Isaiah 51 - 52:12

So, good evening, everyone, once again, and welcome to tonight's study. We are at Isaiah 51, and so we will turn to Isaiah 51 in verse 1. Begin the study tonight.

The headline in my Bible here says, The Lord's Comfort for Zion. Leading up to that, there are reminders about what God has done through the ages, and then what he will do to those who do not follow him, who do not obey him, and that he is also a God of judgment, as well as a God of love, grace, and mercy.

Isaiah 51, 1, Hearken to me, you that follow after righteousness. And of course, we are familiar with Matthew 6, 33, which says, Seek you first the kingdom of God. And some people leave off there, but then it says, End his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So, in the Proverbs, especially in chapters 1 and 2, we are admonished to seek after wisdom, to seek after knowledge, to seek after righteousness. So, you that seek the Lord, look unto the rock. There are oftentimes the rock is used as a metaphor in the Bible for the Father and or the Son. And so, I would call Deuteronomy 32, the rock chapter. If you turn there to Deuteronomy 32, let's pick up a few verses here in Deuteronomy 32 about the rock. Look unto the rock. Once again, a metaphor for both the Father and for the Son. And so, in Deuteronomy 32, Deuteronomy 32, verse 4, He is the rock. His work is perfect, for all His ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He. Continuing there in Deuteronomy 32, you look at verse 15. And verse 15, but Jesur'on, which is another word for Jerusalem, Jesur'on waxed fat and kicked. You are waxing fat. You are grown. You are covered with fatness that forsook God, which made Him and mightily esteem not and lightly esteem the rock of His salvation. So once again, the rock is a metaphor for God the Father and for Jesus Christ. Now we look at verse 18. Of the rock that beget you, you are unmindful. The Father is the one that begets us. We're not. He begets us with the Holy Spirit. And He is the one that directs it. Jesus Christ on the day of Pentecost said that I have received the gift from the Father and the Holy Spirit, and I'm sending that to you.

And the Holy Spirit, of course, is the very essence of God and Christ, and we receive that when we are begotten. So look of that rock that begets you, you are unmindful. So they had forgotten God, the one that had begotten them, the one that had begotten them in the national physical sense. And also, more importantly, we can forget the rock that has begotten us in the spiritual sense. So you have been unmindful of that rock and have forgotten God that formed you.

So the rock is the one that begets us.

In the metaphoric sense, the rock is our Father. And Jesus Christ also is our rock in that He leads us and He guides us, as it says in 1 Corinthians 10.4, that it was Christ who led the Israelites into the Promised Land. So we want to note 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 4, which says, and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that formed all of them, and that rock was Christ. You know, God, a lot of people back a few decades ago were so excited about Petra and the rocks there. And Petra means rock. And of course, Jesus Christ said in Matthew 16 that upon this rock, upon Petra, will I build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Of course, He said up front, I say unto you, you are Peter, you are Petros, you are little rock, but upon this rock, the big rock, will I build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. So in the Bible, you may see the Church of God, you may see the Church of Christ, but most often we are to be kept in the name of the Church of God as Jesus Christ prayed in John 17. So let's go back now to Isaiah 51. So don't forget Deuteronomy 32, which I would call the rock chapter of the Bible in one sense. And metaphorically, it is speaking of God the Father Jesus Christ. Look into the rock which you are in, which you are in, which you are in. Once again, figuratively and metaphorically speaking, and to the whole of the pit, which you are digged. Now, there's a lot of controversy and commentaries about the pit. What is the pit? Some people even, some commentators even try to make it into something that people dig and try to dig into scriptures to try to prove it is the physical pit. But others say, well, it is fallen man that he has fallen from in the Garden of Eden with quote, original sin. But we know from Scripture and Romans where it says that all have sinned. It's Romans 3 23, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And in Romans chapter 5, it says that because each one of us has sinned, and of course, the death penalty is on our head. So we must remember the fact that God is the one who has brought us out of a state of captivity by Satan the devil. And he has led captivity free and set them free. And they can now dwell in Zion, metaphorically, the church, as we shall see.

Now in Isaiah 51 verse two, look unto Abraham, your father.

Of course, Abraham was called from a distant land. And Abraham is a type of God the Father. He is the, as it says in Romans, also that he is the father of the faithful. In Romans chapter 5, look unto Abraham, your father, and unto Sarah. And Sarah is a type of the church. And in Galatians 4 verse 16, it says that Jerusalem above the mother of us all.

In Galatians chapter 4, you have that allegory between Hagar, the woman not a promise, versus the woman of promise. It is through the promise. It is through faith that eventually Isaac was born, the son of promise. Look unto Abraham, your father, and unto Sarah.

And today we would we could say look unto God the Father, look unto the church of God, not that the church in and of itself is going to save you, but the church is the womb, the cocoon, as it were, where we nourished and fed spiritually. Remember that Peter was admonished to feed my sheep, feed my sheep, Sarah that bear you, for I called him alone and blessed him and increased him. So we could look at this from this point of view as well, that Abraham was called out of Uru the Chaldees and asked to go into a strange land, does he and his wife and his household, and there God blessed him. He became mighty in the physical sense. He was a rich person as far as physical possessions. More importantly, through his seed, the promise was made in Genesis 12 and verse 3, where it says, that in your seed shall all nations be blessed. I believe that Genesis translation in the King James, I'm not turning there, says, and in you shall all nations be blessed. And then Galatians chapter 3 verses 14 through 17 shows us that that seed through which all nations are blessed is Christ. Now in Isaiah 51.3, for the Lord shall comfort Zion. And Zion figuratively is the church we have turned here many times. Well, we shall turn again to Hebrews 12 and verse 20. Remember in Hebrews what it does, it compares and contrasts elements of the Old Covenant with elements of the New Covenant. The Old Covenant had promises, the New Covenant has superior promises, the Old Covenant had sacrifices, the New Covenant has the sacrifice of Christ, the Old Covenant had a physical dwelling place, the tabernacle and the two temples, the New Covenant has the dwelling place, and each one of us, each one of us has the presence of God in him. And so the New Covenant is a far superior covenant to the Old Covenant.

In Hebrews 12 and verse 20, for they cannot endure that which was commanded, speaking of Israel, what God thundered the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai. And if so much as a beach touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with the dark. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said I exceedingly fear and quake. So in contrast to that, you were come unto Mount Zion, under the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. And of course, we mentioned Galatians 4 verse 16 which says, Jerusalem above the mother of us all, which is the church, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. And we have angels watching over us, and sometimes I think we forget it, that God oftentimes intervenes and we are not even aware of it.

To the general assembly, a church of the first begotten, where we are not yet born, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men, made perfect, made mature, made complete. And so we are, as Paul admonishes in Hebrew 6, to go on to perfection. Now we are back in Isaiah 51 verse 3, for the Lord shall comfort Zion. He will comfort all her waste places.

So it'll be restored physically and, of course, spiritually, metaphorically, the church is Zion. And he will make her wilderness like Eden, the Garden of Eden, how wonderful that must have been, a perfect environment in which he placed two people who were admonished to follow God and to look to him for the knowledge of good and evil, and her desert like the Garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving in the voice of melody. So it will be a very joyous, happy place in the kingdom of God.

In Isaiah 51 verse 4, Hearken unto me my people, and give ear unto me my nation, O my nation, give ear unto me, O my nation. Of course, Israel, the twelve tribes, became the nation of Israel, and the church is viewed as a holy nation. If you look at Isaiah 26 in verse 2, Isaiah 26 verse 2, we'll go there and look. There are a few places in which God points out that the church is a nation. We're the main one being which we'll read from the New Testament. In Isaiah 26, where it speaks of the church being a nation, Isaiah 26 in verse 2, 2, Open ye the gates, and the righteous nation, of course, the only way we can be righteous is through repentance and faith in the sacrifice of Christ and obedience, open ye the gates that the righteous nation, which keeps the truth, may enter in. And, of course, that is those who have God's Spirit and those who are in God's church, those who will be resurrected as glorious radiant spirit beings. You will keep him in perfect peace, which mine has stayed upon you because he trusts in you. So, here we are called a holy nation or a righteous nation. Now we look at Isaiah 55 and verse 5. Isaiah 55 and verse 5, Behold, ye shall call a nation that knew ye not.

And, of course, we are called, and we're called by God's grace. His divine favor he has called us we didn't call ourselves, and he gave us the precious calling and the opportunity to be in his church.

So, behold, ye shall call a nation that you know not, and nations that knew not, you shall run unto you because of the Lord your God, and for the holy one of Israel, for he is glorified you. So, that holy nation will be glorified at the resurrection. Remember the last verse there in Zachariah 8, which says that the people from all the languages of the earth will grab hold of the skirt of the Jew and say us, show us your God, for we have heard that God is with you. Now, these are not the only places in which the church is referred to as a holy nation. There are other places, but now we go to the New Testament in 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 9. 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9.

And this is, of course, this is where it seals the deal. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. A holy nation, a righteous nation, a nation that keeps the truth, a nation that seeks God, a purchased people, that you should show forth the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

So, Zion has looked upon as a nation, and so we continue here in verse 4. Harken unto me, my people, and give ear unto me, O my nation, this holy nation, that will put on glorious garments, as we'll see in chapter 52, for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people. And so, as we have mentioned many times, that physical Israel will become the model nation for the world, and of course the saints will be there teaching and helping them and bringing all nations into a relationship with God and Christ and every member of the body of Christ. Harken unto me, harken unto me, my people, O my nation. Now in verse 5, my righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people, the isles, or the distant lands, not literally islands, the distant land shall wait. The distant lands shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath, for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke. And so the garments of the heavens are going to be changed, as it says in another place in Isaiah, and there will be a new spirit that pervades the universe. And there will be a new prince of the power of the air. Right now, Ephesians 2 says, Satan is the prince of the power of the air. He is going to be imprisoned. He's going to be taken away in that evil spirit with him. And God's spirit is going to pervade, and the knowledge of God is going to pervade. The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment. And they that dwell therein shall die in like manner. But my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. God is not going to permit his righteousness. He has made his promises. He's going to keep his promises, and nothing can deter him from keeping those promises. Harken unto me you that know righteousness. And so each one of us should know righteousness. In Psalm 119, verse 172, it says that all of my commandments are righteousness. So we know that keeping the law of God, and keeping the law of God, it is defined as the love of God. Verse John 5.3 says, For this is the love of God, and we should keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous or burdensome.

Harken unto me you that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law. So as it says in Hebrews chapter 8 and Hebrews chapter 10, that the law of God will be written on our inward hearts, not just on tablets of stone kept in the Ark of the Covenant, but on the very tablets of our hearts, so that we know the Ten Commandments, we know the spiritual law, and the many facets of the spiritual law. Fear you not the reproach of men, neither be afraid of their revelings. So of course, at the present time, people who keep the law of God and pursue righteousness and the commandments of God are made fun of, and more and more great pressures brought upon the people of God, even nominal Christians. People are even giving their lives in China and other places because of their belief system believing in God and Christ, but they don't know the truth as you know the truth.

For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool, but my righteousness shall be forever and my salvation from generation to generation. Like it says in Isaiah and another place that of the increase of his government, there shall be no end. Now verse 9, Awake, Awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord, Awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Are you not it that hath cut Rahab and wounded the dragon?

Yes, God has taken care of Leviathan, which is described in the book of Job. The prince of the children of power have prided. The prince of the children of pride, he will take care of Satan the devil. He will wound him, and he will put him away.

Are you not it which dried the sea? So just look back to what all God has done in the past.

Are you not it which dried the sea? It's not an it. Are you not the God which dried the sea, the waters of the great deep, that made the depths of the sea away for the ransom to pass over. So Israel was ransom from Egypt and passed through the dead sea on dry ground. The waters of Jordan were held back as the children of Israel marched into the promised land. Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing and design. And so, as you know, my favorite scripture there of the millennial setting is Isaiah 2 and verse 4.

And the song that we sing, the hymn that let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to let us go up to Jerusalem, there he will teach us his law and his ways, and the word of God and the law of God shall go forth from Zion and from Jerusalem. So shall come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their head.

They shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. There will be no tears then, because the mourning will be turned into joy, as it says in Isaiah 61. In Isaiah 51 verse 12, I even I am he that comforts you, who are you that you should be afraid of a man that shall die, and the son of man which shall be made as grass. And no matter how great a human being is, from Noah to Abraham to Moses to David to anybody that you want to name, to John the last of the 12 original apostles, no matter how great a man or you are or how great a woman you are, you're going to die.

If you're alive when Christ comes, you're going to be changed instantly, and the flesh will melt away, and you will no longer be in the flesh. Now verse 13, and forget the Lord your Maker, let's read 12 again, I even I am he that comforts you, who are you that you should be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass, and forgets the Lord your Maker that has stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth.

Several times in Scripture it talks about laying the foundation of the earth, and we know that all things that are made were made through Jesus Christ, as it says in John chapter 1. Lay the foundations of the earth, and have feared continually every day because of the fury of of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy, and where the fury of, and where is the fury of the oppressor.

Of course, the oppressor is Satan the devil, the beast system, the Babylonian system in which we live at the present time. They oppress, and God has admonished us time after time not to oppress, to remember those that are poor, to remember those that are needy, and not to be oppressive. The captive exile hastens that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail. But I am the Lord your God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared, the Lord of hosts, is his name, once again the Red Sea example.

And I put my words in your mouth, and I have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens and lay the foundation of the earth, and say unto Zion, You are my people.

Time after time, God wants us to be his people, and the people of Zion are counted as his people. The Church of God, you are come to Mount Zion, to the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, right now in the begotten stage. Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which I have drunk the hand of the Lord, the cup of his fury. Of course, God had to punish Israel. He had to punish the pre-flood world, because evil so abounded. He had to punish Israel, the very nation that he had cleaned up and made a covenant with, because of their spiritual hoardings and idolatry, and they went into captivity.

And even when the Messiah came, they did not recognize him as the Messiah, as far as the nation was concerned. Of course, many did, but not the whole nation. Now verse 18, there is none to guide her among all the sons whom she has brought forth, neither is there any that takes her by the hand of all the sons that she has brought up.

Of course, God did send to Israel prophets, as you read about in Matthew 23, I sent to you prophets and righteous men, and you killed them, you slew them, you would not listen to them. And so it has been, even with Israel, with God favoring them, calling them, and entering into a covenant with them.

These two things are come upon you. Who shall be sorry for you? Desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword, by whom shall I comfort you? So the church, and not the church, Israel, the northern kingdom, went into captivity out of the hands of the Assyrians. I misspoke there. Circum 621, 620 BC. And the famine and the sword, whom shall I comfort you? And then Judah went into captivity under the hands of the Babylonians in 587, 586 BC. Of course, it started before then, even in the late 600s. I misspoke with it. Syria took Israel into captivity 721 to 720 or 719 BC. And then Judah went into captivity, starting in the late 600s.

Well, it's a countdown in the 600s. Then the 500s AD 587 to 586, along in there, Jerusalem was sacked and burned, and Judah was taken to Babylon. Now verse 19, these two things have come upon you, who shall be sorry for you? Desolation and destruction. And the famine and the sword, by whom shall I comfort you? So when it came to the final time, their sins were so great that God let the northern kingdom go into captivity, he let Judah go into captivity. And there's going to be an end time type of captivity as well. Your sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets as a wild bull in a net. They are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of your God. Of course, the nations are angry when God begins to intervene and judge them. You can really read about that in Revelation 16, in which they gnawed their tongues and their cursed God because of the great darkness that was on the face of the earth as a result of one of the seven vials of wrath.

So, 21 again, therefore, here now this you afflicted and drunken, but not with wine. You're drunken with sin, with wrongdoing, with spiritual idolatry.

Thus saith the Lord, the Lord and your God, who pleads the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury. You shall no more drink it again. So, God is going to deliver his people. But I will put it unto the hand of them that afflict you, which have said to your soul, to your life essence, Bow down that we may go over, and you have laid your body as the ground and as the street, to them that went over. So, God is going to, even though Israel went into captivity, Judah went into captivity, and Satan is the oppressor of the whole earth at the present time, and great oppression is going to come upon the earth and is coming upon the earth, even now, and the people of God are going to be persecuted and going to be oppressed. But then this shows you that God ends it with a great deliverance. And then an even greater deliverance comes about in chapter 52, similar to what is said in chapter 51, Awake, Awake. So, now we're in Isaiah 52 and verse 1. Awake, Awake, put on your strength, O Zion, once again, Zion metaphorically, the church, put on your beautiful garments of Jerusalem, the holy city, what makes things holy? God's active presence within it. Once again, what makes things holy? God's active presence within it. You are called God's holy people. You are called holy saints. Why? Because God's active presence is in you.

So, put on your beautiful garments. You know, if you wonder what that garment is going to be like in resurrection, I use the term glorious radiant spirit beings, it will be radiating that glory, that joy that comes about through the resurrection into the spiritual realm as born sons and daughters of God. O Jerusalem, the holy city, for henceforth there shall no more come unto you the uncircumcised. So, in the city that is coming, the uncircumcised will not be allowed to enter in.

So that means circumcision is a type of conversion. And of course, it says in Romans chapter 2 that circumcision today is of the heart and not of the flesh.

So those who have not been circumcised in heart will not enter in and the unclean. The uncircumcised and the unclean. Let me read this again. For henceforth there shall no more come unto you the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake yourself from the dust to rise and sit down, O Jerusalem. Loose yourselves from the bands of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. This is speaking of the time just before God intervenes and delivers. So we go from dust and ashes and mourning to your glorious radiant spirit beings.

For thus says the Lord, you have sold yourselves for nothing. So people have been deceived, and they sold themselves into sin and slavery, and became the very agents and very representatives of Satan himself. We all at one time walked according to the course of this world as the children of disobedience, but God has delivered us in his glorious spiritual light. And you shall be redeemed without money. The redemption that is coming, the salvation that has come, has come through the blood of Christ, and of course there will be a great amount of redemption that is coming, the battle of the great day of God Almighty, and so many other battles that lie ahead. For thus says the eternal God, my people went down a four-time into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. Now, commentators are divided on this with regard to the Assyrian. It seems to me that the Assyrian oftentimes is metaphorically used for the beast system and for Satan.

Let's look at that for just a moment here. If we go to Ezekiel 31, Ezekiel 31, and we will note here in Ezekiel 31, and we'll start in verse 1.

Ezekiel 31, and it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month and the first day of the month that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and to his multitude, whom art you like in your greatness. So, Pharaoh is going to be compared to who he is really like, and who he is really like is the Assyrian. Pharaoh is a type of, of course, the beast and Satan because he tried to wipe the nation of Israel off the face of the earth.

Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches and with a shadowing shroud and of a high structure of a high stature, and his top was among the thick bowels. So, in the metaphoric sense, the Assyrian, Satan the devil, as we shall see, was in the garden of Eden. He was the one who tempted Adam and Eve.

Of course, Eve was tempted, deceived, and Adam willingly went along with it. We're not going to read all of this, but we'll just go down to verse 5. Therefore, the heist was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his bowels were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters when he shot forth. Then we come to verse 9. I have made him fair, notice the pronoun, him, by the multitude of his branches, so that all the trees of Eden that were in the garden ended him. So, Satan was a type of the Assyrian, as you see in verse 3. Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon. Now, more about this, we go to Isaiah 10 and verse 5. In Isaiah 10 and verse 5, O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in your hand is my indignation.

So, we read now also in chapter 10, verse 24.

Therefore, thus says the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwell in Zion, Notice, dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian. He shall smite you with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against you after the manner of Egypt. So, this is beyond that. And to me, the plencher on this is Isaiah 14 and verse 25. Isaiah chapter 14 and verse 25.

And several of the commentators, especially Bullinger, brings out that the Assyrian, of course, there is the Assyrian, the people, as well. And the Assyrians, as a people, were oppressors. But in the metaphoric sense, sometimes the Assyrian is used for the beast system and for Satan. Verse 25. That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountain, tread him under foot, then shall his yoke depart from off you, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. So, there are many other places in which the Assyrian is addressed. So, when the Assyrian oppress them, when they were in Egypt, Pharaoh was a type, as we read from Ezekiel 31 verse 3, a type of Pharaoh who was an oppressor, the dictator, that tried to wipe Israel out.

Now in Isaiah 52 verse 5, Now therefore, what have I here, says the Lord, that my people is taken away for nothing. They that rule over them make them to howl, says the Lord, and my name continually every day this blaspheme. And of course, that is like hearing the news of the day and knowing what's going on in the country today. Like one person called me recently and said, if things don't change in this country, I don't know what's going to happen to us. So, we are in a time for sighing and crying.

Verse 6, Therefore, my people shall know my name. Of course, at time when you put on your beautiful garments, therefore, they shall know in that day, that day is what is called a prophetic utterance that introduces a truth or a prophetic statement. In that day, that I am he that does speak, behold, how beautiful upon the mountains or the feet of him that brings good tidings, that publishes peace, that brings good tidings of good, that publishes salvation, then says unto Zion, Your God reigns. Now, guess who quoted that, who paraphrased that? I mean, it's almost a direct quote. It was the Apostle Paul. It was the Apostle Paul in Romans 10 and verse 14. In Romans 10 and verse 14, it's not Romans 10 that I want. Not Romans 10 that I wanted. Paul quotes this verse almost verbatim when he says that.

Romans 10 verse 15. Yeah, I was in the right chapter to begin with.

In Romans 10 and verse 15, let's pick it up there.

I was looking at chapter 9 was the problem. In Romans 10 and verse 15, and how shall they preach except they be sent? And so this is a message in a sense to the ministers of the Church of God at the present time. And how shall they preach except they be sent, as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things? And then Paul departs from the quote and says that most people have not really obeyed what has been preached.

So the ministers of the day, how beautiful are they that preach good tidings of glad things and teach peace to the people of God? Now back to Isaiah 52 and verse—let's read 7 again. I butchered it to some degree.

Isaiah 52 verse 7, which Paul quotes, How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings good tidings. Well, the good tidings today are brought by God's ministers and also God's saints. Those who have the active presence of God within them, they send forth a message that publishes peace, that brings good tidings of good, that publishes salvation. There is no church organization for its size on the face of the earth that has published more about God and salvation than the United Church of God that says and designs, Your God reigns.

Your watchmen shall lift up the voice with a voice together, shall they sing, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion. Now some people try to make something out of verse 9—I'm better verse 8 when it says, eye to eye, they shall see eye to eye. It doesn't mean that there was disagreement between it. It says it really means that it's close at hand and they shall see eye to eye, or as it says in numbers face to face or mouth to mouth. And there are other scriptures you could compare with that.

When it says that they shall see eye to eye, a better translation would be they shall see face to face. Now verse 9. Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord has comforted the people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. Over and over again we see that redeeming Jerusalem. The Lord have made bear His holy arm in His eyes. Our arm is a symbol of strength in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation, the deliverance of our God. That deliverance is going to be so mighty in the battle of the great day of God Almighty that it will be unbelievable. Depart you, depart you, go you out from there. Touch no unclean thing, go you out of the midst of her, be you clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. We bear the vessels of the Lord. You are a vessel of the Lord because you bear the Holy Spirit within you. For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight. For the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your re-reward. He will guard you both in leading you, and He will guard you from behind.

He was pierced for our transgressions. This is the next section here, and that's where we will begin next time in Isaiah 52 and verse 13. So we come to the close of the session here this evening, and once again we ask you that if you have any question or comment, please let us hear from you.

We covered a lot of territory.

Any question, any comment from any of you?

I just think it's interesting, Dr. Ward, or more than that, it's encouraging to look at, you know, Judah and the time that they were at when Isaiah was writing. They were not in a good place, and yet he offers so much encouragement for what God plans for the future, and he also points to the past to show what God has previously done. It should have been a wake-up call to them not to doubt the God that they should have been worshiping. To know the end from the beginning is a blessing. Amen. Very well said. Anybody else have a question or comment? Any kind of announcement you want to make? Okay. How is Miss Wanda doing? She's doing quite well. The physical therapy is coming three times a week, and she said today that she could tell by the therapy session that she is getting better. It'll be three weeks tomorrow of the surgery. She has to keep her arm in a sling and close to her body, for the most part, for six weeks. And it's only after six weeks that you can lift the weight of a cup of coffee. Oh boy. There's still quite a ways to go.

And we are in the middle of trying to move. We have sold our place. We're moving to Tyler. We're trying to scale down, as they say, in the vernacular to downsize. And so we bought a place in Tyler. And it's not quite ready to move in. And we got a deadline here to get out of this place by a certain day. And then Wanda's having to out. She can't do anything, basically. She's one-handed all the way, plus recovering from surgery. But she's coming along quite well. I was wondering about the empty bookshelves. Yeah, we got boxes and boxes and boxes, and we still don't have all the books. We don't have all the books boxed.

Well, give your wife our love, and good luck with your move. You may be blessed with that. Thank you very much. So we're going to see everybody again. What's the date today?

Today is what? The 10th? Today is the 10th. Yeah, we'll see you on the 24th then. So that time, that's about the time I hope we'll be able to to move and have everything boxed up in two weeks from now. Okay, does anybody else have a question or comment?

Okay, then we'll sign off for tonight. Hope to see you in two weeks. Thanks to all of you for attending, and we'll see you down the line. Thank you, Dr. Ward. Thank you. You're welcome.