Book of Isaiah Bible Study - Part 21

Well, good evening again, everybody. Welcome to the Bible study this evening. We're in Isaiah 29. Isaiah 29 and Isaiah 30 are very loaded chapters with regard to the future.

And to some degree, understanding the present. The commentators try to make this in the past historically to a large degree, but as we shall see, it's more about the future and how God is going to intervene. And He is a God of judgment. So we'll start in Isaiah 29 and verse 1 this evening. And woe to Aria. Woe to Aria to Aria, the city where David dwelt. So we know the city where David dwelt has doubtlessly Jerusalem. So this is the only place in the Bible where really Jerusalem is called Aria. And commentators scratch their heads and try to come up with the reasons why it is called Aria in this account here. But as we shall see, I believe we can pinpoint the reason why. So the city where David dwelt add you year to year, let them kill sacrifices. So God is using this name Ariel in a symbolic sense to show that what He is about to do to Jerusalem is figuratively the same as burning a sacrificial offering on the altar. Because this word here, Ariel, is used in Ezekiel 43 verses 15-16, one of the few places where it is used. If you would turn to Ezekiel 43 and verse 15, and we'll see that the altar is called Ariel. In verse 15, the word there is a derivative of Ariel, and then in verse 16, it is Ariel. So in Ezekiel 43 and verse 15, so the altar shall be four cubics, and from the altar and upward shall be four horns. And this is describing the temple that will be built when Christ returns.

And the altar, the Ariel, shall be 12 cubits long, 12 broad, square in the four squares thereof. So this is describing the altar where the burnt sacrifices were to be offered. So what God is saying here is that He is going to make Jerusalem as that altar where the burnt sacrifices were offered. He is going to judge them. He is going to bring them into account for their many sins. Oh, they love to offer a sacrifice, as it says here. So let's go back to Isaiah chapter 1, and we'll see that God brings to light their willingness to offer sacrifices, but to no avail. To offer to God things in unrighteousness is really an abomination to Him. It is really a stench in His nostrils. God does not honor the sacrifice of the wicked. So we are in Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 11. Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 11. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me, says the Lord. I am full of the burnt offerings of realms, and the fat of fed beasts, and I delight not in the blood of bullocks or of lands or of hegoats. When you come to appear before Me, who has required this at your hand to tread My courts? Bring no more vain oblations. Insense is an abomination unto Me. See, even prayers, incense is used symbolically in the Bible for prayer. So in order for prayer to be answered, you have to be at one with God and with your neighbor. The new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies. I cannot away with it. It is iniquity, even the solemn meaning. So even their coming together on apparently the Sabbath day was abomination because they were doing it for the wrong reason. So Israel loved to offer sacrifice apart from repentance. There are several places in the Bible that talk about that, and that is one of the reasons why they went into captivity, one of the reasons why God judges them. Then we go to verse 2 of Isaiah 29, yet I will distress Ariel.

Even though David dwelt there, and God loved the city, He loved Jerusalem. It's called the Holy City because the temple was there and God placed His presence in the Holy of Holies in Solomon's Temple. He loved the city and did so much for it. David did the same thing. So even though God had done so much for Jerusalem, even though David dwelt there, he says, I'm going to judge you, and you shall become as a burning altar. Now verse 3, and I will camp against you round about and will lay siege against you with a mount.

And here the commentators try to make this a case for when Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem. And to a certain degree, this might be talking about that time in which Sennacherib and the Assyrians did besiege Jerusalem. But God is going to besiege Jerusalem and Judah in a much greater way at the end of this age, which we'll talk about a little later. So I will besiege you with a mount, and I will raise forts against you. So these forts were defense mechanisms and also things that could be used in the judgmental sense.

Then in verse 4, and you shall be brought down and shall speak out of the ground. So they are going to be humbled. He's going to bring them down. He's going to humble them, they that have acted so haughty. And remember, one of the great lessons about prophecy is the duality of prophecy. Many of the things that happened to Israel and to Judah in the past are dual, and they're going to happen again in a much greater sense at the end of this age. So I'm going to bring you down to the ground and your speech shall be low, out of the dust, and your voice shall be as one that has a familiar spirit. It's like familiar spirit when you remember that Saul went to the witch of Indor, tried to communicate with the dead, and the evil spirit speaking some kind of weird kind of voice. So the voice shall be as one that has a familiar spirit, and out of the ground, and your speech shall whisper out of the dust. Moreover, the multitude of your strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitudes of the terrible ones shall be a shaft that passes away. Yes, it shall be at an instant suddenly. An instant suddenly. Now commentators, as I said, went back in verse 3, as it talked about, I will reseed you and raise them out against you, try to make this into Sennacherib. But see, Sennacherib and the Assyrians were never able to enter Jerusalem. Remember what happened to the Assyrians, and we go to Isaiah 37 verse 35 now, to see what happened to the Assyrians when they did. Oh, Sennacherib was boasting, and Hezekiah was afraid, and so were the people of Judah, because basically Sennacherib and the Assyrians had them hemmed in. But we look at Isaiah 37 in verse 35, and we see what happened to Sennacherib's army. God says in verse 35, for I will defend this city to save it for my own sake and for my servant David's sake. And of course, God had made the prophecy that one will never, David will never want for one to sit upon his throne, and the ultimate fulfillment of sitting upon the throne of David, of course, of Jesus Christ. And if that promise had not been fulfilled, we wouldn't even have a Savior. So God says, I'm going to spare Jerusalem for my sake, and for my servant David's sake. Then the angel of the Lord went forth and smote in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000, and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

So 185,000 soldiers were killed that night, and the angel of the Lord did it. And of course, Jerusalem was spared, and the Sennacherib could not get away from the city quickly enough. So that helps us, I believe, come to understand more clearly what we'll begin to see here in verse 6, that this prophecy is basically for the end time. So in Isaiah 29 in verse 6, God says he's going to visit Jerusalem with thunder, with noise, with earthquake, and burning.

So let's read the verse. And you shall be visited of the turtle, Yave, a host, with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. Remember the symbolism of verse 1 of Areo, that Areo can be used for the altar, or burnt sacrifices were offered. So God is saying, I am going to judge you, I'm going to visit you, and all of these things are going to happen to you.

In the sixth trumpet plague at the end of the two-way woes, a great earthquake destroys one-tenth of the city of Jerusalem. I doubt that you may have never even focused on this, but we are going to focus on it this evening. We're going to go to Revelation 11, and we'll start with the and read into it from the work of the two witnesses to some degree. And then we'll read down to where God brings forth a great earthquake upon Jerusalem between the second and third woe. So we're in Revelation 11 and verse 7.

Revelation 11 verse 7. The two witnesses come and they prophesy for three and a half years, and after three and a half years, verse 7, and when they have finished their testimony. So the two witnesses warn Judah, Israel, and for that matter, the whole world, of what is going to come if they don't turn to God. And then in Revelation 14, God sends forth three angels, and one of those angels preaches the everlasting gospel and tells the people that you had better repent, and if you don't repent, you are and receive the mark of the beast. You will be destroyed. But here we see the work of the two witnesses. When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt. So that's what Jerusalem becomes, and that's why God deals with them in the way that he does. I don't think we have focused nearly enough on what really happens here to the city when Christ comes again. It's not all peaches and cream. It's not all roses by any means.

And then the city is identified where also our Lord was crucified, and we know that was on Golgotha in Jerusalem, but sanity. And they of the people and kindred and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not permit them the dead bodies to be put in graves. The whole world rejoices at this, and evidently the liven in color newscasts will cover this. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another, because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. Well, if they wouldn't turn to God, they were tormented. And at the same time, the enemies of God and the two witnesses, and I would suspect that a remnant the church would be supporting the two witnesses as well, and the peoples of the world are so deceived that they think that we get rid of these two people, then everything will be all right.

So after three days and a half, they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon them, which saw them. So they were resurrected back to life, and they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up here. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour was there a great earthquake. See, we just read where Isaiah says, I'm going to visit you with earthquakes, with thunder, with noise, with fire. And the tenth part of the city fell. The tenth part of the city. So one tenth of the city falls because of this earthquake. And in the earthquake were slain of men, seven thousand, and the remnant, who is the remnant? The remnant? Would that be the church?

Would that be people who are saved alive to live over into the millennium? Well, one or the other. And the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God of heaven. So this great earthquake, the second woe is passed, and behold, the third woe comes quickly. And the seventh angel sounded. So this is the seventh of the seven trumpets. And you remember the seven trumpets, the seventh trumpets is divided into the seven last trumpet plagues that are recorded in Revelation 16. And the seventh angel sounded. There were great voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. Of course, there is not an immediate takeover. It will take some time to bring the nations into tow. Now, one of the interesting things about this, another great earthquake is associated with the coming of Jesus Christ. And that's recorded for us back in Zachariah 14. Now, very often we quote Zachariah 14 and verse 4, but we want to focus on what happens when his feet stands on the Mount of Olives. So in Zachariah 14, and we're going to start in this case in verse 1 and read into it, in Zachariah 14 and verse 1, Zachariah 14 and verse 1, Behold, the day of the Lord comes, and your spoil should be divided in the midst of you, for I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle. So here we are at the Armageddon setting. Now, in Revelation 16 and verse 12, it says that Satan, the beast, and false prophet go out, three frogs come out of their mouths, and they go out to deceive the nations, to bring them to fight against Jesus Christ. And God, of course, is bringing this to past, and he uses the spirit world, and he uses also the physical world in this sense. So let's continue here. I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle. So all nations are gathered there at Armageddon, in the battle of the great day of God Almighty, and the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, the women ravished, half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. Many times God had delivered Israel, and in a sense I'm talking about all 12 tribes. Obviously, he had to do that in order for prophecy to be fulfilled. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem. My wife and I have visited the Mount of Olives. We have stood there, and you look over to the east, and you see the Mount of Olives, and that's where Jesus Christ is going to return.

The Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west. So there will be a fissure that will run north-south, a valley that will run north-south. So part of the mountain goes toward the east. The Mount of Olives is east of the Temple Mount, and toward the west, and there shall be a great valley, and half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south.

So you have this great fissure here that is created when Jesus Christ stands on the Mount of Olives.

And you shall flee. Of course, when Jesus Christ comes to Saints with him, this fleeing has to do with the physical people, and you shall flee to the valley of the mountains, for the valley of the mountain shall reach unto Azal. Yes, you shall flee like as you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Eusaiiah, king of Judah, and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with you. So we see here great earthquakes at the end of the age, and these earthquakes occur in Jerusalem, a tenth part of the city falls in Revelation chapter 11, and here we see in Zechariah 14 that when Christ comes, there is a great splitting of the Mount of Olives. Part of it goes toward the north, part of it goes toward the south, and a great east-west valley is created. Now in verse 7, back in Isaiah 29 and verse 7, and the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and the distress her shall be as a dream of a night vision. It won't seem real. It will be like a vision in the night or like a dream, but it will be just really unbelievable, as it were. It shall even be as when an hungry man dreams, and behold he eats, but he awakes, and his soul is empty, his being. Or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold he drinks, but he awakes, and behold he is faint, and his soul has appetite. So shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion. Now we're not going to turn to Revelation 16, the Battle of the Great Day of God Almighty at this point, but we have turned there several times in the studies, so hopefully you are aware of that. So the nations that surround Jerusalem shall be dealt with by the power of God, and we see this very clearly in the book of Zachariah. Now in verse 8, where we just read verse 8, verse 9, Stay yourselves and wonder, cry you out, and wonder, cry you out, and cry, they are drunken, but not with wine, they stagger, but not with strong drink. So the enemy actions as if they're drunk, but it's not from alcohol. It is because of fear of what is happening, and they are firsthand witnesses and also victims of what is happening as God judges them for their wickedness.

So they are like drunk men, and staggering around. Verse 10, For the Lord has poured out upon you the Spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes, and that is, of course, spiritually speaking, they were dead to the Spirit and dead to what God was trying to teach them. The prophets and your rulers and seers hath he covered. So one of the things that God does is that he blinds the eyes of those who are not being called. In Ezekiel 13, we see this account, and there's accounts in the New Testament as well. So we go to Ezekiel now, and verse 1 of chapter 13. Ezekiel 13 and verse 1.

And the word of the Lord came unto me, Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, that prophesy and say unto them, that prophesy out of their own hearts, hear you, the word of the Lord. Of course, we covered a lot of this kind of thing in our study of Jeremiah, where the false prophets went out and said, oh, the Babylonians are not going to come and sack Jerusalem. Jeremiah, he's lying to you. So God sent prophet after prophet, and Christ talks about how they kill the prophets in Matthew 23. Thus says the Lord God, woe unto the foolish prophets that follow their own spirit and have seen nothing. Israel, your prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. You have not gone up into the gaps. Neither made up the hitch for the house of Israel to stand in the battle of the day of the Lord. They have seen vanity, lying divination, saying the Lord says, and the Lord has not sent them, and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. So the false prophets will be brought into account.

The false prophets prophesied lies. They don't prepare the people for the day of the Lord. So in Isaiah 29 and 11, back to Isaiah 29 and verse 11, And the vision all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed.

So it's a book that is sealed. You can't really understand what it's saying, because God is not dealing with those people at that time. He's not opened their minds and hearts to understand the truth. The book is sealed and cannot be understood by anyone except by those whom God is calling, whom God is working with. So the vision is becoming to you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned or learned, saying, Read this, I pray you. And he said, I cannot, for it is sealed. So God tells us that he does seal up the book. And he is the one that reveals secrets to the sons of men through his true prophets. Let's look at Isaiah 6. Let's see how this is spoken of in the Scripture, the fact that God is not revealing Himself to everyone right now. And for you to understand the plan, the purpose, and the providence of God is absolutely astounding. It is a blessing beyond all blessings. Because you are not filled with fear, anxiety, and the dogmas of man. You know, and you know that you know, the Scripture is true. In Isaiah chapter 6, verse 9, Isaiah 6, verse 9, And he laid it upon my mouth and said, Lo, this has touched your mouth, your lips, your iniquity has taken away, and your sins purged. So that's when Isaiah was cleansed of his sins. He said, I am a man of unclean lips. And then verse 8, he says, Here am I, send me. Of course, that should be our attitude all the time. Here am I, send me. Then he says in verse 9, and he said, Go and tell this people, hear you indeed, but understand not, and see you indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert and be healed. Then said I, Lord, how long? And he said, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate.

So that God does raise up the true prophets, like he raises up the two witnesses. But he is basically blinded people, except those that he is calling right now and working with, that is responded to the column. Let's look further at this in Luke chapter 10, and just consider, and it would be like meditating when you go to bed tonight, how blessed you are to understand the plan and purpose and providence of God. So we go to Luke chapter 10, and we start in verse 21. Luke 10 verse 21, In that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them unto babes, even so, Father, for it seemed good in your sight. All things are delivered to me and my Father, and no man knows who the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. So like I say in every opening prayer, thank you that you have revealed yourself to us through your word, through your spirit, and through your Son. And so we have that revelation of those who are being called. And also we look further at this in Matthew chapter 13 and verse 13. Matthew 13 verse 13, and we see further this that most of the people today are blinded. Yet at the same time, they are without excuse in a lot of cases because they don't want to hear the Word of God.

In Matthew 13 and verse 13, therefore speak I to them in parables because they seeing, see not, hearing they hear not, neither do they understand, and in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which I read from chapter 6, which says, by hearing you shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive. So now we go to Isaiah 29 and verse 12. So back to chapter 29. So we see here the spiritually unlearned do not understand. The book is sealed to them, but a greater time is coming for them and for all the world. So in verse 13, 14 Wherefore the Lord said for as much as this people draw near to me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men. The precept of men, you know, they're all kind of people on television telling people, and of course they have congregations to support them, know that God has spoken to them, and I'm bringing you what God has told me. And much of it once again has to do with the prosperity gospel and other false gospels. You know, Paul writes to Galatians and says, you know, if I or even an angel from heaven preach any other gospel than the gospel that is revealed in the scripture, let him be accursed. There is just one gospel. It is the gospel of God and Christ. So we see here that, once again, that God has blinded a lot of people, and on the other hand, a lot of people pretend to know God, but do not do what he says to do.

As Luke writes, and it's found in other places in the New Testament, why call you me Lord, Lord, or words to that effect, and do not the things that I say. Christ says in John 15, if you love me, you will keep my commandments, even as I've kept my father's commandments. So we want to go now to Ezekiel 33 and verse 30. Turn to Ezekiel several times tonight. In Ezekiel 33 and verse 30, we see here people in the... that he is describing there the verse we just read in Isaiah 29 and verse 13.

In Ezekiel 33 and verse 30.

Also, you said of man, the children of your people still are talking against you by the walls. It's a bit of a mistranslation here. It really says, the people are talking about you by the walls and in the doors of the houses and speak one to another, everyone to his brother saying, Come, I pray you and hear what is the word that comes forth from the Lord. Of course, this used to be the case in America and more and more, like I read an article just a few days ago of thousands of churches in the US are closing and several hundreds more are about to close. And they're teetering on the brink, especially the old mainline denominational churches. The churches that are thriving are the mega churches that are basically built on the prosperity gospel, the feel-good gospel, the Joel Osteen kind of preaching that he does.

So the people are talking about you, come, I pray you and hear what the word of the Lord is. Verse 31, They come unto you as the people comes, and they sit before you as my people. They hear your words, but they will not do them. For with their mouth they show much love, but with their heart they go after their covetousness. And actually what these preachers are preaching is covetousness that you can have and God intends for you to have the greatest and finest things on earth.

In one place, the Bible says, you shall always have the poor with you, but at the same time, one of the things that God takes to task the people of God, Israel, and everybody for that matter, is you have not ministered to the poor. Now we're in a situation now that is basically hopeless with regard to trying to minister to some of the poor, like in San Francisco with the homelessness that is there and the drug addiction that is rampant, that they even set up places where you can go and get loaded with heroin or whatever the drug of your choice is and the city pays for it. That is how far down the line that some places have come, even in the United States of America.

Verse 32, and lo, you are unto them is a very lovely song of one that has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument for they hear your words, but they do them not.

And when this comes to pass, lo, it will come. Then shall they know that there has been a prophet among them. So we don't want to be guilty of being taught by the precept of men. We want to be sure that we are being taught by the Word of God. And as we say so often, don't believe me. Search the Scriptures daily whether these things be true. Now we come to Isaiah 29, verse 14. Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people. You remember that song, marvelous are your works, marvelous. That's a wonderful song.

Great and marvelous are your works. There are a lot of verses in the Bible that extol the marvelous works of God. I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and understanding their prudent men shall be hid. You know, the Apostle Paul, when he came to the Corinthians, he said, I did not come with the wisdom of men, but I came in the mind and the power and the spirit of God. I'm going to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. And it seems that the people that do respond are the people who admit that they need help, that they're not too proud to get help. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 23, but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block. See, they did not accept Jesus Christ as a Messiah. They rejected him and unto the Greeks foolishness because the Greeks prided themselves on human reasoning and philosophy. But unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. So, brethren, once again, that goes back to the fact that we are so thankful that God has called us into his work and into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2.9, I'm not turning there, but it says that unto God who has called us into his marvelous light. You're no longer strangers to the gospel, but you are a chosen people. God has called you into his marvelous light. Light and darkness are contrasted throughout the Bible. Jesus Christ said, I am the light of the world. Now, what would you say is the most marvelous work that God does? I believe the most marvelous work that God does is to bring sons and daughters to glory in his kingdom. And, of course, that has to do with being convicted of the plan and purpose of God, be convicted of your sins, to understand you have to repent, exercise faith in the sacrifice of Christ, be baptized, make a commitment, live the resurrected life, and receive the Holy Spirit. So, that is the brief recipe. And then, upon resurrection, I mean that marvelous work is completed. You are then in the family and the kingdom of God as glorious radiant spirit beings.

Now, verse 15, woe to them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, who sees us? Of course, Adam and Eve tried to hide from God after they had sinned. There are three basic responses that humans have to sin. First is to hide, and Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together. They tried to hide from God. Then, to blame, Adam blamed Eve, this woman that you gave me. And then, the other is to try to justify what is done. Whereas, God says, if you're faithful to confess your sins, repent of them, He will forgive you of your sins.

Surely, you're turning, verse 16, surely you're turning of things upside down, shall be esteemed as a potter's clay, for shall the works say of him that made it, he made me not? Or shall the things say of him that framed it, he has no understanding?

The irony of irony is for people to doubt the existence of God, because a little study into how marvelously the human body is works together and is created leads one to faith in a creator, that these things could not possibly happen by chance.

And mathematicians now have proved to tend to whatever power that's unbelievable, that the things on the DNA code and the proteins are necessary to make up a cell, can I in no way could have happened by chance. And the theory of Darwinian evolution and evolution period is not true at all, and it has been proven false, and yet it continues to be taught as fact. Verse 17, It is not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field.

The sad reality of Lebanon right now is sad beyond belief in that Hezbollah, really, which is a puppet of Iran, this group has basically taken over the government of Lebanon. Hezbollah there in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. Hezbollah has taken over Lebanon, and it has been bombed and shelled and the economy is destroyed and they are a failed nation, as it were, and it used to be like the Riviera of the East.

So it is not yet a little while and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field. So God is going to restore Lebanon, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest. Lebanon was esteemed as a forest back in the days of Hiram, when David solicited the help of Hiram in building the temple, that much of the wood and the workmanship came from from Lebanon.

And in that day shall the death hear. And once again, we see our prophetic utterance that leaves no doubt that we're speaking of the millennium, and in that day shall the death hear, and the words of the book and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. Now, in contrast to what we talked about earlier, that God has blinded the people, he is going to lift the veil so that now they see. So let's go to 2 Corinthians, and let's see this marvelous promise and prophecy here.

And to some degree, the veil has already been lifted. There are those in Israel who, back in the days of Paul, who came to the knowledge of the truth and were converted. In 2 Corinthians 3, 14, and their minds were blinded, for until this day remains the same veil taken away, untaken away. So the same veil is on them in the reading of the Old Testament, which veil is done away in Christ. And we read from Luke chapter 10, verses 20, 21, 22, along in there about Christ revealing the Father to those that are being called, which veil is done away in Christ.

But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. It is still upon their heart today as a nation, as a whole. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. So the day is coming, and when the veil is going to be lifted, and people will understand, and there's that scripture in Romans that says that all of Israel is going to be saved. Well, we know when the Bible uses all, it doesn't necessarily mean every last person in the nation is going to be saved, but by and large, they're going to be saved.

Now we go to Isaiah 29, 19. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord. And we know from Psalm 37, 11, and Matthew 5, 5, that the meek shall inherit the earth. Meekness is one of the greatest attributes of humankind if a person can be meek. The Bible says that Moses was meek among all people on the face of the earth, and it's hard to come to the level of meekness that God desires. But if you remember, when God called Moses, when he called Isaiah, in essence, well, Moses said it outright, says, who am I?

Solomon said it the first days of being king of Israel. Who am I? I'm just a young whippersnapper to lead your people. So great. Isaiah said, you know, who am I? I've seen the face of God on his throne.

I'm a man of unclean lips. I'm probably going to be killed. God cleansed his lips.

But this meekness, in summary, I would say a meek person is the one who says, who am I to do such and such? And I think all of us have a lot of work to do in that area.

Now in verse 20, Isaiah 2920, where the terrible one is brought to nothing. Now, the terrible one, when doubtless is Satan and the Beast power. The most terrible being in the universe is Satan. I would say the second most terrible being in the universe would be the Beast.

And we know that Satan is going to be put away, be put in the bottomless pit, and the Beast and the false prophet are going to be put in a pit as well. We read in Revelation 19 with Beast and false prophet and with Satan, the first four verses of Revelation 20 tells us that Satan was bound and put into the pit. But the meek also shall increase. Verse 20, the terrible one is brought to nothing, and the squirner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off.

God is going to destroy the lawless ones. That make a man an offender for a word. You know, I never, I guess we could say about a hundred things. I never thought I'd live to see the day. But people, their lives can be destroyed. Good people, honest people, people that are trying to do the right thing, they may be an athlete, an athlete, they might be a commentator, they might be a politician, and we could go on and on with what they might be. If they say the wrong thing that the woke people get after them, they destroy them, they have to resign, and they go into obscurity. Make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproves in the gate. Oh, you can't tell the truth. Judgment is falling in the street. And turn aside the just for a thing of nothing.

The just becomes a prey for the ungodly. Therefore, thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, who bought him back, who delivered him from the land of his nativity, brought him into the Promised Land, and promised him that his seed would bless all nations, and that seed is Christ. Redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed.

Neither shall his face now wax pale.

But when he sees his children, the work of mine hands. So, in verse 22, Jacob shall not be ashamed, evidently speaking of Israel in the flesh. And as I've told you many times, when you just see the term Jacob, Jacob is used generically for all 12 tribes in the flesh. And usually, Israel is the one that is used for ruling with God.

But when he sees his children, the work of mine hands. So, those that have been converted, that have God's Spirit, that are now have repented their sins, received God's Spirit, been converted in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. They also that heard in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn the truth. They shall learn the true doctrine. So, there we have chapter 29. It is so laden with so many wonderful things, and some frightful things for the wicked. So, we'll begin next time with chapter 30, and it too is laden with so many things.