AS I SAID LAST WEEK, Isaiah 13 began a section ending at Isaiah 23:18 where GOD GIVES ISAIAH prophesies against the nations. It is fitting for judgment to begin at the house of God, so the LORD has first spoken to Israel and Judah. But now, the LORD speaks against THE NATIONS.
ISAIAH 14
OPENS WITH THE PROPHECY JUDGMENT OF Babylon AND Lucifer
Verses 1-2 tells us of the fall of the King of Babylon & judgment on Babylon means mercy on ISRAEL.
"For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob. Then people will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the land of the LORD; they will take them captive whose captives they were, and rule over their oppressors."
REMEMBER IN OUR STUDY OF GENESIS, IN GENESIS 32:28, THAT JESUS WRESTLED WITH JACOB DURING THE NIGHT, & THEN CHANGED JACOB'S NAME (WHICH MEANT TRICKSTER, CON ARTIST, SCAMMER) TO ISRAEL. MOST OF THE TIME, WHEN GOD CALLED HIM JACOB HE WAS DISOBEDIENT, BUT CALLED HIM ISRAEL WHEN HE WAS OBEDIENT. BUT WE ALSO KNOW ISRAEL, WAS FULFILLING PROPHECY THAT THE NATION OF ISRAEL, THE 12 TRIBES OF ISRAEL, WOULD COME FROM THE 12 SONS OF JACOB, AMEN?
AND WE REMEMBER THAT Isaiah 13 ended with the desolation and gloom that would come upon Babylon. Since Babylon was Judah's GREAT enemy, any judgment on Babylon was an expression of GOD'S MERCY on Israel. So, Isaiah follows the pronouncement of judgment on Babylon with the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel.
Will STILL CHOOSE Israel: Sometimes we feel that God chose us, but if He had to choose again, He would change His choice! We almost feel that God is "stuck" with us now, and would choose differently if He could. Here, the LORD reminds His children that He does STILL CHOOSE US, and WOULD CHOOSE US all over again, AMEN?!
The promise of restoration to their own land was also important (and settle them in their own land). The Babylonians had forcibly EXILED MOST of the population of Judah, so the promise of return was precious.
The INVITATION TO GENTILES RIGHT HERE WAS AND IS PRECIOUS (The strangers will be joined with them). The regathered and restored Israel would INVITE GENTILES to receive the goodness of God with them.
RIGHT HERE, ONCE AGAIN, FOR THOSE WHO SAY I BELIEVE WHAT ALMIGHTY SAYS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, BUT DO NOT TRUST OR BELIEVE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE WORDS OF JESUS....HERE IT IS. ALMIGHTY GOD SPEAKS THE PROMISE FOR THE GENTILES TO ISAIAH...LONG BEFORE JESUS WAS BORN IN BETHLEHEM, AMEN?
They will take them captive whose captives they were, and rule over their oppressors: In inviting the strangers to come and be joined with them, Israel eliminates their enemies.
ALMIGHTY GOD TELLS US AND SHOWS US A TRUTH THAT LASTS THROUGHOUT MANKIND...The ultimate way to conquer an enemy is to make them your friend!
Verses 3-8 tells us the joy of the earth at the fall of the king of Babylon.
"It shall come to pass in the day the LORD gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say: "How the oppressor has ceased, the golden city ceased! The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers; he who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he who ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted and no one hinders. The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing. Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, 'Since you were cut down, no woodsman has come up against us.'"
In the day the LORD gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve...RIGHT HERE The LORD announces a day when He will give REAL REST to believing Israel. They will have rest from sorrow, from fear, and from their hard bondage.
AND DID YOU KNOW...This REST is the birthright of every believer in Jesus Christ.
REMEMBER IN MATTHEW 11:28, Jesus says, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Do WE have rest from sorrow? Do WE have rest from fear? Do WE have rest from hard bondage? IF NOT, JESUS AND ONLY JESUS CHRIST CAN GIVE YOU REST IN HIM, AMEN?
That you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon: In the day of restoration, the defeat and weakness of the king of Babylon will be exposed, and Israel will rejoice.
As this prophecy continues from the context of Isaiah 13, it is important that we remember that Isaiah has TWO ASPECTS of prophetic fulfillment in mind.
WHAT WE KNOW IS A NEAR AND FAR FULFILLMENT.
First, (THE NEAR FULFILLMENT) there is the immediate and partial fulfillment regarding the empire of Babylon and its king.
Second, (THE FAR & ULTIMATE FULFILLMENT) there is the distant and ultimate fulfillment regarding the spiritual empire of Babylon - the world system - and its king, Satan.
BIBLICAL CRITICS & LIBERAL DEBATERS, strongly disagree, and see this passage as ONLY referring to the king of literal Babylon in ancient times, and having no reference to Satan at all.
THE PROBLEM WITH MOST CRITICS....IS FIRST, THAT THEY EITHER DOUBT OR DISMISS A TRIUNE GOD, WHO KNOWS ALL, SEES ALL, & CONTROLS ALL. SO IT IS EASY FOR THEM TO CHERRY PICK AND PLUCK ONE BIT OF A SCRIPTURE & BASE THEIR CHALLENGE OR DISMISSAL FROM IT AND IGNORE THE CONTEXT OF THE CHAPTER ITSELF, AMEN?
So, this PROPHESY against the king of Babylon was, in a partial sense, in the mouth of the returning exiles when Babylon was finally conquered and the people of Judah could return to the Promised Land. But in an ultimate sense, this proverb against the king of Babylon will be the mouth of God's people when the world system and her king, Satan, are each conquered and destroyed, AMEN?!
SOME HAVE ASKED, Why does God tell His people - either in an immediate or an ultimate sense - the destiny of Babylon and her king?
IN A WORD HOPE.
IN A WORD PROMISE.
IN A WORD ULTIMATE VICTORY.
So that we can think and live now, knowing the ultimate fate of the world system and Satan. We often have said, "If I only knew then what I know now" once we see how things turn out. Here, God is allowing us the opportunity TO KNOW RIGHT NOW what we will see then, and to allow it to affect our thinking and our actions, AMEN?
GROGAN SAYS OF THIS PASSAGE, "Its form is really that of the funeral dirge, with the characteristic limping rhythm of a Hebrew lament, so plaintive and yet ominous to the sensitive ear … There is a considerable element of irony, so that the whole song becomes a taunt in the guise of a lament."
This is a funeral song that mocks and taunts the dead, who in fact receives no burial. REMEMBER IN LUKE 9:60. JESUS SAYING, "LET THE DEAD BURY THEIR DEAD!" JESUS WAS MIRRORING WHAT GOD STATED HERE....THE DEAD ARE THOSE WHO ARE NOT ONLY SPIRITUALLY DEAD...(MEANING THEY HAVE EYES BUT DO NOT SEE...EARS BUT DO NOT HEAR), BUT WILL ONE DAY TOO BE PHYSICALLY DEAD IN THEIR SINS AND THEIR BLINDNESS AND THEIR CHOSEN DISMISSAL, AMEN?
How the oppressor HAS ceased: God WANTS US TO KNOW, THEN AND NOW, that the king of spiritual Babylon - Satan - that his days ARE NUMBERED. There will come a day when his oppression has ceased, and when the LORD will break the staff of the wicked, and the scepter of the rulers.
Sometimes we get so weary and discouraged from Satan's attack, it is almost as if we think his day will last forever. If we remember that one reason he works so hard is because even he knows his time is short, it is an encouragement to us.
We can hang in there!
We can out-last him!
BECAUSE RIGHT HERE ALMIGHTY GOD, AND OUR JESUS CHRIST HAS TOLD US WE WILL WIN. WE HAVE ALREADY WON. SATAN AND THE LOST WORLD THAT PERSECUTES US IS ALREADY DEFEATED, AMEN?
He who struck the people in wrath … who ruled the nations in anger...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Both the king of literal Babylon and the king of spiritual Babylon were mighty, oppressive rulers over the people and the nations. But now, the one who once persecuted is himself persecuted and no one hinders, and as a result, the whole earth is at rest and quiet, and they even break forth into singing!
Even the trees rejoice over the fall of the king of Babylon.
THIS TELLS US THAT EVEN NATURE KNOWS ITS CREATOR AND IS WAITING FOR REST, RESTORATION, AND THE RETURN OF THEIR CREATOR, AMEN?
AND DID YOU KNOW, This is true of the king of literal Babylon, because the attacking kings cut down thousands of trees for both fuel and lumber, leaving Israel and Lebanon deforested.
AND SECULAR HISTORY CONFIRMS THIS, THAT Since the twelfth century B.C. the kings of Mesopotamia had imported lumber from Lebanon. Nebuchadnezzar used large supplies of such choice timbers in his extensive building efforts in Babylon after 605 B.C.
AND THIS IS CONFIRMED IN ROMANS 8:21, that the trees also rejoice at the fall of the king of spiritual Babylon, because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God, AMEN?
Verses 9-11 tells us Hell receives the fallen king of Babylon.
"Hell from beneath is excited about you, to meet you at your coming; it stirs up the dead for you, all the chief ones of the earth; it has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. They all shall speak and say to you: 'Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us? Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the sound of your stringed instruments; the maggot is spread under you, and worms cover you.'"
Hell FROM BENEATH is excited about you...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
GOD IS TELLING ISAIAH AND US THAT Hell itself is excited to meet the king of Babylon, because it can't wait to be the place where the one who tortured so many is tortured himself. This was true both for the king of literal Babylon, and the king of spiritual Babylon.
God wants us to know now that Satan is destined for hell. HE MAY COME AND GO NOW, BUT FOR 1000 YEARS HE WILL BE BOUND IN CHAINS IN HELL, BEFORE HIS ULTIMATE IMPRISONMENT IN THE LAKE OF FIRE FOR ETERNITY.
SATAN isn't a winner, he is a loser. Satan will go to hell as a victim, as the ultimate prisoner in the dungeon of darkness, and hell will be happy to receive him this way!
THIS REMINDS ME OF REPORTS OF PRISON BREAKS AND RIOTS, WHEN THE PRISONERS IN SOME OF THE DEEPEST DARKEST HELL HOLE PRISONS AROUND THE WORLD ARE LOOSED AND WHAT THEY INSTANTLY DO TO THEIR TORTURE JAILERS AND WARDENS, AMEN?
SO IT SHALL BE IN HELL.
Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us? When he went to hell, the king of literal Babylon was exposed as a mere man, though he thought of himself as greater than that. As well, when the king of spiritual Babylon goes to hell, all will be amazed to see that he was only a creature.
We often - to his great delight - inflate Satan's status and importance.
We think of him as the opposite of God; as if God were light and Satan were darkness, as if God were hot and Satan were cold. Satan wishes he was the opposite of God, but God wants us to know now what everyone will know someday - that Satan is a mere creature, and is in no way the opposite of God.
If Satan has an opposite, it is not God the Father or God the Son, it would be a high-ranking angelic being such as Michael.
Your pomp is brought down … the maggot is spread under you, and worms cover you...
In the end, it just won't be defeat for the king of Babylon. Both for the literal and spiritual kings of Babylon, their defeat in hell will be disgusting and degrading.
SATANIC FOLLOWERS DOWN THROUGH TIME, PREACH AND TEACH ROCKING AND ROLLING AND RULING ALL OF THE EARTH AND ALL OF HELL WITH SATAN. MANKIND HAS BEEN DECEIVED SINCE THE GARDEN OF EDEN...ALMIGHTY GOD IS TELLING THOSE WHO WORSHIP, BELIEVE, AND TRUST IN THIS CREATURE, THAT THEY WILL ULTIMATELY HATE SATAN AS MUCH AS HE HAS ALWAYS HATED THEM...AND THEY WHO ARE LOCKED IN THE WAITING PRISON OF HELL WILL REVEL WHEN SATAN IS BOUND THERE AS WELL.
Knowing this now - how disgusting and degrading the end of Satan will be - why would any of us serve him or work for his cause, even for a minute? Who wants to end up with the maggots and the worms?
And the sound of YOUR stringed instruments...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
THE BIBLE TELLS US IN EZEKIEL 28:13...Before his fall, Satan was associated with music in heaven. BEFORE HIS FALL, the workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. Apparently, the musical career of Satan did not end with his fall, because the sound of his stringed instruments is only brought down when he is imprisoned in hell.
AND THIS SCRIPTURE RIGHT HERE, INSTANTLY BRINGS TO MIND, SATANIC HYMNALS, MUSIC...AND WE WHO KNOW AND LOVE JESUS...WHEN WE HEAR THE DARK, DEAD, CHILLING STRAINS OF SATANIC HYMNALS, THE STRINGS SOUNDING LIKE TORTURED SCREAMS, THE DRUMS LIKE TERRIFIED HEARTBEATS, WE INSTANTLY CHANGE THE CHANNEL, OR TURN IT OFF...BECAUSE WE FEEL THE DARK PRESENCE BENEATH THE MUSIC, AMEN?
Verses 12-15 tells us of THE FALL OF LUCIFER.
"How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.' Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit."
How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! Here, the prophet identifies the king of Babylon as Lucifer, son of the morning. Some debate if Lucifer is a name or a title; the word means morning star or day star, referring to a brightly shining object in the heavens. Whether it is a title or a name makes little difference; this once brightly shining king of Babylon is now fallen from heaven.
The prophetic habit of speaking to both a near and a distant fulfillment, the prophet will sometimes speak more to the near or more to the distant. Here is a good example of Isaiah speaking more to the distant, ultimate fulfillment.
It is true that the king of literal Babylon shined brightly among the men of his day, and fell as hard and as completely as if a man were to fall from heaven. But there was a far more brightly shining being who inhabited heaven, and fell even more dramatically - the king of spiritual Babylon, Satan.
Fallen from heaven: In fact THE BIBLE TELLS US THERE ARE FOUR FALLS OF SATAN. THIS SCRIPTURE RIGHT HERE REFERS TO HIS FINAL, FOURTH FALL.
AND WHERE ARE THE FOUR FALLS SPOKEN OF:
THE FIRST FALL told to us in...EZEKIEL 28:14-16 tells us Satan fell from glorified to profane.
LUKE 10:18 tells us Jesus spoke of it when He says He saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. This is the only fall of Satan that has already happened.
THE SECOND FALL....told us to in JOB 1:12, 1 KING 22:21, ZECHARIAH 3:1 tells us Satan will fall from having access to heaven.
REVELATION 12:9 tells us to restriction on the earth.
THE THIRD FALL...told to us in REVELATION 20:1-3 tells us Satan will fall from his place on the earth to bondage in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years.
AND THE FOURTH FALL, as mentioned here in Isaiah 14:12, Satan will fall from the bottomless pit, WHICH WE COMMONLY KNOW AND CALL HELL...to THE LAKE OF FIRE FOR ETERNITY, told to us in Revelation 20:10.
Son of the morning...This is a title of glory, beauty, and honor, which fit Lucifer well BEFORE his fall. The morning is glorious, and in Hebrew thinking, the son of "x" is characterized by "x." So, before his fall, Lucifer was characterized by the glory of the morning.
Jesus Himself is called the Bright and Morning Star in Revelation 22:16.
Satan, though a created being, had some of these glorious qualities in himself. No wonder that Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light told to us in 2 Corinthians 11:14, deceiving MANY with his apparent DECEPTIVE glory AND beauty.
THE WORLD IN BOOK, MOVIES, AND WRITINGS FROM EARLIEST TIMES, PAINTS SATAN, EVIL PERSONIFIED, AS A RED-SKINNED, HORNED, FANG-TOOTH MONSTER DRIPPING BLOOD, WITH A FORKED TAIL AND CLOVEN HOOVES....AND SATAN LOVES IT. HOW MUCH EASIER TO DECEIVE AND DESTROY THE LIVES OF PEOPLE, WHO ARE LOOKING FOR AND GUARDING AGAINST A MONSTER...WHEN THE REAL MONSTER IS BEAUTIFUL OUTWARDLY.
AND WE KNOW, DOWN THROUGH TIME, THE BIGGEST AND MOST EVIL MONSTERS OF MANKIND THAT HAVE BEEN REVEALED...CALIGULA, HITLER, STALIN, POL POT, JIM JONES...THE LIST IS ENDLESS.
WE HEAR PEOPLE SAY, HE WAS SO HANDSOME, SO CHARISMATIC, OR THE OPPOSITE, HE WAS SO POLITE AND QUIET AND SEEMINGLY LOVING AND KIND...I JUST CAN NOT BELIEVE HE TURNED OUT TO BE A MONSTER, AMEN?
THAT IS WHAT OUR TRIUNE GOD IS TELLING US, SHOWING US AND WARNING US ALL HERE OF...BE NOT DECEIVED.
How you are cut down to the ground...
What a contrast! This being, once so high, once so shining, once so bright, is now cut down to the ground.
For you have said in your heart...
RIGHT HERE, God tells us the reason behind the fall of the king of Babylon, both literal and spiritual. The fall was prompted by something he said, even though he may have never said it with his lips - it was enough that he said it in his heart. GOD IS SHOWING US AND TELLING US THAT HE SEES AND READS THE THOUGHTS OF SATAN AND MAN PERFECTLY, AMEN?
I WILL: The pride, the grasping selfish ambition, the self-will of the king of Babylon is powerfully expressed in FIVE I will statements. This is the essence of the self-focused and self-obsessed life of satan.
1...I WILL ascend into heaven: "Heaven will be my home and my place of honor."
2...I WILL exalt my throne above the stars of God: "I will be enthroned, and will be exalted above all other angelic beings."
3...I WILL also sit on the mount of the congregation: "I will sit in the place of glory and honor and attention."
4...I WILL ascend above the heights: "I will continue to rise, even in heaven, until all see me in my bright shining glory."
5...I WILL BE like the Most High: "I will be glorious, and be set equal to God, far above all other created beings."
We see in these statements not ONLY A desire to exalt one's self above God, but the desire to exalt one's self above one's peers. From this passage, it seems that Satan's desire was not ONLY to be above God, but to be honored and regarded as the highest angel, above the [other] stars of God, receiving the glory and attention one would receive being next to God, equal with God, like the Most High.
GOD IS WARNING US HERE...
DO NOT ALLOW EGO TO RULE AND REIGN IN YOUR LIFE...BECAUSE ME ME ME, I I I, SELF ABOVE ALL OTHERS REGARDLESS THE COST...MEANS YOU HAVE THE EGO AND MIND OF SATAN WORKING WITHIN YOUR HEART, MIND, AND LIFE, AMEN?
Lucifer was certainly a glorious angel (day star, son of the morning, and also called the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty … the anointed cherub who covers in Ezekiel 28:12 and 14).
Yet, there came a time when despite all his beauty and glory, he departed from the heart of God by wanting to exalt himself above ALL.
Instead, the heart of Jesus says, "The status of equality with God is not something to hang on to. I will let it go. I will give up My reputation, be a servant, live humbly among men, and even die an excruciating and humiliating death."
PHILIPPIANS 2:5-8 confirms this...When Lucifer departed from this heart, he fell from glory.
What prompted Satan's desire to exalt himself above all other creatures? What prompted the five I will statements?
Why did Lucifer rebel?
Perhaps because he rejected God's plan to create an order of being made in His image IN Genesis 1:26, who would be beneath the angels in dignity TOLD TO US IN Hebrews 2:6-7a; 2 Peter 2:11, yet would be served by angels in the present IN Hebrews 1:14; 2:7-8; Psalm 91:11-12) and would one day be lifted in honor and status above the angels TOLD TO US IN 1 Corinthians 6:3; 1 John 3:2).
Satan wanted to be the highest among all creatures, equal to God in glory and honor, and the plan to create man would eventually put men above angels.
SATAN DID NOT WANT TO ONE DAY BE SUBSERVIENT TO ANYONE, MUCH LESS A CREATION THE TRIUNE GOD IN HIS IMAGE.
SATAN WAS SO FURIOUS AND OUTRAGED OVER GENESIS 1:26, that he was apparently able to persuade one-third of the angelic beings to join him in his rebellion against OUR TRIUNE GOD, TOLD TO US IN Revelation 12:3-4, 7, and 9.
ISAIAH 14 explains well Satan's present strategy against man: to obscure the image of God in man through encouraging sin and rebellion, to cause man to serve him, and to prevent the ultimate glorification of man.
Yet you shall be brought down...Despite Satan's desire to exalt himself, he will not be exalted at all. Certainly, there is a sense in which he is exalted right now, but this is but an eye-blink in the scope of eternity. Satan, like all those who desire to exalt themselves, REJECT JESUS CHRIST, shall be brought down.
1 Peter 5:6 expresses the true path to being exalted: Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.
In Mark 9:35, Jesus said If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.
VERSES 16-17 tells us the nations are amazed at the fall of the king of Babylon.
"Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying: 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of his prisoners?'"
Those who see you will gaze at you … "Is this the man who made the earth tremble … Who did not open the house of his prisoners?" When the king of literal Babylon fell, his weakness was exposed and others were amazed that he once had so much power, and so many feared him. The same will happen when the king of spiritual Babylon falls. People will see him for what he really is and be amazed at how much power he actually had.
MANKIND DOWN THROUGH TIME AS VIEWED SATAN AS AN ALL POWERFUL, MIGHTY EVIL GIANT AMONG AND ABOVE AND CONTROLLING NATURE, HELL, MAN...BUT WHEN HIS
TRUE SELF IS REVEALED...HE WILL BE SHOWN BE NOTHING NOTHING MORE THAN A CREATED BEING AND A COWARD.
Verses 18-23 tells us the amazing and bloody destruction of Babylon.
"All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, everyone in his own house; but you are cast out of your grave like an abominable branch, like the garment of those who are slain, thrust through with a sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a corpse trodden underfoot. You will not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land and slain your people. The brood of evildoers shall never be named. Prepare slaughter for his children because of the iniquity of their fathers, lest they rise up and possess the land, and fill the face of the world with cities." "For I will rise up against them," says the LORD of hosts, "And cut off from Babylon the name and remnant, and offspring and posterity," says the LORD. "I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and marshes of muddy water; I will sweep it with the broom of destruction," says the LORD of hosts."
ALL THE KINGS OF THE NATIONS... In this brief section, Isaiah brings his focus back more upon the king of literal Babylon. He notes the comfort and ease the other kings of the earth enjoy, but not the fallen king of Babylon, who is instead cast out of your grave like an abominable branch.
WOLF says it well, "But now a terrible things has happened; he was not given the honorable burial deemed so important for monarchs. Even the common man regarded proper burial as essential."
Instead ISAIAH 14:11 tells us...instead of a proper burial, the king of Babylon gets a bed of maggots and a blanket of worms!
The destruction of Babylon - both literal and spiritual - will be complete. The LORD will cut off from Babylon the name and remnant. There will not even be a remnant of Babylon left, when the LORD will sweep it with the broom of destruction.
CHARLES SPURGEON says it best of this scripture..."If God's enemies have a bright day or two, it shall soon be showery weather with them. They may for the moment exult over God's people, but he knows that their day of reckoning is coming."
WE WHO LOVE JESUS CHRIST, AND CALL HIM LORD, SAVIOR, AND FRIEND...ARE SADDENED, AND AT TIMES DESPAIRING, OVER AND CRY OUT TO JESUS...WHEN JESUS WHEN?
DO YOU NOT SEE WHAT LOST MANKIND AND SATAN ARE DOING TO OUR EARTH, OUR COUNTRIES, AND TO US YOUR CHILDREN? WHEN WILL THE VICTORY COME? WHEN WILL WE SEE IT?
AND WE ARE REMINDED THAT TIME, AS MAN SEES IT AND KNOWS IT, IS NOT THE SAME AS ETERNAL TIME.
REMEMBER THE BIBLE SAYS A DAY IS AS A THOUSAND YEARS AND A THOUSAND YEARS A DAY?
WHEN WE THINK ABOUT OUR LIFE, EVEN THOSE WHO LIVE TO BE 100 ON THIS EARTH BEFORE THEY GO HOME TO HEAVEN, THINK ABOUT IT, WHAT IS 100 MEASLY YEARS ON EARTH, COMPARED TO FOREVER AND FOREVER IN HEAVEN WITH JESUS?
IT COULD BE COMPARED EQUALLY TO GOING TO THE DOCTOR TO GET A SHOT, FOR THAT INSTANT IN TIME, WHEN THAT NEEDLE PIERCES OUR SKIN THERE IS INSTANT HARSH PAIN AND DISCOMFORT...BUT IN A BLINK OF TIME...THAT PAIN IS GONE AND FORGOTTEN, AMEN?
THIS LIFE, IS BUT A BLINK IN TIME AGAINST ALL ETERNITY.
THE IMPORTANT QUESTION GOD POSES TO ISAIAH, ISRAEL, AND MANKIND...WHERE WILL YOU SPEND YOUR ETERNITY?
ALL OF MANKIND MUST CHOOSE.
OUR TRIUNE GOD IMBUED US WITH CHOICE....FREEWILL.
WE MUST CHOOSE.
FENCE STRADDLERS HAVE MADE A CHOICE. THAT SAYS TO GOD I DO NOT TRUST YOU OR MANKIND...ONLY MYSELF.
IGNORING THE CHOICE IS A CHOICE.
REJECTING JESUS CHRIST SALVATION GIFT IS A CHOICE.
REJECTING GOD'S PRECIOUS SON IS A CHOICE.
ACCEPTING GOD BUT DENYING AND REJECTING HIS SON JESUS CHRIST IS A CHOICE.
CHOOSING TO FOLLOW A MAN, A MAN CREATED RELIGIOUS CULT, A RELIGIOUS
ORGANIZATION OVER JESUS CHRIST AND HIS WORD IS A CHOICE.
THERE ARE THOSE THAT SAY:
THERE IS NO GOD, NO HELL, HEAVEN, OR THE LAKE OF FIRE!
OTHERS TEACH...NO WORRIES, ONCE WE DIE, WE STILL GET A SECOND CHANCE TO SIT IN PURGATORY AND RETHINK OUR LIFE AND CHANGE OUR MINDS, HAVE JAIL TIME IN HELL, THEN GO TO HEAVEN.
THERE ARE THOSE WHO TEACH, NO WORRIES, PAY US AND WE HAVE THE POWER TO PRAY A SPECIAL PRAYER AND PRAYER YOUR LOST ONE OUT OF HELL.
THERE ARE THOSE WHO TEACH ALL PEOPLE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD AND ALL GO TO HEAVEN.
THERE IS ANOTHER TEACHING THAT WE COME BACK AGAIN, AND KEEP GOING THROUGH LIFE UNTIL WE REDEEM OURSELVES, ATTAIN ONENESS, AND THEN ENTER PARADISE.
THERE ARE THOSE THAT TEACH ONLY MEN CAN ATTAIN ALLAH'S HEAVEN, AND WOMEN GO STRAIGHT TO HELL.
THERE ARE THOSE THAT TEACH KILLING AS MANY INFIDELS AS POSSIBLE IS THE ONLY WAY TO INSURE AN ETERNITY IN PARADISE.
CHOOSING ANYYYYYY OR ALLLL THE ABOVE IS CHOOSING ETERNITY IN THE LAKE OF FIRE.
WHETHER WE ACCEPT IT OR NOT, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THE BIBLE TELLS US ALL...YOU ARE CHOOSING SATAN AND THE WORLD AND REJECTING JESUS CHRIST IF YOU CHOOSE ANY OF THE ABOVE.
RIGHT HERE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT OF ISAIAH, ALMIGHTY GOD LAYS OUT THE PLAN OF SALVATION FOR LOST MANKIND, GREEK, JEW, AND GENTILE ALIKE.
SATAN SAYS...THERE IS NO RUSH....ENJOY YOUR WORLDLY LIFE...LIVE IT UP...YOU CAN THINK ABOUT GOD AND JESUS WHEN YOU FINISH HAVING A BLAST WITH THE WORLD HERE ON EARTH...THERE IS NOOOOOOOOO RUSH..... YOU HAVEEEEE PLENTY OF TIME.
THAT IS A LIE OF MAN AND STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART OF SATAN HIMSELF.
THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT TOMORROW IS PROMISED TO NONE...TODAY IS THE DAY UNTO SALVATION.
AND WITH BIBLE PROPHECIES BEING FULFILLED EACH DAY THROUGHOUT THE WORLD...WE WHO LOVE JESUS AND CALL HIM LORD, SAVIOR, AND FRIEND....ARE WATCHING THE EASTERN SKIES...BECAUSE WE KNOW OUR JESUS COULD APPEAR IN THE CLOUDS AT ANY MOMENT, IN A TWINKLING OF AN EYE TO MEET HIM IN THE CLOUDS AND GO HOME TO THE SAFETY JOY, PEACE, LOVE AND HOPE OF HEAVEN TO BE WITH OUR JESUS FOREVER.
CALL UPON OUR JESUS. HE WANTS NONE TO PERISH. HE DIED TO INSURE LOST REJECTING MANKIND HAS A HOPE...A CHOICE.
JESUS CHRIST WANTS US TO CHOOSE HIM WHILE OUR HEARTS STILL BEAT, AND OUR LUNGS BREATHE.
BECAUSE ONCE WE DIE...THERE ARE NO SECOND CHANCES. NONE. WHAT WE CHOOSE IN THIS LIFE, DETERMINES OUR ETERNITY.
CHOOSE JESUS CHRIST!