Now Available - Volume 1: Isaiah

The first volume in my new series, "Decoding the Last Days," is now available in print and Kindle.


PLEASE don't believe the so-called experts when they say most of Isaiah doesn't apply to our day!  Nearly every word of it has application for our day.  Even the historical accounts.

Below are some of the things I found while studying the book of Isaiah.  You might notice that I'm predicting Syria will switch sides.  Currently she is a key Russian ally.  But before the Tribulation, if I interpreted Isaiah correctly, she will become an American ally.  Together they will threaten the sovereignty of the nation of Israel (the house of Judah).  This is relevant to our day, 2012, as we watch a rebel army attempt to unseat the current government.  You may also notice the U.S. government seems to be favoring the rebels.  Both America and Damascus will be destroyed on the first day of Tribulation.  The nation who leads that attack is Russia.  Syria will pay dearly for switching sides.  Nevertheless, God has purposed these events to happen as predicted.

"The LORD has given a commandment against Canaan to destroy its strongholds." (Is. 23:11)

Some of you may be wondering if the Damascus prophecy will be fulfilled during the current war.  The answer is no.  Damascus and America will both be destroyed on the same day by Russia.  In fact, America's and Syria's plan to setup their own king over Israel will come to an end on that day.  This is detailed in the book.


Discussed in "Decoding the Last Days  (Volume 1: Isaiah)":

Before the Tribulation

• The purpose of the Tribulation
• Christians in America described
• Christian leaders and their judgment described
• America described
• A false message of peace
• A time of peace and safety
• The raising up of a type of Elijah (within America)
• God uses Elijah to heal severe afflictions, including autism
• Elijah preaches a hard message of sin and repentance
• Elijah warns the people of the coming Tribulation
• Nations are invited to hear the warning
• Housing Bubble
• 9/11 and a defiant response
• Deeds done in secret are exposed
• Syria becomes an American ally
• Sovereignty of national Israel is threatened

The First Day of Tribulation

• The Middle East is devastated by warfare
• A great celestial object passes between the earth and the sun
• The celestial object causes great destruction on the earth
• Destruction of America
• The nations involved in her downfall
• Preservation of God's people when America is destroyed
• The time of year, time of month, and time of day the Tribulation begins

The First Year of Tribulation

• The story of God's people during the opening months of Tribulation
• Christians are brought out into a wilderness
• Christians are oppressed in the wilderness by Gog of Magog
• God's people repent of sin
• Gog of Magog is defeated supernaturally by God
• A time of great blessing as God pours out his Spirit
• Miraculous renewal of the land
• A great rebuilding project within the land
• Christians and Jews reunite under faith in Yahshua
• Arrival of the anti-Christ in peace
• People from all nations come to Palestine

Feedback from a reader:
"I'm continuing to press in and your books are helping me learn how to compare line upon line, precept upon precept while I take your material and match it up against the Word.  I finally feel like I am getting to feast on some meat instead of a milk diet." - TM

Isaiah 47

<< Start at Isaiah 1

The "ER" numbers below refer to an Exhaustive Reference; a table of events to occur in the last days, with corresponding Scripture references.


Isaiah continually returns to the destruction of end-time Babylon and uses it as a marker for the beginning of the Tribulation.  However, there are only a handful of chapters in the Bible solely dedicated to describing her downfall.  This is one such chapter.  When we take an honest look at how the prophets describe latter-day Babylon, we come to the conclusion there is only one nation today that matches those characteristics.  She is America, lone superpower of the earth, the Lady of Kingdoms.


Summary by Section

1.  (v.1-5)  [ER 3.1.15, 3.1.7, 3.5.2]

“O virgin daughter of Babylon.”  We should take note how these phrases are used in the Bible.  Is she a young virgin or an old woman, with gray hairs here and there? (Hos. 7:9)  Though the remains of ancient Babylon are in Iraq, we know this latter-day Babylon was carried to a far-away place. (Zec. 5)  She is the least, or hindermost (H319), of the nations at the time of the end. (Jer. 50:12)  Likewise, she is the virgin of Israel who will fall and rise no more at all. (Amos 5:2)  How is this possible?  How can she be both the virgin daughter of Babylon and the virgin of Israel at the same time?  “Up, Zion!  Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.” (Zec. 2:7)  Babylon is the fortress of Ephraim. (Is. 17:3)  Remember that Ephraim is the lead tribe of the house of Israel.  The descendants of the house of Israel, the Anglo-Saxon race, inherited America and she is their stronghold at the end of the age.

“And you, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, even the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem...Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in birth pangs.  For now you shall go forth from the city, you shall dwell in the field, and to Babylon you shall go.  There you shall be delivered; there the LORD will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.” (Mic. 4:8-10)

“Sit in silence, and go into darkness.”  The day is soon coming when America will cease to be a nation forever.  Though she is the lone superpower, though she now still sits as Queen over the earth, the Lady of Kingdoms, yet she will fall and great will be her fall.

2.  (v.6-9)  [ER 3.1.2, 3.1.7, 3.1.15, 3.5.2, 3.5.9, 4.6]

“I was angry with My people; I have profaned My inheritance, and given them into your hand.”  Is God pleased with all his lovely Christians in America today?  Quite the contrary; he is angry with us.  We have allowed ourselves to become overrun with the sin of the land.  The salt has lost its savor.  The light has become so dim it is hardly distinguishable from the darkness itself.  Just as we saw in chapter 41, there seems to be reason to believe God allows his people in America to be persecuted before the Tribulation begins.  How are the elderly singled out?  Is the retirement age pushed back further and further to help offset the massive debt?  Does the nation pilfer the funds of the retired?  We shall see.

“Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures, who dwell securely, who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I know the loss of children.’“  I am America.  I am the lone superpower of the earth, there is no one besides me.  I will never become like the nations I’ve overturned.  I will never become a widow nor will my children ever leave my side.  Woe to her who gives herself to leisure and pleasure at every turn yet forgets her God.

Yes, you will be overturned.  It will take only one day.  In “Quenched Like a Wick” I describe how this will happen on that day and which day it will occur on in the near future.  Zephaniah chapter 2 quotes from this passage.  It is a similitude, or point of comparison, among the prophet Isaiah and the prophet Zephaniah.

3.  (v.10-15)  [ER 3.1.2, 3.1.7, 3.1.17, 3.5.2, 3.5.5, 3.5.9]

“Therefore evil shall come upon you; you shall not know from where it arises.”  It’s hard to believe that the greatest minds of America won’t know about the coming trouble.  There are two prominent events coming to America on that day.  The first, a great celestial object, will pass between the earth and the sun around midday over America.  The second, the force coming to destroy America, will covertly arrive that evening under the cover of that passing object.  It is not clear which of these evils are being spoken of, therefore we can assume she is ignorant of both of them.  An astute reader of my book noted the stargazers of verse 13 in reference to something he heard an American scientist acknowledge.  The scientist admitted that the Russians have more advanced mathematics as it pertains to space.  Therefore, in fitting with the prophecies, the land of Magog is able to verify the predicted date of the arrival of the celestial object (brown dwarf, most likely), but our NASA scientists cannot.  Our stargazers will not be able to stand up and save us from the coming trouble.

“They shall wander each one to his quarter.  No one shall save you.”  These events transpire in just one day.  The Middle East is devastated by warfare in the morning.  At midday the celestial object begins its pass.  At evening the force arrives to destroy America.  No other nation will come to America’s defense.  Because the destruction is sudden and the blow is severe, I’m not sure there’s much any other nation could do even if they wanted to help.  “The fire shall burn them.”  The complete and utter destruction of America in one day comes via the fire of nuclear warfare.  Just as we destroyed other lands with this technology, so it will be used to destroy us.  “I will do to them according to their way, and according to what they deserve I will judge them; then they shall know that I am the LORD!” (Ez. 7:27)


Recap

1. From Lady of Kingdoms to mere dust.
2. She falls suddenly, in one day.  God is angry with his people.
3. She is clueless and powerless to prevent it.


End of Age Context

That ancient Babylon is not intended here is clearly evident.  Ancient Babylon was taken by the Medo-Persian Empire but not in the manner here described.  The daughter of Babylon is spoken of here; she to whom the virgin of Israel comes in the latter days.  From there, Babylon, Zion will be delivered.


End of Age Themes

• Complete and final destruction of latter-day Babylon.
• God is angry with his defiled people.
• Babylon is at leisure as the world’s only superpower.
• She does not consider she can and will be so defeated.

Sequence of Events

From Isaiah’s narrative thus far it has become obvious, especially noted in chapter 13, that Babylon is destroyed on the first day of Tribulation.  From this chapter we see God is angry with his people and gives them into her hand before she is destroyed.  A time of persecution is coming to Christians in America before America is destroyed on the first day of Tribulation.


Final Thoughts

“Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness…? (2 Pet. 3:11)  In “Quenched Like a Wick” I show when and how these things will transpire.  From the time of this writing it is only four years away.  Seeing that all of this is coming to an end, what manner of persons ought we to be?  How should we live our lives?  Let us be found abiding in his Word and his Word abiding in us.  Let us be found bearing good fruit as we walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh.

Isaiah 48 >>

Isaiah 45

<< Start at Isaiah 1

The "ER" numbers below reference an Exhaustive Reference which will be made available when completed.




Why does the name “Cyrus” appear only 23 times in the New King James Translation but 26 times in the New Living Translation?  The answer is simple, yet at the same time appalling.  The NLT translators inserted his name into the text in three locations which it does not appear in the original Hebrew.  Without doubt they did this because they thought the text called for it, even though God himself did not.  This is just one example of one word.  How many more words were inserted into the text based on their understanding and not on the original text?  A translation that would presume to do such a thing should not be called a translation, nor even a Bible.  It should be called what it is, a commentary.  We need to be very careful what “translation” of the Bible we study.  There are excellent, even free, tools at our disposal to allow us to study the words of the original text.

Nevertheless, the name Cyrus does appear in this text once, as it appeared in the previous chapter once.  These are the only two occurrences of the name in the book of Isaiah according to the original Hebrew.  Why are we being told of Cyrus in the context of the opening months of Tribulation?  How does it fit the narrative?  In previous chapters Isaiah used events of the past to show us events yet to come.  He did this in chapters 7 to 10 to show us how the king of Assyria relates to Ezekiel’s account of Gog of Magog.  In chapters 36 to 39 he showed us how Hezekiah represents God’s faithful remnant.  All throughout the prophets we see King David is a type of Christ.  In the previous chapter we saw how Cyrus represents a latter-day leader who is chosen by God to proclaim to God’s daughter of Zion that she will be established.  That theme continues to be echoed in this chapter.


Summary by Section

1.  (v.1-7)  [ER 4.3]

“That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me.”  In chapter 41 I discussed how this end-time prophet, Elijah, gains notoriety as he performs signs and wonders before the Tribulation and his predictions about that Day come to pass.  In chapter 49 we see he is then sent out to reflect the light of his Savior, who we saw in chapter 42.

But let’s pretend this servant doesn’t exist.  Let’s pretend no one comes to the forefront to perform those signs and make those predictions.  In this scenario the Tribulation begins and the world is largely clueless as to what the events mean.  They didn’t understand the prophecies before the Tribulation began and they still don’t.  There’s nothing and no one to point to, to say, “Yes, he was right, the Word of God is faithfulness and truth.”  But because this one steps forward (“Here I am, send me!”) God uses him mightily to bring to light God’s glory and purpose.  The purpose of this servant is to bring glory to the Father as he works miracles and makes accurate predictions in the name of the Son, his Lord and Savior Yahshua the Christ.

“I will gird you, though you have not known Me.”  The word “gird” means to put a belt around someone.  God is girding up this end-time messenger with the belt of truth.  “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth.” (Eph. 6:14)  God is bringing him into a strong knowledge of him as he girds him about with truth, which is the Word of God.

God is able to show him the hidden riches of secret places as he gives him revelation in his Word, those chariots of horsemen and camels and donkeys. (Is. 21)  “That you may know that I, the LORD, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel.”  Only in this way, by deep revelation of his Word, can this latter-day Elijah understand the God of Israel.  God takes this servant from not knowing him to knowing him, by revelation of his Word.  By this we know actual hidden treasure is not being spoken of.  The God of Israel was revealed to ancient Cyrus because they showed him where his name appeared in the prophecies.  So it is with the latter-day Cyrus.  Natural treasure does not reveal God, but the treasure of his Word does.  “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.” (Prov. 25:2)  “Let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me…” (Jer. 9)  How do we know him?  Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. (Rom. 10:17)

So while there was an ancient Persian king named Cyrus who brought freedom to the house of Judah after he took Babylon, there is a modern-day counterpart who God uses to “raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel” when America is destroyed. (Is. 49:6)  The tribes of Jacob refer to all of God’s people; both houses, Judah and Israel.  “The children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together.” (Jer. 50:4)

“I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron.”  Some translations render this “I will level the exalted ones.”  The thought concerns bringing down the mighty, exalted ones of the earth.  God used Cyrus to bring down ancient Babylon but God goes before this latter-day Cyrus to bring down the exalted, lone superpower of the earth of our day.  America is referred to as Babylon in the Bible.  All her gates will be broken asunder on that day.  All of the truths she now holds dear, which she believes will protect her from calamity, will come crashing down around her on that day.

2.  (v.8-13)  [ER 3.1.4, 3.7, 5.6, 7.1]

“I, the LORD, do all these things.  Rain down, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness.”  Notice how the previous passage is connected to this one.  The focus of verses 1 through 7 was the prophet Elijah who will precede the first day of Tribulation. (Mal. 4:5)  He is like Cyrus, which is why we are being shown these things within the context of the beginning of Tribulation.  Verse 13 continues to discuss this latter-day Cyrus, therefore we can conclude the raining down of righteousness has something to do with this end-time prophet.

But notice the dissonance of this passage.  Notice the tension concerning the things we are being shown.  God makes is clear that he is the one doing these things like rain falling on parched ground.  God has anointed this latter-day Cyrus to deliver God’s people.  God is the one bringing about a change from captivity and barrenness to freedom and abundance; from bondage of lies to righteousness and truth.  But how do the people respond?  “Woe to him who strives with his Maker!”

How is the rain of righteousness connected to this Elijah, this latter-day Cyrus?  The word for “rain down”, or “drop down” (H7491 - ra`aph) is very close to the word nataph (H5197) which means to drop down, or drip, and is often translated as to preach or prophesy: “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, preach (H5197) against the holy places, and prophesy (H5012) against the land of Israel.” (Ez. 21:2)  This latter-day Cyrus goes before the people to preach and to prophecy to them when they are assembled before that day passes like chaff. (Is. 28:11, 32:11, 34:1, 41:1, 43:8-9,26, 48:14, Zeph. 2:1-2)  Cyrus is still in view here.  This is evident because verse 13 connects this passage to the previous one.  These are not a disjointed collection of thoughts.  This latter-day Cyrus is shown the hidden treasure of God’s Word and he goes before the people, sent by God and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to drip down the righteousness of God, that the earth, the people who have eyes to see, would open up to that rain to receive it and grow up unto God the Zion that he is now raising up out of a corrupt harlot called Babylon.

“I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways.”  Remember what we saw earlier: “Who in righteousness called him to His feet?” (Is. 41:2)  Compare this with a verse yet to come: “I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him, I have brought him, and his way will prosper.” (Is. 48:15) Even as this latter-day Elijah goes forth across the land, performing great miracles and preaching a message of repentance, the people fight against him!  But they are not fighting against him but against God who sent him.  Woe to those who strive with their Maker!  “Woe to him who says to his father.”  Incredibly, these are not unbelievers but believers who are fighting him.  These potsherds are Christians who are striving with this Elijah, who is also a potsherd; a broken fragment of a vessel!  They are resisting his message from the Lord. (Is. 28:12-13)

“Ask (demand) Me of things to come concerning My sons; and concerning the work of My hands, you command Me.”  The word ask (H7592) can, by extension, take on a meaning of demand.  The context is such that the people vehemently disagree with what they are hearing.  The potsherds strive with this potsherd who is sent by God.  They insist God will do such and such a thing regarding the last days.  Though they see great miracles performed before their very eyes, they can’t reconcile it with the message they are hearing.  They insist God will do something other than what the prophet says he will.  Though God uses the miracles to confirm the words of his servant (Is. 44:26) they refuse to believe it.  “Now let no man contend, or rebuke another; for your people are like those who contend with the priest.” (Hos. 4:4)  The priest had final say in the interpretation of the law.  Yet an obstinate people would continue to strive with him.  In like manner, God confirms the words of this servant, yet the obstinate people continue to strive against him.

“He shall build My city and let My exiles go free.”  By these are meant the raising of the tribes of Jacob out of America, as we have seen and will see, and the things yet to come as Zion is established in the earth.

3.  (v.14-15)  [ER 1.1.1.2, 8.1.2]

“The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you, and they shall be yours.”  The image of the city being rebuilt provides a segue to this passage.  Isaiah takes us back to a prophecy he made in chapter 14: “For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob.” (Is. 14:1)  “Truly You are God.”  This occurs after the defeat of Gog when God is hallowed in the eyes of all the people. (Ez. 38:23)

4.  (v.16-19)  [ER 1.1.1.2, 1.1.1.3, 8.1.2]

“You shall not be ashamed or disgraced forever and ever.”  Those who cling to idols are being separated from those who place their trust in God.  The end of the age is being spoken of here by the use of the phrase “forever and ever.”  Zion is being established before the return of Christ and Zion will not be brought low again.  Christ will return to reign over his people in truth and righteousness.

“I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth.”  God uses the very public ministry of the prophet to speak to the world of these events shortly before they take place.  These things have been prophesied in his Word for ages, yet now at the end of this age they are revealed. (Dan. 12:4)  Elijah comes before the people in the year preceding the beginning of Tribulation. (Is. 32, Dan. 4)  His message and very public ministry is still fresh in the minds of the people when these things begin to come to pass.  “For thus says the LORD: ‘We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.’ “ (Jer. 30:5)  As these events begin to come to pass the people remember that voice of trembling and fear they heard just prior to these things.

“I did not say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in vain’; I, the LORD, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.”  Notice that seeking him is connected to that which he has spoken and declared.  God does not tell us to study his Word, the Bible, in vain.  Those who walk in the Spirit must also abide in his Word.  His Word washes us from the filth of the world (Eph. 5:26) and renews our mind. (Rom. 12:2)  As we progress beyond the milk of the Word he shows us how precept is set upon precept and line upon line. (Is. 28)  His Word benefits those who will spend time in diligent study with uncircumcised ears. (Jer. 6:10)  But for those who are given over to the spirit of deep sleep, the Book, and the understanding thereof, remains sealed. (Is. 29)

5.  (v.20-25)  [ER 8.1.3, 8.1.7, 11]

“Yes, let them take counsel together.  Who has declared this from ancient time?  Who has told it from that time?  Have not I, the LORD?”  After the opening events of the Tribulation have come to pass, the Lord God now focuses attention on the nations.  This is the pattern we’ve seen time and again.  After God uses Gog of Magog to contend with Zion in the wilderness, God’s attention turns to the nations.  He now challenges the nations to consider everything they’ve just seen and heard.  He calls to their minds the predictions Elijah made in the name of Yahshua, that the Father would be glorified.  “Who told you all of this in advance?”  God told us in advance in his Word and Elijah told the people before it happened.  “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth!”  God uses the events of the opening months of the Tribulation as a witness to all the earth.  We are his witnesses in the earth.  God points to his work in Zion, how he saved them from two fires and is now prospering them. (Is. 2)

“That to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath.”  The return of Christ is now being indicated.  The day is soon coming when all kingdoms of men will have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. (Rev. 11:15)

“In the LORD all the descendants of Israel shall be justified, and shall glory.’”  Both families, Israel and Judah, are reunited as one family under the umbrella of faith in Yahshua. (Ez. 37)


Recap

1. Cyrus, or Elijah, is used to prove that God is God alone.
2. They strive with the God who sent Elijah to them.
3. Some even come and serve Zion in the land.
4. The wheat and chaff are being separated, just as God said.
5. Let the nations now come and decide.  He is God alone!


End of Age Context

Though an ancient king is described here, yet we see a time when Zion will no longer be ashamed, forever and ever.  The end of the age is spoken of here when “every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath” that Christ is King and Lord of All.


End of Age Themes

• An end-time messenger goes before the people.
• The people of God strive with this Elijah, a.k.a. Cyrus.
• When Zion is established, some will come and serve them.
• God separates faithful Zion from everyone else during the Tribulation.
• God turns his attention to the nations as he blesses Zion.
• The return of Christ when every knee will bow to him.

Sequence of Events

Following the pattern set before us so many times already, we see God raises up an Elijah to go before the people.  He goes before them before the Tribulation begins and God uses his ministry as an example that he alone is God.  Only God can raise a messenger to tell us what’s going to happen before it actually happens.  After these opening events of the Tribulation Zion will be blessed as God establishes her in the land.  Then he will turn his attention to the nations.  People must decide to follow him or not.  The wheat is separated from the chaff at the end of the age during the Tribulation.


Final Thoughts

What will you do in the day soon to come?  Will you strive with your Maker?  Do you strive against him today?

Isaiah 46 >>

Isaiah 42

<< Start at Isaiah 1

The "ER" numbers below reference an Exhaustive Reference which will be made available when completed.




You may have noticed by now two things from the book of Isaiah.  The first is that Isaiah primarily deals with the first few months of Tribulation.  That has certainly been the case to this point.  The other thing you may have noticed is how each chapter shows the beginning of the Tribulation from a unique viewpoint.  Like a multi-faceted gem turned in the light, so each passage shows the beginning of Tribulation in a slightly different manner.  This chapter deals with the first arrival of Yahshua (Jesus), then his return at the end of the age after he holds his “peace a long time.”  Though at this first coming “He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,” at his second “He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies.”


Summary by Section

1.  (v.1-8)

“He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.  A bruised reed He will not break.”  Quite easily we know this passage speaks of the first arrival of the Messiah, as the gospel of Matthew quotes this passage:

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 18 Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles. 19 He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; 21 and in His name Gentiles will trust. (Mat 12:17-21)

2.  (v.9-12)

“Behold, the former things have come to pass.”  A time of great transition is now being spoken of.  The former age passes to the time of Christ and time of Christ passes to our day, the end of the age.  “Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”  Yahshua’s first arrival is predicted, though they understood it not, until the time of his arrival.  His second arrival is also predicted, as we shall see, though many do not understand it either.  Nevertheless, it is there in the Book for all to see who have eyes to see.

“And His praise from the ends of the earth…The villages that Kedar inhabits…declare His praise in the coastlands.”  Spoken of here is the spread of the gospel near and far; the Great Commission.  The lands near, the desert region of Arabia (Kedar) all the way to the ends of the earth; let them declare His praise.  Let the light be sent to the Gentiles; let the blind eyes be opened, let the prisoners be loosed from prisons void of truth and light.

3.  (v.13-16)  [ER 3.6, 6.3, 6.5]

“I have held My peace a long time, I have been still and restrained Myself.  Now I will cry like a woman in labor, I will pant and gasp at once.”  After a long age of mercy and grace, now our Lord Yahshua (Jesus) the Christ stirs up his zeal.  Though he came first as suffering Servant, bearing the sins of many to redeem many lost sheep, now he returns as triumphant Messiah.  Many today understand this point in time to be his physical return to earth at the end of Tribulation, but this is not the case.  Spoken here is when Christ stands up to enter into judgment with the world.  The woman in labor is an often-used word picture denoting the beginning of Tribulation.  Though Christ does not physically appear until the end, he now makes his presence known in the earth in a most mighty and terrible manner.  It is a day of sudden and untold destruction.  It is a day of great dread and fear.  Nations, large and small, are laid waste on that first day.  “I will pant and gasp at once.”  The KJV more accurately renders this “I will destroy and devour at once.”

“I will bring the blind by a way they did not know.”  Even God’s people are clueless of these predicted events.  We despise his Word, we do not delight in it. (Jer. 6:10)  The Bible sits on the shelf collecting dust.  Those who read it mostly do not understand what it says about our day. (Is. 29)  The events coming to Babylon, in particular, are events the people have not known.  We have not known war within our borders.  We are a generation unfamiliar with devastation.  Yet devastation is coming and God will preserve a remnant.  He will not forsake his remnant; though two-thirds of that remnant will forsake him in the months to come from this point in time.

4.  (v.17-25)  [ER 3.2, 3.5.2, 4.3]

“Hear, you deaf; and look, you blind, that you may see.”  The scene now shifts before our eyes from the first day of Tribulation to the days leading to it.  As it did in the previous chapter, attention now turns to the servant Elijah.  The people are encouraged to listen and heed the message of the servant who speaks on God’s behalf and shows great signs and wonders.

And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." 40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?" 41 Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains.  John 9:39-41

“Who is blind but My servant, or deaf as My messenger whom I send?  Who is blind as he who is perfect, and blind as the LORD's servant?”  Woe to us when we think we see clearly.  Woe to us when we think we have God figured out.  Woe to us when we don’t think we have to abide in God’s Word daily and labor in his Word to rightly understand.  When we become blind to our own ways, our presumptions, only then do we begin to see clearly according to his Word.  This is why Yahshua said “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19)  The Son, who is the Word made flesh, is the express image of the Father.  He only says what he hears the Father say and he only does what he sees the Father do.  He does the will of the Father and not his own.  In like manner, angels are sent forth by the Father to perform his will and not their own.  Likewise, his children are to do his will and not our own.  The servant in question is prepared to go out to say and do only those things which he receives from the Father.

This is why Zechariah tells us Judah’s horses will be struck with blindness. (Zec. 12:4) Only then will they recognize Yahshua as Messiah, the one they pierced.  In like manner today, millions of Christians go about their daily lives completely devoid of Truth.  Though they believe on Jesus to the saving of the soul, yet they are blind to his Truth because their eyes are open only to their own ways.  But when we become blind to our own ways and presumptions only then can we see God’s ways clearly.  Only then do we have power over sin.  Only then can we walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh.  We do not presume to know anything, therefore we must abide in his Word.  We must abide in his Word and allow his Word to abide in us.  In this way our minds are being renewed according the ways and purpose of the Father.  (Further reading - http://wakeupbabylon.blogspot.com/2011/11/ become-blind-that-you-may-see.html)

Such things are spoken of God’s latter-day servant, Elijah.  God rhetorically asks, Who is like this one?  Who has become so blind to his own ways that he now sees My ways so clearly?  Remember all the chariots this one saw as he listened earnestly, and with great care. (Is. 21)  As he becomes blind to his own way of thinking, as he begins to abide in God’s Word, God reveals to him great revelation within the Word of God as it speaks of our day.

“Seeing many things, but you do not observe; opening the ears, but he does not hear.”  Attention now turns back to the primary audience, God’s people.  The NIV more accurately renders this: “You have seen many things, but have paid no attention; your ears are open, but you hear nothing.”  Simply stated, even God’s people are not heeding his Word.  We’ve seen much.  We can now look back on 6000 years of recorded history.  We can understand how we got to this point in time just prior to the Tribulation.  We have God’s Word and can now see how it all fits together.  Yet God’s people pay no attention to it.  "For My people are foolish, they have not known Me.  They are silly children, and they have no understanding.  They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge." (Jer. 4:22)  "But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear." (Zec. 7:11)  “And He said, Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ " (Is. 6:9)

“The LORD is well pleased for His righteousness' sake; He will exalt the law and make it honorable.”  The word for “well pleased” (H2654) means to incline to or to bend.  Remember what we learned in chapter 32 regarding this Elijah.  God is very pleased with this servant.  So much so that God is now granting his requests.  Anything this servant asks in the name of Yahshua, God is performing.  And what is this servant asking?  He’s asking that God heal the people who come in faith.  And what is this servant preaching?  What’s his message?  He’s preaching hard against sin, especially within the Church.  And we see from this passage this servant is exalting the law.  The law?  Don’t all Christians now hold the law in such low regard today?  Don’t we sneer at it, and despise it as passé? (Mal. 1:13)  But didn’t God tell this generation to remember the law given at Mount Horeb? (Mal. 4:4)  Why do you suppose God wants this generation to remember the law?  The reason is because we’ve gotten so far away from the law of God that we have become lawless.  Though the “law of truth” should now be written on our hearts, how can it?  We don’t labor in the Word of God.  We don’t study it.  We certainly don’t abide in his Word.  How then can we be changed by it?  How can we be cleansed by it?  We can’t.  Therefore God’s people have been taken in all the idolatry of the land.  We have become defiled, as the first chapter of Isaiah clearly shows.

But this servant will exalt the law.  Though the rituals and customs fell away with the first covenant, yet the spirit of the Law remains and should be written on our hearts.  But it is not.  We have so focused on our glorious chariots, the grace and mercy of God, that it has become a drunken excess to us. (Is. 28)  We have forgotten that we are to be holy as God is holy.  We have ignored God’s righteousness and justice just as we’ve forgotten to strengthen the hands of the widows and orphans and the weak and downtrodden of our communities.  We do not rightly reflect the Holy God we claim to serve!

And because this servant exalts the law of God, which speaks of the very character of our Holy God, God inclines to him.  God greatly favors him.  God loves him. (Is. 48:14)  “But this is a people robbed and plundered.”  But the people this servant addresses are corrupt and defiled.  Though many of them serve God, and though many more claim to serve God, they are largely not pleasing in God’s sight.  They are all taken in the sin of the land.  They are prisoners of a walk according to the flesh.

“Who among you will give ear to this?  Who will listen and hear for the time to come?”  Understand that this Elijah begins to come before the people about one year before the destruction of America. (Is. 32)  He speaks of things “for a time to come.”  Who among the people listening to Elijah will truly have ears to hear?  Who among them will heed his message and change their lives?  Who will believe time is short and changes must be made now?!

“Therefore He has poured on him the fury of His anger.”  But we already know the people, as a whole, will not turn and repent.  Instead they largely shrug their collective shoulders.  Therefore the judgment set against America will surely come at the appointed day and hour.  Surely it is set and  surely it will come.  The Tribulation will begin at precisely the minute appointed for it.  In “Quenched Like a Wick” I show what day and hour that is.  For those who believe we cannot know the day or hour, I address this concern as well.  We cannot know the precise day and hour of our Lord’s physical return to earth.  But I show that we are expected to know when his judgments begin.  As I show, that day is described in detail the in Bible.

“Yet he did not know; and it burned him, yet he did not take it to heart.”  Is it possible some of the preserved remnant, even a large portion of them, will not understand even after America is destroyed?  Will they still not consider it to be a judgment from God Almighty?  Perhaps this is why we are reminded to remember the law.  Deuteronomy clearly explains what happens to nations who turn from God and refuse to return to him.  “Even the stork in the heavens knows her appointed times; and the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow observe the time of their coming.  But My people do not know the judgment of the LORD.” (Jer. 8:7)


Recap

1. Yahshua comes first as gentle Servant to redeem mankind.
2. The gospel message goes out, even to the ends of the earth.
3. Yahshua rises up in fury at the beginning of Tribulation.
4. At what point will you truly see?


End of Age Context

This chapter speaks of both Christ’s first coming as well as his second.  But of his second it speaks not of his physical return to earth at the end of that Day, as does chapter 27, but of his standing up in judgment at the beginning of Tribulation.  It’s a time when people now inhabit land at “the ends of the earth.”  It’s when the woman with child now labors to give birth at the start of that Day.


End of Age Themes

• God stands up in judgment at the end of the age.
• God’s end-time messenger.
• The nation of God’s people, Babylon, is brought to nothing by God.
• God’s people are blind and deaf to his Word.

Sequence of Events

From this chapter we understand Yahshua (Jesus) first comes as gentle suffering Servant to redeem the people.  Then this gospel goes out far and wide until the earth is covered with people at the end of the age.  Then, after this long age of grace and mercy, the earth is filled with corruption.  Yahshua then stands up in fury to judge the world, starting with his people, who also have become corrupt.  Their prominent nation, which we’ve been reading about since chapter 1, is wholly overthrown when that Day begins.  But before that Day begins, God sends them a messenger with his Word.


Final Thoughts

If the very purpose of Yahshua’s first coming was to open blind eyes and bring people out of their prisons of sin, how is it that at the end of the age he finds his people blind, robbed, and imprisoned?  The answer is found as early as chapter 1 and is a theme woven throughout the entire book: “Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward.” (Is. 1:4)  Understand that Christians are being spoken of here.  Though we call on his name and continue to worship him, yet our hearts are far from him and the truth of his Word.

Isaiah 43 >>

4 Years From Today

In exactly 4 years from the date of this post the Tribulation will commence and America, along with Damascus, will be destroyed on that first day.  The Middle East will be devastated as the nations rush (desolate) like the rushing (desolation) of many waters but the whirlwind (great celestial object) of the Lord will chase them away like chaff before the wind at midday over America.  Then, behold, in the evening, trouble.  Before the morning America is no more. (Is. 17)

This describes how the Tribulation will begin after a time of peace and safety. (1 Thes. 5)  In only 3 years from now we will see an end-time Elijah begin to go before the people with a message of sin and repentance, with great signs following. (Is. 32)  But before that time, within the next three years, we will see drought, crop blight, a plague after the manner of Egypt and cleanness of teeth in all our cities. (Amos 4)

Now is the time to cling to God and abide in his Word if you are not already.

To see how I came to the conclusions I did regarding America, please read my new book, "Quenched Like a Wick."  In this book I reference nearly 700 Scripture passages.  It's not light reading but if you really want to know, you can benefit from the work I already put in.  I do not take a verse here and a verse there and create non-sense like so many teachers today.  The Word of God is to be understood line upon line, precept upon precept as we progress beyond the milk of the Word. (Is. 28)  Hosea 12:10 tells us: "I have also spoken by the prophets, and have multiplied visions; I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets."  The word "symbols" is similitudes in the King James Version and it means "points of comparison."  God has spoken in his Word regarding our day using points of comparison.  By studying those points of comparison we can gain an accurate and complete picture of how and when the Tribulation will begin.  While we can't know the exact day or hour Christ will return, I show that we are expected to know when the Tribulation begins.  It's all in the Word of God if we are willing to study it.

In "Quenched Like a Wick" I take the reader on a step by step journey through the prophecies of our day.

Also, check out my in-depth study of the book of Isaiah.