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Skip's Teachings > 23 Isaiah - 1990 > Isaiah 25-28

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Isaiah 25-28
Skip Heitzig

Isaiah 25 (NKJV™)
1 O LORD, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, For You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
2 For You have made a city a ruin, A fortified city a ruin, A palace of foreigners to be a city no more; It will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore the strong people will glorify You; The city of the terrible nations will fear You.
4 For You have been a strength to the poor, A strength to the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, A shade from the heat; For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
5 You will reduce the noise of aliens, As heat in a dry place; As heat in the shadow of a cloud, The song of the terrible ones will be diminished.
6 And in this mountain The LORD of hosts will make for all people A feast of choice pieces, A feast of wines on the lees, Of fat things full of marrow, Of well-refined wines on the lees.
7 And He will destroy on this mountain The surface of the covering cast over all people, And the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.
9 And it will be said in that day: "Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the LORD; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation."
10 For on this mountain the hand of the LORD will rest, And Moab shall be trampled down under Him, As straw is trampled down for the refuse heap.
11 And He will spread out His hands in their midst As a swimmer reaches out to swim, And He will bring down their pride Together with the trickery of their hands.
12 The fortress of the high fort of your walls He will bring down, lay low, And bring to the ground, down to the dust.
Isaiah 26 (NKJV™)
1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city; God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks.
2 Open the gates, That the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in.
3 You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
4 Trust in the LORD forever, For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.
5 For He brings down those who dwell on high, The lofty city; He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He brings it down to the dust.
6 The foot shall tread it down--The feet of the poor And the steps of the needy."
7 The way of the just is uprightness; O Most Upright, You weigh the path of the just.
8 Yes, in the way of Your judgments, O LORD, we have waited for You; The desire of our soul is for Your name And for the remembrance of You.
9 With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
10 Let grace be shown to the wicked, Yet he will not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly, And will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
11 LORD, when Your hand is lifted up, they will not see. But they will see and be ashamed For their envy of people; Yes, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them.
12 LORD, You will establish peace for us, For You have also done all our works in us.
13 O LORD our God, masters besides You Have had dominion over us; But by You only we make mention of Your name.
14 They are dead, they will not live; They are deceased, they will not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them, And made all their memory to perish.
15 You have increased the nation, O LORD, You have increased the nation; You are glorified; You have expanded all the borders of the land.
16 LORD, in trouble they have visited You, They poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them.
17 As a woman with child Is in pain and cries out in her pangs, When she draws near the time of her delivery, So have we been in Your sight, O LORD.
18 We have been with child, we have been in pain; We have, as it were, brought forth wind; We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth, Nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
19 Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead.
20 Come, my people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, Until the indignation is past.
21 For behold, the LORD comes out of His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; The earth will also disclose her blood, And will no more cover her slain.
Isaiah 27 (NKJV™)
1 In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong, Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.
2 In that day sing to her, "A vineyard of red wine!
3 I, the LORD, keep it, I water it every moment; Lest any hurt it, I keep it night and day.
4 Fury is not in Me. Who would set briers and thorns Against Me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.
5 Or let him take hold of My strength, That he may make peace with Me; And he shall make peace with Me."
6 Those who come He shall cause to take root in Jacob; Israel shall blossom and bud, And fill the face of the world with fruit.
7 Has He struck Israel as He struck those who struck him? Or has He been slain according to the slaughter of those who were slain by Him?
8 In measure, by sending it away, You contended with it. He removes it by His rough wind In the day of the east wind.
9 Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be covered; And this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: When he makes all the stones of the altar Like chalkstones that are beaten to dust, Wooden images and incense altars shall not stand.
10 Yet the fortified city will be desolate, The habitation forsaken and left like a wilderness; There the calf will feed, and there it will lie down And consume its branches.
11 When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off; The women come and set them on fire. For it is a people of no understanding; Therefore He who made them will not have mercy on them, And He who formed them will show them no favor.
12 And it shall come to pass in that day That the LORD will thresh, From the channel of the River to the Brook of Egypt; And you will be gathered one by one, O you children of Israel.
13 So it shall be in that day: The great trumpet will be blown; They will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria, And they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, And shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
Isaiah 28 (NKJV™)
1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, Whose glorious beauty is a fading flower Which is at the head of the verdant valleys, To those who are overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one, Like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, Like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, Who will bring them down to the earth with His hand.
3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, Will be trampled underfoot;
4 And the glorious beauty is a fading flower Which is at the head of the verdant valley, Like the first fruit before the summer, Which an observer sees; He eats it up while it is still in his hand.
5 In that day the LORD of hosts will be For a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty To the remnant of His people,
6 For a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, And for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7 But they also have erred through wine, And through intoxicating drink are out of the way; The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink, They are swallowed up by wine, They are out of the way through intoxicating drink; They err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
8 For all tables are full of vomit and filth; No place is clean.
9 "Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts?
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little."
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people,
12 To whom He said, "This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest," And, "This is the refreshing"; Yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the LORD was to them, "Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little," That they might go and fall backward, and be broken And snared and caught.
14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through, It will not come to us, For we have made lies our refuge, And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves."
16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily.
17 Also I will make justice the measuring line, And righteousness the plummet; The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, And the waters will overflow the hiding place.
18 Your covenant with death will be annulled, And your agreement with Sheol will not stand; When the overflowing scourge passes through, Then you will be trampled down by it.
19 As often as it goes out it will take you; For morning by morning it will pass over, And by day and by night; It will be a terror just to understand the report."
20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on, And the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it.
21 For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be angry as in the Valley of Gibeon--That He may do His work, His awesome work, And bring to pass His act, His unusual act.
22 Now therefore, do not be mockers, Lest your bonds be made strong; For I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts, A destruction determined even upon the whole earth.
23 Give ear and hear my voice, Listen and hear my speech.
24 Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow? Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods?
25 When he has leveled its surface, Does he not sow the black cummin And scatter the cummin, Plant the wheat in rows, The barley in the appointed place, And the spelt in its place?
26 For He instructs him in right judgment, His God teaches him.
27 For the black cummin is not threshed with a threshing sledge, Nor is a cartwheel rolled over the cummin; But the black cummin is beaten out with a stick, And the cummin with a rod.
28 Bread flour must be ground; Therefore he does not thresh it forever, Break it with his cartwheel, Or crush it with his horsemen.
29 This also comes from the LORD of hosts, Who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance.

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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23 Isaiah - 1990

Isaiah is perhaps the best known of the prophets, and he was frequently quoted by Jesus Christ. Pastor Skip Heitzig guides us through this study of Isaiah's warning to the people of God.

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In the book of second Peter, Peter declared, we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. But we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He said, we didn't make this thing up. We didn't get together and have a little collusion party, and say, now, John, Pete, Bart, we've invested so much time and energy into this thing, it'd be a shame to waste it now and say that we were wrong. Let's just continue this fable-- this story-- that we've experienced all of these things. And if anyone asks you about it, here's the story you tell them.

Now, it could be that they're going to hassle you for it. And if they hassle you for it, you'll just have to take the beating. We might even die for this story. But it's a good thing to die for. We didn't follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and the coming. We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. We saw him.

But a few verses later, he says, but also we have the prophetic word made more certain of which we do well to take heed to because it is a light that shines in a dark place. And that's true of prophecy. Prophecy is simply history written in advance. And God being omniscient, it's a wonderful feature to have-- knowing what the future will be before it ever happens. He can write history in advance. And God has written the history of the world, and sometimes in great detail-- other times a bit sketchy. But he's written it well in advance.

Peter said that we ought to take heed to that prophetic word because it is a light that shines in a dark place. And that song was so beautiful. It is well with my soul. And it reminds me of the effect of prophecy-- listening to prophecy. And a third, at least, of the scripture is prophecy. And seeing the things unfold, it is a bright light in the midst of a dark time.

And seeing in the midst of this dark time what God has planned in the future, it is well with my soul, which we do well to take heed to as a light that shines in a dark place. Fulfilled prophecy, folks, is one of the strongest proofs that this book ain't no fairy tale. It's one of the strongest proofs that our God is accurate because he's written so many things in advance in such detail.

Dr. A. Cressy Morrison, Professor of the New York Academy of Sciences, did a little experiment to show this. He himself was astonished at the fulfillment of prophecy in the Bible. And for a little test, he said, suppose I could take 10 pennies. And I could mark on each penny a number-- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 10. I put all the pennies in my pocket, jumble them around, and then after a while, I reach in, and I say, I'm going to take out penny marked number one.

And he said, what are the odds that I would pull out that penny-- one in 10. There's only 10 pennies. The odds are one in 10 that I'd pick it. Let's say I did. What would the odds be for me to, with the second reach, get into my pocket, and pull out penny marked number two-- one in 100. It exponentially decreases as we go. If I pick out the third, one in 1,000. If I pick each penny successfully-- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10-- without missing a beat, the odds that I could do that would be 1 in 32 billion.

When you apply that thinking to the scripture and see all of the things, not just about Jesus that he fulfilled, but all of the details of the future that God promised would happen, and we see the odds of those coming true, apart from God, exponentially, it's impossible mathematically. It's a light that shines in a dark place. And we do well to take heed to it. Why? Because when we consider what God has written in advance-- prophecy-- it will result in two things, always.

Number one, it will strengthen your faith. Because you'll look back, and you'll see the track record of God-- that he made predictions that came true. You'll look to your present. And you'll look to the future. And with great ease, you will be able to entrust yourself to a God who doesn't make mistakes. He doesn't just guess. He's not like Edgar Cayce or Jeane Dixon, who make some pretty good guesses-- 88% accuracy, with a margin of error. God has no margin of error. And it helps you to entrust yourself to God, thereby increasing your faith.

Secondly, studying the future based on what God has written-- prophecy-- will purify your life. That's what it says in the book of First John. He that has this hope within himself purifies himself even as he is pure. On the prophetic calendar, Jesus Christ is soon to make a guest appearance on our planet. And the Mount of Olives over in Israel is waiting for the footprint of the Messiah to touch down.

But the next event will be the Rapture of the church. That's what's coming next. The fact that Jesus Christ could return at any moment causes us to be on our toes. If we really believe that he can pop in at any moment causes us to live a righteous life-- not that we become righteous by ourselves. But we'd want to stick close to the Lord. If you knew Jesus Christ was coming tonight, wouldn't you want to stay as close to the Lord as possible and be ready for it? So it will increase our faith and cause us also to live a pure life.

Now, in chapters 24 through 27, as we touched on last week, this is called Isaiah's little apocalypse, apocalypse, meaning unveiling, like the Book of Revelation. It's Isaiah's little Book of Revelation where he speaks about the wrath of God's judgment that is coming upon the Earth in what is known as the Tribulation period. And he takes it all the way through to the millennium. Now, Isaiah, who spoke over a period of 58 years, often will jostle and jumble these events together. And he will mix the future with the present. But by its context-- that is, reading the text together with the rest of the text-- we can see which is which. It's not that hard of a delineation.

But just to refresh our memories from last week, let's take the panorama of prophetic events so that we can have them fresh in our mind. First of all, there's the Church Age. That's the age that you and I live in. Jesus said, upon this rock I will build my church. The gates of hell will not prevail against it. Between the first coming of Jesus and the rapture of the church is the Church Age. It's lasted a good long time-- about 2,000 years.

It is a time in which God is dealing with humanity in mercy and grace. He's given them a big, fat chance to get right with him. Generation after generation, the Gospel goes out. And he's giving the world a chance to join his church. After 2,000 years, we are, I believe, most definitely at the end of the Church Age. And all of the domino events-- all of the dominoes have gone down that make it ripe for the rapture of the church to be the next event on the prophetic calendar--

--and I do believe, if you haven't guessed already, in a pre-Tribulation rapture. It's consistent with God's character. It's consistent with the literal interpretation of the scripture. And I've gone through this before. But the next event is the rapture of the church. After that event, there will come a seven-year period upon the Earth known as the Tribulation. The first three and a half years will be marked by a time of peace.

During that time, a man will arise-- a great leader-- known as the son of perdition, or the anti-christ. He will be a world political ruler. The world will hail him as a peacemaker. He will be able to bring nations that had no peace together in peace. The people will look at him as a superman, full of charisma. He will make a pact with the nation of Israel to rebuild their temple and settle them safely in their land.

In the midst of the Tribulation, after three and a half years, he will break his covenant, which is called the Abomination of Desolation-- something we'll touch on later on tonight-- and plunge the world into what is known as the Great Tribulation period. Literally, it will be hell upon the Earth. People will die by the billions, it says in the Book of Revelation. And Jesus said in Matthew 24, for then, there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning nor shall ever be. And when you consider that in World War I, 10 million people died-- in World War II, 50 million people died-- a total of 60 million people-- that's nothing compared to over a billion people dying, simply after the first judgments take place in the Book of Revelation-- after the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a billion people dying upon the Earth-- a great, worldwide bloodbath. And even then, the world will not turn to God and will not repent of her idolatries.

Simultaneous with this event, the Tribulation period, you and I will be in heaven. And for the first part of it, it seems, we will be undergoing the Bema Seat Judgment, where we will be rewarded for what we have done for Christ upon the Earth. You and I will be in the kingdom. And God has different positions for us. He has rewards to give you. Not only do you get heaven, you get ribbons. You get, like, first, second, third place, so to speak. You get a system of rewards that will be given to you.

The Bema Seat of Christ-- it has nothing to do with your salvation. If you're a Christian, you're going to be in heaven. But each of us will occupy different positions in the kingdom age, based upon our faithfulness to what God called us to do. And you know what? I want to get some rewards, to be quite honest with you. I really do. I don't just want to get in heaven by the skin of my teeth. I don't want the angels rooting me on, and when I get over the threshold, saying, you know what, you just barely made it.

[LAUGHTER]

Oo, man. We were taking bets on you.

[LAUGHTER]

I want to go in, and I want to have, as Peter said, an abundant entrance, and be faithful to that which God called me to do, not wavering from it. Then there will be also the marriage supper of the lamb. We'll have a great feast and a meal, as Jesus Christ dines with us. The Tribulation upon the Earth while we are with the Lord in heaven will culminate in an event called the Battle of Armageddon, in which the armies of the world will battle. The forces of the East and the West, they will meet in a place called the Valley of Harmagedon, a very real geographical area-- the Plain of Esdraelon-- in mid-northern Israel. It's been a battlefield for centuries. It will be a battlefield once again.

And it says, blood will flow up to the horse's bridle-- several-- 175 furlongs it mentions, or miles. I forget which. A huge bloodbath will take place. It actually will be the forces of the world fighting against God as he stands up for Israel. The Battle of Armageddon will end as Jesus Christ makes his second visible appearance on the planet Earth, known as the Second Coming. The Second Coming and the rapture are two different events.

The Second Coming takes place seven years later as Jesus touches down upon the Earth in Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives splits in two. A great river is formed there in Israel. Geographic changes take place right in Jerusalem. A sword, being the word of the Lord, comes forth from Jesus mouth, destroys the anti-christ and his forces.

And after that takes place, it ushers in the great kingdom age, known as the millennium, 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ upon the Earth. So we have been reading about some of the future of what we can look forward to in both of the Tribulation events. Actually, I'm not looking forward to the Tribulation. Nor am I looking forward to the anti-christ. I know some people are.

But the scripture says, we are looking, not for the coming of the anti-christ, but for the great coming of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. That's who I'm looking for. I'm looking for his coming. The scripture never tells us to be on the lookout for the anti-christ, but to be looking, for our redemption draws nigh-- the coming of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. We've been looking at some of those events here.

Now, in chapter 24, it says in verse 1, behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes its waste-- distorts its surface. Verse 4-- the earth mourns and fades away. The world languishes and fades away. The haughty people of the earth languish. The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants. Because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

Look over in verse 19-- the earth is violently broken. The earth is split open. The earth is shaken exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard and shall totter like a hut. It's transgressions shall be heavy upon it. And it will fall. And it will not rise again.

There are some who look at this and immediately-- and it's very possible-- think of a shift in the polar axis of the Earth-- an event that takes place, according to some scientists, every 5,000 years. And many of them are saying the Earth is about due for another one because the last one happened about 5,000 years ago. And what happens in this polar axis shift are great cataclysmic events. The surface of the Earth actually changes because of these cataclysms. Tidal waves occur. Mountains are leveled. Floods occur all over the world.

And what happens before a polar shift-- before that axis shifts-- is the Earth starts going into a wobble, like a top. You know, you wind up a top. And right before it's winding down, it starts going into that wobble. And many scientists are saying the Earth now is starting to reach that wobbly state, just like a top before it's about to wind down. And we're very close to another polar axis shift. So that's a possibility. And it's very interesting in light of these verses.

And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord will punish on high the host of the exalted ones, and on the earth, the kings of the earth. Judgment will take place, not only for people on the earth, but there will be judgment for those principalities in power or those demonic beings that fell with Satan when a third of the angels fell with him. There will be quite a judgment that takes place on earth and in heaven. That is why the Bible says, behold, I create a new heaven and a new earth. Not only just a millennium upon the earth, but there's a recreation of God's entire creation, heavens and the earth, because of the fall that was so pervasive.

Chapters 25 through 27 speak about the coming kingdom age. We touched on that last time. And we're going to look again at some of the highlights of the kingdom age-- of what we have to look forward to-- the coming kingdom. By the way, the kingdom was one of Jesus' favorite topics. He loved to speak about it. He spoke parables of the kingdom. He told the disciples to seek first the kingdom. The disciples asked before Jesus ascended into heaven, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And you wonder exactly what they're talking about. This is what they're talking about.

The promised kingdom that the Jews were looking forward to was a time of everlasting peace upon the earth, or at least a millennial as we know it now-- 1,000 years upon the earth-- a time when things would be totally different. The Messiah would reign. There would be no rebellion universally. The Messiah would reign with his chosen people upon the Earth. And this is exactly what they were looking forward to. It was the heart of Jesus' message.

In Luke chapter 4, Jesus says something to the effect of, I must go to other cities also and preach the kingdom of God-- the kingdom of heaven because for this reason I was sent. He was sent to preach the kingdom of heaven. This is something also that Daniel predicted. Remember, in the book of Daniel, again, a fascinating book of prophecy, there was a king who at that time ruled over the whole earth. His name was King Nebuchadnezzar-- a quite prideful guy.

And one night he had a dream. Now, remember, he was an unbeliever who had a dream from God. That's an interesting twist. We often think only Christians can get dreams from God. No way. Nebuchadnezzar was a heathen king. And God revealed to him the future in a dream.

And he had a dream that troubled him. So he called all of his soothsayers-- all of his magicians-- his hocus-pocus gang. And he said, OK, guys, I had a dream that troubled me last night. I want you to tell me what I dreamt and the interpretation of it. Well, the soothsayers weren't so dumb. They knew that if the king could tell them his dream, that they could make something up that would sound pretty good.

So they said, well, uh, king, you tell us what you dreamt. And we'll tell you what it meant. He goes, no dice. You tell me what I dreamed because I forgot what I dreamed. All I know is it troubled me. And if you don't tell me what I dreamed and what it meant, I'm going to cut off all your heads, and chop you in pieces, and make your house as a dunghill. He was a mean guy.

[LAUGHTER]

And the soothsayers, the Chaldeans, the magicians said, hey, be reasonable, man. No king has ever requested something like this. Look, tell us what you dreamt. He said, nope. I've made my decision. You're playing around with me-- fine. The decree is I'm going to cut you in pieces-- make your house as a dunghill.

Well, the news filtered down through Daniel. Daniel heard about it-- about the decree. Daniel got his friends together. And he says, guys, we got to pray. Otherwise, it's our heads. Because they were counted in that number.

After he prayed, he stood before the king. And the king said, hey, I hear that you can interpret dreams, Daniel. Daniel said, no, I can't. But there's a God in Heaven who knows what you've dreamt. And God's revealed it to me. And it's not because I'm more wise. It's just that God wants you to know what's going to happen in the future.

And Daniel said, oh, King, you were on your bed last night. And you were wondering in your head what's going to happen after you kick the bucket. Again, this is a free translation. After you pass from the scene, what will occur with my kingdom? He said, King, in your dream, you saw this huge image towering up to the sky. Its head was made out of gold. Its shoulders, its chest and arms, were made out of pure silver-- a beautiful metal, but less than the gold.

And then this image had a stomach and thighs of bronze-- pure brass. Legs were made out of iron. And its feet were composed partly of iron and partly of clay. The king said, that's it. That's great. That's what I dreamt. What does it mean? He said, King, you are the head of gold. You rule the entire earth. You are King of Babylon, the most grand empire in the world that's ever been.

But after you will arise a kingdom inferior to yours, even as silver is inferior to gold-- the Mede and the Persian Empire. They will take over and assume world rule. After the Medo-Persian Empire will come an inferior kingdom who will rule-- the kingdom of Greece under Alexander the Great, as we find out later. And then will come another empire-- the legs of iron, which as we find out is the Roman Empire, for they ruled, it said, with a rod of iron-- an ironclad rule. And finally, there will be in the last days a kingdom set up of 10 nations related somehow to the legs of iron, the Roman Empire, but somehow, a new empire, partly of clay-- very inferior-- very unstable.

And in the days that that kingdom is set up, just like in the dream, King, you saw a rock cut out of heaven. And it came, and it smashed that image that you saw into pieces. And the wind blew it away like chaff in the summer threshing floor. The Lord God in the days of those 10 kings will set up a kingdom that will never, ever, ever end. It will cover the entire earth. It will be a kingdom of everlasting peace.

And I'm sure all Nebuchadnezzar could say is, wow. Your God is pretty awesome. It was a dream that was repeated quite often in that book-- always the promise of a new kingdom. And the Jewish people have always had that expectancy, and now the Christian people. The expectancy that Jesus Christ-- well, the Christians, anyway-- the Messiah will come and set up his everlasting kingdom of righteousness as predicted.

The kingdom age-- how I am looking forward to that. In one sense, we look forward to the kingdom. And it's a sigh for heaven. Remember, Jesus told us to pray that. When you pray, say, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, that's something you and I should be looking forward to and praying for. Because he commanded us to.

And every time we say your kingdom come, in one sense we are longing for heaven. We get homesick. When we read books like Isaiah that depicts the kingdom age where every tear is wiped away, we, like John, say, even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. And it speaks about, in chapters 25 and 26, the peace will come upon the whole earth. Jesus said, in my Father's house, there are many mansions. I'm going to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I'll come again and receive you to myself that where I am, you may be with me forever. [SIGHING] Can't wait.

But also, when we pray your kingdom come, we're praying that God would establish his kingship in our lives. Because the Kingdom of God is a little bit different today. You got to understand that. The kingdom of God is a little low-key today. There'll come a time when it's not going to be so low-key. It'll be very upfront. But Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven does not come with outward observation. My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my subjects would stand up and fight. But it's not of this world.

So until then, when we say, Lord, your kingdom come, it means may the King rule over my life. It's making Jesus the King of your life. And for the Kingdom of God to come into your life now means that you must first be converted like a little child and come under the kingship in the authority of Jesus Christ. And if Jesus is in control of your life, the Kingdom of God has come to you, for the King is in your heart. And with that, you have a promise for the future. And these promises are also then for you. If Jesus is not the Lord of your life, this is just wishful thinking. You're reading about something that will never happen. It's a pipe dream until Jesus becomes the king of your heart today.

In chapter 25-- let's just cover a few things-- he says, oh, Lord, you are my God. I will exalt you. I will praise your name for you have done wonderful things. Your councils of old are faithfulness and truth. You have made a city a ruin-- a fortified city, a ruin-- a palace of foreigners to be a city no more. It will never be rebuilt. In verse 6, it says, and in this mountain, the Lord of Hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces-- a feast of wines on leaves, of fat things and of marrow, of well-refined wines on the leaves.

Speaking of physical prosperity, fatness-- you don't have to worry about gaining weight in the kingdom age. It'll be there. I remember when I was a kid going through grammar school. I was a beanpole. And I tried to gain weight. I would drink bottles of cream just so that I could gain some weight. Because I was always this string bean. I could never do it. Well, I won't have that problem in the kingdom age. And I'm not having that problem now, actually.

[LAUGHTER]

And he will destroy on this mountain the surface and the covering cast over all the people and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever. What a promise. And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. Remember when you were a little kid, and you'd shed a tear, and your mom would come by and wipe it. We have to do that to our son almost daily. God will wipe away every tear.

And it shall be in that day, verse 9, behold, this is our God. We have waited for Him. And He will save us. This is the Lord. We have waited for Him. We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation. Chapter 26, verse 1-- and that day, this song will be sung in the Land of Judah. Now, there's not much singing like this in the Land of Judah today. But it will be in that day.

We have a strong city. God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks. Open the gates that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in. You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever. That's not only a promise looking forward to the future, but it's a promise for you today. If you want perfect peace in your life, let your mind be kept stayed firmly upon the Lord and His plan for you. That's a promise in the scripture. In everything with prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known to God and the peace which transcends all human comprehension will rule or mount guard in your hearts.

When Jesus was born, the angels that announced his birth said, glory to God in the highest and on earth, what-- peace to men of goodwill. Most translations say peace-- goodwill toward men. And if that's exactly how the rendering was, I would get a bit confused. Because from the birth of Jesus till now, there has not been peace on earth-- goodwill toward men. There's been wars, and famines, and hatred upon the earth. And not many people are goodwill toward men.

And were I a cynic reading that passage in that kind of a setting and that kind of a translation, I'd mock it. I'd say, where is the peace? There is no peace. But the literal translation of the verse says, peace on earth toward men in whom God is well pleased. Makes all the difference in the world, doesn't it?

When the King is reigning supreme in your heart, and your mind is fixed on him, as a person you have a peace that no one can quite figure out. You blow their minds. When you come to work with such peace, and joy, and satisfaction in your life, they think, what's wrong with you? What have you been smoking? What have you been doing? Perfect peace-- trust in the Lord forever.

Look in Verse 8. Yes, in the way of your judgments, oh, Lord, we have waited for you. The desire of our soul is for your name. And for the remembrance of you, with my soul I have desired you in the night. Yes, by my spirit within me, I will seek you early, for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. That's a very important verse, too. And I think it's also very applicable to us today, and that is, seeking the Lord diligently with all of our hearts. With my soul I have desired you in the night. Yes, by my spirit within me, I will seek you early. Isn't that precious?

Jesus said, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. They will be filled-- hungering for the Lord. Ever wonder-- you could take two believers. You can take them side by side. And you'll see one of them meander through life, stumble through life, never really making much progress, kind of staying on the same old, same old keel. They'll rise for a short time-- a very short-lived kind of a rise-- fall back down again-- oh, the Lord's faithful to pick them up, and they'll be on--oop, up, down, up, down, stumbling along.

And then you'll take another person. And it seems that there's a steady, stair-like progress and growth. And you say, now, is it that that God loves this one more than the other one? No. It all has to do with spiritual appetite. Your spiritual growth is directly proportional to your spiritual appetite. If you hunger and thirst after righteousness, you'll be filled. If you casually snack after righteousness--

[LAUGHTER]

--you won't be filled. And the word hunger and thirst doesn't speak of a little nibbling or just a little hunger pain. It speaks of a person being close to death-- starving to death for a morsel. It means that you've placed spiritual life at the top of your priority list, and you're seeking God above everything else. When you see God like that, you will be satisfied. And that's the paradoxical thing about the promise is that even though you're hungering and you're thirsting, you're satisfied at the same time. You're hungering more for God. You're thirsting more for his presence. But all the while, you're filled.

And so it is in the life of everyone who has sought after the Lord. Remember Moses, a man who experienced the presence and the promises of God day after day? Now, talk about a guy who experienced what most people don't experience. God actually talked to this guy-- verbally spoke his Word to him. He saw miracles occur constantly. And yet, he wasn't satisfied. Lord, show me your glory. Let me just see your face.

David, although he also saw much of the work of God in his life, said, one thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after, that I might dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of His life to behold His beauty in the sanctuary. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the House of the Lord than dwell in the tents of the wicked. As a deer pants after the water brook, so pants my soul after thee, oh, God. Paul the Apostle-- after 30 years of walking with the Lord, he said, oh, that I might know him by experience in a better, more fuller way-- the power of His Resurrection, and, by the way, something we don't like to hear, the fellowship of His sufferings.

I want the highs, and I want to suffer, too. If that's going to make me closer to the Lord, give it to me. But I want to know Him. There was a panting. There was a hunger. That's why people grow. Because spiritual growth is directly proportional to spiritual appetite. You are what you eat. And if you're hungry, you'll eat. And you'll be satisfied. And if you're not hungry and you don't see a need, and you don't stay close to the Lord every day and every night, you won't see any growth.

And so really, God has given us all things that pertain to life and God and it's through the knowledge of Him. It's ours. But it doesn't work if it just sits around. That's why in Second Peter, chapter 1, Paul says, therefore, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue-- virtue, knowledge-- knowledge, love-- love, brotherly kindness-- self-control. If these things are in you to overflowing, you will never be barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It'll always be there-- the hungering and that thirsting.

Now, in verse 13, he says, oh, Lord, our God-- this is very interesting-- other masters beside you have had dominion over us. But by you only will we make mention of your name. They are dead. They will not live. They are deceased. They will not rise. We've been in captivity before. We're not going to even mention that. We're following you now. They're dead. Our captors are dead. The oppressors are dead.

And if this is speaking indeed of the great Tribulation period, it's the psalm of praise of those who have left that terrible Tribulation, perhaps believing Israel, who will go into the kingdom age because they held fast to their Messiah, Jesus Christ. And they will say this. But you know, I find that an interesting principle, by the way. Other masters beside you have had dominion over us. But only you will we make mention of your name.

I've heard certain people give testimonies before. And by listening to them, I would think that they almost cherished and missed their past life. They'll spend most of their testimony time speaking about what a crumb they were-- almost glorifying the devil's reign in their life. And they paint the blackest picture so that people will have a response and go, ooh, wow, ah, that guy was a jerk. Mm. And after they've painted the worst picture glorifying the past life-- mentioning the names of their past gods-- then at the very end, just a very short thing-- and then God touched my life, and showed me He was the way, and now I'm saved-- spending most of the time speaking about the past rather than the present in their testimony.

It's interesting that here, Isaiah the Prophet, says, but by you only will we make mention of your name. Because all that stuff is dead. By God's grace, I stand here. I look to what he's done now in my life and what he has for me. Verse 15-- you have increased the nation, oh, Lord. You've increased the nation. You are glorified. You have expanded all the borders of the land.

Israel occupied at best 1/10-- when Israel was at its peak and glory under the reign of King David and Solomon-- at that peak, they only occupied 1/10 of all of the land God promised to them way back in the Old Testament. God said, your borders will be from the River of Egypt to the great River Euphrates, which is modern day Iraq and Iran. They've never occupied that much. One day they will. God will expand the borders of Israel. And everything over there will have a different name on it. Maps will be a bit different.

Verse 19-- speaking of resurrection-- your dead shall live. Together with my dead body, they shall arise. Awaken, seeing you who dwell in dust. Your dew is like the dew of the herbs. And the earth shall cast out her dead. Come, my people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you.

This could be speaking either of God keeping a remnant during the Tribulation period-- faithful souls and martyrs that are kept under the altar in the Book of Revelation-- the faithful believing Jewish remnant-- or it's interesting-- some have suggested that this is a prophetic view of the rapture of the church during the tribulation period, for it says, come, my people, enter your chamber. Shut your doors behind you. Remember in John chapter 4, it says, and I looked, and I beheld a door in heaven that was opened, and a voice as of a trumpet speaking with me, saying, come up here. Immediately, he was caught up. And he was in the Throne of God.

And he seized the throne room of God, and the 24 elders, and the angels singing to God-- prophetic, in chapter 4 of Revelation, of the rapture of the church, because after that event, John beholds everything from a bird's-eye view-- not from, here I am on the Earth going through it, but he's looking down from heaven-- from being caught up as the door was opened. And from the throne room, he sees all of the cataclysmic events happening upon the earth. This could be prophetic. Thinking of that, listen to it.

Come, my people, enter into your chambers. Shut your doors behind. Hide yourself as it were for a little moment until the indignation has passed. For behold, the Lord comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will also disclose her blood and will no more cover her slain-- very interesting perspective. Now we get to chapter 27 where it says, in that day, the Lord with severe sword, great and strong, will punish Leviathan, the fleeing serpent-- Leviathan, that twisted serpent-- and he will slay the reptile that is in the sea. Chapter 27 is speaking of the restoration of Israel in the last days-- that God will restore the nation of Israel.

Most of you have heard of amillennialism. Amillennialism is a view that says, the promises, like this in the Old Testament, aren't really literal. They're figurative-- that all of the promises that God made to Israel are never going to happen because Israel forfeited her right. Therefore, they say the church is spiritual Israel, which is a bunch of bunk. Now, we are spiritual sons of Abraham. But we are not spiritual Israel in the sense that we rob all of the literal promises given to Israel for her restoration-- not so. But the amillennialists spiritualize everything and deny that there will be a restoration of the nation of Israel. There were quite a bit of amillennialists-- more so than now before May 14, 1948.

[LAUGHTER]

Now, there are less. But there still are some. Because after 2,000 years, against all odds, Israel was given a place in the world market again. Israel was called Israel, not Palestine. And the Jews were allowed to come back in their land, which is the first step in the restoration of Israel. It is not the full restoration. It's not the fulfillment of all these prophecies. It's simply a step.

Now, the next event that will take place will be the rapture of the church. At that point, when the Tribulation is ushered in, God deals with the nation of Israel through the Tribulation. Keep that in mind. That is a key to prophecy. That is why you read that another name given to the Tribulation period is called the Time of Jacob's Trouble-- the time of Jacob or Israel's Trouble. It's where God deals with this nation once again for her restoration.

It will be a very literal restoration. Jerusalem will be the capital of a theocratic kingdom. And Jerusalem will be the center of the Earth-- center of the world. All of the nations, Isaiah chapter 2, says will come to Jerusalem to worship. Jerusalem will be the throne of the King upon Mount Zion. The scripture goes so far as to say that God will raise up-- raise from the dead-- King David, who will reign as Prince during this time, which seems only natural, since it's called the kingdom of David. Jesus is the son of David. Jesus will reign as Messiah.

Ezekiel 34 mentions that David will reign as prince with the Messiah in that day-- fabulous prophecies for the restoration of the kingdom of Israel. And so that is why in verse 2 it speaks about a vineyard. You recognize that? Chapter 5-- the vineyard of God is who-- Israel. It told us that in chapter 5. But chapter 5 is like a funeral dirge. God saying, Israel, your number's up. You haven't been a faithful vineyard.

In fact, your fruit stinks. Here, God says, I will restore the vineyard, and that day, sing to her a vineyard of red wine-- speaking of abundance and joy provision. I, the Lord, keep it. I water it every moment. Lest anyone hurt it, I keep it night and day. Fury is not in me. In verse 6, those who come, He shall cause to take root in Jacob. Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit-- a prophecy, I believe, we are seeing a small fulfillment of already. Israel has become-- the tiny little nation, the size of Massachusetts or New Jersey-- has become one of the foremost exporters of fruit to the entire world.

You drive through Israel today on the road from Lod Airport in Tel Aviv. And you take the sea coast all the way up to Caesarea. And you go by orange after orange grove, after banana field, after apple-- on and on-- the whole nation. The Valley of Armageddon today is one huge fruit orchard-- lush green-- abundance of fruit-- the Jaffa orange-- the Jaffa fruit company that exports all over the world. Fill the face of the world with fruit.

He has struck Israel as he struck those who struck him. Or has he been slain according to the slaughter of those who were slain by him? In measure, by sending it away, you contended with it. He removes it by the rough wind in that day, the east wind. Now, it brings up an interesting question, that verse. The question is, why does God deal more harshly and judge more harshly Israel than any other nation in the world?

And that's kind of a loaded question because part of that answer is this-- it's a two-fold answer. Number one, God does hold Israel as a people-- held her as a people-- more accountable and judges more severely because Israel had more light than any other nation. The scriptures came through what nation? The prophets came through what nation? The Messiah, Jesus, came through what nation? So Israel has had the most light of any other nation.

That's why in the book of Amos, God says these words-- you only have I chosen of all the families of the earth. Therefore, I will punish you for all of your sins. The more light you have, the more responsible you are. Jesus said that's true of us. To whom much is given, much is required.

Also, when it comes to the problems that have beset Israel over the years, face it, not only has God dealt sternly with this nation, but she's been persecuted more than any other country on the face of the earth. And that's because Israel has an enemy named Satan. And I want you to notice verse 2. If you're familiar with the Book of Revelation, you see how this ties together-- or verse 1-- it says, he will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent-- Leviathan, that twisted serpent. And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.

In the Book of Revelation, chapter 12, it says, I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet. And on her head, there was a garland of 12 stars. It says that this woman was with child, ready to give birth. And there was a dragon, a fierce red dragon having seven heads and 10 horns, whose tail drew a third of the stars of heaven with it. And it says that this dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, ready to devour the child as soon as it was born.

The male child is Jesus Christ. The woman is a metaphor of Israel as seen in the Book of Genesis, chapter 37. It's very obvious it's a Jewish metaphor. Israel brought forth the Messiah. As soon as the Messiah was to be born, Satan was ready to chomp down and destroy that male child because Satan knew through the prophecies that that male child Christ would mean Satan's ultimate doom.

And it goes on. And it says, then I saw that there was a war in heaven-- Michael and his angels battling against the dragon. And in Revelation, chapter 12, it says the great dragon was hurled down-- that ancient serpent called the devil or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth and his angels with him-- the great judgment upon Satan. And it could be that that's what it's referring to here in the Book of Isaiah.

Part of the reason that Israel's been persecuted so much is simply because of this-- think of this for just a moment. I didn't think I'd get sidetracked on this. But it's such an interesting thing. And in fact, you really will not be able to understand how the Bible fits together without knowing this. And once you know this, the Bible and spiritual warfare will take on a different atmosphere.

If God's plan for the world and his salvation for the world depended upon the existence of a nation and the continuance of that nation, if that nation could be obliterated from off the face of the earth, God's plan of salvation would be thwarted. That's an amazing thing to think about because let's say you destroyed all of the country of Romania, Lithuania, or even parts of America, for that matter. Not that you'd ever want to do that. If that occurred, I do not think that would thwart the eternal plan of salvation forever and ever in God's book. But if you did that to Israel, it would. Because every single thing, including the Messiah, came through the channel of the nation of Israel. And so we see how this spiritual warfare develops throughout the Bible.

Genesis, chapter 3, verse 16, is the first promise of the Messiah. It says the seed of the woman will come and crush the head of the serpent. That was the first clue to the devil that he was in trouble. And he thought, uh-oh, my head is going to get stomped. Sometime, a woman is going to have a child. And that child, the Messiah, is going to crush my head or take away my authority.

And so Satan desired to have that seed stopped before it got any further. And so he put it in the heart of Cain to kill his brother, Abel-- attempt at getting at the seed. Later on-- it didn't work-- he attempted to actually get the whole earth so corrupt that God would judge the whole world at the Flood. And God did judge the entire world, except for eight people. And the seed was in Abraham or was in Noah. Noah repopulated the earth.

It goes on and on. And you think, why is it that Pharaoh wanted to kill all of the Israeli babies-- the Hebrew males-- when they were born? He said, well, you know, population control. He didn't want to get his kingdom out of hand. Well, it's more than that. There's a spiritual reason.

I believe Satan put it within the heart of Pharaoh because the seed would come through the Hebrew people-- obliterate the nation. You've obliterated the promise-- all the way down to Bethlehem-- when Herod the Great has all of the babies-- the Hebrew children-- killed-- two years old or three years old-- something like that-- two years old and under-- there is a spiritual warfare going on that affects the nation of Israel. That is the reason for anti-Semitism. It's not just a prejudice like being prejudiced against another people group. It has its roots in a satanic origin. And you can understand that prophetically when you see Satan, the great dragon, in the Book of Revelation, chapter 12-- a war taking place where-- in heaven. It gives it a whole different flavor. Here we see Satan destroyed.

Now look at verse 11. When its bows are withered, it will be broken off. The women come and set them on fire for it is a people of no understanding. Therefore, he who made them will not have mercy on them. He who formed them will show them no favor. In other words, the time of Tribulation, there will be no mercy. There will be no grace. The only way a person can come to know the Lord, as we mentioned last time, is to die as a martyr for Jesus Christ. It's going to be tough.

Now is the day of grace. Today is the day of salvation. If you bow now, you're in good shape. If you don't bow now, you'll be forced to bow later. And it'll be too late. There will come a time when God will show no pity-- will have no mercy.

Chapter 28 speaks about Ephraim in Jerusalem. It says, woe to the crown pride of the drunkards of Ephraim. Now, let me just kind of breeze over this. Chapters 28 through 35, God is giving warnings concerning Ephraim. You think, well, what is Ephraim? Ephraim is the synonym for the northern 10 tribes of Israel. Judah is the southern kingdom. And this is a warning against Ephraim and Judah. It has a local fulfillment. And it goes way out into the future with a future fulfillment.

It also in some parts speaks about the Tribulation period, and all the way through to the kingdom age. Chapter 34 speaks about, I believe, the Battle of Armageddon-- the final war upon the earth. But it says, woe to the crown pride-- verse one-- to the drunkards of Ephraim-- drunk spiritually, as well as physically. Their pride made them intoxicated. They thought oh, we're impregnable. Nobody can get us.

God says, you don't even have spiritual perception. You're like a drunk man. You're intoxicated with your own pride. You're so drunk, you can't see straight. Behold, the Lord has a mighty and a strong one like the tempest of hail, a destroying storm like a flood of many waters overflowing who will bring them down to the earth in his hand. And the rest of the chapter speaks about the fall of the northern kingdom, as well as the future of the Great Tribulation period.

Now, all you have to do is take a tour to Israel to see the fulfillment of this. Go and stand on the Hill of Samaria, today in 1990, and view the ruins of Samaria. The ruins of the Palace of Omri, and King Ahab, and Queen Jezebel-- they're still there. It's ruined. It's desolate. God judged it. Samaria is a beautiful, beautiful area of Israel. But it stands mostly in desolation. It's part of the West Bank settlement today. Compared to what it was, its glory is faded.

Now, notice verse 5, it's future. In that day, the Lord of Hosts will be for a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of his people. You see the contrast? It says that there is a crown in verse 1. It's a fading flower. It's a crown of pride. And now here we have a diadem of beauty in verse 5.

And look at verse 14. Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, because you have said, we have made a covenant with death and with hell, or sheol, we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood, we have hidden ourselves. The question is, when has this or when will this occur? When has there ever been a covenant made with death or in agreement-- verse 15-- with hell?

It is possible, and I believe, that it's a prophetic picture of a covenant that will take place with the anti-christ, known as the beast in the Book of Revelation, who will arise out of the sea. And who makes a covenant with him-- the nation of Israel. It's called the abomination of desolation when that agreement is broken. Now, just to get that prophetic picture in your mind, first three and a half years of the Tribulation-- peaceful. Anti-christ comes up. He's a great guy. People say, man, peacemaker.

He makes a covenant with the Jews. The Jews think this is perhaps their Messiah. In the middle of the Tribulation period, he sets up something known to the Jews as the abomination of desolation, spoken of in Matthew 24 and the Book of Daniel, chapter 8. The abomination that causes desolation. Jesus in Matthew 24 spoke of the abomination of desolation as something future. Although to many of the Jews, it was something that had taken place in the past-- a historic event.

There was a guy, oh, couple hundred years before Jesus came on the scene. He was a Seleucid. His name was Antiochus the IV. He gave himself the name [? Theos ?] Epiphanes, which means, I am God made manifest, or God in flesh-- [? Theos ?] Epiphanes. And he became known as Antiochus Epiphanes, also known by many back then as the beast.

Antiochus Epiphanes was very anti-Semitic, and persecuted the Jewish people. And what he did eventually was take the temple in Jerusalem and turn it into a temple to worship the God Jupiter. And his ultimate desecration, besides having prostitutes run all over the temple, was to take a pig-- un-kosher, unclean meat to the Jewish people-- and sacrifice it on the altar of brass in the outer courts of the temple. When the Jews saw that, they flipped out. And they called that the ultimate abomination, or the abomination that causes desolation.

Antiochus Epiphanes slaughtered 80,000 Jews and took 40,000 of them as slaves. He was such a crazy wild beast, as he was called. It is recorded that there were two women who stood up to him, and gave him flack, and denounced him publicly, whereupon, Antiochus killed-- strangled their babies-- and tied their babies each around their necks, and made them walk through the streets of Jerusalem for two days with their dead babies around their necks-- finally, marched them up to a pinnacle on the temple, and made them be flung out into the valley and crushed beneath.

This reign of terror finally ended when a guy by the name of Judas Maccabeus. Ever heard of the Maccabees-- the Maccabean Revolt? This happens between the Old and the New Testament. Judas Maccabeus, called The Hammer-- a Hasmonean priest-- revolted against the Seleucids, and finally succeeded-- restored the temple worship. And the Jews have celebrated that. And that day is called Hanukkah-- Hanukkah-- because it happened on December 25th when the temple was finally brought back into restoration.

Jesus in Matthew 24 looked to the future and said, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the Prophet Daniel, you, who are on the housetops, don't even stop to go down and get your stuff. Split. Get out of the city of Jerusalem. And he spoke of it as a future event-- a league with the devil. The Jews will make a final pact with the beast-- the anti-christ. And it will be modeled after what happened with Antiochus Epiphanes in the 200 years BC-- something like that. And so perhaps this is in reference to that.

And then here's the good news-- verse 16. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion, a stone for a foundation-- a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. Whoever believes will not act hastily. I will also make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plummet. And hail will sweep away the refuge of lies. And the waters will overflow the hiding place.

Your covenant with death will be annulled. Your agreement with hell will not stand. When the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it. As often as it goes out, it will take you. For morning by morning, it will pass over. And by day and by night, it will be a tear to understand the report.

So God will restore Israel. Even though she blows it-- makes a league with the anti-christ, God preserves a remnant. And believing Israel-- the 144,000-- will be admitted into the kingdom age-- those who trusted in Jesus as the Messiah and were faithful to death. And so we close with chapter 28. And we'll take up the Lamentations against Jerusalem next week and cover, well, we don't know how many chapters, but we did pretty good tonight.

Next week, we will also see just how blind religion can become, for many things that we find in chapter 29, Jesus speaks of and he uses against the Pharisees who are as blind as a bat spiritually. Now, I think of that song. It is well with my soul. And when I read of what's coming on this earth, I am so glad that my soul has been given over to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. His kingdom has come to me.

Isn't that wonderful to know that He rules over your life? And because He rules over your life now, you will enter into the kingdom age where it is said, you will rule with Him with a rod of iron. And Psalm 2 indicates that the Messiah will have a worldwide reign. And the scripture tells us we're going to reign with Him. What a gas. We're going to reign with Him.

[LAUGHTER]

And it says we're going to rule angels. And I don't know how the angels think about that, especially as I see the way some Christians rule their lives. I think, goodness, those angels must be shaking in their boots.

[LAUGHTER]

Hey, come on. These banana brains are going to rule over us? Lord, what are you doing? Just shows you what kind of changes are going to take place in our lives before that time-- total redemption. And we're going to be with Him ruling. Father, we thank you for the glorious promise of the future.

Jesus has given us eternal life. His kingdom has come into our hearts. His rule has been established over our lives. And because of that, we look forward to the ultimate kingdom when we will rule and reign with Him, not only for 1,000 years upon the earth, but be in your presence forever-- the glorious kingdom age and eternity to follow.

I think Lord, again, of that study by Dr. Morrison at the New York Academy of Sciences. The game is fixed. You've made so many predictions. They are so true.

Yet there are so many people who haven't given over their own lives and hearts to you. They're holding back. They're not sure about you. Lord, I just pray that if there are those who don't know you as their Lord and Savior, that they would throw in the towel, give you the reigns tonight, decide that this will be the night that Jesus becomes their Lord. And they will follow wholeheartedly.

Additional Messages in this Series

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Date Title   Watch Listen Notes Share Save Buy
2/25/1990
completed
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Isaiah 1-2
Isaiah 1-2
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3/4/1990
completed
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Isaiah 3-6
Isaiah 3-6
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3/11/1990
completed
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Isaiah 7-12
Isaiah 7-12
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3/18/1990
completed
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Isaiah 13-24
Isaiah 13-24
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4/1/1990
completed
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Isaiah 29-30
Isaiah 29-30
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4/8/1990
completed
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Isaiah 31-36
Isaiah 31-36
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4/22/1990
completed
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Isaiah 37-38
Isaiah 37-38
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4/29/1990
completed
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Isaiah 39-43
Isaiah 39-43
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5/6/1990
completed
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Isaiah 44-52
Isaiah 44-52
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5/13/1990
completed
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Isaiah 53
Isaiah 53
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6/3/1990
completed
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Isaiah 54-57
Isaiah 54-57
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6/10/1990
completed
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Isaiah 58-60
Isaiah 58-60
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6/17/1990
completed
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Isaiah 61-66
Isaiah 61-66
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There are 13 additional messages in this series.
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