Book of Isaiah Bible Study - Part 24

Greetings again, everybody! Word Isaiah 33. You would turn to Isaiah chapter 33.

The next several chapters, Isaiah 33 through 36, especially deal with God's judgment. And a lot of it has to do with the future and the day of the Lord and the millennium. And some of it has to do with the present situation in which Isaiah was living in the days of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria.

The commentators try to make it fit in the historical sense. There are three views of prophecy, and we always talk about duality. There is what is called by the scholars the praetorists' view. That means the pre-historical view, the past view, and praetorists believe that all prophecy has been fulfilled. Then there is the present time, and then there is the future. So much of prophecy deals with the future. In the cases of the chapters we're going to be studying now in Isaiah 33 through 36, God's judgment did come upon the Assyrians, but it's also more focused on which is to come in the day of the Lord and in the millennium. So Isaiah 33 in verse 1, woe to you that spoil, and you were not spoiled. So if you're talking about Assyria, Judah had not done anything to Assyria. Of course, Assyria had taken the northern kingdom captive in 721-718, or did take them captive. And you deal treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with you, when shall you cease to spoil? When is you ever going to stop this?

You shall cease to spoil. Of course, God is going to make sure they're going to cease to spoil both in the past history, He has caused them to cease. But in the future, when the beast power arises, and trouble is upon the whole world, eventually God is going to cause the oppressor to cease. Satan and his minions will be held into account. You shall be spoiled, and when you shall make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with you. Oh, Lord, be gracious unto us. We have waited for you. Of course, I'm sure there were some righteous people in Judah. During that days of Hezekiah, righteous Hezekiah had restored temple worship after they had discovered the books of the law in the temple. You can read about that in 2 Chronicles, beginning in chapter 30.

So, blessed are those who have waited for you. Be you, their arm. Arm is a symbol of strength and might in the Word of God. Be their strength. Be your might every morning. Our salvation. Salvation means deliverance. It means that God is going to come and deliver and protect also in a time of trouble. So, God is there to deliver us at all times, and especially in the times of trouble. At the noise of the tumult. Now, the word of the tumult is a word that really means a loud sound at the noise of the tumult. So, it's a loud sound, a loud raucous sound. In this case, it's probably the voice of God.

At the noise of the tumult, the people fled when God begins to intervene. At the lifting up of yourself, the nations were scattered. So, the nations were not scattered during the days of Sennacherib and the Assyrians in the 700s BC. So, this is in time. The nations will be scattered. And your spoils shall be gathered as the gathering of the Caterpillar. Now, the Caterpillar, when you go into the web of the Caterpillar, you're stuck there. You can't get out. As they're running to and fro of locusts, the locusts, as they swarm, as they go to their prey, there's really no escaping from it. So, it's a dual here. The Caterpillar web and the locusts shall he run upon them. The Lord is exalted.

And your spoils shall be gathered like the gathering of the Caterpillar. And the running to and fro of the locusts shall you run upon them. The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high. He has filled Zion with judgment and righteousness. I want you to focus on Zion. Zion is used over 150 times in the Bible. Zion is symbolic of the church. If you'll turn to Hebrews 12, Hebrews 12, and we'll begin in verse 20. In Hebrews 12, and remember what the book of Hebrews does, the book of Hebrews compares and contrasts elements of the Old Covenant with the elements of the New Covenant. And in Hebrews 12, and we'll start in verse 20, where Paul makes it clear that we have not come to Mount Sinai. We've not come to a physical mountain, but we have come to the spiritual Zion. So, we pick it up in 1220, where they cannot endure what was commanded them, speaking of Israel back in ancient Israel in those days. And so much as a beast should touch the mountain, it should be stoned or thrust through with the dark. That's when God thundered just before giving the Ten Commandments. And so, terrible to the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake, but you are come unto Mount Zion. So, what is Mount Zion unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn. And actually, we are the First Begotten. We're not yet born again.

The General Assembly of the Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven, enter God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men, made perfect. So, when you see Zion in the Bible, and God says that he was going to fight for Zion, and with judgment and righteousness, he has filled Zion. That's one of the things that God does for those who are faithful to him.

He fills with them with judgment and righteousness. And, of course, the key to being filled with judgment and righteousness is to study the Word of God and store it in your heart. Remember Psalm 119, verses 10, 11, 12, your word if I store it in my heart that I might not sin against you. In addition to judgment and righteousness, and wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of the times and strength of salvation, that is, deliverance. The fear of the Lord is his treasure.

See, the beginning of the fear of the Lord is to really understand his plan, his purpose, of what God is doing here on the earth, that he is bringing sons and daughters to glory in his family. Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without. The ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly. Of course, in Ezekiel 13, it talks about those ambassadors have not really made up the gap and filled the gap and prepared the people for the day of the Lord.

And people talk about peace in today's world, and the ambassadors run to and fro. And one of the first things that people begin to talk about is diplomacy, that we need to use diplomacy. And of course, it's much better that you can be able to work it out through diplomacy than through warfare. So the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly, because there's not going to be any peace when God begins to intervene.

The highways lie waste, and the wayfaring man ceases. The wayfaring man, one who travels about on the road. The wayfaring man could apply to the evil one who, and of course, the devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

See, he has broken the covenant, the wayfaring man, so it's not just any person. One of the things that's going to happen with regard to the future has to do with the fulfillment of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 2, 3, and 4, where this one sits in the temple of God saying that he is God. So how is temple worship going to be restored in Judah, in Israel, in modern day Israel today?

It's either going to be restored through diplomacy, some kind of peace agreement, or through warfare. It might be that you'll have warfare first, and then you'll have a peace treaty on top of that that allows the Jews to build the third temple. So in order for 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 3 and 4 to be fulfilled, where the son of perdition sits in the temple of God proclaiming that he is God, that has to be fulfilled.

Here we see that the covenant is broken. He has despised the cities. He regards no man. The beast power doesn't care for any person or any body. He is energized by Satan the devil, and Satan the devil hates humanity and desires to break prophecy and to break the plan of God. The earth mourns in languages. See, that wasn't happening during the days of Sennacherib and the Assyrians when they were causing all the havoc in the Northern Kingdom encroaching upon the Southern Kingdom as well.

The Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down. Sharon is like a wilderness, and Bayshan and Carmel shake off their fruits. These are noted for being fruitful and beautiful places, but they will no longer be like that when God begins to rise up into judge. Verse 10, Now will I rise, says the Eternal. Now will I be exalted. Now will I lift up myself. See, God is going to make himself known.

One of the things it says about prophecy, God says, I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for my namesake. God's very reputation, His very word is at stake with regard to fulfilling the prophecies that are there in the Bible. And the people shall be as the burning of lime as storms cut up, shall they be burned in the fire. Remember, we have talked about the Valley of Hinnom, and in the Valley of Hinnom is a place called Tophat, where the children were burned up, and God is going to keep that fire burning throughout the millennium.

That hell fire that is going to be burned, His very breath, it says another verse that we have read that He kindles it with His breath.

Hear you that are afar off, what I have done, and you that are near, no matter where you are, acknowledge my might. So one of the things that God says, look, you've got to come to understand that I am God. And that's one of the purposes of fulfilling all the prophecies that you read about from the Old Testament and the New Testament and the Book of Revelation, that they might come to know that I am the Eternal. The centers in Zion, the physical literal place, are afraid.

Fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites, who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire.

Who is going to be able to stand at that time with the devouring fire?

Well, Psalm 15 gives a summary of who will be able to stand at that time. And in fact, it said any time, it will go now to Psalm 15. In Psalm 15, it says, Lord, who shall abide in your tabernacle? Who shall dwell in your holy hill? He that walks uprightly, works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart. He that backbodies not with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor fails, nor talks up a reproach against his neighbor. I'm not going to read the whole Psalm. You can read the rest of it, but that's the ones that will be able to stand during the time that God does intervene.

So, who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? Once again, that fire in the valley of Hinnom burns continually. In the last verse, an Isaiah states that. We have noted that before. He that walks righteously and speaks upright, see very similar to what we just read from Psalm 15. He that despises the gain of oppressions. It's almost like a quote from Psalm 15, and that was written way before this.

Well, Psalm 15 was written way before Isaiah's prophecy.

That shakes his hands from holding of bribes, that stops his ears from hearing of blood, that shuts his eyes and seeing evil. He that dwells on high, his place of defense shall be in the munitions of rocks. Bread shall be given him, his waters shall be sure. So, God is always going to take care of and make sure that his people are fed, clothed, and have shelter. Their eyes shall see the king in his beauty. Their eyes shall see the king in his beauty. You see, at the present time, no man can look upon God and live. But in that day, in the day in which God is dwelling in Zion, return to Revelation 22, you'll see very clearly, and this is one of the great things. Can you imagine looking upon the face of God in Revelation 22? In verse 4, they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. They shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. So they shall see the king. Your eyes shall see the king in his beauty. They shall behold the land that is very far off. There's an old gospel hymn they used to sing. I guess I'm still singing.

There's a land that is fairer than day, and by faith I can see it far away. I would imagine they took some of the words from this passage here in Isaiah. Of course, they are thinking about the time of being in heaven and all that in a different way, but we know that we're going to see God look upon his face, and God is going to give to the various tribes of Israel their inheritances, just as the Abrahamic covenant promises, and Israel is going to be the model nation in the kingdom of God. Zechariah chapter 8 tells you all about that. You should read Zechariah chapter 8 quite often, because it describes what things are going to be like in the millennium. Your heart shall meditate, Isaiah 33, 18. Your heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? Where is the receiver? Where is he that counts the towers? So, where are the ones that were the mighty of old? Where are they going to be during the time when God intervenes? You should not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech that you can't perceive, of a stammering tongue that you cannot understand. So, God is going to protect his people. Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities.

And we've already talked about Zion being a type of the church. And where does God dwell today? Well, he dwells in spiritual Zion. He dwells in the church.

You have come to the General Assembly and Church of the First Begotten.

Your eyes shall see Jerusalem in a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down. Today, of course, our body is the temple of God. We are God's tabernacle. 1 Timothy 3, 16 says that, Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and if any man destroy the temple of God, God will destroy him. Not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed. It is permanent.

Neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. Perhaps you've seen a tent put up where they put stakes and ropes to secure it. So the figurative language is, like you would set up a tent that can weather the storm. Of course, God provides shelter, cover, comfort, and protection through all storms, the day of the Lord, and all the way through. You don't go through eternity. It's into eternity. But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams.

For in shall go no galley with oars. You're not going to labor in this river. Neither shall gallet ships pass thereof. The purpose of it, if you would turn now to Ezekiel 47. You probably have not read Ezekiel 47 in recent times, but Ezekiel 47 describes the river and the waters. I will read a little bit of it, but I leave it to you to read because I'm not going to read the old chapter. Afterward, he brought me again unto the door of the house. This is Ezekiel 47. Under the door of the house, and behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house, each for the forefront. For the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under the right side of the house, the south side of the altar. Then he brought me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me by the way without unto the outer gate by the way that looks eastward. And behold, there ran out waters on the right side. And he keeps on talking about the waters and what the waters do. Look at verse 5. Afterward, he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass over, for the waters were risen. The waters to swim in a river that could not be passed over.

The waters, in verse 8, is the last phrase there, and the waters shall be healed. And so, in Revelation 22, you see that water throws from the throne of God, and from the throne of the Lamb, and they are for the healing of the nations. So, we look here once again at Isaiah 33 and verse 21. Behold there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams. And I encourage you to read all of Ezekiel 47. Then read Revelation 22. Wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ships pass thereby. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver. The Lord is our king. He will save us. You see, how could this, basically from verse 2 on forward, cannot apply except in a figurative sense or dual sense to Assyria and Sennacherib. This has to do with the future of what God is going to do in judging the nations and protecting his people and rewarding the righteous.

Verse 23. The tacklings are loose, they cannot well strengthen their mass, they cannot spread the sail. Then as the prey of a great spoil divided, the lame take the prey. And then the habitant shall not say, I am sick. The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their lawlessness, their iniquity. I mean, this is a wonderful chapter that displays, that shows, describes what God is going to do in the future of delivering his people. He has not forgotten his people, he will never forget his people. The same continues in chapter 34. So let's look at chapter 34 now, verse 1. Come now, you nations, not just Assyria, not any, just any nation in the Middle East or a collection of nations in the Middle East, the nations. This is a worldwide thing. Come near, you nations, to hear and hearken you people. Let the earth hear, and all, and all that is therein, the world and all things that come forth of it. For the ending nation of the Lord is upon all the nations, not just limited one nation, not just limited historically to any nation, but to all nations, and is fury upon all their armies. He has utterly destroyed them. He has delivered them to the slaughter. We've talked about the battle of the great day of God Almighty, described in Revelation 16. Also, how Christ comes, his armies with him, described in Revelation 19. In the last few verses there, talk about how by the word of his mouth, literally, the flesh melts off their bones, and the birds of prey are called, the scavenger birds are called, the carrion birds are called to the prey to clean up the mess.

Verse 3, their slain also shall be cast out, and their stench shall come up out of their carcasses, and the mountain shall be melted with their blood. And it talks about, in Revelation, the blood coming out to the horse's bridles, the valley of Jehoshaphat. And all the hosts of heaven shall be dissolved. This is doubtlessly, once again, speaking of the time of the day of the Lord. And the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and all the hosts shall fall down as the leaf falls off from the vine, and as a falling fig tree, as a falling fig from the fig tree. So, where in the New Testament do you have almost this identical verse? Well, it's in the opening of six seals. The opening of the six seals is in Revelation 6, and we'll begin in verse 12. So, if you would, turn to Revelation 6 and verse 12, and the time frame will be clearly noted here.

The opening of the six seals in Revelation chapter 6 and verse 12. And I beheld, and when ye had opened the six seals, and lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, sackcloth of hair, and their moon became as blood, and the moon became as blood. And the stars of heaven fell upon the earth, even as a fig tree cast her on timely digs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heavens departed as a scroll, when it is rolled together, and every melt and an island fled, and removed out of their place. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains. So you can do whatever you want to do. In the present time, we have the elite are building underground homes and trying to prepare, because they know that terrible times are going to come upon the world, and they're trying to prepare for it. But they're going to cast their gold and silver into the street. They're going to hide in the rocks and caves. They're going to flee. There's nothing that's going to be able to stop them. And they'll be saying in verse 16, and said to the mountains and the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand? Well, the person that's able to stand is described in Isaiah 33-15 that we read in Isaiah, and in Psalm 15 that we read. So you see that in the 700s BC, here's Isaiah prophesying almost the identical verse that we find many years later in the New Testament.

Some 700 years later when John wrote the book of Revelation and received the book of Revelation, as it says in Revelation 1.10, I was in spirit, and most translations say I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and they want to preserve it, make it sound like that he was in the spirit on a Sunday. But everywhere else, especially in the Old Testament, it is the day of the Lord. The International Standard Version does translate that verse as I was in spirit on the day of the Lord. And verse Thessalonians 5.2 records it as the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord will not come upon you as a thief in the night if you're watchful, wakeful, and doing what is said there in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Now we continue back in Isaiah. So we see that verse 4 is, I said chapter 5 is verse 5 back in Isaiah 34. Once again, we see that Isaiah 34 verse 4 is almost identical to the last several verses there in Revelation 6 when the sixth seal is open. And the very thing that is described here in Isaiah 34.4 takes place. Now continuing in Isaiah 34.5, For my sword shall be bathed in heaven, and be held it shall come down upon Edomiah. Edomiah is another name for Edom. God has more wrath against Edom than any other peoples.

Of course, Esau is Edom, and Esau was the one who sought to kill Jacob. And Jacob's name was changed to Israel, meaning Prince with God. So his sword will come down upon Edomiah.

And Edomiah is in that area of what is called modern-day Petra. It is the south, the southern, and a little bit east. I guess you would say more south than anything else. So Jordan, I've been there to Petra and explore Edom. Edomiah, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. So it seems that when God begins to judge the nations of the earth, he is going to start with Edomiah, with Edom. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood.

It is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys and rams, for the Lord has sacrificed and basrath. Now, Basrath at one time was the capital of Edom, was a principal city in Edom, at a great slaughter in the land of Edomiah. So one of the first places that God begins to judge and to destroy when Christ returns is Edomiah. Edom. And then he begins to use the analogy and the metaphors of various animals and birds to depict some of what is going to be happening. And the unicorn shall come down with them, the bullocks with the bulls, and their land shall be soaked with the blood, and their deaths made fat with fatness. For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, the day of the Lord's vengeance. It is the day when God begins to directly intervene in the affairs of man. If you recall, when after Jesus Christ was baptized, he returned to Nazareth and to the synagogue in Nazareth, where he grew up. And he took the scroll of Isaiah and he began to read from that scroll.

And he left off before he read the day of vengeance. So I'm reading from Luke chapter 4. We'll begin in verse 14.

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit unto Galilee, and there went out the fame of him through the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and you know the verse that says, the Prophet is without honor in his hometown.

And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and set up to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the Prophet of Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, and set at liberty then that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, he gave it to the minister, and he sat down. He did not read the day of vengeance. Now we go to Isaiah 61, where this whole prophecy is recorded.

He read the first part of that prophecy, which he fulfilled in his first coming, but he will be fulfilling the rest of this prophecy in his second coming. So in Isaiah 61, verse 2, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. So at this point, he gave the book back to the minister of the synagogue, and he sat down. And then it says, and the day of vengeance of our God, the comfort hall that mourned, who will be mourning during that time? I'm quite sure it's going to be the people of God to point unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joyful mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness in planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. So we see once again that this prophecy has to do with the end time. So we read Isaiah 34, verse 8 again. So we're back there. Isaiah 34 and verse 8. We'll read it again. For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance. Christ didn't read that, that's yet ahead.

And the year of recompense for the controversy of Zion. So of course Jerusalem is the pivotal point of all prophecy, because Satan knows that it is widely recognized by the major religions of the world as the spiritual capital of Christianity, of Catholicism, of Judaism, of the messianic movements, of Protestantism. It is counted as the third holiest place to the Muslims. And so it is a very important place on the face of the earth. And so there's going to be a controversy. The armies are going to surround Jerusalem, like he talks about in Zechariah chapter 12, that the nations surround Jerusalem. Verse 34, I mean chapter 34 and verse 9. So a great controversy over Zion. And the stream Zion shall be turned into pitch. Pitch might be likened unto tar. It means to be liquefied. The Ark, when Noah built the Ark, he covered it with pitch. So it would be waterproof. So it is a liquefied form if you ever dealt with hot tar. You know what it's like. I have a little bit, and it's not pretty. And the dust thereof into brimstone. Brimstone is oftentimes connected with judgment when Sodom and Gomorrah were judged. God rained down brimstone on them. When Babylon is finally destroyed in the final verses there of Revelation 16, it is brimstone, hailstones. I don't know for sure if it says brimstones, but I know it says hailstones. And the land thereof shall become burning pitch, just a soppy, tarry miss.

It shall not be quenched night nor day. The smoke thereof shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall be waste. None shall pass through it forever and ever. So now what is this? This is itimia. This is edom. And you know where it is. But the komorrah, it's like a type of what we would call a buzzard, but the komorrah and the bittern shall pass in. The owl also and the raven shall dwell in it. And he shall stretch out upon the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness. They shall call the nobles. It won't do any good to call the nobles. The learned ones, the high and mighty, the leaders that once were. They shall call the nobles there out to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all their princes shall be nothing. So God is going to remove them from their offices. And thorns shall come up in their places, nettles and brambles, in the fortresses thereof. And it shall be an habitation of dragons and a court for owls. This word dragon is spelled T-A-N in the Hebrew pronounced tan or ton.

It says an unused root, probably meaning to elongate a monster as pretty naturally from, that is, a sea serpent or other huge marine animals, such as also a jackal or other hideous land animals. So it's really not clear exactly what Isaiah meant by dragon. Of course, we're familiar with deserts and owls. Now verse 14, the wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to the fellow. The screech owl, if you've ever heard a screech owl at night, I've heard a screech owl a few times as a child growing up spending the night at my grandfather's house, and it was a blood-curdling kind of experience. When you hear a screech owl, you really want to cover your head. And the satyr shall cry, and the screech owl also shall rest thereof, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owl make the nest, and lay and hatch and gather under ere shadow. There shall the vultures and the buzzards also be gathered everyone with her mate. So the birds do mate, not all birds mate, but many do, seek you out of the book of the Lord and read. No one of these shall fail. In other words, none of these prophecies are going to fail. As I mentioned earlier, God knows that his very word is at stake, because he is the one that has promised that these things will take place.

So, none shall want for her mate, meaning none shall want for these prophecies to be fulfilled, because the next sentence, a parallelism, proves what I'm saying about that.

For my mouth it has commanded, and his spirit has gathered them, and he has cast a lot of them, and his hand has delivered it unto them by light. They shall possess it forever, and from generation to generation shall they dwell therein. So Edom becomes the habitation of animals of prey and birds of prey, after God intervenes and destroys it. In chapter 35, very often in sermons on the millennium, ministers will quote, especially Isaiah 35 and verse 1, the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.

Well, the fundamental evangelists of the day like to talk about the restoration of Israel and how Israel has learned how to turn salt water into fresh water that you can use for irrigation, and they've done a lot of planting, and they have reclaimed a lot of the land that had become barren. The Turks had taxed the land when they ruled it for five or six hundred years, and so the owners of the land cut down the trees to reduce their taxes. When you cut down all the trees, you become desert-like, but they have tried to restore it, and the fundamentalists talk about how this is a fulfillment of prophecy. Well, Israel needed to be restored or Judah in order for temple worship to be restored, but a much greater restoration is going to take place during the millennium, and this is not the final restoration that is prophesied in so many prophecies. Strengthen you the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees. Say them that are of a fearful heart, be strong. Fear not, behold, your God will come with what? Vengeance. We talked about it from Luke 4, where Christ stopped when He came to vengeance, and then we turn to Isaiah 61, where the prophecy is eventually going to be fulfilled. Even God will recompense. He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Once again, millennial prophecies, then shall the lame man leap as an heart, or like the deer and the tongue of the dumb seen.

No more disabilities of that nature, for in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert. And we talked about the rivers in Ezekiel 47, which I've encouraged you to read. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land spring of water, in the habitation of dragons, where each lay shall be grasped with reeds and ruscious. So where the evil animals were in the land that God chooses to restore, that of Israel, it shall be totally different, and a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness. Can you imagine a highway today called the way of holiness? We have Route 66 basically goes from coast to coast. It's an old route, and freeways have replaced it. But a highway that is called the highway of holiness, the unclean shall not pass over it. But it shall be for those the wayfaring men, and though fools shall not err therein. You can't enter into it unless you are holy. What makes things holy? It is the active presence of God within them. So those who are converted will be able to transit, will be able to travel upon this highway. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go there all, and it shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. Now I don't know how much of this is figurative and how much of it is literal, but it sounds like it is literal that it is a road for the righteous only. And the ransom of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. May God hasten the days that we have just read about from Isaiah 33, 34, and 35. What a wonderful time that is going to be during the fulfillment of these prophecies. Of course, the day of the Lord is before us and that is going to be a very tough time for people, but then the wonderful millennium breaks out and the day of the Lord merges into the millennium, and the plenteous that is described that we've just read about will come to pass.