ISAIAH 56
OPENS WITH....A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL NATIONS
AND A PROMISE FOR THOSE OUTSIDE THE BORDERS OF ISRAEL.
Verses 1-2 tells us of a call to righteousness.
"Thus says the LORD: "Keep justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it; who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil."
Keep justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come...
This prophetic Word is directed to God's discouraged people, who have slacked in obedience and righteousness. They see no reason to repent as long as things look down. God shakes them out of this by calling them to keep justice, and do righteousness IN ANTICIPATION of what He will do.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
FOR INSTANCE...It's like the person who says, "LORD, I'll start giving when You bless my finances." No; start giving now, and do it in anticipation that God WILL BLESS your finances, AMEN?!
BLESSED is the man who does this...
There is BOTH the inherent blessing OF obedience, and the Old Covenant blessing TO the obedient.
Verses 3-8 tells us a PROMISE for the FOREIGNER and the OUTCAST.
"Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD speak, saying, "The LORD has utterly separated me from His people"; nor let the eunuch say, "Here I am, a dry tree." For thus says the LORD: "To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants; everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant; even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, "Yet I will gather to him others besides those who are gathered to him."
Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD speak saying, "The LORD has utterly separated me from His people"...
Why shouldn't they say it?
Because it isn't true. They may FEEL like they are utterly separated … from His people, but God promises they aren't. So He says to them, "Don't say that!"
Nor let the eunuch say, "Here I am, a dry tree"...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The eunuch is cited as an example of an outcast. Eunuchs were DENIED full participation in temple rituals told to us in Leviticus 21:18-20.
God DID NOT want them to accept their feelings of being cast out. Though they may feel that way, God's Word is higher than their feelings.
AND IS NOT THAT TRUE OF EMOTIONS & FEELINGS...THEN AND NOW?
Often when people feel like foreigners or outcasts, the feelings become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is only be refusing to embrace such feelings, and choosing instead to trust in God's promise, that such feelings can be broken. If God says you belong, then you belong, AMEN?!
To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house … a place and a name...
YOU KNOW THE LORD GAVE MOSES 10 COMMANDMENTS FOR THE PEOPLE...JUST 10...AND THEY COULD NOT KEEP THEM, SO THE LEVITE PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS DOWN THROUGH TIME ADDED OVER 600 MORE LAWS...AND NOW THEY CAN NOT ONLY NOT KEEP THE 10, THEY CAN NOT KEEP, MUCH LESS REMEMBER ALL THE NEW ONES ADDED.
BASICALLY GOD IS SAYING...YOU KEEP MY LAWS...THAT WILL PLEASE ME...BECAUSE GOD KNEW THE LEVITICAL LAWS WERE MAN-CREATED AND BIASED AND DID NOT APPLY TO ALL PEOPLE. MOST WERE CREATED TO MAKE WOMEN, CHILDREN, AND EUNUCHS AND FOREIGNERS FEEL TOLERATED BUT BELOW AND BENEATH HEBREW MEN AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS...GOD IS SAYING HE LOVES ALL...HE CARES FOR ALL. SEEK TO PLEASE HIM AND NOT RELIGIOUS POMPOSITY AND ALL WILL BE WELL WITH YOU AND I, AMEN?
This is God's call to the one who feels like an outcast. Simply, He says, "Walk right. Live in obedience, and I will honor and bless you. I will give you a place and a name in My house."
BUT SADLY, FOR MANY, this IS NOT good enough.
They demand the recognition and honor of men. It isn't enough for God to give them a place and a name in His house. They must have a place and a name among men. THEY WRONGLY BELIEVE, TEACH, AND SAY life is easier and more pleasant when we have a place and a name among men; but THE LORD CLEARLY SAYS we must be able to find contentment having our place and name only with God.
The place and name we find with God is better than that among men. It is better than that of sons and daughters; it is an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
Wolf gives us another perspective on "a place and a name". He says, "An interesting application of this verse is the 'Yad vaShem' (A Memorial and a Name), the building in Jerusalem to honor the Jews who died in the holocaust during World War II but whose names are recorded in perpetuity."
AND this scripture ALSO prophesies the passing of the dominance of the Levitical order. Clearly, giving eunuchs a place and a name in God's house contradicted the command of Leviticus 21:18-20.
But THE LORD IS STATING IT RIGHT HERE under a coming New Covenant WITH JESUS, there is a higher principle at work than the shadows of the Levitical law. AND WE REMEMBER JESUS SAYS, WHOSOEVER WILL COME...COME. WHOSOEVER WILL CALL UPON MY NAME SHALL BE SAVED. WHOSOEVER WILL BELIEVE ON ME...SHALL BE SAVED.
AND IT IS RIGHT HERE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT TOO....THE LORD IS SAYING MY RIGHTEOUSNESS, MY SALVATION WILL BE OFFERED TO ALL...TO WOMEN, TO OUTCASTS, TO THE UNCLEAN, TO THE DEFORMED, TO THE PAGAN, TO THE OTHER GENTILE NATIONS TOO...IT IS NOT JUST FOR THE JEW.
WHICH WOULD HAVE SHOCKED THE JEWS TO THE SOLES OF THEIR FEET...BECAUSE THE LEVITICAL PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS WRONGLY TAUGHT THAT SALVATION, HEAVEN, AND ALMIGHTY GOD'S LOVE AND CARE WAS ONLY FOR THEM.
AND WE KNOW, HAD THE LEVITICAL LEADERS READ AND STUDIED AND REMEMBERED THE BOOK OF ISAIAH PROPHESIES & WORDS FROM THE LORD JESUS IN IT, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SURPRISED WHEN JESUS QUOTED ISAIAH AND SPOKE AND PROMISED EXACTLY ALL THE SAME THINGS HE PROMISED ISAIAH 700 + YEARS EARLIER, AMEN?
BUT WHETHER THEY DID OR NOT...THE VERY THOUGHT OF OFFERING A NEW COVENANT WITH THE WORLD, AND OFFERING SALVATION AND HEAVEN TO ANY BUT THE JEW INFURIATED THE SANHEDRIN IN JESUS DAY, AND THEY KILLED HIM FOR IT TOO!
Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer...
God's people had slipped into the idea that they were accepted by God no matter what, and that others were rejected by Him no matter what. Here, the LORD makes it clear that even when a foreigner or a eunuch follow hard after God and come to Him in obedience, He will RECEIVE IT. HE OR SHE WILL RECEIVE SALVATION AND A NAME AND PLACE IN HEAVEN WITH THE LORD.
For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations...
God wanted His temple - His house - to not only be a place where the Jewish people would worship Him, but to be a house of prayer for ALL nations.
AND REMEMBER IN MATTHEW 21:13, THE ONE TIME JESUS GOT ANGRY, was when they VIOLATED THIS PRINCIPLE.
When He came to the temple and found the outer courts - the only place where the Gentile nations could come a pray - more like a swap meet than a house of prayer, He drove out the moneychangers and the merchants, AMEN?!.
The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, "Yet I will gather to him others"...
Because of the pain of exile and captivity, Israel had become intensely self-focused. They believed God only really cared about them, and the rest of the nations (many of whom treated Israel cruelly) did not matter. But God wanted to expand the vision of Israel beyond her own borders, so they would know that God loved the perishing world and wanted them to love them also.
AND THIS SECTION IS ONE EVERY CHRISTIAN LEADER, AND THOSE WHO CALL THEMSELVES CHRISTIAN LEADERS SHOULD READ AND REMEMBER...
BECAUSE RIGHT HERE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT...THE LORD PROMISES TO JUDGE THE BLIND LEADERS OF GOD'S PEOPLE.
Verse 9 tells us a word to the BEASTS OF THE FIELD.
"All you beasts of the field, come to devour, all you beasts in the forest."
All you beasts of the field, come to devour...
The LORD God invites the beasts of the field to a great feast - to eat up the corpses of His enemies after they lay on the field of battle.
AND REMEMBER....The SAME PICTURE is used in Revelation 19:17, which says, "Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, "Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great."
Verses 10-11 tells us a word about the UNFAITHFUL LEADERS of Judah.
"His watchmen are blind, they are all ignorant; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yes, they are greedy dogs which never have enough. And they are shepherds who cannot understand; they all look to their own way, every one for his own gain, from his own territory."
His watchmen are blind...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The leaders of God's people are blind; judgment is on the way, but they don't see it and warn God's people. They don't fulfill their purpose as watchmen. They are ignorant, like dumb dogs, simply sleeping.
They are shepherds who cannot understand...
These ungodly leaders are a sad contrast to the godly RELIGIOUS leadership personified by King David in Isaiah 55:3-5. These are unfaithful shepherds, who only look to everyone for his own gain & NOT his flocks protection, wisdom and gaining the knowledge of THE LORD.
Verse 12 tells us a word from the UNFAITHFUL LEADERS of Judah.
"Come," one says, "I will bring wine, and we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink; tomorrow will be as today, and much more abundant."
We will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
IN THE LORD'S EYES...WORSE than being passively ignorant and blind, they are ACTIVELY AND KNOWINGLY WICKED. THESE LEADERS KNOW THE WORD OF GOD...YET DISMISS OR IGNORE THE WARNING that judgment approaches, and they SIMPLY simply drink and get drunk.
Tomorrow will be as today, and much more abundant...
THEN AND NOW, IT SOUNDS VERY FAMILIAR ABOUT RELIGIOSITIES...AMEN?!
Their blind faith in HUMAN PROGRESS...IN OTHER WORDS LOOK AT ALL WE HAVE ACHEIVED. THE TECHNOLOGICAL, SCIENTIFIC, MEDICAL, NAVIGATIONAL, MILITARY, AND COMMERCIALprogress HAS EXCEEDED GOD. THE LORD'S WORD WAS GREAT FOR FATHER ABRAHAM...BUT WE THE ENLIGHTENED MANKIND NO LONGER RELY ON AND NEED SUCH REASONED FAITH IN THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.
SUCH IDEOLOGIES, SUCH ARROGANT IGNORANT BELIEFS make them RIPE for judgment, and UNPREPARED AND UNSUSPECTING for judgment.
AND ONCE AGAIN....Since the picture of Isaiah 56:9 relates to the pictures in the Book of Revelation regarding the return of Jesus, we can see this as a picture of the leaders of the unprepared world - perhaps even the unprepared church - at the return of Jesus.
RIGHT HERE, WE ARE TOLD BY THE LORD GOD HIMSELF, THAT THERE WILL BE RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND SHEPHERDS WHO WILL NOT HAVE PREPARED HEARTS AND LIVES AND WILL BE LEFT BEHIND AT THE RAPTURE, AS WELL THOSE RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND PASTORS WHO WILL NOT BE EXEMPT FROM THE WRATH OF GOD DURING THE TRIBULATION.
RIGHT HERE THE LORD JESUS IS TELLING ISAIAH, I KNOW AND READ AND SEE THE HEART....THERE ARE MANY IN THE RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP, MANY IN THE PULPITS WHO KNOW WORDS WRITTEN IN THE BIBLE, CAN QUOTE SCRIPTURE, CAN TEACH ELOQUENTLY, BUT THEY DO NOT BELIEVE ANY OF IT. THEY HAVE HEAD KNOWLEDGE OF ME, BUT NO CONVICTION, & NO HEART KNOWLEDGE AND LOVE OF ME...
THEY ARE RIPE FOR JUDGMENT, AND THEY WILL BE LEFT BEHIND AT THE RAPTURE...AND WILL FACE THE JUDGMENT OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION...AS WELL THOSE WHO DIE A NATURAL DEATH BEFORE THE RAPTURE, BEFORE THE GREAT TRIBULATION, WILL DIE AND FACE ME AND WILL BE SURPRISED WHEN I SAY TO THEM.
MATTHEW 7: 21-23 which JESUS SAYS, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
THEN AND NOW...THE LORD JESUS IS CALLING, WARNING, PLEADING AND STATING WITH ABSOLUTE CLARITY...CALL UPON MY NAME..WHILE YOU MAY...FOR TOMORROW IS PROMISED TO NONE...TODAY IS THE DAY UNTO SALVATION.
THERE ARE THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO BELIEVE THEY CREATED OR CHANCE CREATED ALL THEY SEE AND FEEL AND KNOW. THERE ARE THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO BELIEVE THERE IS NO HEAVEN, NO HELL, NO SATAN, NO JESUS CHRIST...BUT CHOOSING TO NOT BELIEVE IN ANY OF THE ABOVE DOES NOT CHANGE THE FACTS.
THE LORD JESUS, HEAVEN, THE WAITING PRISON OF HELL, THE LAKE OF FIRE, SATAN AND HIS DEMONS ARE REAL.
SOME RELIGIOSITIES TEACH AND PROMISE, THAT ONCE WE DIE, WE GO TO PURGATORY AND PAY OUR PRICES, RE-THINK OUR LIVES, AND THEN GET TO CHOOSE AGAIN...THAT WE CAN BE PRAYED OUT OF PURGATORY FOR A PRICE AND GO TO HEAVEN.
SOME TEACH THAT ALL PEOPLE GO TO HEAVEN.
SOME TEACH THAT WE LIVE AND WE DIE...AND WE RETURN TO DUST...END OF STORY. SO WE BETTER GRAB ALL THE GUSTO AND MATERIAL DESIRES AND WANTS WHILE WE CAN, BECAUSE WHEN WE DIE IT IS OVER.
BUT THE BIBLE, THE TRIUNE GOD HIMSELF CLEARLY, CONCISELY, IN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT REPEATEDLY WARN THAT MANKIND DOES NOT GET ANY SECOND CHANCES.
WE DO NOT GET TO REWIND OUR LIVES, RETHINK OUR LIVES, DECIDE TO CHOOSE JESUS...
JESUS OFFERS SALVATION TO ALLLLLL PEOPLES, MEN, WOMEN, CHILDREN, & ALL ETHNICITIES...THAT IS WHAT WHOSOEVER WILL COME...COME MEANS.
THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT NO CHOICE...DELAY...DISMISSAL...REJECTION IS A CHOICE...
IT IS A CHOICE AGAINST THE LORD JESUS AND THOSE WHO LISTEN TO THE WORLD, MANKIND, RELIGIOSITIES, INSTEAD OF READING AND OBEYING JESUS WORDS, WARNINGS, AND PLEAS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, AS WELL THE NEW TESTAMENT, WILL CHOOSE TO SPEND ETERNITY IN THE LAKE OF FIRE WITH SATAN AND ALL HIS DEMON ANGELS.
CALL UPON THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES NOW...WHILE WE MAY...CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND YOU WILL BE SAVED!
ISAIAH 56OPENS WITH....A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL NATIONSAND A PROMISE FOR THOSE OUTSIDE THE BORDERS OF ISRAEL.Verses 1-2 tells us of a call to righteousness."Thus says the LORD: "Keep justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it; who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil."Keep justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come...This prophetic Word is directed to God's discouraged people, who have slacked in obedience and righteousness. They see no reason to repent as long as things look down. God shakes them out of this by calling them to keep justice, and do righteousness IN ANTICIPATION of what He will do.WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?FOR INSTANCE...It's like the person who says, "LORD, I'll start giving when You bless my finances." No; start giving now, and do it in anticipation that God WILL BLESS your finances, AMEN?!BLESSED is the man who does this...There is BOTH the inherent blessing OF obedience, and the Old Covenant blessing TO the obedient.Verses 3-8 tells us a PROMISE for the FOREIGNER and the OUTCAST."Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD speak, saying, "The LORD has utterly separated me from His people"; nor let the eunuch say, "Here I am, a dry tree." For thus says the LORD: "To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants; everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant; even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, "Yet I will gather to him others besides those who are gathered to him."Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD speak saying, "The LORD has utterly separated me from His people"...Why shouldn't they say it?Because it isn't true. They may FEEL like they are utterly separated … from His people, but God promises they aren't. So He says to them, "Don't say that!"Nor let the eunuch say, "Here I am, a dry tree"...WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?The eunuch is cited as an example of an outcast. Eunuchs were DENIED full participation in temple rituals told to us in Leviticus 21:18-20.God DID NOT want them to accept their feelings of being cast out. Though they may feel that way, God's Word is higher than their feelings.AND IS NOT THAT TRUE OF EMOTIONS & FEELINGS...THEN AND NOW?Often when people feel like foreigners or outcasts, the feelings become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is only be refusing to embrace such feelings, and choosing instead to trust in God's promise, that such feelings can be broken. If God says you belong, then you belong, AMEN?!To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house … a place and a name...YOU KNOW THE LORD GAVE MOSES 10 COMMANDMENTS FOR THE PEOPLE...JUST 10...AND THEY COULD NOT KEEP THEM, SO THE LEVITE PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS DOWN THROUGH TIME ADDED OVER 600 MORE LAWS...AND NOW THEY CAN NOT ONLY NOT KEEP THE 10, THEY CAN NOT KEEP, MUCH LESS REMEMBER ALL THE NEW ONES ADDED.BASICALLY GOD IS SAYING...YOU KEEP MY LAWS...THAT WILL PLEASE ME...BECAUSE GOD KNEW THE LEVITICAL LAWS WERE MAN-CREATED AND BIASED AND DID NOT APPLY TO ALL PEOPLE. MOST WERE CREATED TO MAKE WOMEN, CHILDREN, AND EUNUCHS AND FOREIGNERS FEEL TOLERATED BUT BELOW AND BENEATH HEBREW MEN AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS...GOD IS SAYING HE LOVES ALL...HE CARES FOR ALL. SEEK TO PLEASE HIM AND NOT RELIGIOUS POMPOSITY AND ALL WILL BE WELL WITH YOU AND I, AMEN?This is God's call to the one who feels like an outcast. Simply, He says, "Walk right. Live in obedience, and I will honor and bless you. I will give you a place and a name in My house."BUT SADLY, FOR MANY, this IS NOT good enough.They demand the recognition and honor of men. It isn't enough for God to give them a place and a name in His house. They must have a place and a name among men. THEY WRONGLY BELIEVE, TEACH, AND SAY life is easier and more pleasant when we have a place and a name among men; but THE LORD CLEARLY SAYS we must be able to find contentment having our place and name only with God.The place and name we find with God is better than that among men. It is better than that of sons and daughters; it is an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.Wolf gives us another perspective on "a place and a name". He says, "An interesting application of this verse is the 'Yad vaShem' (A Memorial and a Name), the building in Jerusalem to honor the Jews who died in the holocaust during World War II but whose names are recorded in perpetuity."AND this scripture ALSO prophesies the passing of the dominance of the Levitical order. Clearly, giving eunuchs a place and a name in God's house contradicted the command of Leviticus 21:18-20.But THE LORD IS STATING IT RIGHT HERE under a coming New Covenant WITH JESUS, there is a higher principle at work than the shadows of the Levitical law. AND WE REMEMBER JESUS SAYS, WHOSOEVER WILL COME...COME. WHOSOEVER WILL CALL UPON MY NAME SHALL BE SAVED. WHOSOEVER WILL BELIEVE ON ME...SHALL BE SAVED.AND IT IS RIGHT HERE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT TOO....THE LORD IS SAYING MY RIGHTEOUSNESS, MY SALVATION WILL BE OFFERED TO ALL...TO WOMEN, TO OUTCASTS, TO THE UNCLEAN, TO THE DEFORMED, TO THE PAGAN, TO THE OTHER GENTILE NATIONS TOO...IT IS NOT JUST FOR THE JEW.WHICH WOULD HAVE SHOCKED THE JEWS TO THE SOLES OF THEIR FEET...BECAUSE THE LEVITICAL PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS WRONGLY TAUGHT THAT SALVATION, HEAVEN, AND ALMIGHTY GOD'S LOVE AND CARE WAS ONLY FOR THEM.AND WE KNOW, HAD THE LEVITICAL LEADERS READ AND STUDIED AND REMEMBERED THE BOOK OF ISAIAH PROPHESIES & WORDS FROM THE LORD JESUS IN IT, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SURPRISED WHEN JESUS QUOTED ISAIAH AND SPOKE AND PROMISED EXACTLY ALL THE SAME THINGS HE PROMISED ISAIAH 700 + YEARS EARLIER, AMEN?BUT WHETHER THEY DID OR NOT...THE VERY THOUGHT OF OFFERING A NEW COVENANT WITH THE WORLD, AND OFFERING SALVATION AND HEAVEN TO ANY BUT THE JEW INFURIATED THE SANHEDRIN IN JESUS DAY, AND THEY KILLED HIM FOR IT TOO!Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer...God's people had slipped into the idea that they were accepted by God no matter what, and that others were rejected by Him no matter what. Here, the LORD makes it clear that even when a foreigner or a eunuch follow hard after God and come to Him in obedience, He will RECEIVE IT. HE OR SHE WILL RECEIVE SALVATION AND A NAME AND PLACE IN HEAVEN WITH THE LORD.For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations...God wanted His temple - His house - to not only be a place where the Jewish people would worship Him, but to be a house of prayer for ALL nations.AND REMEMBER IN MATTHEW 21:13, THE ONE TIME JESUS GOT ANGRY, was when they VIOLATED THIS PRINCIPLE.When He came to the temple and found the outer courts - the only place where the Gentile nations could come a pray - more like a swap meet than a house of prayer, He drove out the moneychangers and the merchants, AMEN?!.The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, "Yet I will gather to him others"...Because of the pain of exile and captivity, Israel had become intensely self-focused. They believed God only really cared about them, and the rest of the nations (many of whom treated Israel cruelly) did not matter. But God wanted to expand the vision of Israel beyond her own borders, so they would know that God loved the perishing world and wanted them to love them also.AND THIS SECTION IS ONE EVERY CHRISTIAN LEADER, AND THOSE WHO CALL THEMSELVES CHRISTIAN LEADERS SHOULD READ AND REMEMBER...BECAUSE RIGHT HERE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT...THE LORD PROMISES TO JUDGE THE BLIND LEADERS OF GOD'S PEOPLE.Verse 9 tells us a word to the BEASTS OF THE FIELD."All you beasts of the field, come to devour, all you beasts in the forest."All you beasts of the field, come to devour...The LORD God invites the beasts of the field to a great feast - to eat up the corpses of His enemies after they lay on the field of battle.AND REMEMBER....The SAME PICTURE is used in Revelation 19:17, which says, "Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, "Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great."Verses 10-11 tells us a word about the UNFAITHFUL LEADERS of Judah."His watchmen are blind, they are all ignorant; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yes, they are greedy dogs which never have enough. And they are shepherds who cannot understand; they all look to their own way, every one for his own gain, from his own territory."His watchmen are blind...WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?The leaders of God's people are blind; judgment is on the way, but they don't see it and warn God's people. They don't fulfill their purpose as watchmen. They are ignorant, like dumb dogs, simply sleeping.They are shepherds who cannot understand...These ungodly leaders are a sad contrast to the godly RELIGIOUS leadership personified by King David in Isaiah 55:3-5. These are unfaithful shepherds, who only look to everyone for his own gain & NOT his flocks protection, wisdom and gaining the knowledge of THE LORD.Verse 12 tells us a word from the UNFAITHFUL LEADERS of Judah."Come," one says, "I will bring wine, and we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink; tomorrow will be as today, and much more abundant."We will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink...WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?IN THE LORD'S EYES...WORSE than being passively ignorant and blind, they are ACTIVELY AND KNOWINGLY WICKED. THESE LEADERS KNOW THE WORD OF GOD...YET DISMISS OR IGNORE THE WARNING that judgment approaches, and they SIMPLY simply drink and get drunk.Tomorrow will be as today, and much more abundant...THEN AND NOW, IT SOUNDS VERY FAMILIAR ABOUT RELIGIOSITIES...AMEN?!Their blind faith in HUMAN PROGRESS...IN OTHER WORDS LOOK AT ALL WE HAVE ACHEIVED. THE TECHNOLOGICAL, SCIENTIFIC, MEDICAL, NAVIGATIONAL, MILITARY, AND COMMERCIALprogress HAS EXCEEDED GOD. THE LORD'S WORD WAS GREAT FOR FATHER ABRAHAM...BUT WE THE ENLIGHTENED MANKIND NO LONGER RELY ON AND NEED SUCH REASONED FAITH IN THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.SUCH IDEOLOGIES, SUCH ARROGANT IGNORANT BELIEFS make them RIPE for judgment, and UNPREPARED AND UNSUSPECTING for judgment.AND ONCE AGAIN....Since the picture of Isaiah 56:9 relates to the pictures in the Book of Revelation regarding the return of Jesus, we can see this as a picture of the leaders of the unprepared world - perhaps even the unprepared church - at the return of Jesus.RIGHT HERE, WE ARE TOLD BY THE LORD GOD HIMSELF, THAT THERE WILL BE RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND SHEPHERDS WHO WILL NOT HAVE PREPARED HEARTS AND LIVES AND WILL BE LEFT BEHIND AT THE RAPTURE, AS WELL THOSE RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND PASTORS WHO WILL NOT BE EXEMPT FROM THE WRATH OF GOD DURING THE TRIBULATION.RIGHT HERE THE LORD JESUS IS TELLING ISAIAH, I KNOW AND READ AND SEE THE HEART....THERE ARE MANY IN THE RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP, MANY IN THE PULPITS WHO KNOW WORDS WRITTEN IN THE BIBLE, CAN QUOTE SCRIPTURE, CAN TEACH ELOQUENTLY, BUT THEY DO NOT BELIEVE ANY OF IT. THEY HAVE HEAD KNOWLEDGE OF ME, BUT NO CONVICTION, & NO HEART KNOWLEDGE AND LOVE OF ME...THEY ARE RIPE FOR JUDGMENT, AND THEY WILL BE LEFT BEHIND AT THE RAPTURE...AND WILL FACE THE JUDGMENT OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION...AS WELL THOSE WHO DIE A NATURAL DEATH BEFORE THE RAPTURE, BEFORE THE GREAT TRIBULATION, WILL DIE AND FACE ME AND WILL BE SURPRISED WHEN I SAY TO THEM.MATTHEW 7: 21-23 which JESUS SAYS, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."THEN AND NOW...THE LORD JESUS IS CALLING, WARNING, PLEADING AND STATING WITH ABSOLUTE CLARITY...CALL UPON MY NAME..WHILE YOU MAY...FOR TOMORROW IS PROMISED TO NONE...TODAY IS THE DAY UNTO SALVATION.THERE ARE THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO BELIEVE THEY CREATED OR CHANCE CREATED ALL THEY SEE AND FEEL AND KNOW. THERE ARE THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO BELIEVE THERE IS NO HEAVEN, NO HELL, NO SATAN, NO JESUS CHRIST...BUT CHOOSING TO NOT BELIEVE IN ANY OF THE ABOVE DOES NOT CHANGE THE FACTS.THE LORD JESUS, HEAVEN, THE WAITING PRISON OF HELL, THE LAKE OF FIRE, SATAN AND HIS DEMONS ARE REAL.SOME RELIGIOSITIES TEACH AND PROMISE, THAT ONCE WE DIE, WE GO TO PURGATORY AND PAY OUR PRICES, RE-THINK OUR LIVES, AND THEN GET TO CHOOSE AGAIN...THAT WE CAN BE PRAYED OUT OF PURGATORY FOR A PRICE AND GO TO HEAVEN.SOME TEACH THAT ALL PEOPLE GO TO HEAVEN.SOME TEACH THAT WE LIVE AND WE DIE...AND WE RETURN TO DUST...END OF STORY. SO WE BETTER GRAB ALL THE GUSTO AND MATERIAL DESIRES AND WANTS WHILE WE CAN, BECAUSE WHEN WE DIE IT IS OVER.BUT THE BIBLE, THE TRIUNE GOD HIMSELF CLEARLY, CONCISELY, IN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT REPEATEDLY WARN THAT MANKIND DOES NOT GET ANY SECOND CHANCES.WE DO NOT GET TO REWIND OUR LIVES, RETHINK OUR LIVES, DECIDE TO CHOOSE JESUS...JESUS OFFERS SALVATION TO ALLLLLL PEOPLES, MEN, WOMEN, CHILDREN, & ALL ETHNICITIES...THAT IS WHAT WHOSOEVER WILL COME...COME MEANS.THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT NO CHOICE...DELAY...DISMISSAL...REJECTION IS A CHOICE...IT IS A CHOICE AGAINST THE LORD JESUS AND THOSE WHO LISTEN TO THE WORLD, MANKIND, RELIGIOSITIES, INSTEAD OF READING AND OBEYING JESUS WORDS, WARNINGS, AND PLEAS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, AS WELL THE NEW TESTAMENT, WILL CHOOSE TO SPEND ETERNITY IN THE LAKE OF FIRE WITH SATAN AND ALL HIS DEMON ANGELS.CALL UPON THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES NOW...WHILE WE MAY...CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND YOU WILL BE SAVED!