Isaiah 60 - 62

Beginning in Isaiah 60, in verse 1, arise, shine for the light is come, and glory of the Lord is risen upon you. And really, this is talking about glorification, it's talking about resurrection, it's talking about the beginning of the millennium, where behold, the darkness shall cover the earth. Now, some of this can be viewed in the dual sense, in the sense of when Christ came to the earth. We turn to the first few verses of John chapter 1, last time. In those verse 7 or 8 verses of the Gospel of John, John makes it clear that he, that he, John the Baptist, makes it clear that Christ is the light of the world, and John the writer makes it clear that Jesus Christ is the light of the world. So, darkness, of course, is used for spiritual blindness as well as for physical blindness, where behold, the darkness shall cover the earth in gross darkness. The people, both the Lord, shall arise upon you, and glory shall be seen upon you. Now, beginning with the Church of God, and it says in Matthew 5 that the Church is the light of the world, the light is the Church is to be a light to the world. We are glorified when we are resurrected. Remember, Christ prayed in John 17, restoring to me the glory that I had before you, before the world began. Jesus Christ gave up His glory, but not His divinity. He was still God in the flesh. He was fully human and fully divine in the flesh. But He suffered and went through all the pains and pains and trials and troubles that flesh goes through. The Lord shall arise upon you, and glory shall be seen upon you, and the nations would be a better translation. Of course, mainly it is those who are in the first resurrection that He's talking about oftentimes here in Isaiah 60. And the nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising. So there were some who came to Jesus Christ, His earthly ministry, even some of the Jews and some of the Jewish leaders came to Jesus Christ. But as a nation, they rejected Him. They rejected the light. Lift up your eyes round about you and see. All they gathered themselves together, they come to you. Your Son shall come from far. And we turn to Amos chapter 9, the last chapter of Amos, two or three times, showing that they come from the east, the west, the north, the south to the light. And we have also turned several times to Zebaniah chapter 8, the last verse, where they grabbed the hold of the skirt of a Jew saying, show us your God, for we have heard that God is with you.

So Israel is going to be the model nation in the millennium, in the flesh, and also the resurrected sons and daughters of God will be there teaching and helping Christ and God and Christ, bringing eventually all the nations that are willing to bubble, submit, and serve Him into a relationship with God and Christ, each member of the body of Christ. Then you shall see and flow together and your heart shall fear and be enlarged. This fear is not the usual fear. You're going to be gladdened. You're going to be astonished at how much you're going to be blessed during that time. So the word for fear here in this verse, verse 5, is not the usual word that we think of fear.

It also means, it can mean to fear, to shape, but it means also to be in all. So really, you're going to be in awe. Your heart shall be in awe and be enlarged. See, the parallelism shows that it is, speaking of the latter definition, to be in awe because the abundance of the sea shall come to you, shall be converted. That means that the nations that are afar will come, and they also will come to the light.

Under you, the forces of the nation shall come under you. The multitudes of camels shall cover you. When you owned a lot of camels, that was one of the signs of you were a wealthy person, you were a blessed person. The dramedaries, the dramedaries and camels, with one hump, can go longer. I guess, I don't know if they can go longer without water than the other camels or not, but I know that they are faster, and a camel can cover a lot of ground in a day. So the dramedaries of Midian and Ephra, all the way from Sheba shall come, they shall bring goal and incense, they shall show forth the praises of the Lord.

Now those are near, and we're not necessarily enemies of Judah, but in verse 7 we see all the flocks of Kidar. Kidar was a people that sprang from Ishmael, and even those that sprang from Ishmael, if you'll recall in Genesis, it says that Esau is Edom, and Ishmael married into the family of Ishmael. All the flocks of Kidar shall be gathered together unto you.

The realms of Nebels, and so Nebels and all those nations that in the past were enemies of God. This also is maybe Joph was a son of Ishmael, just like Kidar was related to Ishmael, and then Ishmael shall minister unto you. They shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glory, and I will glory the house of my glory. The house of His glory, Zion and Jerusalem, and as we'll see in a later chapter, it takes up nearly a whole chapter in talking about how He's going to make Zion and Jerusalem the envy of all the world to be the most beautiful city in the world. I've temporarily lost my place here in finding it. Now verse 8.

Who these that fly as a cloud and as does to their windows? So people from all around, they're going to fly, they're going to flock too. And I don't know if that flying is literal or if it's spoken in a symbolic sense to the windows. Surely the isle shall wait for me and the ships of Tarshish first.

It is reported that maybe the Apostle Paul visited Tarshish, which anciently is thought to have been Spain. Of course, Spain was there at the Rock of Gibraltar at one of the sea gates there on the Mediterranean and also facing the Atlantic. Spain had a great key location suited for trade commerce to bring your sons from far their silver and their gold with Him unto the name of the Lord your God and to the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you.

See, when you are glorified, glorified ties in with verse 1, which states, as we have noted, resurrection. Arise, arise, and shall we. You'll be glorified. You'll be glorious, radiant, spirit beings. You will be, as it says in 1 Corinthians 15, a life-giving spirit. You will be a spirit being. And the sons of strangers shall build up your walls, and their king shall minister unto you, for in my wrath I smoke you, but in my favor have I had mercy on you.

So this chapter is all about mercy, restoration, what we're going to be doing in resurrection and in the millennium. There's a little bit about what He's going to do to the nations. Now, remember, I told you to read Revelation 21 and 22 in conjunction with Isaiah 60 and 61 and 62, especially 16 and 61, because there are verses that are almost exactly parallel. Therefore your gates shall be opened continually. They shall not be shut, day nor night, that men may bring unto you the forces of the nations, and their kings may be brought.

So we note that in Revelation chapter 21 and verse 22, it says, And I saw no temple therein for the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved, notice that the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it.

And note this, which is parallel to what I've just read from Isaiah, And the gates of it shall not be shut, all by day, and all by day, for there shall be no night there, and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. And notice this, you know, in the song Jerusalem, Jerusalem, it says that all that may enter, you can only enter if this when this requirement is made.

Verse 27, There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles neither whatsoever works abomination or makes a line, but they which are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. In other words, only converted people would be able to enter in. So we see that parallel verse. Now we read Isaiah 60 verse 11 again. Therefore your gates shall be open continually, they shall not be shut day nor night, but they that men may bring unto you the forces of the nations, and that the kings may be brought, and their kings may be brought.

For the nation and kingdom that shall not serve you shall perish, yet those nations shall utterly be wasted. You know, if nations do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, they get no rain, as it says in the last couple verses of Zechariah 14. If Egypt doesn't come up, then they get no rain. So the nation that does not obey God is going to be wasted, destroyed. The glory of Lebanon, the glory of Lebanon.

Lebanon was like the Riviera of the East for a long time. It was a beautiful place. You remember that Hiram, the king of Tyre, that he gave to David a lot of timber. The cedars of Lebanon, when Solomon, David, gathered a lot of the material to build the temple, and of course David died, and Solomon built the temple.

The glory of Lebanon. So when it talks about the glory of Lebanon, Lebanon was a beautiful place. Of course, in recent times, past few decades, it's been rigged by bones and all other kinds of things. But yet it has, still I'm sure, it has its beautiful places and its beaches. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto you, the fir trees, the pine tree, and the box together to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious. The sons also of them that afflicted you shall come bending unto you, and all they that despise you shall bow themselves down all the soles of your feet.

Now, in Revelation chapter 2 and verse 9, in the message to the seven churches, there is a verse that talks about they who say they are Jews and are not. They come and they bow down before you. Right now, there is a, of course, there's a war raging between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran and also the Houthis, the Yemen-backed Houthis.

In Revelation chapter 2 and verse 9, I know your works in tribulation, I know your works in tribulation and poverty.

God, you are, and I, and they which say they are Jews, I will bring and they will bow down before you. They are of the synagogue of Satan. I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. And there is, in the religious world in Israel, which you don't hear much about, unless you know where to look, there is a, the Orthodox, or many of the Orthodox Jews are against the Zionists. The Zionists, apparently, are really bent on building a temple. Many of the Orthodox Jews think that only Messiah can build a temple when he comes. So the sons have also them that afflicted you shall come bending unto you, and all they that despise you shall bow themselves down as the soles of your feet. So everybody that says that they're a Jew according to the Bible is not a Jew, we just read Revelation 2 and verse 9. They that say that they are Jews and are not, I will cause them to come and bow down before you.

And they shall call you the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

Remember Zion is symbolic of the church.

You'll come to Mount Zion to this General Assembly, the church of the first born, whose names are written in heaven, Hebrews 12, 22, 23. Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through you, I will make you an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Then shall also you suck the milk of the nations. That is speaking metaphorically, and shall suck the breasts of kings. Metaphorically, you're going to receive the riches of the nations. You're going to receive the very best. Whereas you were despised in the past, you're going to be exalted. But of course, that exaltation is with humility, realizing that without God and Christ, all of us are as nothing.

Even the nations are counted as grasshoppers in His sight. And you shall know that the Lord God and the Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob. For brass, I will bring gold. For iron, I will bring silver. So instead of the metals being what they were, they're going to be upgraded to a higher level. For brass, I will bring gold. For iron, I will bring silver. For wood, brass. For stones, iron. I will make your officers peace. Of course, there is no peace in the land today, as we talked about when we read Isaiah 59 back four weeks ago, that there's no peace in the land, there's no judgment in the land, and peace officers are despised and trying to do away with police. And there is a great battle that is taking place in a culture of war, like we have never seen before. It's being raged before in very eyes. And thankfully, we are spared to a large degree from it. So what shall we do while we sigh and cry for the abominations that are taking place all around the world, especially in our nation?

I will also make your officers peace and your exactors. Exactors are those who oppress, who say, I'm going to raise your rent, or you're behind in your rent, or you're this, or you're that, or raise the prices, and your exactors' righteousness. No longer will you be treated, the people of God will be treated fairly. Violence shall no more be heard, shall no more be heard in the land wasting nor destruction within your borders, but you shall call your walls salvation and your gates praise, speaking metaphorically. I mean, what a time this is going to be in which walls and the gates are called deliverance and praising God. The sun shall be no more your light by day. We just read that verse in Revelation chapter 21. The sun shall be no more your light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light. Of course, the moon reflects the light of the sun. Unto you both the Lord shall be unto you an everlasting light and your God your glory.

The sun shall no more go down, neither shall your moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be your everlasting light, and the days of your morning shall be ended. The people also shall be all righteous. They shall inherit the land for work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation.

There's a lot of controversy about this verse with regard to what does it mean when it says, a little one will become a thousand. Some of the most of the commentaries say there should be a great increase, as if one that be the smallest should be multiplied to be a thousand.

And some have talked about people being fathers and mothers and nations that come from them, and they grow to be nations. Who knows what God has prepared for those who love him beyond what even beyond the millennium and the time that we know about. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation. The Lord will hasten it in his time. The Lord will hasten it in his time, not our time in his time. His time is for a time appointed. And that doesn't mean that you can't pray and God will not change his mind. We always bring up the example of Hezekiah. He's going to die. He prayed and 15 years were added to his life. So prayer does change things and beseech in God. As we're going to see here in Isaiah 61, that during the time of the end of this age, the church is going to be in mourning. M-O-U-R-N-I-N-G. And it's going to be a time of trouble and trial as we have never seen before. So we begin Isaiah 61, verse 1, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. Now this is what Jesus Christ read himself in Luke 4, verse 16. We'll turn there in just a minute. He read it after he returned to Nazareth, after he was baptized. The Spirit of God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me, appointed me, anointed me to preach good tidings under the meek. Now you can take this in a dual sense of physically being meek and humbled in the way you live. Also meek in the sense of spiritually meek. He has sent me to bind the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives. Before we were set free by faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we were all spiritual captives. In the opening of the prison to them that are abound to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. After he read those verses, he sat down and returned the book to the keeper of the synagogue. Now we'll go to the New Testament and we'll read those verses that Jesus Christ read that are recorded here. Why did he sit down after he read those verses that he read? He read because that time is yet to come. The time of his vengeance, the time of his anger, the time of his wrath, the time of his judgment.

Oh, there's some chastening, there's some judgment, there's some dealing with people. He deals with each one of us. And if we don't believe that God is active in our lives, then we are missing out on what Christianity's salvation is all about.

That we have a personal relationship with God and Christ, each member of the body of Christ. And we walk and we talk with God and Christ, and we carry on a conversation with them. Of course, we converse among ourselves.

And so we read from Luke chapter 4 and verse 16 what Jesus read, and he read from Isaiah 61, verse 1 and part verse 2 in Isaiah 61. And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up.

And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and set up for it to read. There was delivered unto him the book of the prophet 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, to set at liberty them that are bruised. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all of them that were in the synagogue were fastened upon him.

Now it goes from that time of, see we are two thousand years almost from the time that Jesus Christ read that from Luke. And now there's what the scripture does. It skips about two thousand years or more to come to the point of more than two thousand years really, and comes to the point of where he eventually, he and the father, are going to take vengeance upon the earth. And before we read this, I would like for us to turn to Revelation chapter 6, and the opening of the sixth seal. And we get more of the context of it from John, from Revelation chapter 6. And we see here that when the sixth seal is open, these things begin to take place. These things being the people hiding in the rocks, and the judgment of God, and the wrath of God is upon them.

Now we go to verse 12 of Revelation 6. Verse 12 of Revelation 6. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black and sackcloth, sackcloth, and the moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth. And you see, the stars, the smallest star, is bigger than the earth. So this is symbolically speaking. The stars, in this case, are the fallen angels, the demons, and they are going to be judged during this time as well. Just think about this, because the smallest star is larger than the earth, and all the stars can possibly land on the earth in their remaining life.

As a fig tree casts her untimely figs, when she is shaken in a mighty wind, and the heaven departed as a scroll, and it rolled together, how far it went, and every mountain and island were moved out of its 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, and said to the mountains and rocks, fallen us and hid us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.

Did you stop reading there, or did you continue verse 17? For the great day of the wrath is come down, and who shall be able to stand during the wrath?

So now we go back to Isaiah 61.

The time in which I said there's about a 2000-plus year gap between verses, well, the poem from Luke, when Christ read this, Isaiah prophesied this in circa 760 BC, and that is a circa about that time, somewhere in the 10 or 20 years he ever came.

So this prophecy was given at least 2,700 years ago.

To point unto them that mourn in Zion, now what is Zion? Zion is the church. I've already quoted Hebrews 12, 22, 23. You'll come to Mount Zion to the general assembly of the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven, and so on.

To point unto them that mourn in Zion, so the church is going to be in mourning, M-O-U-R-N-I-N-G, before the resurrection. I believe we will be praying, O Lord, how long, how long?

To give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for the mourning of the mourning garment, for mourning, give them the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, as they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. So time after time, for my name's sake, that I might be glorified, so the nations might know I am the Eternal.

And we have that song written by Mary Beth Phelps on turning the ashes into joy.

And they shall build the old waste, they shall raise up the former desolations, they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. See, that's what lies before you, and the promise of what you are going to participate in, and strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the aliens shall be your plowmen and your vine dressers. But you shall be named the priest of the Lord, men shall call you the ministers of our God, you shall eat the riches of the nations, and in their glory shall you boast yourselves. For your shame you shall have double, and confusion, for your shame and confusion, they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore, in their land they shall possess the double, everlasting joy shall be unto them. For the Lord loves judgment, I hate robbery. And of course, we rob God when we withhold our tithes and offerings, as it says in Malachi chapter 3. You say, well, you know, we robbed you, but I say unto you, when you have withheld your tithes and offerings, of course I'm paraphrasing and not turning there, God says He hates robbery, for a burnt offering, and I will direct their work in truth, for I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Of course, this covenant is a covenant of peace, and this covenant will last forever. It will be like the old covenant, because those who are resurrected in the first resurrection cannot sin, and God will be in Christ will be with us there all the way, directing, guiding, interacting with us. What a time that will be! And their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the people. All that see them shall acknowledge them that they are the seed of which the Lord has blessed.

I should ask you, what does I tell you? Let you figure it out. I'll read it again.

Their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people. All that see them shall acknowledge them that they are the seed which the Lord has blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for he have clothed me with garments of salvation. Clothed me with garments of salvation, he has covered me with a robe of righteousness, as a bride who index himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorned herself with her jewels. We see this wedding garment described. Of course, there's a parable that talks about turn to Revelation 19. In Revelation 19, the marriage supper of the Lamb is described, and the wedding garment, there's a parable that talks about a person came to the wedding without a proper wedding garment and was cast out. In order to be attended to this, the marriage supper of the Lamb, you will have to have the wedding garment. The wedding garment. Let's start with verse 6 of Revelation 19. I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord jot omnipotent reigneth, let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.

And to her was granted that she should be a raid in fine linen plain and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. Of course, it says in Psalm 119.172, all his commandments are righteousness.

I may have that verse wrong, but I think it's not.

And he said unto me, Right, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And they said unto you, and they said unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

So you see how parallel this verse is with that verse in Revelation, those verses there in Revelation 19. Let's read it again, verse 10. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation.

Of course, the garments of salvation is righteousness. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness as a bride, her index himself with ornaments, and as a bride adores herself with her jewels. As far as the earth brings forth her blood, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in the spring to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations, before all the nations. Read it one more time, before all the nations. And that should tell you something as well. Now, chapter 62.

For Zion's sake, for the church's sake, for the church's sake, will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake, I will not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth, as brightness and the salvation thereof as a lamp that birdies. So God is not going to just gather a few people together after the resurrection of Jerusalem and have them to be there alone. He is interested in bringing all nations, kindred races, tongues into relationship with them, and his hope is that we will be able to help him bring all the nations of the world into the Israel of God.

And the Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, for you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name.

The mouth of the Lord shall name it. And we don't know, we'll share what that new name is.

If you're still in Revelation 21, turn to 22.

And he showed me, as it were, a pure river and water of light clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God in the midst thereof and of the Lamb. Notice that he comes out of the throne of God and the Lamb. At the present time, the Lamb sits on the right hand of the Father's throne. Evidently, the Lamb will be given a throne of his own. In fact, it says in Revelation 20 that thrones were cast, and they sat upon them, and they ruled those who had not received the mark of the beast, or bowed down to him, and so on. And they reigned with him for a thousand years.

And in the midst of the street event, on the side of it, was the Tree of Light, in which have twelve men are afraid, which yields her fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it, as his servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. His name shall be in their foreheads. Now we go to Revelation 3 in verse 12.

You know, we used to talk a lot about the about the reward of Philadelphia. You want to be a Philadelphian, and you do want to be a Philadelphian in the spiritual sense. It seems from Scripture that the Philadelphians are spared from the Great Tribulation.

However, when it comes to rewards, we all get the reward. In Revelation chapter 3, in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 12, "'Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out, and I will write on him the name of my God, the name of the city of my God, which is near Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven, round my God, and I will write upon him my new name.'" And here we see about the name. So we go back to Isaiah 66 in verse 2. "'And the Gentiles shall see your righteousness in all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name.

You shall also be a crown of glory in the land of the Lord, and a royal diodea.'" A diodea was a head decoration you put on your head in the hand of God.

So he is going to dress you up and make you stately and kingly and royally.

"'You shall no more be turned forsaken, neither shall your land any more be turned desolate, but you shall be called Hezbollah.'" Hezbollah has to do with being a blessing.

"'You shall be called Hezbollah.'" One of the translations of it is, "'My delight is in her.' It's a beautiful place." God would have so great pleasure in His people that the place where they dwell is going to be a very beautiful place. "'And your land, Beulah.'" And Beulah literally means married.

"'And your land, Beulah, for the Lord, delights in you, and the land shall be married.'" Of course, we just read from Revelation 19 that we're going to be married to the Lamb of God, the marriage supper of the Lamb. Present time, as it says in 2 Corinthians 11.2, we are betrothed to the Lamb of God.

For as a young man marries a virgin, shall your sons marry you. And of course, this is not talking about incense.

In Leviticus 20, three things are an abomination to God, and you shall not do. And you shall not do. First of all, you shall not, the men shall not lie with men, women shall not lie with women. Secondly, men shall not lie with a beast, neither shall a woman permit a beast to come unto her. And the last one, you shall not discover the nakedness of your father or your sister. So the three, you shall not do, are clearly stated in Leviticus. See, a part of the culture of war that we're involved in now would have you to tolerate, and they try to do it in the name of Jesus. That Jesus loves everybody, and so he does. But Jesus does not love sin. In fact, what a tragedy it is to say that Jesus, why did Jesus come to the earth? Why did Jesus come to the earth? Not king. Why did Jesus come to the earth? If he did not come to pay the penalty for sin, the wages of sin, his death, what is sin? Sin is the transgression of the law. Of course, the law has many facets and dimensions to it.

In a broad sense, in Leviticus 20, the three most outstanding ones of which were involved in this culture of war now, it does not, in Leviticus 20, it does not necessarily address pedophilia. But of course, pedophilia is now being advertised and sold as if it were a normal behavior, and people are not to be judged or whatever if they practice pedophilia. This is how far we have gone away from God in 21st century America. So Leviticus 20 says, no homosexual man or woman. No no incest. No I'm sorry. No homosexuality. And let's just turn to Leviticus 20. I want to read that. Please turn to Leviticus chapter 20. Leviticus chapter 20 starts with verse 13, if a man also lies with a man, as he does with a woman, is committed an abomination. If a man takes a wife, if a man takes a wife and her mother, it is in wickedness and they shall be burned with fire. Both they and they that were wickedness among you. If a man were the beast, so the big three are that are covered here in Leviticus 20, a man lie with a beast, a man by the man, a woman with a woman, and then the lie with your mother or your sister.

Incest. So God condemns those three things. Homosexuality, bestiality, or some call it bestiality, bestiality, and incest. Those three. And yet, in today's world, in the culture of war that we're engaged in, we're led to believe and try to use Jesus Christ as an example of loving everybody. We are to love the sinner and hate the sin. For God so loved the world, he loved all humanity. In fact, the whole plan and purpose of God is to bring humans into a relationship with him. But he only has a relationship with those who are righteous.

And I know that we can talk about, well, what about those who are leading up to baptism or being called? I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about when the final thing is said and done, God loves holiness, he loves righteousness, and he expects his people to be holy, to be righteous. He expects them to refrain from homosexuality, from bestiality, and he expects them to refrain from incest. And he expects them to refrain from pedophilia, that is, sexual contact with a child. More and more, as you hear on television, so-and-so was arrested because dealing with a minor, sometimes the minor may be in their teens, sometimes the minor is not yet a teenager, only two or three years old, in which people somehow... And we have these people who are kidnapped, especially little girls, they take them off, and they violate them, and then they kill them. I can't believe we just had that to take place just north of Houston, south of here. So I know my voice is trailing off. I'm weaker with my current injury than I normally am. Okay. So we have read... Let's read Isaiah 16 to verse 5 again.

For as a young man marries a virgin, shall your sons marry you? And it's not talking about or literally marrying your son. It's talking about marrying some commentator, so shall your restore marry you. And that's, as we read in the verse above, and as we read from Mary's Supper of the Lamb, that Jesus Christ is the one who marries the church. I view this as somewhat of an unfortunate translation by the King James translators.

So for as a young man marries a virgin, so shall those who are converted rejoice in Jesus Christ, and as a bride rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. I have set a watchman upon your walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace, day nor night. You that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence. In other words, shout it from your rooftop, shout it from the housetop, do not let anything pass by, and give him no rest till he establish until he make Jerusalem a praise and the earth. So that's one of the goals that God has to make Jerusalem a praise and the word earth. The Lord has sworn by his right hand and by his arm by the arm of his strength, surely I will no more give your corn to be made for your enemies, and the sons of the strangers shall not drink your wine, for the which you have labored. But you shall have gathered it, and you shall eat it, and eat it, and praise the Lord, and they that are brought in together shall drink in the courts of my holiness.

Go through, go through the gates, prepare you the way of the people cast up, cast up the highway, gather out the stones, lift up the standard for the people. Remember, a highway is going to be created for those in Assyria and Egypt, and the nations will come up to Jerusalem and keep the feast. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, say you to the daughters of Zion, Behold, your salvation comes. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. God is going to bring that great reward. You'll be called kings and priests of the Lord, build the old places, as we read from Isaiah 61. And they shall call then the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, and you shall be called sought out. They are going to be seeking you from all the nations of earth, a city not for safety. And so we close for tonight, the first, well, the first three chapters there in the Isaiah 60s. So we have a question and a comment from you.

So Dr. Ward went... I'm sorry. Go ahead. I was just wondering, so the marriage will happen after the first resurrection and in the side of all the nations? Is that what you said? Yes, the marriage of the Lamb has come, and He will make His bride ready. That marriage takes place at the beginning of the millennium. Okay. And the throne that Christ will be setting on will be previously Satan's throne, wasn't it? He's supposed to depose Satan as ruler of the earth and then take over. Only it will be the... I always heard it was a coronation chair that is setting in England with the pillar underneath that with the stone underneath that, but I don't know if that's what it's referring to or not. No, no, no, no. The stone of scone under the coronation.

A lot of tests have been done and there are a lot of controversy over that.

And Psalm, I believe, is 46, describes the attire of the bride, the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Okay.

I'm returning. It may not be 46.

For those of you who are maybe lucky with me, I'm looking for the attire of the bride in Psalm is somewhere along in Psalm 43, 44, 45, 46. I don't spend any more time with that, but it's okay. As I say, it's in the book.

And this is a minor point and it's probably obvious and I just missed it, but if the gates of the Holy City are never to be closed by day or night, why do you have gates in the first place?

Keep out those. Read Revelation 22.15.

That's a good question.

They will be functioning to keep out the unjust, but it's not for those who are converted. Well, if you're not converted, you won't be there anyway. And I saw no temple there, for the Lord Almighty and the Lamb are the temple thereof.

That's in chapter 22. For without are dogs and sorcerers, foremongers, murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loves and makes a line. I have Jesus sent by an angel to testify.

You can only enter into the city if your name is written in the Lamb's book of life. That's what it says. Regardless of what anybody else says, I'm going to say what the bottom says. It says, only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life can enter into that city.

It says it seems to bring their glory into it. So showing that the increase of his government, it says in Isaiah 9 and verse 7, that the increase of his government, there shall be no end.

You can fill in the bullet from there. Okay, thank you, Dr. Ward. I hope you're feeling better. I've been praying for you. I appreciate your prayers very much.

Not only do I have this fracture, but I have bone bruise all over my rear end. The pelvis and the pubic area, you know, there are two what they call rhymus bones that run under your body, that make up the pubic area, two on the left, two on the right.

And they join the pelvis and very much involved in walking. And that's when I have the pain, when I walk in at night trying to sleep. But I managed pretty good at night and slept some.

Anybody else have a question or comment?

Now, I know that people are, there is no foolish question, there is no whatever question. Just say what you have to say and ask what you have to ask.

Dr. Ward, you're in good company with Joe. God said not to touch his flesh, and then he touched his flesh and had the trials.

Oh, mercy. I hope my trial doesn't last as long as Joe's. Sounds like Joe's trial lasted about a year, right? They say that bruised bones and broken fractured bones generally heal in about six weeks. So I'm hoping after six weeks to get some healing.

So anybody else have a question or comment?

Okay, I really appreciate all of you attending, and I appreciate you understanding my, not quite up to par tonight, but maybe my next time I'll be fully back in the saddle again.

Thank you for doing the Bible study tonight, Dr. Ward. You're very welcome. The last part that just breaks my heart about the toleration issue that we're involved in and the culture war at the present time is just so awful what we're facing.

And it really is what our youth are facing. And you know it says in Matthew 24, I think it's verse 12, it says, because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold.

Many people are going to be drawn in to this awful stuff.

Anybody else have a question or comment? If not, we'll see you in two weeks.