Bible Study: November 8, 2023

Okay. Okay, so tonight we are going to pick it up where we left off last week.

In Isaiah, we're in a very upbeat, if I can use that term, series of chapters here.

Chapter 60 and chapter 61 in Isaiah are just very positive millennial chapters that where God gives us more of the vision of what's going to happen. He lays out the hope, the expectation, the promises that He makes to us. As we read these verses that are just full of light and full of promise, it should warm all our hearts and really motivate us to grow closer to God because we can see what He's doing. Through all the turmoil that the world is going to put itself through by the actions they take over the next however long it is before Christ returns, we see the beauty in the chapters here of what God has planned and how everything will just come together in a time beyond any time that anyone could imagine. So last week, just to bring us up to speed, we went through chapter 59. We talked about Jesus Christ's returning. We talked about truth failing in the street. It was the chapter that has the symbol of the cockatrice egg in it that we're warned, don't hatch that egg. Anyone who catches that egg dies. We look at the world around us and we keep seeing these eggs that are being hatched that are only going to lead the turmoil, war, strife, and ultimately death if it wasn't for Christ who would come and save the world from itself. So we read about truth failing, but we see that it is Christ who will return to earth and he will save the world from itself. Last week, we read through the first seven verses of chapter 60. Again, very, very inspiring verses talking about Christ returning, bringing light to the world. It was determined for him to bring light to the world, to bring light to the Gentiles.

And we read about the times where everyone will be coming to God and Israel. His people, Israel, the physical Israel, who will turn back to God while they're turning further and further from him today, the modern day Israelite nations that we're aware of, when they realize what they've done, when they see what the results of all their actions that they're turning from God and turning well turning so far from God that it applies the imagination, when they lose everything and when they understand what they've done, God says they will load themselves in Ezekiel 7 and I think it's also in Ezekiel 20. When they load themselves, that will lead to the repentance and turning back to God and they will become the model nation that he once always wanted them to become.

And they will be, he says, they will be his people and he will be their God. And the nations the nations of the world will look to them. We'll look to them because they are God's people. And we read these verses that sometimes can indicate like everyone is going to bring everything to Israel and certainly they are going to honor Israel. Back before we get into chapter 6a or continuing it, let's look at Zechariah 8. We looked at Zechariah 8 a few times here during these Isaiah Bible studies. But it talks to the time that's even, you know, this verse is even more noticeable or notable today when we see the world in such chaos and anti-Semitism becoming the just the news item, I guess, all over the world. You read about it here in America.

Sometimes you turn on the news and your mind is just boggled that people could be that anti- anti-Israel and so pro-Hamas with all the brutality and everything that was foisted on Israel. And we see that. I know the Prime Minister in England is very worried about whatever is going on there this weekend. I guess protests that are occurring there that could create a lot of havoc in that country. But then you look at what God says is going to happen here in Zechariah 8. In verse 23, it says, Thus has the Lord of hosts. In those days, that's after Christ returns, after His Spirit is poured out on all flesh, after people are learning to follow God, worship God, live by His way of life, it says, In those days ten men from every language of the nations will grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. Now that is such a major contrast from what we see going into the world today. It'll be completely different than what we're seeing now, and that we will continue to see as time goes on until the return of Jesus Christ, where the little nation of Israel there, the Jews around the world who are experiencing again the hate that is registered against them.

Remember also, remember always, that you know, Satan hates God's people. He hates God's church.

He hates the people who are living God's way, who believe in God, who have the Spirit of God in them, who have repented and turned to God and striving to live by every word of the Bible. He hates them, and He will attack them. That's us, right? But also, he hates the physical people of Israel, because God still loves them. They are His people. Remember, we read in Isaiah, He created them.

He created them, and He loves them. They're descendants of Abraham, and they will be known as His people in that time. So as we were reading in chapter 60 in the first seven verses last week, it talks about how—well, let's just pick it up in verse 5 and go down from there.

Verse 5, it says, "...then you shall see and become radiant," I'm in chapter 60, "...and your heart shall swell with joy, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you." He's speaking to physical Israel. Well, it will be a time, a blessing for all people.

When we live by God's way of life, blessings inure to us.

"...because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you. The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you." And we talked about—it doesn't mean that everyone on earth is going to be poor and give it all to Israel, but just like the queen of Sheba, when she saw the beauty in Solomon's wisdom, and she recognized that it was the God of Solomon that had given him the wisdom, that had given him such a good people, that the laws of the land were good and right and had produced such a good spirit among all the people that were there, she brought the wealth of Sheba, and that was a very wealthy land as well. So they will bring gifts. They will bring gifts to Israel.

They will be the servants of God. We'll see that a little bit later again, as we've seen before, as we go through these chapters here. The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you. They'll bring gifts to you. The multitude of camels shall cover your land. The dramadaries of Midian and Ipha, all those from Sheba, shall come. They shall bring gold and incense, and they shall proclaim the praises of the Eternal. They will worship God. They will recognize Israel as God's people, but it will be God who they are praising. That's because of what God has done, and because of his love for Israel and all of the all-bound kind, that Christ came to save the world from itself.

All the flocks of Kedare shall be gathered to you. The reigns of Nebaioth shall minister to you.

They shall ascend with acceptance on my altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.

So that's where we ended last week. And then as we begin in verse 8, for those who just joined, for those who just joined, we're in Isaiah 16, we're just beginning verse 8. It says, Who are those who fly like a cloud and like doves to their roosts? Well, here it's talking about there's this swarm of people that are coming back. Who are these people that are coming back and like doves back to their roosts? Where are they coming back? It's talking about the people of Israel coming back from where they were as God brings them back to the land he promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As they come back, they fly like a cloud. And you know, just if you keep your finger there in Isaiah 60, as you think of that word cloud describing a people like a cloud, you know, you might think of Hebrews 12, where God uses the same analogy. After Hebrews 11, which is the faith chapter we call it, the men and women of faith, who God said in this chapter as examples to us, and the things they suffered and endured, always having faith in God.

In chapter 12 of Hebrews, right after that chapter, it says, Therefore we, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, cloud of witnesses, people that are there, a cloud that's coming with so since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, who's the author and the finisher of our faith. So you have this picture in Isaiah 60 of these people coming like a cloud back to the land that God is bringing them to. They're coming back like doves to their roofs. It's a beautiful picture, and you know, God doesn't use analogies lightly.

Doves are one of those pictures of a peaceful bird. Here's a peaceful time that's coming back, as people coming back to their homeland, if you will. In verse 9, it says, Surely the coastlands will wait for me. And we've talked about the coastlands before.

You know, it is the modern-day nations of Israel that command a lot of the coastlands in the world.

When you look at America and Canada and Australia and New Zealand and England, you see areas that are surrounded by water. Those coastlands have been a tremendous blessing to all of those nations. God says, the coastlands will wait for me. And remember, when we talk about, you know, we wait patiently for God. The coastlands today may not know that they're waiting for God, but they will know that it's because God was there that they will even survive what is coming upon this world. Surely the coastlands will wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish will come first.

It's an interesting verse and an interesting that God would use the name Tarshish there.

If you remember back several months ago, we were back in Ur, oh, somewhere in Isaiah 20, in the 20s, and we talked about the prophecies of Tyre. Remember that and Tyre, what happened to them. And it talked about when that city was sieged, they went, they floated their boats, and they went off to Tarshish. And Tarshish was far away. When trouble came, they left Tyre, and Tarshish was a settlement that they would have considered was at the far ends of the earth.

Most of the commentaries will say that was off in Spain. They just failed across the Mediterranean Sea, and at the very end of the Mediterranean Sea, there's the settlement that Tyre had there, and people went off to that. They went far away. They had to leave their homeland because of what was going on with them. And so when you know that, remember that analogy, and here we have the people from Tarshish who have been taken out of their homeland, and now they're coming back, this cloud of people, the doves, they've had to leave their home because of the trouble that has come upon them, and by their own doing, of course. But the ships of Tarshish will come first. It will start bringing those people back from far away. As God intervenes, and as people are freed from the captivity, from the slavery, from where they've been taken from their homeland, or their homes to wherever it is they're taken to, as God brings them back, those ships of Tarshish, those far away places that they will be carried to, they will come back, they will come back, and the ships of Tarshish here will come first to bring your sons, your sons from afar. Now that, I'm gonna draw attention to that word sons in verse 11 or verse 9 there for just a second, because we're gonna see that term show up many times here over the next two or three chapters. And it is actually Hebrew number 1121, and it can be considered sons, but it really, more appropriate than some of the newer translations, we'll use the word builders in there. Sons are sometimes the builders of the family. And so, you know, especially when we get later on, we're going to see builders. We're going to see this concept of restoration. We're going to see this concept of building, that things have to be built back, not only physically, but spiritually. So when we see this word sons, yes, there will be sons who are brought back, but there are people who are coming back to the land that has been promised to them. And builders will might be a better thing to think of when we read that word, when we see what's coming ahead of us here, as far as what is prophesied, what will happen. So the ships of Tarshish will come to bring your sons or your builders from afar. Their silver and their gold will be with them, and they will come to the name, their silver and their gold with them, to the name of the eternal your God and to the holy one of Israel, because he has glorified you. You know, God so loves all mankind. He loves all of mankind, but he has that special love for Israel because of the seed that they are, as we've talked about. Doesn't mean he loves other people less. They're just the people that he wanted to set the example, and now they will fulfill in the millennium the physical people, you know, that role that he wanted them to fill. And they will be servants in that, in his land. In verse 10 it says, the sons, again, the sons of foreigners will build up your walls.

So, you know, builders, builders of foreigners, they'll build up your walls. Remember, when the world at this time, the world is going to be in complete devastation. It's going to go through a tremendous, awful time, brought upon much by themselves through the, through the, you know, actions of man and the wars that are going on, and it is the continual wars that will go on between east and king of the north and the king of the south, and, you know, as Satan leads them. But then in the trumpets of God, when the world is just brought to its knees, as God takes his vengeance out on a world that has turned against him, and they see his power, they see his power, and there is no denying that that, when that fear is put before them, there is no choice but to follow, follow God. So the sons of the foreigners will come, and there, we've got a world that has to be built back up again. Everything, everything is in, in complete ruin when Jesus Christ returns.

The sons of foreigners will build up your walls, their kings will minister or serve you. For in my wrath, God says, I struck you, Israel, you disregarded me, I gave you blessings, I blessed you, I was patient with you, I waited for you, and all you did was turn against me and become that spiritual harlot that we read about back in chapter 50, was it? Yeah, chapter, not 50, 58, I guess, 57 back in that area. You became that harlot, I had no choice but to punish you so that you would come back to your senses, right? The sons of foreigners will build up your walls, their kings will serve you, for in my wrath, I struck you, but in my favor, I have had mercy on you.

God punishes, but he punishes for a reason, because he loves and he knows the only way to joy, peace, everything good, comes from being in step with God, doing things his way, living by the truth, learning the truth, speaking it, applying it in our lives, but in my favor, I had mercy on you. Therefore, your gates shall be open continually. Clear this is speaking of a time of the millennium. Speaking of a time when the gates of Jerusalem will be open all the time to anyone who wants to come. Again, if we keep your finger there in Isaiah 60, no doubt has drawn and, you know, made you think of Revelation, where those gates are, where those gates are open in Revelation 21.

Revelation 21 and... we'll see what I ever written down here. Verse 25.

Actually, you know what I'm going to read through, because we're going to be referencing some other verses here in Revelation. Revelation 21 and 22 is after the time of Christ's return, of course, after the thousand-year millennium, when there's a new heaven and a new earth. And let's pick it up in verse 23 of chapter 21, and I will just bring to your recall these verses that we read as we go through some of these verses in Isaiah, because they parallel so exactly. In verse 23 it says, Excuse me.

And then he says in verse 27, This is preceded by that time of teachers that are there, the firstfruits in Isaiah 30 who are working with people, teaching them how to live, helping them to develop the character that when they see them thinking in a wrong way, about to do something wrong, tap them on the shoulder and say, no, no, no, this is the way. Walk in it. The same thing the Holy Spirit will do for us today if we pay attention to what God's urgings are and the thoughts that come into our mind and our consciousness is, no, don't do that. But it takes the strength to say, no, I won't do that.

I will do things God's way. The teachers will be doing that.

Or a lie. But only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, those who are living God's way, who have made it part of their hearts, minds, and souls. Verse 22, let's drop down to verse Prop 5. They shall, there shall be no night there. They need no lamp nor light to the sun, for the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. And so we see in these verses, seems like there's one more I want to read, but we'll come back to it. Let me go quickly.

But with that in line, again we can see as God gives these prophecies of what will be here at the end of the Bible, we see the same things being written again. This is what we'll be. So clearly, when we're reading these verses here in chapter 60, we see the time that God is talking about.

So he says, your gates, if I go back to Isaiah 16, Isaiah 16, and we're in verse 11, your gates, we just read that in Revelation 21, your gates shall be opened continually. They shall not be shut day nor night. Then men may bring to you the wealth of the Gentiles and their kings in procession. They will come. Remember in Isaiah 2, we said, in that time, people will say, let's go up to the mountain of the Lord. We want to go. We want to learn of His way. We want to go up to Jerusalem. We want to be where God is, where that temple is, where His people, Israel, are. We want to go there. We want to learn. Zechariah 8. You're a Jew. You mean you learn these ways? This is what you live during your life? This is the way you live? We need to learn from you. Let's attach ourselves to you and learn from you how to live this way of life. Verse 12, for the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish.

I think we've read in the past, in Zechariah 14-16, it talks about the Feast of Tabernacles.

And it says, if Egypt says, we're not going up to the Feast of Tabernacles, God said, you know, we just won't run on Egypt until they learn we're going to do things God's way. We'll just do things God's way. And they will eventually realize God is sovereign. He has the right to tell us what to do. Everything he does is absolutely for our own good. We learn to glorify him by the things that he has us do when we do it. We learn to his plan and we see the love and we love him because we see the wisdom and everything he does and that even though it's painful, even that pain is for our own good. So it says, for the nation and kingdom which won't serve you shall perish. If there is a nation that just absolutely sets their mind against God, they will perish. We read a few weeks ago, Ezekiel 39, and we read about people that go up against an unwalled city, Jerusalem, remember?

And Gog and Magog, it calls them. And it says, you know, a thought comes into their mind. A thought comes into their mind and they make plans and they're going to go up against an unwalled city and God stops them in their tracks and they all die. Remember the number of people that died is as part of that failed attempt or that revival of human nature and that animosity toward God that is human nature. That ends in people burning wood of the the chariots for years and years and years. So we just read in Revelation 21, no one, people that will be in that kingdom will be following God, will be obedient and completely yielded to him. The nation, the kingdom, the people that will not do that will not be there. And God finishes verse 12 by saying those nations will be utterly, utterly ruined. Verse 13, he uses these if we were alive back in the time that Isaiah lived, I think we would probably be amazed at the beauty of Lebanon and where modern-day Israel is today and the lands that are there. Today they're just like very much sand and waste and whatever. And of course we read Isaiah 35 where in the millennium those deserts and those waste areas will bloom again. But apparently back in the time that these scriptures were written, that area of the of the world was a very beautiful place because over and over we read about the trees that are there and how God used them even to adorn his temple. Verse 13, the glory of Lebanon shall come to you. Ah, that there's some some powerful of our beautiful trees in Lebanon, right? The glory of Lebanon shall come to you. The cypress, the pine, and the box tree together.

You know, and it says there, to beautify the place of my sanctuary and I will make the place of my feet glorious. There's different parts of the world, you know, as we all have the opportunity to go from state to state and country to country and continent to continent, we realize they're all different but they're all beautiful in their own way. There is just absolutely beautiful things that are all over the world. Trees that grow in Florida don't grow in Ohio. Trees that are over there in in Italy do not grow in Ohio or even Florida. It's just beautiful when you see the variety that God is put out there. As you read of the Old Testament tabernacle and temple, you remember where God said, well bring the acacia wood, bring the cedars of Lebanon, use those in the building of my temple.

He created them all. And that's what he's saying here. The cypress, the pine, the box tree together, they will beautify the place of my sanctuary and I will make the place of my feet glorious.

Remember, there will be that temple in the millennium. You know, one day we'll be in Ezekiel and we'll read about that millennial temple that God describes. It's clearly different because it's not the same instructions or descriptions that are there for the Old Testament temples. Verse 14, also the sons, also the sons, that's also that number 1,121, the sons of those who afflicted you.

Remember, there is that time of Jacob's trouble and the nations of Israel who have turned against God will, there will be that great tribulation, there will be that time of torment upon them as payment for reaping the things of the actions they've taken. The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you. For a while, they'll look like the victor and the one who has succeeded.

They will come when they are, hold on just a second here, they will come and they will be bowing to you. Not worshiping, never worshiping Israel, but they will be honoring the position that God gives them. The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bowing to you, and all those who despised you. How many people despise the Jews today? How many people despise Israel, America, and Britain today? Even people that live in the nations that have that's one of the things we see today. People living here hate the place they live, and just a kind of an ironic, weird type of thing. They will come bowing to you, and all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet, and they shall call you Jerusalem, the city of the Lord, the Zion, and the only one of Israel. A tremendous name! The city of God, we've talked before that God loves Jerusalem, and you can probably look at Psalm 86 here a little bit later, Psalm 89. I'll look at mine and see which one. It says, God loves Jerusalem above all the nations on earth. He has always loved Jerusalem. You go back to when he led David to that time and showed him. He gave David that city. It was called the city of David, and God has had his name there. Jerusalem extends into the millennium. It's the New Jerusalem. That's the name that last passed the physical earth. Someone is there. Let me mute everyone for a second here. Okay. Okay, verse 15. Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, a forsaken there really means you're a city that's been kind of abandoned. It's like God has abandoned it, forgotten it. Whereas you, Jerusalem, have been forsaken and hated. Hated is one thing that we will see more and more.

Jerusalem will become a focal point of the world. People will hate it. People will hate the people of God. People will hate the church of God. People will hate people that worship God. People that will hate people that subscribe to the Bible and try to live by it. People will hate. We know that. If they hated Jesus Christ, he said, they will hate you too. Where you have been forsaken, us looks like God forgot Israel. Or, not Israel, forgot Jerusalem. Looks like he abandoned it. Looks like he forgotten it. And we read about the time when it's surrounded by armies in Matthew 24, or I guess that's Luke 21. And God says, when you see that, know the time is near. Know the time is near, as that conflict continually surrounds that area over there in the Middle East. Whereas you have been forsaken and hated so that no one went through you, I will make you an eternal excellence.

As we watch what happens to Jerusalem in the years ahead, and you think, boy, it's just a sore point to the earth. No one even wants to go there. No more tourists go there. It's a place where who knows what's going to happen to you, right? The people who were over there for the peace this past year, just talking to someone today who said that that last day, it is a little jolting when you're there and you hear those sirens go off and you hear the bombs going off or the missiles going off in the air and you trust in God, but it is a daunting feeling to know that that's happening all around you and you've never experienced that before, which I would dare say most of us on line are, right?

So no one would go through you. I mean, just the armies are there. Everyone else has fled because it is a dangerous place to live. God says, take that when I return and when Christ is is Christ is King, Jerusalem will be a place of excellence and eternal excellence, not just for a few years, but once Christ comes, Jerusalem becomes the city of peace, the city of truth, a place that people will flock to, and it is there for eternity. Physical Jerusalem passes away, we read, and in Revelation, in Revelation, replaced by the new Jerusalem that we read about.

It will be an eternal excellence, a joy of many generations. And as we watch what goes on over there, as you see the misery, now what Israel, the people over there went through in that brutal Hamas attack, there will be one day where that will be a place of joy, eternal joy. Verse 16, you will drink the milk of the Gentiles. What that means in modern-day language, really, is that the nations and kings are going to care for you. The people of Israel, the servants of God—we'll get to that a little bit again—they're going to care. They're going to be there, and they're going to be watching out for you. You will drink the milk of the Gentiles, you know, they're going to watch out for you if we could put it in that modern vernacular. You will drink the milk of the Gentiles and the milk, the breast of kings. You will be getting the nourishment and everything that as they serve you, as you serve God. You will know, God says, that I the Lord am your Savior.

It's hard to even imagine what people will go through, and then when they see God deliver them and bring them back to their land, and how life becomes, how you can't even come up with a word, wonderful, joyful. Every positive adjective you can think of, how life will be, they will know the only way this happens is by God, the one true God. It only happens through Jesus Christ, not through any other religion, government, institution, or anything. Only God, and only a good, loving, merciful Savior, could do what God is going to do. They will all know that. You will know that I the Lord am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob. You were hated in the earth. You people wanted to destroy you, but God rescues, and God brings them back, and all the world benefits and has the blessings of God. Instead of bronze, I'll bring gold. Instead of iron, I'll bring silver. Instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. I will make your officers peace and your magistrates righteousness. They'll be living the way of God. Can you imagine if our magistrates today were righteousness? If everywhere in the world, the magistrates, the mayors, the governors, the judges, they were all living a righteous life and subscribing and living and doing God's righteousness, what a different world it would be than the mess that we see all around us today in every aspect of life. Violence will no longer be heard in your land.

Who knows what this weekend brings? I don't understand what they're afraid of, what is going to go on in Britain, but even the violence that we see. I listen to some of the news and look at some of the accounts that I read about. The protests that are occurring even here, the pro-Hamas protests. I was reading about a man who came out to just support Israel, and he was basically, I guess, knocked down and trampled to death. The violence that will no longer be heard in your land.

We haven't seen the extents of the violence yet, but more and more as time goes on, that will occur as it becomes just part of people's nature. That is part of Satan's nature.

Satan has the sway of this world, and people yield themselves more to that spirit. You'll see that every single one of those negative things that we're reading about here. Neither wasting nor destruction will be in your borders, but you will call your walls salvation. It'll be salvation.

You'll be secure. You will rest completely secure that God is in control. Your faith and trust will be in him. We talk about Jerusalem being an unwalled city. Their walls are salvation. Their walls are security. We trust in God. He will watch over us. Our trust is in him. You shall call your walls salvation and your gates praise. Praising God, giving him the glory. Understanding it wasn't by their might, but one of the things the world will learn, and the modern day of Israel's will learn, is that it certainly wasn't by our might. It certainly wasn't by our power. It certainly wasn't by our wisdom that this world comes about. We destroyed everything. We destroyed everything.

We took every blessing that God gave us, and the world will be in a complete mess and we'll have lost everything. It's only because of God the whole world will know that over and over in this book of Isaiah we've read. And you will know that I am the Lord your God. Everyone will know that and your gates, what will be going on in your hearts, in your homes, in your cities, all over the world is praising God and giving him the glory for what has gone on. Verse 19 is, you know, we read about the sun not being needed. We read that in Revelation 21. The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you, but the Lord will be to you in everlasting light and your God your glory. Clearly, clearly the time that God is talking about, he's pointing us to and giving us that vision of what things will be like. That vision that, you know, we have to keep in our minds. And as we go through whatever it is that God has in store for us between now and then, keeping our eyes on that vision and having that trust in him, just like Jesus Christ. Now, remember the verse where he says, for the joy set before him, he endured the cross. He hated the shame, but he endured because he had his vision and his complete trust in God. It's the same thing you and I need to need to be honing and asking God to hone in us, His Holy Spirit. Your sun, verse 20, shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself, for the Lord will be your everlasting the Lord will be your everlasting light and the days of your morning shall be ended.

You know, in just a few verses here, we're going to be talking about oil of joy for morning. There will be morning, you know, there will be morning when, through all the times that lead up to the time of Christ's return, as people lose everything, they will be morning and they will be realizing what they've done and asking themselves, how did we bring the world that we have to the ruin? It is your people. Verse 21, your people shall all be righteous. You know, none that will offend will be in that kingdom. None that sin will be in that kingdom. There will be righteous people because God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh in those days. We've read that in Jeremiah 31 several times, verses 31 to 34. He will pour out His Spirit. He will be our God. He's our God. He will be and they will be His people and He will cause them. They will be led in His way of life to do the things He said, follow His commands, follow His statutes, follow in the precepts that He lays for them. Your people shall all be righteous. Verse 21, they shall inherit the land forever.

Forever. It's theirs. No one else is going to come in. There isn't going to be a revival of the ways of this world. It will be gone. They will be the branch of my, God says, my, with a capital M there, the branch of my plants. When God plants and things are done His way, only beauty that we can't even imagine can result. They will be the work of my hands. It will be me who is training them, mentoring them, walking with them. It'll be you and me, the first three who are walking with them, those of us who have become like Christ who have the same mind that Christ did. As God's Spirit continues, we allow it to continue to develop in us and we make the choices to follow Him, learn His way, and reject our own own way. They shall inherit the land. They will be the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. The glory never goes to man, will never go to the first fruits. The glory always goes to God because it's only because of Him that any of us, any of us from anyone who was ever born, it's all because of God. That's one thing we always have to remember and never allow ourselves to think how wonderful we are.

Whatever God has given us to do, it is always because of Him. He gave that. That's one of the great things of Satan. When you read Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14, one of the great lessons from Satan is Christ said, or God said, I'm the one who created you. I made you the pinnacle of my creation. You were perfect in the ways from the day that you were created. You were the epitome of God's creation. But somewhere along the line, Satan started thinking it was all about Him.

Look what I can do. I'm better than Michael. I'm better than Gabriel. I'm better than the angels.

And he let that go to his head and he never stopped to think. I'm nothing. I was nothing.

I was not even alive. God gave me literally everything. And none of us are here because of anything we did. God gave mankind this opportunity, this tremendous blessing. I mean, we're here because of God and because He wants to give eternity to us. If we just kept that in our minds, every time we have a thought come and realize, no, it is all because of God. Paul certainly began to see that way because in Romans 12, verses 1 and 2, when he says, to give Him our lives as a living sacrifice is our reasonable service. Because he saw that. It's nothing about me. There's nothing about me that is worth anything because apart from God, we are less than nothing and we are literally nothing. So he says, you know, there's the work of my hands that I may be glorified. When the world looks at itself, when they see the ways of living God's way of life and everyone is doing that way, it'll be, thank you, God. Thank you, God, for showing us your way. Thank you for this time that we're able to experience with everyone living your way of life. Thank you for your law. Thank you for your way. Thank you for your spirit. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your patience and thank you for your love and every other thing that we can thank Him for, for allowing us to experience what He has in store for us. In verse 22, He gives a blessing, right? In verse 22, again, if we take it in context of what today is, you know, over the last several years, there's been talk about the declining birth rate in America, you know, Britain and the English-speaking nations of the world. And so, you know, so we see that if we, you think back to Genesis 12, but God gave the blessing to Abraham. Remember, Abraham and Sarah were childless until Isaac, well, Ishmael was born, he was the son of flesh, but then God gave him the son of promise, Isaac. And He said, your descendants will be as the stars of heaven, as the sands of the sea.

And there was great blessings of the fertility that He would give those nations, and they did become. They had, they overflowed the boundaries of England, over into America, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, spread around the world, because God blessed His Abraham seed exactly the way He said.

And it's going to happen again in verse 22. Remember, there's a remnant of Israel that lives over into the kingdom, and it says, a little one shall become a thousand.

That's a blessing of God. I will bless the fruit of your body. You will be multiplied in number.

A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time. So the blessings that He gave to Abraham will continue. They were a covenant between God and Abraham. That's not the old covenant. That's a different covenant. But that will continue. And God says it'll be visited on them again as He brings them back to the land He promised, and then blesses them with the the blessings that He spoke to them back then as well.

Okay, we're gonna move into chapter 61. Unless someone's got, if you want to talk about something or draw attention to anything. Yes, Mr. Shavey? Yes, sir. Yeah, I raised my hand back when you were talking about the sirens. Okay. And you know, for those of you who may not be familiar, I'm an army veteran, disabled army veteran, and I deployed to both Afghanistan and Iraq. And those sirens are actually a part of, you know, so that's very real. It's part of the warning system. I actually still, it's one of my triggers for PTSD. It is those those sirens are very daunting. And you know, the difference being like, you know, wondering like, hey, how close is it? And, and all of those were there very hearing, very daunting. It is quite, quite frightening. And you know, and then we, you know, we had to sit in the bunker and wait for all clears and all of that stuff. And you just you just don't know, you really have no idea if it's going to hit where you are, or, you know, far away from you. And for those, if you know anything about weaponry, literally, you know, an inhale or an exhale can make the difference from where you are to a block away to a mile away.

And so it just is very scary. So I, I definitely, you know, you know, hope that people are paying attention. Because it's not, it is definitely not going to be a safe time. It really won't.

And like you said, if it were to really wasn't for God looking out for us and taking care of us, there would be no hope. Yep. Yeah, we can't, you can't even imagine it until you go through it, right? That's what the, that's what the person was telling me today. It's like, you can't even imagine what goes through your mind when you hear it and you know what's going on. Brandon, I apologize for not, I was on the wrong screen, so I didn't see any hands raised. So sorry about that.

So I wasn't. Oh, no, no, no worries. No worries. No, no, I just wanted to explain. Otherwise, I would have called on you well before then. So I appreciate it. Hey, Mr. Glasgow.

Yes, I'd like to follow up with what this gentleman just said. Because this coming Sabbath is also Veterans Day. I'm a Vietnam combat veteran myself. I'm 100% disabled, and it's not to my glory, it's to the glory of our Father who kept us alive during those times. So many men have made the commitment to give their lives for the folks back home, for our loved ones and our neighbors. And I would ask, it doesn't matter to me what side of nobody likes war. And it doesn't matter to me whether you believe in guns or no guns or what, that is not what I'm talking about.

It's that I would like for you to all take a few moments this weekend, especially, and thank God, and to honor these men who have made sacrifices. You don't have to die to sacrifice, and everyone who has served has sacrificed. And I thank you so much for doing that.

Yeah, I don't think any of us who haven't been in the military can appreciate the sacrifice, the sacrifices there, right? Just from the time, and even what you go through, and the experiences and how it affects the rest of your life. So yeah, we do appreciate what has gone before us.

Okay, let's move into chapter 61. Chapter 61 is notable Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, when he was there, and in the temple that day in Luke 4, he picked up the scroll of Isaiah, and he read from what we call Isaiah 61, but this section of Scripture. So, I don't know how much time—I'm not going to spend a lot of time in those first four verses, because I've given sermons on this before at the feast. You've probably heard it again at the feast this past year. Certainly any comments or whatever to accentuate or add to what we talk about here tonight are welcome. But let's begin here. In chapter 61, this is where Jesus Christ—we went back to Luke 4. It says, he picked up the scroll of Isaiah, and he read these verses from 1 through the first sentence of verse 2. 61, he read, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Eternal has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who were bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And when he read that part, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, he laid down the scroll, and he told the people there in Luke 4, today those scriptures have been fulfilled in your ears. What he was doing when he was talking there, because the world had always the hope of the Messiah, but the world was hopeless until the Messiah came and fulfilled the commission that God gave him to do. And so with Jesus Christ being there, he was fulfilling those words. He was the one who would preach good tidings to the poor.

There is hope. There is a better world coming. There is life after this physical life, to deal the brokenhearted and all the suffering that goes on in this world that is manifest itself. There is a time beyond this physical life that may be full of pain, strife, sorrow, misery for so many people. At some point in their life, a time coming where there will be nothing but eternal joy, as he says, to proclaim liberty to the captives. Because, again, as the Bible so eloquently shows us in the New Testament, where we are slaves to sin, we are powerless over Satan, we are powerless over our own minds. And when Romans 8, 7 says, the carnal mind, the human mind, human nature is enmity against God, is not subject to his law and cannot be without God's Holy Spirit. We cannot overcome that way. Jesus Christ, that's why, with God's Spirit, he says, I've overcome the world. That's why it is with God's Spirit that we can't overcome. And without it, we cannot, because we are powerless over that. So he proclaimed liberty to the captives when he said, Be a good shear. I have overcome the world. I've made it possible. I'm the door to eternal life, but you have to follow me and live the way that I follow the example that I've given you do the things that I say. He says, and I'm the opening of the prison to those who were bound. Sitting in jail, can't get themselves out. Jesus Christ is the one through his death made it possible to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, that that time is coming. And he stopped there. And at that, in those verses, he was talking about what he was going to accomplish in his first coming. And then the rest through first, the rest of verse two and verse three, what he would be doing in his second coming. And that's what he talks about. And that's why he stopped in Luke 4 with that. Because the rest of it talks about when he returns again, he's there to proclaim the acceptable year Lord and the day of vengeance of our God. We know that is the time when the trumpets, the trumpets of revelation, of revelation, say they are the vengeance of God on the earth. It's God's vengeance and wrath on a world that has completely rejected him. He has to get their attention. They have to know for certain, I am the Lord your God. There is no other God besides me, and you cannot stand against me. It is my way, and we can be eternally thankful that he is a good and righteous God who has our best interest at heart that wants the best things for us. The day of the vengeance of our God, that had to come.

That comes at the end of the age, in the days of the trumpets in revelation, to comfort all who mourn.

There will be a time of mourning when the world is falling apart and the world is in absolute misery through its own devices and reaping what it has sown. But through that time where God summarily punishes the world, more and more as you watch those trumpets sound until it gets to the point.

First with the earth and showing his power on it, then causing men to hurt from sores, then some being killed by the warfare that are there. Comfort to all who mourn. The world will be a place of mourning, and then God Christed his way who will come back and comfort them. And there will be a time of that comforting when they begin to see he is God. He is the God of all comfort, as it says in 2 Corinthians 1. To comfort all who mourn. To console those who mourn in Zion. Zion will be a place, you know Jerusalem will be the place that is just trampled underfoot. To console those who mourn in Zion. You know, to just work with the people there. They're going to need the healing.

They're going to need the comfort that comes from a loving God. To give them beauty for ashes.

The world will be ashes. But as we read in Isaiah 35, you know, the time of restoration when Christ returns begins. And the world becomes a beautiful place. It becomes restored. The people will be.

People will be restored again. Their lives will be ashes. But as they live God's way of life, and they feel the hope and they feel the joy that comes from being close to God and led by Him, and seeing His goodness and feeling that goodness, their lives will become beautiful as well.

The oil of joy for mourning. There's the mourning again. But the joy. The joy that will come. We just read verses about everlasting joy. Everlasting joy that will come upon, you know, the world.

And the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. And the spirit of heaviness, you know, they will be, you know, the world will just be, they just won't know what hit them. Right? Even when Christ returns, they'll, they, the world will be in a kind of a state of shock. What has just gone on, right? They'll be in awe, maybe not for the right way. But as they hear Christ, as they see Christ, as they see and feel His love and concern and mercy, and as they understand why they and the world had to go through what it did, it will be replaced with a garment of praise.

They will be praising God day and night, eternally grateful, eternally full of praise for what God has done and for rescuing them and giving them a life they never thought was possible. He does.

Go ahead.

Hello! Yes, yes, hello.

Did you have something to say?

Okay. If someone has something to say, you can just hit your button and start talking, and that would be okay. Okay, He does all this. Why? That they may be called trees, right? Trees are strong. Trees stand tall. Trees are confident, not in themselves. They're confident in God.

That they may be called trees of righteousness. They are living God's way of life. They are His people on earth. They are doing what He created man to do to be a light, to be joyful, to be there for each other, to do the love, to do all the things on earth as it is in heaven.

The planting of the Lord. Why? That He may be glorified. When we see the goodness of God, when we see His plan in action, when we see all people living His way of life, there will be endless praise. We never knew life could be so good. What a righteous and perfect law God has given us. A perfect way of life if we would just adhere to it. Verse 4 talks about rebuilding. The world is in shambles. Everything they ever believed in has been washed away.

Every institution is gone. Every military is completely defeated. Every leader is brought low. Everything that the world has trusted in is gone. There will be the rebuilding, physical rebuilding, but also a spiritual rebuilding. Everything they believed in, everything they trusted in before, has to be replaced now. The trust in God, the faith in God, and the obedience and the complete submission to God has to be built in. That's where the foundation is. Remember, the fear of the Lord is the foundation of knowledge. The fear of the Lord is where wisdom begins. They shall rebuild the old ruins. Notice it says, they will be people working. They'll have things to do. It won't be God just snapping his finger and all these things appear. They will be doing the work. They shall rebuild the old ruins. I won't take the time to turn back to Isaiah 58.12, but you can look at that. It talks about that as God repeats some of these concepts as we go through these scriptures. They will rebuild the old ruins. They shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. They'll do that as they follow God and as they are led by Him. As He directs that building to be the type of building spiritually and physically that He intended for earth, He knows what is good for mankind. We can take the time. Maybe next week we'll do it. Let's read a few more verses here. Micah 4, where he talks about every man will have his home, and he will sit under his vine and his fig tree. The type of dwelling that God wants is that that inspires mankind. That helps him to enjoy the earth and the blessings that God has given him.

In verses 5 and 6, or verses 5, he talks again about the nation of Israel.

That people, strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the foreigner, or the builders, that's that number 1121 again, the sons of the foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vine dressers. They'll willingly serve. They'll be happy to work with Israel and serve, just as God serves. We'll all be servants.

But you, he says, and it's interesting in verse 6, because we've talked about spiritual Israel and physical Israel. The two, there's physical Israel in the book of Revelation, and there's spiritual Israel in the book of Revelation. You shall be named the priests of the Lord. In Revelation 1, verse 6, as it talks about the first fruits, and those who will reign with Christ, it says, he's made us kings and priests to his God and Father.

And I know one of you sent me an email this week. I didn't have a chance to respond to it, just because we've been up at that conference. But that is a literal translation of the Greek words. He has made us kings and priests. In the Old Testament, it talks about a kingdom of priests, but in the New Testament, he has made us kings and priests to his God and Father.

So in verse 6, when he says, you shall be named the priests of the Lord, that's for a people. There will be priests in the physical temple as well, but the spiritual Israel will be priests and kings to God. And in verse 6, then, going back to chapter 61, they shall call you the servants of our God.

They shall call you the servants of our God. If you're there in Revelation, you'll remember that we read in Revelation 7. As the trumpets are about to sound, verse 3 says, don't harm the earth, the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.

And then later on in the chapter, when it talks about those who have, after it goes through the 12 tribes of Israel, 12,000 each, it says something different about this group than it does about the other group in Revelation 14. It says, therefore they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple, and he who sits on the throne will dwell among them.

So servants of God will all be servants of God. Jesus Christ didn't come to be served, he came to serve. So priests of the Lord, those who teach his way, live his way, examples of his way, serving God, serving each other, display the agape that God wants us to have. Verse 6, you will eat the riches of the Gentiles. Again, the stuff of the earth that will be there for everyone. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory, you shall boast. Let me, I'm going to just go to chapter verse 7 here, and then we'll pick it up in verse 8 next week.

Instead of your shame, because remember Israel will be considered, they'll be hated by the nations, right? They will be seen. People will laugh. They will celebrate the downfall of modern-day Israel, just like we've seen people celebrating the brutality that went on in Israel a month ago. They'll be celebrating it, and we've read in Isaiah how God hates when people celebrate the woe of someone else, and so they'll reap their reward as well.

Instead of your shame, you shall have double honor. Instead of confusion, that would be the people of the world who are confused, right? God is not the author of confusion. Living God's way of life does not lead to confusion. Living the way the world leads to confusion. Living God's way leads to order, stability, being established, joy, and all the fruits of the Spirit.

Instead of confusion, they, notice, instead of your shame, you'll have double honor. Instead of confusion, they will rejoice in their portion. They'll reap their rewards, but they'll also reap the blessings when they come to repentance as well. They will come out and realize the part that they have played. Therefore, in their land, they will possess double. Everlasting joy will be theirs. Everlasting joy for everyone who follows God and submits to him the blessings that he's always bestowed on Kwan people.

So let's end there, and we'll pick it up with verse 8 next week.

Mr. Shaby? Yes, ma'am. Hey, Debbie. Hi. So, very encouraging chapters 60 and 61.

And looking at prophecy Deuteronomy 28, Leviticus 26, Isaiah 3, we can see all these things happening now. Women are becoming your rulers, children, your oppressors, lawlessness in the New Testament, abounds, love is, you know, not there anymore. But one more piece of the puzzle now with October 7th, I can, you know, now the beginning of we can see until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. We can see the times of the Gentiles now with October 7 and worldwide siding on the side of evil, you know, is that not? To me, that's just amazing. We can actually see the beginning of the times of the Gentiles that is coming upon this world. Yeah, if we're watching, we see all those terms we've been reading about in the Bible for decades. We can see exactly how they come about. And the world as this progresses now, the natural course as man follows his way of doing things, you can see where the world's going to end. You can see how it's going to end up in exactly the prophecies of the Bible where, you know, where you have, well, everything.

The times of the Gentiles, the complete sexual depravity that there is at that time, as well as the autocratic type leadership that you have at that time. Yeah, good point. And in England, this coming weekend, just like it was mentioned, we have Veterans Day coming up, in England, they have MCA, which they're going to celebrate. Oh, is that what's going on? Yes, who knows what is being planned as a surprise, possibly for us and possibly for England, on the side of these Hamas, you know, immigrants coming into our country and they are already in England.

Interesting times we live in. I knew about Veterans Day, but I didn't know what was going on in England. So, I guess, man, interesting times. We'll just see what happens. We can always sit back and know that God is in control and just watch what happens. Yeah.

I've got a question about... you touched on kings and priests and royal priests. Anyway, I've found some verses here in the Bible. Revelation 5.10 says, you have made unto us kings and priests, and then over here in 1 Peter 2.9 it says, the U.R.H. Ocean generation, a royal priesthood, and then it says over here in Isaiah 61.6, you shall be named the priests of the Lord. So, how does that all tie in? Is it like we're going to be a royal priesthood or will we be kings and priests at the same time? Or are they different?

Revelation 1.5 says, kings and priests. We read in Ezekiel about the time when Christ returns, and he talks about David will be king over them. Remember that? And it says, David will be king over Israel sometime. So, there's kings, and he talks about the 12 apostles being over the 12 tribes of Israel. Those are kings. There are also priests, right? So, kings and priests, whether we will have that dual role of king and priest like Jesus Christ, he is king and he's our high priest, right? Whether we'll have that same role. I don't know if I can answer that. Maybe some that are priests, some that are kings, that is up to God to know. And if someone, I see someone going to who might have an input in that, if he heard that question, does that help at all? Well, somewhat. It says, you know, in 1 Peter 2.9, the URI chosen generation, a royal priesthood. Right.

So, that just makes me think that, you know, just what it says there, a royal priesthood comprised of maybe kings and priests in one role there. Yep. I wouldn't discount that, right? Because we will be like Christ, but under him, right? So, kings and priests were divided in the, in Old Testament times. One was the civil law and one was the spiritual law. But God is training us to be both, right? To righteously administer the physical as well as the spiritual. So, maybe it'll be that all of us have that role all morphed into one at that time. So, you know, but again, Revelation 1.5, we've been going back and, you know, there's been studies done on that going back to original manuscripts that Revelation 1.5 does say kings and priests.

So, whether that's all of us are kings and priests or some kings and some priests, that's, you know, I don't know that I'm prepared to say exactly that one yet.

Okay, so we're just not real sure about... Well, yeah, maybe there is someone I, again, I see a few names that might know a little bit more about... But again, we see, you know, you see where David, it says David will be king over them. Doesn't say David will be king and priest over them, but David will be king over them. And Ezekiel, where is that? Ezekiel 38, 39.

It says about the 12 apostles. I was looking for that. They will be... I think that's in John 6, right? I mean, let me look real quick here. It says they will be over the 12 tribes.

Hold on just a minute, so...

Let's see here...

Nah, okay, it's not there. You know what, I'm going to mark that down. Let me find some examples.

We'll come back to that at the beginning of next week. Is that okay?

That's fine.

Okay, okay. Yeah, maybe...

Others will study too.

Okay. Hey, Dale, how are you doing today?

Good, thanks. How are you?

Okay.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, just really struck me. God's mercy, you know, although he has humbled his real course and had to be punished, but God has so long suffering, but yet he's going to reward them in the end. And I just think about the amount of time that man's been on the earth and God's worked with mankind, you know, especially with Israel, of course, his chosen people.

I mean, we think when you compare that to the amount of time that he actually has to put them through that, you know, that he has to allow them to go through that most difficult time, you know, in history. But I just thought of a verse here, which maybe kind of sums up my thoughts, sums up those thoughts a little bit here. It says that Isaiah 54 and 70 says, For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather you.

You know, and some of the concordance is almost treated like almost like the wink of an eye.

You know, it shows how merciful God is and how I'm suffering. So it's almost like in a wink of an eye that these people will have to get up to allow them or to go through this most difficult time. But then he's going to gather them back again and reward them.

So it's a wonderful thing to think about, I think.

And that's a beautiful verse you bring up, and it shows the mercy of God just for a little while.

Right? He never forgets. He never completely forsakes or says, I'm done with you. It's just for that little moment. Yeah.

Great. Yes. Thank you.

Hey, Mr. Peterson.

Yes, I just have a comment about the situation that we see when we open our window and look out into this world. Because there seems to be a favoritism towards this party and that party to Hamas or Israel. But we know the prophecies and we know what's going to happen to Israel.

And it is no surprise whatsoever at all, because you could see what it was coming.

That Jacob and Judah, which Judah and Joseph used to, who have the stick that is going to be taken by Christ someday, who have the responsibility, have earned terribly.

And they have committed crimes in the last since Second World War that would make you weep.

And God is not happy with Jacob. And we have to understand that, I think, and it's being missed by a lot of people. That Jacob had a vocation, his vocation, as the inheritors of the promise of Israel, the promise that were given to Israel because God promised Abraham he'd bless Israel.

They have come to a point where they have failed their vocation. They are not a light to the Gentile.

They took advantage of them. They committed crimes that were just, I could tell you stories and stuff of what they've done in the last 40 years that I followed that make you sick. And we have to understand that the church, where's the church in this? The church also has a vocation. It is a conduit. It has a lamp. Each area of the church had a lamp to be a conduit to the house of Israel to warn them, tell them, listen, you're going astray. Who do you think did that in the New Testament?

It was James. He was the head of the church. And he sent a letter to the 12 tribes of Israel, not to the church, not to elect lady. He sent the letter to the house of Israel intentionally to make sure that they toed the line. The church has the responsibility, and so does the house of Israel. The house of Israel has now failed completely. She's blind and naked and poor. She has no money. She has no weapons. And she's blind to her condition, thinking she can still go and run proxy wars and things like that. And so I think that our prayers on our knees with tears should be for Jacob, because God is going to come and give him a good spanking with a silver spoon. Well, in the CQLA, he does say sigh and cry, right? Mourn, mourn for the people that have departed from God and the suffering that they're going to go through as a result. So, you know, and just echoing some of what you said, you're right, the church cannot fail. We have to do what God said. We understand God is sovereign, and there is nothing, you know, while we might, you know, empathize with Israel because we know who they are, we know it's God's will, right? We are to that's why, you know, don't get involved in national politics. We don't say one or the other. It is God's will. We don't want to be in a position of standing against God.

Thy will be done, and we know that what happens in this world is His will, and we know what the prophecies are and what will happen. So, yeah.

Okay. Yeah. Anyone else? Any anything?

Okay, looks like we are, oh, okay. Okay, you know what? Then I'm going to go ahead and sign off.

Great to be with all of you again tonight, and have a very good rest of the week.

Have a good Sabbath day, and we will look forward to seeing you next Wednesday night.

That's seven o'clock. We'll pick up the A61, the political IC A61 there, okay?

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Bye, everyone.

Bye, everyone.

Have a good one.

Thank you.

Bye.