Book of Isaiah Bible Study - Part 18

Welcome to the Bible study this evening. I had asked you to read the 27th chapter of the 28th chapter of Ezekiel in its entirety, and I want to look at that briefly here this evening. Well, maybe more than briefly. I want first of all for us to look at Isaiah 23 in verse 1 again. The burden of Tyre, how you ships of Tarshish. So we said that Tyre was a city-state just off the coast there of Palestine in the Mediterranean Sea.

And Tarshish is Spain, and there was a tremendous trading relationship between Tyre and the entire Mediterranean world. And Spain was the ultimate destination, it seems. For it is laid away so that there is no house, no entering in from the land of Kiddom. It is revealed to them, and Kiddom is oftentimes thought to be sacros. In fact, I'm pretty sure that it is a sacros. The irony of Tyre is that it was destroyed by Babylon. Tyre is like Babylon in the sense of it gained its fame and renown through trade as they made tremendous voyages and tremendous profits were achieved through their voyages and through their trade. And the irony of it is they were destroyed by the Babylonian system, which in the description of Revelation 18 you find that Babylon gains its fame and notoriety through trade, through merchandising of everything from men to all the various elements that make up modern life.

So we see in this that Tyre was a great city. Verse 8, who had taken this council against Tyre, the crowning city whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers, their traders, are the honorable of the earth. Very similar to Revelation 18. Now I ask you to read of Ezekiel 28. So we want to go to Ezekiel 28. Tyre, in essence, is a type of Babylon and they are, as it were, interchangeable in there what they represent and what they typify. So Ezekiel 28, and oftentimes, as I said, we start in verse 28 where the king of Tyre is a type of Satan the devil, but we tend to not read these first 11 verses here. So in Ezekiel 28, the word of the Lord came again unto me saying, Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyreus, or the prince of Tyre, thou says the Lord God, because your heart is lifted up and you have said, I am a God. I said in the seed of God in the midst of the seas, yet you are a man and not God, and though you set your heart as the heart of God, behold, you are wiser and wiser in the worldly sense. And that's what he says about himself. You're wiser than Daniel. And actually, this is more in a interrogative sense. Are you saying that you're wiser than even Daniel? There is no secret that can be hid from you. With your wisdom and with your understanding, you have gotten you riches and have gotten gold, the silver and the treasures. And by the great wisdom and by the traffic have you increased your riches and your heart is lifted up because of your riches.

And then in verse 10, it says, you shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers, for I have spoken it, says the Lord. Well, over the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, then the king of Tyreus becomes a type of Satan the devil. But I want to go back to verse 2. And we want to follow this through the typifying. When we were studying the book of Jeremiah, I gave you a handout in which we showed that the beast power has many, many titles. And another thing about the beast power, as we shall see when we get to Revelation 13, is that the beast power is possessed by Satan the devil. And the world worships both Satan the devil and the beast power.

So let's read this verse again. Verse 2. And then let's set up the chain of scriptures that show that this one typifies the beast power. And it's very similar to the Babylonian system. So once again, Ezekiel 28. So, Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyreus, that says the Lord God, because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, I am a God. I said, in the seed of God, in the midst of the sea, yet you are a man and not God, though you set yourself or your heart as the heart of God. And you think you've done all this by yourself.

Now, one of the things that we tend to overlook when we are talking about the end time and what happens is Daniel chapter 8. And Daniel chapter 8, after Alexander the Great is defeated, and his death ensues, but Alexander the Great did not have anyone to succeed him. He did not produce a dynasty, as it were. There were no sons or daughters to step in and to assume the kingdom. So the kingdom was divided into four divisions, and we want to focus on one of those divisions and what it says about it. And verse 20, we'll start in verse 20. The ram which you saw having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.

So Media and Persia pushed against Alexander the Great, the rough goat, the king of Grisha, and the great horn that is between the eyes of this first king. And that great horn is Alexander the Great. Now, that being broken, when Alexander the Great was defeated, four stood up for it.

Four kingdoms stood up out of the nations, but not in his power. They didn't have the same power and might that Alexander the Great did. But you'll notice verse 23, and I don't know why we don't focus on this and studying about the end times. In the latter times of their kingdom, the latter times of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance and understanding dark sentences shall stand up, and his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power.

By not by his own power, well, the power he receives, as we'll see in Revelation 13, is from Satan the devil. So not by his own power, and he shall destroy. This word destroy is better translated, he shall corrupt. It doesn't necessarily kill and destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper in practice, and shall corrupt the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy, also, he shall cause witchcraft to prosper in his hand.

So magical things and the occult are on the rise at an exponential rate throughout the world. You can Google witchcraft or occult in modern times, and you'll see how there is a great explosion of it. People are looking for answers with regard to the end time, and unfortunately, they turn to the dark side, and not to the lightened and the enlightened side, the gospel. So he'll cause craft to prosper in his hand, and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many. So he's going to come in peacefully, and he shall all stand up.

Now see, this is your key sentence right here. He shall stand up against the prince of princes, but he shall be broken without hand. The prince of princes is Jesus Christ. So this one here stands up against Jesus Christ. So this is another depiction of this one who says that he is God. Now if you will hold your place in Daniel here, you go to Revelation 17, and we'll pick up the verse here that you see that the beast power gives his kingdom over to the ten nations give their power over to this beast power.

This one stands up against the prince of princes. So in Revelation chapter 17, we'll start with 16. And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, they shall hate the whore, which is Babylon, shall make her desolate, naked, shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire, for God hath put in their heart to fulfill his kingdom, and do agree and give their kingdom unto the beast until the words shall be fulfilled. And this one stands up against the prince of princes back in Daniel 17, the one who comes, and the one who takes over and demolishes the one who sits in the seat claiming that he is God.

Once again, we'll look at verse 16. Let's read again. And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, they shall hate the whore, shall make her desolate, naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. So this one comes against the prince. He stands up against the prince of princes, and the prince of princes, of course, crushes him.

So now we want to go to Daniel chapter 11. So remember where we started from. We started from Ezekiel 28 too, where it says that this one sits saying that he is God, and God says, I'm going to show you that you're not God, that you are a man. So now you look at Daniel chapter 11 and verse 36, and you'll see almost the identical language that is given in Ezekiel 28 too.

You'll find it here beginning in verse 36. So in Daniel chapter 11 and verse 36, And the king shall do according to his will, he shall exalt himself above every god, shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods. I mean, here he's speaking against the God.

Now, as we shall see in Revelation 13 shortly, you know, I've often wondered, is this one the beast and the false prophet in this religious system, is this a false Christianity? Because they blaspheme, as we'll see in chapter 13 of Revelation, they blaspheme those that are in heaven and blaspheme them to no end, and the whole world is deceived and worshipped them. We'll see that in just a moment. Now, look at verse 36 again.

He shall magnify himself and speak against the God of gods, shall prosper till the ending nation, be accomplished, for that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers. Generally, when you see the God of the fathers speaking to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they constitute the dispensation of the patriarchal age, nor the desire of women, nor regard any God, for he shall magnify himself above all. Remember what it says in Ezekiel 28 too.

But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces. And so he honors military might and strength and a God whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold and silver with precious stones and pleasant things. This shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange God, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory, and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land per gain. Now you trace this from Ezekiel 28 too to Daniel 8 verses 22 through 25 to the end of the chapter. Now here in Daniel 11 verse 36 through verse 39, now we go to 2nd Thessalonians we'll see almost the identical language of this one in 2nd Thessalonians.

So 2nd Thessalonians in chapter 2 and we'll begin in verse 1.

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, by our gathering together unto him, that you may be not shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter, as from us. Evidently there were letters circulating under the Paul's signature as if he had written them as the day of Christ is at hand. And who knows how deceitful things are going to be at the end of the age. You know it says in Matthew 24, 24, if it were possible, the very elect would be deceived.

Then it says, Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. Now here are the key verses continuing the chain of reference, who opposes and exalts himself all that is called God, or that is worshiped so that he sits in the temple of God. So evidently the Jews will be building a temple and restoring sacrificial worship, temple worship, because it says in Daniel 11 31 that he causes the daily sacrifice to be taken away and places the abomination of desolation. He sits in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. Remember you not, that when I was with you, I told you these things. That you might know what withholds that he might be revealed in his time. I believe God and Christ are withholding that, and God and Christ can basically do whatever they want to do. We talk about we're living in the end times, and it seems that we are, but if God and Christ, there is an appointed time. Not so long ago, I gave a sermon titled, The Appointed Time, and I showed from several scriptures. You can do your Bible search with the appointed times, and you'll see several scriptures that relate to that very term, the appointed time. Now in Revelation 13, beginning in verse 1, Revelation 13, I saw upon the sea having seven horns, seven heads, and ten horns, upon his horns, ten crowns, and upon his head the name of blasphemy, and the beast which I saw was like a leopard, feet were as the feet of a bear, his mouth as the mouth of a lion, and the dragon. And we know that Satan is that old dragon, Satan the devil. Revelation 12 9 gave him his power. So his power comes from Satan. Remember I read from Daniel chapter 8, it says, not of his own power, and he'll stand up against the prince of princes, and the dragon gave him his power and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads, as it were, wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wandered after the beast. It didn't say part of the world, it didn't say the western world, the eastern world, it says all the world.

And they worshiped the beast that gave power unto the beast, and they worshiped the beast. I think we sometimes read over that. They worshiped the dragon, and they worshiped the beast, saying, who is like unto the beast? Who was able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things, and blasphemies and power was given unto him to continue three and a half years, forty-two months, and listen to this. And he opened his mouth and blasphemed me against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, and then the dwell in heaven.

So he does not worship the God of his fathers, and he blasphemes God in the name of this, the name of God and those that dwell in heaven. So sometimes you just wonder, is this false Christianity? What is this that causes this? It may be false Christianity, and basically we have taught and thought through the years that it is the Catholic Church and the Pope. And as we all oftentimes say, time will tell, but you should be aware of these scriptures and these verses and understand them and make sure that you are not ever deceived by any of this. We're going to read a little bit more here in Ezekiel 28 now. So if you'll go back to Ezekiel 28, we'll see that it takes up a lamentation, and the king of Tyre is a type of Satan.

Now this is Ezekiel 28 12, son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyre, and say unto him, Thus hath the Lord God, you seal up the psalm full of wisdom, perfect in beauty. You have been in Eden, the garden of God, every precious stone was your covering. I'm not going to read those. And in addition to that, he was at the throne of God. You are at the anointed carob that covers, and I've said you so, that you were upon the holy mountain of God. You were walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. And you were perfect in your ways until in the day that you were created till the iniquity was found in you. And by the multitude of your merchandise, that is, trading, becoming rich, and all nations participate in it in the end time Babylonian system, as we read in Revelation 18. And I fill the midst of you with violence, and you have sinned. Therefore I will cast you as profane out of the mountain of God, and I will destroy out of naught. And there shall be no more a prince in the land of Egypt, and I will put a fear, that sorry, my page is stuck together there, and I will destroy you over you, oh, covering carob from the midst of the stones of fire.

And it goes on talking about how his heart was lifted up and so on. So I want you to be able to understand that the tire is a system that gave way to the Babylonian system, and they are practically identical. And this one that sits there saying that he is God in Ezekiel 28.2, and then this king of tire is Satan the devil, and then we find out that the beast power is energized by Satan the devil, and both the beast power and Satan are worshiped. So when you see these things unfold, if you are alive at that time, you will understand these scriptures and be warned of it.

So now we go to... I spent a lot of time today, and I'm just going to briefly mention this.

I spent a lot of time today studying of Isaiah 23.

I'm trying to... my eye doesn't fall on the verse right now that I want. It's where you are not a people until the Assyrians settled near.

Yeah, it's verse 13. Isaiah 23 verse 13, Behold the land of the Chaldeans. Here's another tricky thing in the scripture. Behold the land of the Chaldeans, and of course the Chaldeans are the people of Babylon.

The land of the Chaldeans, this people was not till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness. Now, there's a great controversy with regard to who founded Nineveh. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria until Babylon conquered Assyria and Nineveh.

If you go to... I'll show you what the controversy is of who founded Nineveh. We'll go to Genesis chapter 10 and begin in verse 10. Genesis 10 and verse 10.

We have here what we might call the battle of two grandsons and with the commentators.

Let's start in verse 8. Genesis 10 verse 8, Because we got Nemerod, he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord, wherefore it is said, even as Nemerod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom, that is of Nemerod's kingdom, was Babylon or Babel, or Babel, and Erech, and Akkad, and Kalna in the land of Shonar. Out of that land, he went forth, out of that land went forth Asher. Now, Shem had a son named Asher. If you look in verse 22, the children of Shem, Elam and Asher, and Arphaxad, and Lut and Erech. And so there is a debate with regard to, did Nemerod found the Caledonians found Nineveh, or did Asher the son of Shem? And the commentators are divided on it. The modern translations translated in a way so that Nemerod is the one that found Nineveh. And then there are those who challenged that and say that it was Asher the son of Shem.

I wish I had a mouth, but I don't have a mouth. What Nemerod initially founded in Shinar, with Babylon and Shinar, on the Euphrates River, and then Nineveh is about 450 kilometers to the north on the Tigris River. And one commentator says, well, Shem wanted to get away from the evil works of Nemerod, so he founded Nineveh. But when we look at Nineveh, we see that many of the gods, the false gods, were named after Asher. In fact, some of the rulers of Assyria were named Asher, Bannepal, and so on. They had Asher in front of them, and Asher became the principal god of Nineveh and Babylonian. I'm sorry, of the Assyrians. So that's an interesting study. If you want to look at that, you can google who built Nineveh. Who built Nineveh, and you'll find a lot of very interesting material along the way. Now we go to Isaiah 24.

Isaiah 24. Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty. This chapter here is one of the most fascinating, you might call it discouraging, chapters in the whole Bible, in one sense, but it's encouraging in another sense that God always delivers the righteous and makes things right. Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty.

And then the Bible is written, and people have trouble with this, in that when it says the Lord makes the earth empty, it doesn't mean literally that everything is going out of the earth.

But in the sense of everything that is of any value is taken away, and the haughty are taken away, and makes it waste and turns it upside down and scatters abroad, the inhabitants thereof.

So people are scattered all over the face of the earth as a result of the action that is going to be taken. And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest. As with the servant, so with his master. As with the maid, so with his mistress. As with the buyer, so with the seller. As with the lender, so with the borrower. As with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. Whereas under the Old Covenant, Jews were not permitted to charge usury of those who borrowed from an Israelite. I said Jew or Jew, Israelite, I use them sometimes interchangeably, that usury was those who were not of the Covenant promises of the Old Covenant. And basically that rule has carried forth even until now. In verse three, the land shall be utterly empty and utterly spoiled for the Lord has spoken this word. The earth mourns and fades away. The world languishes and fades away. The haughty people of the earth do languish. So there's, you see when it says the earth mourns and fades, all of this is rich figurative, a metaphorical language describing almost in human terms what is happening to the earth. It's in a terrible condition. Verse five, the earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting Covenant. Now, commentators, they debate what is meant by the everlasting covenant. Some say it is is it just the moral consciousness of man? Well, man doesn't have a moral consciousness until it is taught. And I've covered this topic many, many times with regard to consciousness. Consciousness, if you are reared in X, Y, or Z culture, you embrace the mores, the morals, the rules, the regulations of that culture, and you come to believe that they are correct.

The same thing might be said about religion. As I grew up in the Baptist Church, I thought that all other religions were false, and only the Baptist had the truth. Yet they believed in immortal soul, you go to heaven or hell upon death. They believe that God was a trinity, and on and on we could go which are utterly and entirely false. And so people come to believe what they grow up with and are taught. I have even used it at times, and someone called it to attention and said that the pygmies in Africa were never headhunters. Well, I read many articles that say they were headhunters, and also in New Guinea there were headhunters who ate human flesh, believing that if they ate another human being, their spirit would increase their power. And they didn't believe that was wrong. And so you come to believe what you grow up with. So I believe the everlasting covenant has to do with those who have entered into the covenant with God. Now, Israel entered into a covenant with God in Mount Sinai, and they never kept the covenant. We enter into a covenant of sacrifice, of giving up the self, and baptism and the laying on of hands. And I believe it's speaking mainly of those who have violated the covenant. Verse 6, therefore hath the curse devoured the earth. One more thing about conscience. The thing about conversion is that you can have a new conscience, and the word conscience means a knowing within. You can have a knowing within, a moral guide within you. You know, you hear that saying, let your conscience be your guide. Well, if you grow up in some nation that is in the darkest, deepest parts of the world, your conscience may not be a good guide. If you grow up in a culture in which they worship their ancestors, as one of the principles of so-called religion is in China, that you worship your ancestors, and you believe that is the right thing. You don't want that conscience to be your guide. You want God's culture, God's conscience, God's morality to be your guide. Therefore, and we'll continue now in verse 6, therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

Now, look, it says that few men are left, but a few. The new wine mourns, the wine, the vine languishes, it wilts, that's what that means. All the merry-hearted do sigh, the mirth of cabarets cease, the beautiful music, the wild dancing parties and all that goes with it, that ceases. There will not be any drag queen celebrations at the White House or any other house. The mirth of cabarets ceases, the noise of them that rejoice ends, the joy of the harp ceases. They shall not drink wine with a psalm, strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. The city of confusion is broken down. Well, at one time, of course, Jerusalem became a city of confusion. It is also going to become, even though God is going to spare Jerusalem, people talk about nuclear warfare. There may be some nuclear weapons employed of a minor type, but there is nothing mentioned in the Bible with regard to the destruction of Jerusalem. If you read Zachariah and you read the minor prophets, Zachariah seems that Jerusalem remains intact through it all. The city of confusion is broken down, but as we have noted in times past, eventually Jerusalem becomes the headquarters of the beast. If you look at Daniel 11 and verse 44, Daniel 11 and verse 44, we were there earlier in Daniel 11 and verse 44, but tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him, the him being the beast power. Therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly take away many and shall plant the tabernacle of his palace between the seas and the glorious mountain, the glorious holy mountain.

So the beast power eventually plants his palace in Jerusalem, yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. Now also at the end of the age, Jerusalem is called Sodom and Gomorrah.

If you look at Revelation chapter 11, Revelation chapter 11, is the chapter in which the two witnesses are discussed.

Revelation 11.7, and that is the two witnesses have finished their testimony.

The beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit, and that beast is described in Daniel 9, shall make war against them and shall overcome them and kill them. So the two witnesses are killed by the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit.

In Revelation 9, it tells you very clearly that the beast or this one ascends out of the bottomless pit. It is known as Apollyon or Abaddon, meaning the destroyer.

So they kill the two witnesses, their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

That you know where our Lord was crucified in the environs of Jerusalem on Galgoth.

So some people read over that or they don't accept it.

I know I was giving a Bible study in Sydney, Australia one time, the year 2000, and I read that and people oh no that's that cannot be true. No, that's what the Bible says. But yet at the same time, at the same time he plants his pallets, we read all those scriptures where this one sits in the seat and says that he is God and blasphemes the God of gods and speaks against the God of heaven and those that dwell in heaven.

You know, I think sometimes we have an idealized, sanitized view of the scripture. And we should not have that kind of view of the scripture. I mean, the scripture is real. It's real things happening, real events and real people. In the spirit world and human beings, they're all involved. So verse 10 again, the city of confusion is broken down, every house is shut up, that no man may come in, there's a crime for wine in the streets, all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is going. In the first few years, and a year or so, I don't know exactly how long, but this one sits in the temple of God saying that he is God. Revelation 13, 8 says, and all the world wandered after and worshiped the beast except those whose names were written in the book of life. We better hope that our names are written in the book of life, because everyone that's not written in the book of life are going to be deceived, and they're going to worship the beast power. So the sanitized idealized version of the Bible that we oftentimes are nicely, nicely about, and we need to be nicely, nicely in a way. But the reality oftentimes is far more critical than what we think about. There is a crime for wine in the streets, all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction. When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree. I'm never shaking an olive tree, but I've shaken a pecan tree, and so the pecans fall like rain as it has the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done. They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea, wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires.

The commentators have trouble with in the fires. And I take the fires to be in the trials, the tribulations that are there. You know, the trying of your faith works, patience, and let the patience have its perfect work, that you may be whole, entire, and wanting nothing. From the uttermost part of the earth, how we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, my leanness, my leanness, woe unto me!

The treasurers, dealers have dealt treacherously.

The dealers, the traders, the ones who are getting rich, from cryptocurrency or whatever it might be, and the great scams, and the great corruption that we're, yea, even billions, and in some cases even trillions of dollars, disappear, and they can't account for where it went. Yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously. Fear and the pit and the snare upon you, oh, inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass that he who flees from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit, and he that comes up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare, for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. So there's going to be a great shaking, and great earthquakes are going to occur. The earth is utterly broken down. The earth is clean, dissolved. And that word, dissolved, it doesn't mean that it is dissolved like you put sugar in a tea glass, and you dissolve it, and it's gone, it disappears. It's dissolved, it is weakened. It is made of non-effect, in a sense. The earth is moved exceedingly.

The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage, and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall and not rise again. It shall come to pass in that day. Remember, that's our prophetic utterance.

In that day, the Lord shall punish the host of the High Ones. And once again, the commentators go, I think, AWOL on the High Ones. There are a few commentators in non-mainstream religion that probably have this right. The High Ones, according to Ephesians, we go to Ephesians 6-12, and we have read this scripture many times. It's read very often in sermons. It was recently read in Sermon in Big Sandy.

Ephesians 6-12, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places. They are in high places. They're in heavenly places. They're in places that are not seen. Like in Daniel chapter 10, where in the beginning of chapter 9, Daniel starts fasting and praying, trying to understand the 70-year prophecy, which begins in 70 weeks. People don't like for you to say that. But he was heard, but he was the angel that was coming to help him, was delayed.

So while I was, this is Daniel 9 in verse 20, and while I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin in the sin of my people, Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord, my God, for the holy mountain of my God, yes, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man, Gabriel, not a man, Gabriel is an angel, the messenger. He is the messenger angel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, began being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me and talked with me and said, Oh Daniel, I am now come forth to give you skill and understanding.

And he goes on to say that he would have come earlier, but because of verse 25, know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah, the Prince, shall be seven weeks, three score and two weeks, the street shall be built again and the wall even in Jerusalem.

And he was delayed from coming because of a demon, a demonic power that caused him to delay in coming to Daniel.

And even in chapter 10, it shows that he said, I have to go because I have to go and fight another battle. Verse 13, but the Prince of the kingdom of Persia, which stood me in 20 days when Lo Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me and I remained there with the kings of Persia. So there are great spiritual battles being fought in high places, and God is going to destroy the high ones at his coming.

It shall come to pass, and that day we go back now to Isaiah 24-21.

It shall come to pass in that day, but the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And you see, the distinction made between, if it was just the physical ones, the kings are the highest on earth, the distinction made the host of the high ones, and there have been various times in which God has dealt with the demonic powers.

Maybe we should go look at this in 1 Peter chapter 1 and not chapter 3 and verse 18. So quickly to 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 18.

1 Peter 3, 18. For Christ also hath once suffered for sin, suggest for the unjust that the righteous bring that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit, by which that is the Spirit. Also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which sometimes were disobedient when once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, therefore in few that is eight souls were saved by water.

So apparently at that time before the flood, the fallen ones, which are also called the high ones in the demonic sense, they had far more freedom. And Jesus Christ went and preached to the lost spirits in prison and apparently took a lot of their freedom away. But then in Revelation 12, verse 12, therefore it is joyous you, heaven, and you that dwell, woe to the inhabitants of the earth and to the sea, for the devil has come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows he has but a short time. So the demonic activity and the activity of Satan the devil and those who are in league with Satan the devil, many not even knowing will increase as we near the end of this age. And we are seeing that time and time again. Now we go back to that verse in Isaiah chapter 24. So he's going to deal with the high ones.

Notice 22, Isaiah 24-22. They shall be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit. And we know that Satan and the demons are shut up in the pit according to Revelation 20.

And shall be shut up in the prison, and many days shall they be visited.

Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

So all the evil people in the earth and all of the evil spirits are going to be subdued and put away.

And God is going to dwell in the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem before his ancients gloriously.