in Mark 9, I think we read verses 44 to 48.

Yeah, let's pick it up in verse 43. You know, he's talking about sinners. He's talking about the things that can plague us. As Christians, our job is to overcome sin, not allow sin to overcome us. We do that with the power of the Holy Spirit by the choices that we make, the commitment we make, and being conscious of those choices and asking God to give us strength. So in verse 43 of Mark 9, Christ says this, he says, if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. Well, what he's saying, he says he doesn't literally mean that. It's like it's better to lose your hand than it is for you to be in the lake of fire. It's better for you to enter into life maimed rather than having two hands to go to hell into the fire that shall never be quenched. It's the same fire that's being talked about there in Isaiah 66 verse 24. Same fire we talked about last week and at the end of Isaiah chapter 30. It's better to lose that arm and then to allow sin to dominate you that you would be cast into that fire. And then he quotes from this Isaiah 66 verse 24, where their worm does not die, their legacy will be forever, it'll be a constant reminder to everyone.

This is the fate to those who disobey God, who refuse to yield to him. Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. A constant remire. You know, I'm often reminded of Psalm 51 when David in his prayer of repentance says, my sin is ever before me. Because that's a very strengthening thing. Well, remember who we are at the root, right? Who we are and what our nature is.

We realize just how abhorrent we are in God's eyes when we were before his Holy Spirit. And if we remember, man, that is what I was like. We could be very thankful to God that he has delivered us and his Holy Spirit has changed us and given us the power to root out that sin there.

This is a reminder as well. This is a reminder when you go against God, happiness, joy, peace.

All the good things of eternal life and life are in that, but their worm doesn't die and their fire is not quenched. And he goes on and he gives two more analogies. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It's better for you to enter into life, enter life lame, rather than having two feet to be cast into hell into the fire that shall never be quenched where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It's better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye. Notice, enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

So he's contrasting their entry into the kingdom of God by overcoming or going into the lake of fire where their worm doesn't die and the fire is not quenched. And that is the lasting memory of those people. Their life is done. So that's what the meaning of that verse is.

It's quite a telling and moving end to the book of Isaiah when you read verse 24. But in those verses, he's contrasting eternal life, those who will receive eternal life versus those who receive eternal death just like Christ is doing in Mark 9. Yes, Dale. Yes, hello. Yeah, I found it interesting the the Greek word for quenched is as bestos, you know, you know, which of course is a fire recarting agent. Yeah, that is interesting. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's all I wanted to say.

Okay, okay. I guess it supports the argument that the fire won't go out.

Yep. You think so? I think until there's the new heaven and new earth, right? That's when everything will be burned up. Yep, that'll be there. Yeah, yeah. There's a memory from then on out. Yes.

Yeah, it's like the word forever as long as certain conditions apply, you know.

Exactly. As long as there's a heaven and earth. Right, exactly. Thank you. Agardo?

Agardo? Well, I just wanted to comment that there may be some people out there that use scriptures like Isaiah 66, 24, the one we were just talking about, to argue in favor of an eternal hellfire. But if you talk to that people and you point to them diverse, it says they will be looking at the corpses, which are basically dead people. They are not being tormented and alive.

And then, for example, the fire that's never quenched, and we also read in Mark, it's like you can set up a house in fire and you decide not to quench the fire, but eventually it will go out when it runs out of fuel. So that's a fire that will not be quenched, but again, it doesn't mean that it's eternal. So the verses doesn't say that the fire is eternal. It says that it won't be quenched. So those things that you can't point to people when you're talking to them about this thing, because they read into the scriptures, there are preconceptions, but you just have to be faithful to what it actually says and what it does not say. Yeah, and paying attention, like you pointed out, the actual words that are used there and not just replacing eternal or quench, or what won't be quenched. Yeah. Very good. Any other comments on that or anything else? Hey, Xavier? Even then, even everyone, I was looking at the Greek and the word is colex, and it says a nine anguish, and then God brought to memory Revelation, what, 14 verse 11? It says the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever.

Because what happens to them is there's torment, right? When they go in, it doesn't mean it's eternal.

Yeah, when the smoke of their torment, their anguish goes on, even though their past away, that memory continues forever. Right. Their anguish. It's like a mine worm, even though it can be a literal worm, but it has the meaning of the mind anguish.

Very good. Anyone else or anything else about totheth or anything? I've got one other verse I'm going to talk about before we get back into Isaiah 31, but anything else on that?

I mentioned last week that, you know, if indeed, you know, as it says, that fire is ever burning during the millennium, there are some interesting things to think about if you allow your mind to think about what the rest of, you know, the millennium and then the white throne judgment is about as well. But we will get into that another time, I think. So, okay, the other other verse then that came up a few times last week after the Bible study is Matthew 8.29. So why don't we go there? And it's talking about, I think this is in reference to, you know, Satan being cast into the lake of fire after the thousand years. In Matthew 8.29, there's this parable where the swine, there is not a parable, I guess there's this actual herd or whatever you call it of swine that's there. Let's just pick it up there. Am I in the right chapter here? Yeah, I am Matthew. Matthew 8.28, you'll remember this event. Matthew 8.28, when Christ came to the other side, to the country of the Gergeses, there met him two demon-possessed men coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. And suddenly they cried out, saying, what have we to do with you, Jesus, Son of God?

Have you come here to torment us before the time? So with that, you know, that indicates the demons know that they're the enemies of God, they know who Jesus is, and they know what is coming for them, right? And they knew that that wasn't the time for their, quote, torment, which is likely referring to that time when Satan and the demons are cast into the lake of fire. So that was the point that was made there that that was made a couple times. I don't know if anyone else has any comments on that, but that is the good that's again, this is what revelation shows is going to happen. And here, you know, and words that were reported here for us are the demons speaking to to Christ. They are recognizing that time as well. So I don't know the people that asked that question, is that or made that comment? Anything else that anyone wants to discuss on that?

Okay, well then let's go ahead. That explains it. Okay, very good, Erb. Okay, let's go back to Isaiah 31 then. We should have no problem getting us through Isaiah 31. I'll just prep you tonight. Isaiah 31 and 32 are pretty straightforward scriptures. They are millennial.

They talk, if you remember last week, we talked in Isaiah 30 about God will show the destruction that's coming, but then he shows the joy and the restoration from that. And we see that pattern in chapter 31 and 32 as well. Yeah, Fred, you had a comment or question?

You're muted.

Getting back to the Lake of Fire, if our understanding is correct, God is a God of love. He's not in the business of tormenting people forever and ever.

Correct. And this is just my personal opinion. I believe that Satan and the demons will be put to death. And I know that there's one scripture that sort of like, uh, uh, Condor Dixit, where it says, uh, they're tormented day and night forever and ever.

But that's the only scripture I can take from that. If you read the Ezekiel 28 correctly, uh, it talks about, the verse, it talks about him being a man. So God could destroy the demons by, by putting them into men's bodies, right? Like Christ became a man. Sort of the same type of thing.

So anyhow, that's, that's my, my thoughts on it. And, you know, I, I know, I know that's a thought that's shared by some. Uh, we, we don't know for absolutely sure. So we're just going to have to wait and see what Christ's, uh, you know, as long as there's a, uh, because Satan has served a purpose, if you will, in this lifetime, right? Because we learn to reject him and choose God, and we build that character of choosing God. When there's no longer any use for, for Satan, you know, um, or any purpose for him, when God has perfected us and however many beings he wants to, you know, it's God's, God'll determine what it is that he wants done. So, yeah, it's a speculation. You're not the only one that has that speculation, so.

Can I ask, could I ask a question? Sure.

How do you, um, how do you prove to someone that, I was told that they, they never burned trash in the Valley of Hennon from a long time ago. I don't know. How could I prove that?

I, I, I, I mean, I guess it's, that's where the commentaries come in, and some of the history books, um, or history of Jerusalem, it seems to be pretty common throughout those things that the, uh, Gahannah fire is there. In fact, you know, if they had been true to the translation, it wouldn't say hellfire, it would have said Gahannah fire, so people knew what that was back then, but, um, yeah, I, I think that's what we rely on, and that's, the Bible talks about it, and apparently, that's pretty well documented in, in, in the commentaries and whatever, whatever they look at to see where that was, so. Okay. Yep. Yeah. Uh, yeah, Dee, do you have a, Dee, you had a question or a comment?

You got, if, if you do, you're, you're muted, you'll have to turn your microphone on.

I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna pass over here for right now, but hi, Dee, I'm gonna, Brandon, if you got a comment? Yes, I, uh, just responding to what Bobby said, it's similar, I would kind of, I would look, I look at that situation similar to, like, hey, I wasn't alive during World War II, but I read the history books, and so all, you know, all you can really do is present the information, and then they have to choose whether to believe it or not believe it. Um, that's, so that's kind of how I, I see it, but I, I totally understand and have been there, and you do want to prove it, but, you know, you can just give them as much reference as possible, and then they, they have to make their own choice on the matter. Yeah, you're absolutely right, and, and there's no, no books out there that, um, that counter that, right? Or if you did, if, if that's, if that, those are just people who try to, to just, we don't believe that it happens. Well, just because you don't believe it doesn't mean it didn't happen, right? If all the, if all the books indicated, or all the history indicates it.

Uh, Marian. Uh, it's not Marian, sorry. Anyway, I was wondering, uh, if Satan will be put to death, how do you explain the Day of Atonement when the goat is, is led away alive in the wilderness?

I, that's an excellent point. That's why, that's why we don't know, right? We don't know what it is.

There are those verses that indicate that, and in Ezekiel 28, but then you have exactly what you, what you show that, that, that, you know, now we know that Satan will remain alive through wild mankind is on earth, right? And, uh, I guess, I guess before the white throne judgment. Yeah, but that's why, that's, that's why, that, that goat is a very good indication that he's just led into the wilderness alive. Very good point.

Okay. Isaiah 31, are we ready for Isaiah 31? Okay, let's, let's go there.

Actually, Isaiah 31 is almost like a summary of Isaiah 30, so I'm going to kind of read through it. There's just a couple comments I'll make here, but certainly, certainly anyone can pop in any, any time they want. In verse 31 or chapter 31 verse 1, remember when it talks about Egypt, it's not talking about just physical Egypt, but it's talking about anywhere in the world what we might rely on, right? So when God is saying, what are those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, he's talking about anything we might rely on in this world, where we put our faith, where we put our trust in that. He's not just talking about Egypt. Egypt is a type of the world, and these are the things we put our reliance or our reliance and trust in. God wants us to learn over the course of our lifetimes to put our trust in him. Woe to those who look to the world, we can say, for help, last sentence there, but who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord. And of course, that's woe to those who look there instead of God. Yet he, yet he, God, also is wise and will bring disaster. We know that, and he will not call back his words. You know, we read later on in Isaiah 45, I think it is, that his word will not return to him void, will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of evildoers and against the help of those who work in equity. So God will exact his vengeance on those who reject him, the sinners, the evil, evil of the world. Now, the Egyptians are men and not God. We would say that by any of the, any thing on earth, right? The Egyptians are men and not God, and their horses are flesh and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out his hand, both he who helps will fall, and he who has helped will fall down. They will all perish together. So you may remember, and we could turn back there if you want to to Isaiah 9, but we were talking about the time when people, people, there will be those who try to set themselves up as the elite of the world, and, and have all these other people reporting to them. Kind of when you hear this theory of the great reset that's going on now, and there will be these elite, and the rest of us, you know, are there to support them, live in where they want us to live, eat the type of things they want us to eat, and stuff like that. But the Bible says in Isaiah 9 that when that happens, both the elite and the very poor will all be, all fall together. There won't be. The disaster will be upon all of them. And that's the very same thing he's saying there. He who helps will fall, and he who is helped will fall down. Everyone will suffer in the disaster. Everyone will suffer.

Everyone will suffer in the downfall of the nation. Let me, let me hold up here for a minute.

Yeah, let me just, I'll just, I'm just going to read to you from Isaiah 9, 14 through 17 here, which is the same concept that, that we read here. It says, therefore the Lord will cut off head and tail from Israel, palm branch and bulrush in one day, the elder and honorable, he is the head, the prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail. The leaders of this people cause them to err, and those who are led by them are destroyed. Therefore the Lord will have no joy in their young men, nor have mercy on their fatherless and widows, for everyone is a hypocrite and an evil doer, and every mouth speaks folly. So God is saying it's complete destruction. Everyone will share in it, no matter how they've set themselves up to maybe exempt themselves from any kind of discomfort they might have. So that's the first three verses of Exodus 31. Yeah, Sheri?

What was the, what were those verses you just read? Isaiah 9, 14 to 17.

9, 14 to 17. Thank you. So back to verse 4, Exodus 31, for thus the Lord has spoken to me, Isaiah says. And then he uses this as a lion roars, this analogy, as a lion roars and a young lion over his prey. Now, maybe when you see, think, hear the phrase as a lion roars, it makes you think of another prophet and another phrase that uses the same thing. And that would probably be what you're thinking of in Amos. But let's go back to the prophecy of Amos. It's Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. And we see, is it Amos 3? Yeah, Amos 3.

Yeah, we'll read down through verse 8, beginning in verse 2.

Amos 3 verse 2. God is saying to Israel, You only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore I punish you for all your iniquities. Remember when God punishes, it isn't that he takes delight in the punishment. He punishes because he wants us to return to him. And we have to learn the consequences of sin, consequences of evil doing, consequences of turning from him is painful. And the only way, unfortunately, I guess that we learned it is through the pain that we experience and we learn to turn back to him. So verse 3. Can two walk together, unless they are agreed? Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den if he has caught nothing? Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth where there is no trap for it? Will a snare spring up from the earth if it has caught nothing at all? If a trumpet is blown in the city, will not the people be afraid? And if there is calamity in the city, will not the Lord have done it? Interesting questions there that God puts out there for us.

Surely the Lord God does nothing unless he reveals his secret to his servants, the prophets.

So God is saying, you know, we don't know the detail of everything is going to happen, you know, from now until the time that Jesus Christ returns, but he will, he will reveal to us because he doesn't want us to be alarmed. He says, don't be dismayed. We don't know when God will reveal, but he says he will. We have to keep in tune with him. We have to keep, you know, in a good, strong relationship with God so that we are aware of those things and trust in him.

Surely Lord God does nothing unless he reveals his secret to his servants, the prophets.

And then in verse 8, a lion, a lion has roared. Who will not fear? There is something that has happened. A lion has roared. And if you, if we lived in a place where lions walked around outside of their, you know, their blare or outside of their zoo, zoo environment, and we came across a lion or we heard a lion roar, we would be well aware of what that sound was. And we would recognize the warning that that means that we better be very cautious of what's going on. So God says, a lion has roared. Who will not fear? He says that right on the tail of verse 7, unless he reveals his secrets to his servants, the prophets. A lion has roared. Pay attention.

Be ready. The trust in God. The Lord has spoken. Who can but prophesy? So we see, when we see this lion roars, it's God who is, is there something about to happen here that God is going to bring about? Do we see that in Isaiah 31 verse 4? For thus the Lord has spoken to me. If we go back to chapter 31. Chapter 31. As a lion roars, okay, as a lion roars, gets the attention, and a young lion over his prey. You've seen the nature shows where the gazelle is caught, and the young lion is very proud when he's standing right above his prey, and a young lion over his prey. When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him, he will not be afraid of their voice. Now maybe a young lion, I have no experience of this, maybe a young lion is. If a bunch of shepherds come, will be scared away. But this young lion will not be, will not be afraid. He will not be afraid of their voice, nor be disturbed by their noise. So the Lord of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion and for its hill. Okay, well then this, yep, but it's, so this is, this has got a lion roars, and he is coming down. He's not going to be scared off by the people. He is coming down to fight for Mount Zion and for his hill. Like birds flying about, so will the Eternal of Hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, he will also deliver it. Passing over, he will preserve it. He will, he will, he will preserve, he will preserve Jerusalem. He will defend it. So this is what God is saying here. There will come that time. Uh, yeah, Becky. I don't want to go off the track here, but there's the verses in Jeremiah 12 about a lion roaring, and also birds, well, it's vultures here. And it's, it doesn't sound the same to me, but I wondered if there was a comparison to be made. Okay. In verse 8, he says, my heritage is to me like a lion in the forest.

It cries out against me, therefore I have hated it. My heritage is to me like a speckled vulture.

The vultures all around are against her. Come assemble all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour. Is this completely something different? It's something different. Yeah, I know.

Is this lion? Okay, I'm sorry then. Yeah, it does. This lion isn't roaring, right? This is a, my heritage is to me like a lion in the forest. It cries out against me. You know, that, that's, that's the heritage. This lion, um, you know, as a lion roars, or as you read in Amos 6, a lion has roared. It's God that's God moving into action. Remember that God refers to Judah, the lion of Judah, too. So I have to look more closely, but that was my initial reaction to Jeremiah, Jeremiah 12 there. In the, in the NIV it does say roars, but it, she roars at me, therefore I hate her. But I didn't want to get you off track, so I hope I didn't. Okay. Thank you for looking at it. Yeah. In the NIV, is that what you said you looked at? Well, I read you the New King James, but in the NIV it does say roars. So I would make an comparison there, but it may make no difference. Yeah. Well, yeah, I, I'm, I'm gonna kind of note that, look, because sometimes the NIV will make some assumptions that, that it shouldn't. But I, to see if the word translated there cries is the same as the Hebrew word roars there in Amos and Isaiah. I guess that's what we need to do and see if that's the same word. So, okay. I appreciate that very much. Thank you. Okay.

Okay. So verse, back in Isaiah 31 verse 6, here's the admonition that God gives over and over, return to him against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. You know, get this, here's the people of Israel, you know, we know who modern day Israel is, the nations that have been so richly blessed as the prophecy in Jeremiah, or not Jeremiah, Genesis 49 says, and they turn against God. And he richly blessed, you know, the ancient nation of Israel too, return to him against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. For in that day, every man shall throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves. So God is saying, turn back to me, this idolatry, these idols you set up for yourselves, the things you've made with your own hands that you're worshiping. It's sin. Of course, we know what the second commandment is. Sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves.

Get rid of them is what he's saying. Then, then when you turn back to him, says Assyria, we know this is a millennial verse here, or a viewer verse in the future, then Assyria, that's the aggressor against Israel. The future Assyria that will bring modern day Israel to his knees. Then Assyria shall fall by a sword, not of man. Won't be man who conquers him, it'll be God. Then Assyria shall fall by a sword, not of man. And a sword, not of mankind, shall devour him.

And if you remember, we have that fulfilled prophecy as well, where Assyria was fallen. It's an acrob. You know, it was. They were scattered. 185,000, if I remember correctly. Let me check a verse here.

I like to check when I make a comment and see if I've got the numbers right here.

First chapter 37.

No, we've taken that in months. No, no. Yeah, it's 185,000. I'll have to look up the verse. But, let me go back here and not take too much of this time. It will be God who defeats Assyria, is what he's saying. And a sword, not of mankind, shall devour him. But he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall become forced labor. You know, what nations try to subject others to, they get subjected to, and that's what God is saying here. He shall cross Assyria, remember Assyria, fierce, cruel, nations feared him. He shall cross over to his stronghold for fear. He'll be running.

You know, he's been the aggressor all this time. But then he will cross over to his stronghold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the banner. No longer will they have the trust and confidence in themselves. They will be brought down. They will be humbled. They will no longer be the proud and naughty ones. They'll be afraid of the flag of the one who is pursuing them, says the Lord. Whose fire is in Zion, and whose furnace is in Jerusalem. You know, referring back to what we read here there at the end of chapter 30 as well. So Isaiah 31, it's just a short little chapter that kind of reinforces what we just read in last week in Isaiah 30.

Then moving into chapter 32, the first four verses here are millennial, if you will. Behold, a king will reign in righteousness. We know who he's referring to, right? Jesus Christ. Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. In the millennium, justice will prevail in the land. It won't be the favoritism. It won't be political parties that control the justice system, depending on who appointed who. Jesus Christ will appoint the judges. The princes will rule, and there will be ultimate justice in the land. A man will be as a hiding place from the wind and a cover from the tempest. A man will be, I think the man here is referring to Jesus Christ. A man will be as a hiding place. Let me think about this verse for a minute. I looked at that verse before and want to think about it again. Let me look at my notes for a second here. Yeah, man will be as a hiding place from the wind. That's a refuge and a cover from the tempest. It's a refuge. As rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. So what you'll have is men will be comforts to people. They will be refridges for people. Jesus Christ is a refuge to us. He is our strength and our shield. That will be what is there in the millennium. A man will be those things as opposed to what men may be today, evil men. They will learn the way of God, and their teachers will not be far removed from them, as we talked about last week in Isaiah 30. If someone is about to do something, that's when the tap comes on the shoulders. Not that way. This isn't the way we do it in this government.

This is the way we do it in this time. This is the way walk you in it. So there will be peace, and there will be safety in the land. Verse 3 then says, the eyes of those who see will not be dim. The ears of those who hear will listen. So again, millennial verses.

Just a couple chapters over, we see those same verses written here in Isaiah 35, which is clearly a millennial chapter. It talks about the deserts blossoming. Verse 35 says, then the eyes of the blind shall be opened. The ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. The lame shall leap like a deer. The tongue of the dumb sing. Water shall burst forth into wilderness and streams in the desert. Now this would be a physical healing of blindness and deafness.

But also, God is talking about eyes being opened as His Holy Spirit is poured out on all flesh, as it tells us in Joel 2 and Jeremiah 31. People will understand the Bible. Our eyes will be opened.

Just like your eyes and my eyes were opened when we read in the Bible and begin to see, oh, this is what Jesus Christ taught. This is what we need to believe. What we have been taught by other people and other religions in the world is not what Jesus Christ taught. It is not the way to salvation. It is not the way to honor God or show you love Him. We love God by doing the things that He said. Eyes will be opened. Ears of those who hear will listen. And listening is paying attention to what is being taught and then applying it and letting it sink into our minds.

Verse 4, also the heart of the rash will understand knowledge. The Hebrew word there, rash, could be translated hasty. What it's talking about there is you encounter some people who are just hasty and fast and everything. They just snap second decisions on things.

And there's a proverb, I didn't know which one it is, that says, hey, well, there's a man's proverb, haste makes waste, but the hasty. We need to be understanding what we're doing. We need to be cognizant of what we're doing. We need to be making not rash decisions, but here, the heart of the rash, they'll understand knowledge. They'll take time to contemplate it and to think about it.

Some people will hear, why do you keep the Sabbath? And you say, because Sabbath is the existing Sabbath day of God, never should have been Sunday, that's man. They shut their mind off immediately. They won't even listen to it. They won't pay any attention to it. That's a rash judgment. Think about what God tells us. We hear something that we may not understand, contemplate it, go back to the Bible, look at it, pray over it. And it says, you know, when we aren't hasty, but we're deliberate in that, and we continue to look to God, He will give us the understanding of knowledge. Sometimes we just have to wait for Him to do that and ask so that He sees that we really do want to understand from His Word, you know, from His Word that He gives us. The heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly. Those who have a hard time explaining things, they'll be able to teach. They'll understand that they'll be able to speak what the Word of the Bible says in language that others can hear.

And of course, it's God and those other minds as well that help people to hear in their own language so that they can see. And it's God's Holy Spirit that works with us as we speak, and God's Holy Spirit that works with us as we hear so that we can understand the truth.

Okay, verse five, the foolish person. And again, I think the old King James says vial, which is maybe a better word to kind of highlight the contrast here in verse five. The foolish or the vile person will no longer be called generous, which should be noble, right? So you have the contrast there. The vile person will no longer be called noble, or the foolish person will no longer be called generous, I guess. There's a contrast that God is making here. You know, we can go back to Isaiah 6, where it talks about the time when people will call evil good and good evil. We live in that time right now, right, where good is called evil and evil is good. And this is the same contrast. The vile person will no longer be called noble, the fools who speak those things. They will no longer be called, oh, they're the wise ones, they have all the answers. Things will refer to truth and reality in that time. Yeah, Xavier, did you have a comment? Yeah, the king, the whole king thing says liberal. And this translates also says liberal, which is rather, is the word stark, or eye-opening of what we see in today's society. Yeah, it is. The word liberal and misusing.

Yep. The vile person will no longer be called liberal, yeah. Nor the miser, we know what a miser is, right, said to be bountiful. So again, here's the guy showing the contrast. Things are upside down. They're not, they're called what they're not in this time that he's talking about. For the foolish person, yes, okay, for the foolish person in that time will speak foolishness. The words that he, the words he speaks, if he's foolish, people are gonna say, hey, this guy is not someone we want to follow, right? He's, he's foolish. The foolish person will speak foolishness, and his heart will work iniquity to practice ungodliness, to utter error against the eternal, to keep the hungry unsatisfied. Here's talking about spiritual hunger, right? We are, we can be, come spiritually filled when we read the Word of God, when we understand the Word of God, when we apply it, we become filled. But the fool who speaks keeps the hungry unsatisfied. There's something missing.

It never fills him up to keep the hungry unsatisfied, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. Remember, Christ said, anyone is thirsty, come to me, let him drink. Let him come to me and drink. But the mouth of the fool, the one who is speaking foolishness, and not the truth of God, that isn't refreshing. That isn't going to satisfy anyone. Also, verse 7, the schemes of the schemer are evil. They will be revealed as that. You know, the corruption, you know, the world, we begin to see some of the corruption that's extant in the world, and in the high places, if you will, will become more and more obvious, become more and more revealed, probably as time goes on, and we will see a world that is just so corrupt between the corporations, the leaders, everything that it is in the government. It'll be there. The schemes of the schemer are evil.

He devises wicked plans to destroy the poor with lying words. Now, it's always, we're the head, we're the top, you down there are below, and you're there to serve us, and we are going to exert and exert our power over you. He devises wicked plans to destroy the poor with lying words.

This is good for you. This is what needs to happen. This is how you need to be. This is, this is going to be a workout well for you. And then people just believe it and put their hope in man and never satisfies. It's only God who satisfies. He's the one who gives us the true hope.

Even when the needy speaks, even when the needy speaks justice, he devises wicked plans to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks justice. But a generous man or a noble man devises noble things, and by nobility, he will stand. And people will be known for what they do.

We will see them for who they are and that. Sounds like a good time to live, doesn't it?

When everything is in order and not upside down as it is that we live in today. Then in verses 9 through 11, you know, he has this word, these words of warning, and he replaces or he repeats this word complacent in every one of the next three verses. We all know what complacent means.

It's interesting, again, when you look at the word complacent, probably, and I think the old King James does translate it careless instead of complacent. I'm going to get to that word careless in just a minute, but let me read through verses 9, 10, and 11 here and come back and talk about them.

So here it is. God's talking about the time, you know, when we have these things that are upside down, but then a time coming when everything is in order again. So he says, rise up, you women who are at ease. You know, in the book of Amos, it talks about people that are at ease as well, and it talks about the type of things that people do when they're at ease. And throughout the Bible, we see God talking about when there's plenty in the land, then people kind of relax. They aren't on top of their game. They're not watching what's going on. They're not careful, if you will, with the Word of God. And so in Deuteronomy 8, he'll tell us, you know, keep my word, keep it diligently, earnestly, carefully. But when you're full, when you have all these things, don't forget me, he says, continue to be with me. I'm the one who provides your wealth. I'm the one who provides these things for you. But people, we tend to become careless with God's law when we have plenty, when we're not hurting, when we're not hungry, when we're not in trials, when we're not in tribulation or being persecuted. And that's what he's talking of here. He's cautioning people, much like we might read, you know, to the Laodicean church. I counsel of you, buy of gold, buy of me gold refined in the fire.

Get alert, get strong again. Don't be lazy. Don't be at ease. Don't let your guard down. Watch what's going on. And he gives a little bit of warning here in verse 10 when he talks about a time frame. So Brandon, you got a comment? Yes, sir. You know, when it talks about being conflated, that was something that, especially as we went to deploy overseas, they just drilled it and drilled it and drilled it into our heads not to become complacent. And I'll never forget that one of our higher ranking sergeants, he said, hey, Burger King has values, but we also have values.

What's the difference? And you know, everybody's giving a different answer. You said, well, here's the difference. The difference is if somebody doesn't adhere to Burger King's values, okay, maybe an order or two is messed up, they remake it, you send them out the door. If you don't adhere to our values, you can lose your life. It could cost you, it can get you killed. And that is very much like our case. If we do become complacent, if we don't pay attention, you know, this is it for us.

This is our chance to make it and to make it count. So we really can't afford to be careless at all.

Good point. And you put at the time of warfare, that's an excellent point. If you let your guard down, you pay the price. So I saw another hand up there. Sherry, did you have a comment you wanted to make? There was just people talking in the background. It was kind of hard to listen, but I don't hear it now. Yeah, we can keep our mics off when we're not talking. That helps everyone.

So that's what he's talking about here. Rise up, you women who are at ease.

Do you remember in Ezekiel 16, around verse 49, it talks about the sin of Sodom.

And it doesn't say the sin of Sodom was, you know, homosexuality, sexual perversity, violence, and all these things. The sin of Sodom, the sin of Sodom was idleness.

Idleness. They lived in luxury, and they allowed all these things to happen. And as a result of this idleness, it was a good place to live. Like America is a good place to live. Like the Western nations are a good place to live. But out of this time of idleness, all the idleness, where we have all these comforts and cares of life, all these sins erupt. And you look back in history, and it happened in Pompeii, it happened in other civilizations as well. The richer they got, the more deceitful, the more perverse they got. And so we live in this world today where we hear over and over again, America is the most wealthiest and the most wealthy nation that was ever there. And look at the perversity that's coming out of us as we move further and further of God. When we are at ease, people move away and they begin to trust in the wealth rather than looking at God. They're not careful. And that's this is a warning for you and me. We're not careful with God's law. We can become prey to what this world does and listen to it. That's why Christ says in Matthew 24 verse 12, because lawlessness abounds the love of many wax cold, they become careless with God's Word. And that's what 9th, 10, and 11 are talking about here. Rise up, you women who are at ease. Hear my voice, you complacent or you careless daughters. Give ear to my speech.

And then he puts an element of time. We don't know what the time is, but it's just a little over a year is what it is. In a year and some days, you will be troubled, you complacent women or you careless women. For the vintage will fail. The gathering will not come. Tremble, you women who are at ease. Be troubled, you careless ones. Strip yourselves. Make yourselves bare. Gird sackcloth on your waists. A time is coming, he's saying, when you let your guard down, when you're careless, when you're complacent. In a short time, however short that time is, things will fall apart. No longer the things that we have counted on. The food. He says, basically what he says in Revelation 3 to the Laocian Church, I counsel you, buy of me gold, refired in the fire. Strip yourselves. Make yourselves bare. See yourself how you are. Get lean, get ready, and be aware.

And in verses 12, 13, he talks about the things that we've counted on. The food, we all rely on food, right? The things that nourish us, they're going to fail. People will mourn upon their breasts.

There will be this for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. They won't be there anymore, is what it says. The crops will fail. The famines will come, just like it talks about in Revelation.

On the land of my people will come up thorns and briars, instead of corn and beans and all the other things that we're used to having. On the land of my people, it will no longer produce. It will no longer provide what you need. Yes, on all the happy homes in the joy of city, because the palaces will be forsaken. The bustling city will be deserted. The forts and towers will become layers forever. We talked about towers last week, remember? These strongholds, these things that we're very proud of. The forts and towers and all the things that we rely on, they will become layers forever. Traps, if you will. They'll become a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks.

How long? Verse 15. This is what happens. Destruction. People at ease, people careless, not paying attention to God, not staying close to Him. And trouble comes, a very grave time of trouble, until, verse 15, the Spirit is poured upon us from on high. When does that happen?

In Christ's return. At Christ's return, when the millennium comes, until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field. As we read in Isaiah 35, when all these are in Amos, when all the world becomes productive again, and there's joy and peace and abundance and plenty for everyone all over the world, because the world is living God's way. When we do things God's way, when we kneel to Him and follow Him, blessings automatically result. When we turn from Him, everything falls apart. Destruction comes. When we turn to God, and when we're obeying His laws, good things result. Until the Spirit is poured from us on high, then the fruitful field is counted as a forest. Verse 16. Then, in that time when the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. The work of righteousness will be peace. The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever.

When Christ returns, there will be that time, that time of peace. Not just the absence of war, but a time of peace. The verse talks about quietness and assurance forever.

Let's go back to Isaiah 26 for a moment.

Isaiah 26. In verse 3, when we read peace, there's the peace that is the absence of war. There is the peace of people getting along with one another, but there's also the peace that comes from God. The peace that surpasses all understanding that Paul says in Philippians. In chapter 26 of Isaiah, verse 3, he talks about that. You will keep him in perfect peace. We have peace even through the tough times of life. We have peace through tribulation and trial. We'll be at peace. It doesn't mean it's going to be pleasant. It's not going to be like we sail right through it without giving it a second thought. But we have peace because we believe in God. We know and we trust in the future. We keep our eyes on him. Even though Christ was crucified in the most horrendous way that anyone could imagine, he had peace through that because his eyes were on God and he was doing God's will. As long as we know we're doing God's will and we're close to him and following him implicitly, we will have peace even through the pain because we know that he is sure.

He is our rock. What he says will happen will happen and he will reign forever and ever. You will keep him in perfect peace. Whose mind is stayed on you? Why? Because he trusts in you.

Trust in the Lord forever. For in YAH, the eternal is everlasting strength. And that's the peace that you and I yearn for. That's the peace that God gives us. Not just the absence of war, not just the absence of conflict, but the peace that comes from knowing him that establishes us and settles us through all the tough times of peace of life. Okay, Becky. Just real quick. I was just looking at that verse a couple days ago and the word for stayed, I believe it actually means like propped up or literally like dependent upon. So if we're dependent upon or propped up on him, that results in that peace. That's what I got from the verbiage there. Anyhow. Because you're right.

You're right. He's our rocker. He's our refuge, right? So we rely on him. We rely on him and he will provide that for us. Okay, back to chapter 32 Isaiah. Yeah, verse 17, we read, the work of righteousness will be peace and the work of righteousness is doing everything God's way, right? Even in times of conflict, God shows us how to resolve conflict if we always applied correctly. Matthew 18, 15, 16, 17 there. The work of righteousness will be peace and the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever. It's so peaceful to live in a neighborhood in a time where things are just quiet. You don't have to worry about who's breaking into your house or as the alarm sets and all those things. The work of righteousness will be peace, the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever. My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. Yeah, though hail comes down on the forest, and we've talked about hail several times, right? Even though there might be some problem somewhere where God is correcting someone, though hail comes down on the forest and the city is brought low in humiliation, my people, verse 18, will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. Blessed are you, verse 20, who sow beside all waters, who send out freely the feed, the dogs, and the dogs who live in a peaceful, plentiful land. So let's send it there at chapter at the end of chapter 32 and talk about anything that anyone wants to talk about.

Yeah, Becky? I was going to say someone else go first. Thank you, though. Those last like four verses in 32, they seem almost um place of safety, but I'm just hinting, I'm not saying that they are, just I see hints of it in there, especially like 19 and 20. And the other thing was, I was looking further in Jeremiah 12, and I think it's actually the opposite of what we were reading. I was actually looking like in Jeremiah 13 and 14, and then looking ahead in Isaiah 32, what I asked you about earlier. I don't think they're related. I just wanted to mention it since I did look ahead to it. Okay, okay. Sounds good. I'll look, I'm gonna look at it too. Okay. Thank you. Evelyn?

Hi, you had mentioned um, Senate chair's defeat. It's in Second Chronicles 32 verses 20 and 21, and Second Kings 19 verse 35. Okay, Second Chronicles 32? Um, yes. Second Chronicles 32 verses 20 to 21, and Second Kings 19 35 is where they tell you the exact number. Oh, the 185,000.

Correct. Okay, very good. Okay, very, so there. Evelyn's given us that reference. I was thinking he was in Isaiah, but it is back in, in Chronicles. Okay, very good. Thank you. Uh, yeah, Bobby?

Bobby, did you have something? Okay, I guess not.

Okay. I have something to say. Okay, hey, Debbie. Hi, how are you, Dr. and Mr. Shavey? Um, so this is a little bit off, though, but reading about what it's going to be like in the millennium is just so utterly amazing that we don't keep our nose in the Bible all the time. I don't know if very many people are watching American Idol this season, but those, that talent is just unbelievable.

And of course they whittle it down, but comparing it to the 10 virgins, like, you know, we have, we have got to make it to the top five. The virgins are going to make it by studying, by having their first love, by keeping our nose in the Bible, and five virgins are going to learn the hard way.

They're going to have to go through the hard knot. Some of us might not as well, but my goal is to be in the top five. American Idol is so good this year. Okay, I was wondering where you were going with that. Okay, top five. Very good. So, okay. I did, you're right, I have watched American Idol, the singers on that show are pretty good, pretty good this year, so, or at least this week, so.

Okay. Let me see, where, or anything else, anyone?

Yeah, just to make one last comment, I always find it so, what's the best, it's so bewildering how all of the fingers that humans like to point, we always like to, we always like to point the finger at God and say like, oh, well, if he's so great, why doesn't he just stop this or stop that? But we never take accountability for ourselves and say, no, how can we perform such horrible things to one another? How are we so evil to one another? And then the other part of it is like, well, you say that, but you don't want to, you don't want to do what he says, but you want to complain about the results. You want the, you want the, you want God to be convenient for you.

You want the blessings, but you don't want to do anything that's required to actually receive those blessings. You're absolutely, you're absolutely right. There is a way to receive the blessings. God wants to give the blessings, but we have to do it his way.

Okay. Okay. Next week, next week, we've got, well, we got the GCE going on. I've got a council meeting next week as well, so we won't have a Bible study next week, next Wednesday, but we will have one in two weeks from today. So, so none next week, and then two weeks from today, we'll, we'll take it up in chapter 33. Okay. Okay. And I guess, I guess we will, we will kind of, we will think of all be together on the Sabbath as well, as long as you're all going again.

Again, we will have the GCE weekend, so we will, we will see you, we will see you then.

Okay. Anything else anyone before we close off for tonight?

Okay. Hey, Berta, where you on, where you on when we discuss the verse?

Okay. Very good. Okay. Okay. Well, good night, everyone, then.