ISAIAH 27
OPENS WITH Ordering the Kingdom of the LORD
In His Kingdom, God BLESSES Israel.
Verse 1 tells us In the Kingdom of the Lord, Leviathan is defeated.
"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."
In that day...This brings us back to the theme of Isaiah 24 through 27 in general, the day when the Kingdom of the Messiah ultimately triumphs and rules OVER THE ENTIRE EARTH.
The LORD, with His severe sword, great and strong, will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent...The ultimate triumph of the LORD in the day of the Messiah is expressed in victory over Leviathan the fleeing serpent.
WE KNOW FROM REVELATION, THAT WHEN THE LORD JESUS APPEARS, STEPS DOWN ON MOUNT ZION IN JERUSALEM, AT THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON, THAT SATAN IS GOING TO SEE HIM, AND HE IS GOING TO FLEE. HE IS GOING TO ABANDON HIS SON, THE ANTICHRIST, AND HIS DEMON ARMIES IN HOPES OF SAVING HIMSELF. SATAN IS AT HIS CORE A COWARD, AMEN?
THE FLEEING SERPENT IS SATAN HIMSELF. THE ANTICHRIST AND HIS DEMONS AND ALL OF SATAN'S ANGELS WILL NOT FLEE THEY WILL FIGHT TO THE DEATH...BUT SATAN WILL FLEE.
SO WE KNOW THE REPTILE FROM THE SEA IS THE ANTICHRIST AND THE DRAGON, THE FLEEING SERPENT IS SATAN, HIMSELF, AMEN?
INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH...
Some Bible commentators make the connection between Leviathan and ancient myths and idolatrous idol worship and religious beliefs of nations near Israel. "The language used draws on mythology; but this need cause us no serious problem. IS NOT THE FATHER OF ALL LIES, OF ALL IDOLATROUS BEHAVIORS, AND OF ALL FALSE RELIGIONS CREATED AND BEGUN BY SATAN HIMSELF?
AND GROGAN ADDS an interesting false religion historical point. "The term LEVIATHAN used here is normally linked with the Ugaritic Lotan, the chaos monster destroyed by Baal in the Canaanite creation myth."
JUST AS GREEK AND ROMAN AND ALL OTHER RELIGIONS HAVE THEIR OWN CREATED FALSE RELIGIONS AND EXPLANATIONS FOR ALL OF LIFE/CREATION/EVIL, INSTEAD OF BELIEVING AND TRUSTING IN OUR LORD'S WORD.
EVEN IN MYTHOLOGY, BAAL WHO WAS THE SATANIC CHIEF GOD, COULD KILL AND DESTROY EVEN THE FIERCEST OF BEASTS. SATAN DOES NOT CHANGE. HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE AN INSANE, POWER MAD, EGOMANICAL NARCISSTIC CREATURE, AMEN?
BUT while there is an illustrative element here, GOD'S VISION & PROPHECY TO Isaiah may be MORE literal than many would like to admit.
If Satan could manifest himself as a BEAUTIFUL WALKING SERPENT to Eve in the Garden of Eden. YOU NOTICE EVE DID NOT FEEL THREATENED, NOR AFRAID OR SURPRISED NOR CONCERNED AT HIS APPEARANCE. Why not also manifest himself as a dreadful sea-dragon?
THIS ALSO REMINDS US, THAT SATAN KNOWS OUR SPOKEN FEARS AND DESIRES...SATAN CAN NOT READ THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF THOSE SEALED BY JESUS UNTO SALVATION. SATAN CAN NOT HEAR WHAT WE SAY TO AND DURING OUR PRAYERS TO AND WITH THE LORD. BUT WE GIVE HIM PLENTY OF HELP WHEN WE SPEAK OUT OUR FEARS TO FRIENDS, ON THE PHONE, ETC. AND HE COMES TO US IN THE ILLUSION HE THINKS WILL BEST MOVE US.
IF COMING TO US PRETENDING TO BE A GOOD BRIGHT LIGHT...HE WILL DO SO.
IF COMING TO US OFFERING US WHAT HE THINKS WE WANT AND DESIRE...HE WILL DO SO... HE TRIED THAT WITH JESUS, REMEMBER? BOW BEFORE ME AND I WILL GIVE YOU ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE WORLD.
IF COMING TO US AS FOUL-BREATHED, FANGED, RED-EYED DEMON WORKS...HE WILL DO SO.
BUT THE BIBLE TELLS US HE AND HIS DEMONS HAVE LIMITS. THEY CAN SAY THEY COME FROM GOD, BUT WHOSE GOD? WHAT IS GOD'S NAME? NONE OF THEM CAN SAY WE COME FROM THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. WE ARE SENT BY JESUS CHRIST. SO WE NEED ALWAYS TO TEST THE SPIRITS, AMEN?
AND I WAS IMPRESSED AND REMINDED OF THIS YEARS AGO, BY LOU GIGLIO, AT THE PASSION CONFERENCE IN ATLANTA. THE PASSIONS CONFERENCES GO ALL OVER THE WORLD EACH YEAR. AND HE TELLS THE REVELATION, OF THEM GOING OUT ONTO THE STREETS IN EACH CITY OR COUNTRY THEY VISITED AND SAYING...GOD BLESS YOU. I WILL ASK GOD TO HELP YOU. AND NO MATTER WHERE THEY WERE, MOST PEOPLE SAID, OHH YEAH...THANKS....GOD BLESS YOU TOO.
BUT ONE YEAR, THEY BEGAN SAYING JESUS CHRIST BLES YOU. JESUS CHRIST LOVES YOU. I WILL PRAY FOR YOU AND ASK JESUS TO HELP YOU AND TO SAVE YOU...AND THEY STOPPED PEOPLE IN THEIR TRACKS... SOME BACKED UP...SOME GOT UGLY...SOME NODDED...AND SOME EVEN FLED AT THE NAME OF JESUS.
LOU AND HIS TEAM WERE SO HURT AND TROUBLED BY THIS THAT THEY WENT INTO DEEP PRAYER...
ASKING JESUS WHY? WHY THE DIVERSE REACTIONS?
YOU ARE GOD...YOU ARE JESUS CHRIST.
AND THE LORD TOLD THEM...THERE ARE MANY GODS IN THIS WORLD BUT ONLY ONE JESUS CHRIST. AS LONG AS YOU SAID GOD BLESS YOU, THEY COULD ATTRIBUTE IT TO THEIR GOD, WHOMEVER HE/SHE WAS, BE HE SATAN, ALLAH, BUDDHA....OR 100S OF OTHER GODS...BUT WHEN YOU SAY JESUS CHRIST BLESS YOU...THERE CAN BE NOOOOOOO MISTAKE WHICH GOD YOU ARE REFERRING TOO.
SO YOU NOTICE, FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS, I ALWAYS SAY JESUS BLESS YOU. I NO LONGER SAY GOD BLESS YOU, BECAUSE I WANT ANY AND ALL TO KNOW WHOOOOOO MY GOD IS, AMEN?
I HAVE A PASTOR FRIEND, WHO WAS COUNSELING A WOMAN WHO SAID SHE SPOKE TO AND HEARD FROM THE SPIRIT OF GOD ALL THE TIME. SHE THEN WENT ON TO SAY, "THE SPIRIT TOLD ME, I DO NOT NEED TO READ AND STUDY THE BIBLE, BECAUSE HE WILL SPEAK TO ME PERSON TO PERSON, SPIRIT TO SPIRIT. HE WILL TELL ME ALL I NEED TO KNOW."
AND MY PASTOR FRIEND ASK HER, YOU MAY BE HEARING FROM AND SPEAKING TO A SPIRIT, TO A GOD, BUT IT IS NOT JESUS CHRIST, ALMIGHTY GOD, NOR THE HOLY SPIRIT YOU ARE HEARING FROM. WHY? BECAUSE OUR TRIUNE GOD CAN NOT LIE. HE CAN NOT AND DOES NOT CHANGE. YOU ARE HEARING FROM THE UNHOLY TRINITY OF SATAN AND HIS DEMONS NOT FROM MY JESUS CHRIST. YOU HAVE BEEN DECEIVED...AND SATAN AND HIS DEMONS ARE EVER THE DECEIVER...SO YOU START READING YOUR BIBLE AND YOU WILL SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND MY JESUS THERE...AND HE IS NOT A DECEIVER, OR A BRINGER OF CONFUSION, NOR A LIAR!
BUT THE IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER, IS THAT SATAN IS THE FATHER OF DECEPTION AND ILLUSION TOO, WE MAY BE FOOLED UPON OCCASION OR FOR A TIME, BUT ALMIGHTY GOD IS NOT THE LEAST BIT FOOLED, AMEN?
SO what do we LEARN AND NOW KNOW about Leviathan from this passage?
We KNOW that Leviathan is identified WITH a serpent.
We KNOW that Leviathan is RESISTING God (fleeing … twisting; twisting has the idea of coiling, as if it were ready to strike).
We KNOW that Leviathan is connected WITH the sea. And we know that Leviathan's DESTINY is to be destroyed by the LORD.
SO IS LEVIATHAN REFERENCED ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE BIBLE?
YES, IT IS.
Leviathan is referred to in passages like Job 3:8, Job 41, Psalm 74:14, and Psalm 104:26.
Current mythology used/uses the term Leviathan for a monster of chaos who lived in the sea, and the Sea itself was a boisterous deity who could be aroused professionally. But to Job, a strict monotheist, this was simply vivid imagery.
DID YOU KNOW....The name Leviathan means "twisting one" and is also used in other interesting places in Scripture.
AND IS THAT NOT A PERFECT DESCRIPTION OF SATAN...EVER AND ALWAYS TWISTING AND TWEAKING AND MISREPRESENTING GOD'S WORD AND HIS TRUTH...TO CONFUSE...DECEIVE...MANKIND...SINCE THE GARDEN OF EDEN, AMEN?
- Psalm 74:12-14 refers to Leviathan as a sea serpent, and that God broke the head of the Leviathan long ago, perhaps at the creation.
- Psalm 104:26 also refers to Leviathan as a sea creature.
- Isaiah 27:1 speaks of the future defeat of Leviathan, also associating it with a twisted serpent that lives in the sea.
- Isaiah 51:9 and Psalm 89-8-10 also speak of a serpent associated with the sea that God defeated as a demonstration of His great strength, and identifies this serpent with the name Rahab, meaning proud one.
- Job 26:12-13 also refers to God's piercing defeat of a fleeing serpent associated with the sea.
DID YOU KNOW...Ancient rabbinic mythologies suggest that an evil serpent was in the primeval sea resisting creation, and that God killed the serpent and brought order to the world (Genesis 1:1-2).
AND WE WHO STUDY THE BIBLE KNOW....Satan is often represented as a dragon or a serpent (Genesis 3; Revelation 12 and 13) and the sea is thought of as a dangerous or threatening place in the Jewish mind (Isaiah 57:20; Mark 4:39; Revelation 21:1). Therefore, Leviathan may be another serpent-like manifestation of Satan, who was the original "Rahab" (proud one).
WHAT DO WE LEARN FURTHER ABOUT LEVIATHAN FROM GOD?
These passages reinforce the idea of Leviathan as a mighty, serpent-like creature, connected with the sea, who resists God and will be crushed by the LORD.
AND HAVING STUDIED GENESIS, We are familiar with the reference to Satan as a serpent (Genesis 3:1-5), but here the picture is of a sea-serpent or a perhaps what we would know as a dragon. This reference may be a literal reference, and at some point in history, either past or present, Satan may manifest himself as monster connected with the sea.
WHAT WE NEED TO REMEMBER IS OUR GOD KNOWS OUR HEARTS, MINDS...AND HE KNEW THEN...THAT THE SEA AND ITS CREATURES AND STORMS ALWAYS TERRIFIED THE JEWS AND THEY ALWAYS SAW THE SEA, STORMS, AND ITS CREATURES AS EVIL AND REPRESENTATIVE OF SATAN AND DARKNESS, AMEN?
MUCH LIKE AS I WAS GROWING UP, FACING FEARS OF THE DARKNESS, A MONSTER UNDER THE BED, IN THE CLOSET. SATAN WANTS MANKIND, THEN AND NOW, TO FEAR ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING..AND HE DOES NOT SPARE EVEN THE YOUNGEST HEARTS AND MINDS...SO IT IS NOW, AND SO IT WAS THEN, SATAN DOES NOT CHANGE. HE WANTS US TO FEAR ALL THINGS....BUT WE WHO LOVE JESUS NEED TO REMEMBER THAT JESUS TELLS US 365 TIMES IN THE BIBLE, FEAR NOT!
AND WE DO KNOW THAT CERTAINLY, Revelation uses this imagery in describing the emergence of the Antichrist in Revelation 13:1-4.
BUT TODAY WITH ALL THE ATTENTION AND INTRIGUE AND FOCUS SHIFTING TO SATAN, DEMONS, SATANICS, OCCULT, MANKIND IS FASCINATED BY EVIL, DARKNESS, TERROR...BUT RIGHT HERE IN ISAIAH, AS THROUGH OUT THE BIBLE, GOD WANTS THOSE WHO READ AND STUDY HIS WORD...TO LET NO ONELET GET YOUR FOCUS ON SATAN AND HIS APPEARANCE...
WHATEVER HIS FORM, GOD GIVES Isaiah VISIONS & prophesies OF the ultimate defeat of Satan when the Kingdom of the Messiah conquers all (He will slay the reptile), AMEN?
Verses 2-6 tells us In the Kingdom of the LORD, Israel BLOSSOMS.
"In that day sing to her, "A vineyard of red wine! I, the LORD, keep it, I water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I keep it night and day. 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. Or let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me." 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 vineyard of red wine! I, the LORD, keep it...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
In the days of the Kingdom of the Messiah, the LORD keeps the vineyard of Israel with special care. He waters it (I will water it every moment), He protects it (lest any hurt it), He guards it constantly (I keep it night and day) against all enemies, forcing them to make peace with Him and His vineyard.
Let him take hold of My strength...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
We can only be fruitful when we TAKE HOLD of the strength of the LORD. As long as we HOLD ON to our own strength, what we really have is weakness.
The result is blessing for the LORD's vineyard...
SIMPLY PUT, Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit. This will be ultimately fulfilled in the Kingdom of the Messiah, but if we yield to the care of the LORD right now, He will care for us as His precious vineyard right now, and we will enjoy the blessings of that care promised us ALSO in John 15:1-8.
THIS ALSO TELLS US THAT DURING THE 1000 YEAR REIGN OF JESUS CHRIST ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH, ALL THOSE WHO REJECT JESUS CHRIST AND HIS FAMILY AND THE NATION OF ISRAEL WILL LOSE ALL THAT THEY HAVE. THEY WILL NO LONGER BE PRESIDENTS OF CORPORATIONS, INDUSTRY, BANKS, GOVERNMENTS, BUSINESSES, TRADE AND TRANSPORTATION...THEY WILL HAVE ALL THAT THEY VALUED AND TREASURED...ALL THINGS OF THIS WORLD WILL BE STRIPPED FROM THEM AND GIVE TO HIS FAMILY HIS PEOPLE, AMEN?
Verses 7-9 tell us In the Kingdom of the LORD, Israel RECEIVES mercy.
"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? In measure, by sending it away, You contended with it. He removes it by His rough wind in the day of the east wind. 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."
Has He struck Israel as He struck those who struck him?
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The LORD shows His mercy to Israel, in that even though the LORD struck Israel when Israel went astray, He did not strike Israel as severely as He did the other nations that went astray.
The iniquity of Jacob will be covered...
REMEMBER FROM OUR STUDY OF GENESIS....THE NAME JACOB MEANS SCAMMER, CON ARTIST, TRICKSTER, SO THE LORD CHANGED HIS NAME TO ISRAEL!
The LORD here is REMINDING US OF WHAT HE DID FOR JACOB, AND THAT THAT SAME MERCY, HE WILL ONCE AGAIN His mercy to Israel in that He covers their sin. This is ultimately fulfilled in the Kingdom of the Messiah, when ALL Israel will be saved promised in Romans 11:26.
When He makes all the stones of the altar like chalkstones that are beaten to dust...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The LORD shows His mercy to Israel in that He destroys their idolatrous altars and images, forcing them to worship the LORD only.
AGAIN, JESUS KNOWS OUR HEARTS, AND SO HE REMOVES FOREVER ANYTHINGGGGGG IDOLATROUS THAT MIGHT CHANGE OUR FOCUS FROM HIM BACK TO THE WORLD.
MUCH THE SAME WAY WE DO WITH OUR CHILDREN, WHOM WE LOVE...WHEN WE HAVE CHILDREN, AND WE KNOW THAT ALL CHILDREN ARE FEARLESS AND CURIOUS...WE QUICKLY LEARN TO REMOVE ALL THINGS THAT MIGHT HARM THEM, PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY, OR SPIRITUALLY. IF WE ARE WATCHING TELEVISION AND PORN, OR DEMONIC, OR FRIGHTENING OR SEXUALLY IMMORAL THINGS APPEAR WE CHANGE THE CHANNEL. WE PUT PROTECTIVE COVERS OVER ALL OUTLETS. WE PUT LOCKS ON CABINETS WHERE ANY CHEMICALS, OR KNIVES ARE STORED. WE DO NOT LEAVE OUR KEYS LYING AROUND. WE DO THAT TO PROTECT THEM FROM THEMSELVES AND FROM THEIR OWN INNOCENT AND NAIVE CURIOSITY, AMEN?
SO DOES OUR JESUS, WHO IS AN EVER FAITHFUL AND EVER PROTECTIVE FATHER!
Verses 10-11 tell us In the Kingdom of the LORD, the city of man lies desolate.
"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. 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."
The fortified city will be desolate...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The FORTIFIED CITY IS THE city of man, representing the world system, will be made desolate by the judgment of the LORD. Knowing this, why would we put our hope, our confidence, or our expectation in the world system?
ALMIGHTY GOD PROMISES....The city of man, the world system, will be made so desolate that it will resemble a wilderness with bare branches, useful only for fire.
He who formed them will show them no favor...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
This is the terrible judgment against the city of man, against the world system. We want the favor of the LORD, we long for His favor. But the worlds system, the citizens of the city of man, WHO SNEER AT, REJECT, AND SEEK TO DESTROY...will be shown NO favor.
Verses 12-13 tells us In the Kingdom of the LORD, He is WORSHIPPED in Jerusalem.
"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. 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."
The LORD WILL BE worshipped by His own regathered people... You will be gathered one by one, O you children of Israel. They will come from the nations (Assyria … Egypt), and they will come to worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
SO THANK YOU ALMIGHTY GOD FOR YOUR PRECIOUS SON JESUS. CHOOSE THIS DAY, NOW, DO NOT WAIT, DO NOT DELAY, CHOOSE THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE.
JESUS WANTS ALL OF HIS CREATION TO RULE AND REIGN WITH HIM, BUT THOSE WHO REJECT HIM, AND SURVIVE THE TRIBULATION AND REJECT HIM STILL...WILL BE WITHOUT FAVOR, WITHOUT MERCY, AND WITHOUT ALL THEY HAVE AMASSED AND TREASURED...THEY WILL BE THE DESOLATE.
SO CHOOSE JESUS!