ISA 1:9 Unless the LORD Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah. You’ll recall that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed with fire from heaven (2Pet 2:6) and the destruction was so fierce there was no trace of these cities ever found again. Sennacherib had already begun to rake through the outlying cities of Judah and was now at the gates of Jerusalem preparing for conquest.

ISA 1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the Law of our God, you people of Gomorrah! In just over 200 years this is what they had become. We all know the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah with their rampant sexual promiscuity which became predominantly homosexual. Where are we seeing this trend today? Mostly among Western Christian nations! Most people are aware that homosexuality is rife among Muslims, but at least they teach that it’s unlawful. The Western nations on the other hand, find it to be an acceptable way of lifestyle and stress ‘there is nothing wrong with it’. The northern ten tribes degenerated into this condition very quickly after they abandoned God and turned away from Him. It became a liberalization process, where everyone had the right to do as they pleased. And it pleased these liberals to refute God’s Law and to develop practices that were against God’s instructions. In comparison, the Jews remained faithful to God and the Holy City for another 200+ years until they were finally conquered in 487BC.

So Jeroboam the Ephraimite built not one, but two golden calves and set them up in different locations. Their primary place of worship was in the premier city of Bethel in the territory of Ephraim. 1Kings 12:26-33 Jeroboam thought to himself, "The kingdom will now likely revert to the House of David. ²⁷ If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam." ²⁸ After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." ²⁹ One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. ³⁰ And this thing became a sin; the people went even as far as Dan to worship the one there. Now there’s a nice touch of deception! Jereboam tells them that these golden calves are the gods that brought them out of Egypt – and they believed him!

31 Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. ³² He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. ³³ On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings. God’s festival, the Feast of Tabernacles, falls on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, but Jeroboam chose his own month – the eighth month. And of course, he chose Bethel as his city of worship, which would have added an air of respectability to the abominations he was committing.

ISA 1:11 "The multitude of your sacrifices-- what are they to me?" says the LORD. "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

ISA 1:12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?

ISA 1:13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations-- I cannot bear your evil assemblies.

ISA 1:14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.

ISA 1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; ^{ISA 1:16} wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, ^{ISA 1:17} learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.

ISA 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

ISA 1:19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; ^{ISA 1:20} but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

ISA 1:21 See how the faithful city (Bethel) has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her-- but now murderers!

ISA 1:22 Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water.

ISA 1:23 Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow's case does not come before them.

ISA 1:24 Therefore the Lord, the LORD Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: "Ah, I will get relief from my foes and avenge myself on my enemies.

ISA 1:25 I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities.

As a point of interest, there is a perception among Christianity today that the House of Israel was destroyed and abandoned by God to be ‘lost’ forever. Seven hundred years after they became ‘lost’, the Lord Christ came along and plainly stated that He was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel! (Matt 15:24). Obviously, they were not abandoned and lost forever! Since Jesus was sent only to them, it’s clear that God had plans to restore them and to redeem them as His people. After their destruction and enslavement in the 721 BC massacre, it was God’s intention to bring them back to the fold. Through the Prophet Isaiah, God confirms this:

ISA 1:26 I will restore your judges as in days of old, your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City."

ISA 1:27 Zion will be redeemed with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness. And all Zion’s sons will be taught by God (Isa 54:13, John 6:45). They will be called the Sons of Jerusalem. This is when God calls His own Tribe of Levi to duty, and these are taught by God. We’ll learn much more about this later in this study when we get to later chapters.

We are now in the last days – a term that will have much more meaning when we get to Chapter two. This will bring great changes to the earth and especially all 12 Tribes of Israel. They will be cleansed and purified of all the rebels and sinners who are presently leading them to destruction. Afterwards, a remnant will return to their ancestral homeland and Jerusalem will be their Capital. What is more, the Tribes of Israel will be united to become one nation. This is clearly defined by the Prophet Ezekiel 150 years after the House of Israel went into captivity: Eze 37:15-28 "The word of the LORD came to me: ¹⁶ "Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Ephraim's stick, belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ ¹⁷ Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand. ¹⁸ "When your countrymen ask you, ‘Won't you tell us what you mean by this?’ ¹⁹ say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph – which is in Ephraim's hand – and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah's stick, making them a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.' ²⁰ Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on ²¹ and say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. ²² I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. ²³ They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

ISA 2:6 You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob. They are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and clasp hands with pagans.

Do they really need to be consulting muttering spirits through divination? (Isa 8:19) Do they really need to seek wisdom from those who live like pigs as a result of worshipping false gods? Why would anyone want to listen to pagans?

ISA 2:7 Their land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots.

ISA 2:8 Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.

ISA 2:9 So man will be brought low and mankind humbled-- do not forgive them.

ISA 2:10 Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty! This is the first of three references to this in the second chapter of Isaiah.

There is a direct reference to this in the Book of Revelation (Rev 6:16). Almighty God wanted to make sure that there were plenty of references to the Scripture that Christ used during His time on earth. This is just one of many. Naturally enough, it is in the very same time setting that is referred to here in the Book of Isaiah – the last days! In addition to this, the Book of Revelation includes it in reference to the Seven Seals – the Seals that were locked from understanding until the precise moment in time when they would impact on the Tribes of Israel. Christianity in general, didn’t understand these Seals, and because the Lion of the Tribe of Judah was authorized to unseal them, the Jews didn’t understand either – because of their rejection of the Mighty One.

ISA 2:11 The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

ISA 2:12 The LORD Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled), ^{ISA 2:13} for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty, and all the oaks of Bashan, ^{ISA 2:14} for all the towering mountains and all the high hills, ^{ISA 2:15} for every lofty tower and every fortified wall, ^{ISA 2:16} for every trading ship and every stately vessel.

There are certainly plenty of trading ships and stately vessels in America. I suppose it would be the ultimate of humility to see their own ships used for plundering their nation of wealth as well as slaves – and Islam has a penchant for enslaving Christians. For some years this piracy and plundering will go on under the auspices of Satan’s capital of Babylon. At the destruction of Babylon, all these merchants and pirates will mourn the loss of their city Babylon (Rev 18:11-13). Babylon is the city in Iraq today just as God describes it over and over again throughout Bible prophecy. And yet we still have people today who are determined to try to prove God wrong.

ISA 2:17 The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, ^{ISA 2:18} and the idols will totally disappear. Here again God speaks of that day. In the next verse we see that God plans to shake the earth, and this is when everything collapses. The arrogance and pride of mankind will be brought very low in that day.

ISA 2:19 Men will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from dread of the LORD and the splendor of His Majesty, when He rises to shake the earth."

This is yet more emphasis on the statement in Rev 6:16 where God is making sure that the arrogance and exaltation of the House of Israel is brought very low. It’s no coincidence that this verse in the Book of Isaiah is quoted in the Book of Revelation and in exactly the same context, because both Books are speaking of the same event. This is yet more evidence that everything that is written is to have its final calamitous fulfilment in these last days. In fact, we learn from the very first verse of the Book of Revelation (1:1) that God the Father gave this revelation to Jesus to show His servants what must take place in the final days. As we all know, Isa 2:19 hasn’t yet been fulfilled because the inhabitants of the earth haven’t yet sought to hide from God’s wrath.

ISA 2:20 "In that day men will throw away to the rodents and bats their idols of silver and idols of gold, which they made to worship." Wealth will have no real power in those days, and it will save no-one from the horror that is coming. Human beings today like to believe they are masters of their own destiny, and the concept of a Creator God is not something they seriously consider. It seems that the son-of-a-prophet Ephraim really does believe that all their wealth has made them sinless (Hos 12:8-10).

ISA 2:21 "They will flee to caverns in the rocks and to the overhanging crags from dread of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth." God emphasises this by repeating it in the space of two verses, so it’s certainly something to take notice of. The earth is a precision mechanism that faultlessly delivers the seasons and the climate, and God built perfection into this mechanism. Long ago, Satan and his demons sought to destroy this earth and brought it to a state of chaos. Almighty God re-created the surface of the earth to make it suitable for human habitation with a whole new life-form of creatures and animals. God has made it clear that He intends to restore the original form of the earth to what it once was. In short it will be a new earth – restored to its original form with the continents once more in their original form – and that form is in the shape of a pyramid – a triangular shape. To reverse the chaos that occurred anciently before the appearance of mankind, the earth will undergo a major reconstruction of its landmass. This will certainly require a major shaking of the earth and mountains will collapse. Further evidence for this is found elsewhere in the Prophets: Hab 3:6 "He stood, and shook the earth; He looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal." As a point of interest, the One being spoken of here as the One who shakes the earth is none other than the Mighty One – the Lord Christ. This is the One who puts down all rebellion and establishes the Kingdom of God before He hands it over to the Father (1Cor 15:24).

ISA 3:1 See now, the Lord,the LORD Almighty, is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: all supplies of food and all supplies of water,

ISA 3:2 the hero and warrior, the judge and prophet, the soothsayer and elder,

ISA 3:3 the captain of fifty and man of rank, the counselor, skilled craftsman and clever enchanter.

ISA 3:4 I will make boys their officials; mere children will govern them.

ISA 3:5 People will oppress each other-- man against man, neighbor against neighbor. The young will rise up against the old, the base against the honorable.

ISA 3:6 A man will seize one of his brothers at his father's home, and say, "You have a cloak, you be our leader; take charge of this heap of ruins!"

ISA 3:7 But in that day he will cry out, "I have no remedy. I have no food or clothing in my house; do not make me the leader of the people."

ISA 3:8 Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the LORD, defying his glorious presence.

ISA 3:9 The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves. And we all know from where this sin was transported! It was transported from Ephraim where so many Israelis have migrated from. American sodomites now shamelessly demonstrate in the streets of Judah and Jerusalem against the strenuous objections of religious Jews. Sure there are other people involved, but the spokesmen and women for these homosexual groups all speak with an American accent – and this is an unconcealed fact!

ISA 3:10 Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. The great influx of migrants to little Israel has led to a secular society that scarcely knows their God anymore. But God has set aside for safe keeping those who still obey Him and honour Him. The rest of them will be purged for their arrogance, and for their defiance of God.

ISA 3:11 Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done. The Holy Land must be cleansed of the evil that permeates within its borders, and this must be done before the Kingdom of God is finally established. God has already allocated forceful men to take hold of it.

ISA 3:12 Youths oppress my people, women rule over them. O my people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path. Of Judah, God says, ‘O my people’. When we get to chapter 40, you will see where God says of Jerusalem and Judah, Isa 40:1-5 "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. ² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins." Of course it wasn’t the City of Jerusalem that sinned, but the inhabitants. In other words, Judah! And just to touch on something covered earlier: ³ A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. ⁴ Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. ⁵ And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken." And the voice of one calling in the desert wilderness is a reference to John the Baptist.

ISA 3:13 The LORD takes his place in court; he rises to judge the people.

This occurs at the time when the Lion of the Tribe of Judah unseals the Seven Seals (Rev 6:1). This is also the time when the inhabitants of the earth call to the mountains and rocks to fall on them to hide them from the face of Him who sits on the Throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb (Rev 6:16).

ISA 3:14 The LORD enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: "It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses. Judgment comes first, and God enters into judgment. He begins by saying, "It is you who have ruined my vineyard." Which vineyard is this, and who ruined it? It’s identified in Isa 5-7 "The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress." So who ruined God’s vineyard – the House of Israel? The House of Israel did it all by themselves! Who dictated to Ephraim? Rather, Ephraim has dictated to everyone else, and especially to little Israel, who began nationhood just 61 years ago as a God-fearing and downtrodden people who had just endured the holocaust. They worked hard and built their nation and made it like the Garden of Eden. What is more, they rejoiced for Jerusalem, and in their long banishment from the land they loved, they always longed to return.

ISA 3:15 What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?" declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.

ISA 3:16 The LORD says, "The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, tripping along with mincing steps, with ornaments jingling on their ankles.

ISA 3:17 Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion; the LORD will make their scalps bald." Watch out for ringworms! The symptoms of this certainly match the description given here. Yet these are also the symptoms of something else. "The symptoms of radiation sickness are gastro-intestinal disturbances, a drop in blood count, loss of hair, skin damage, and sores." This is a direct quote from a science book. The following six verses would suggest something more than just ringworms.

ISA 3:18 In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces, ¹⁹ the earrings and bracelets and veils, ²⁰ the headdresses and ankle chains and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, ²¹ the signet rings and nose rings, ²² the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses ²³ and mirrors, and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls.

ISA 3:24 Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a sash, a rope; instead of well-dressed hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding.

ISA 3:25 Your men will fall by the sword, your warriors in battle.

ISA 3:26 The gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.

ISA 4:1 In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, "We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!" This indicates a great slaughter of the men of the region and the humiliation and shame of the remaining women. There’s not a lot that can be said about this, but if this is what Judah and Jerusalem suffer just prior to the Kingdom of God being taken by force, one can only imagine the horror that Ephraim must face when the day of reckoning comes for them. So this is the real implication of this message!

ISA 4:2 In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel. ³ Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. ⁴ The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. ⁵ Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over all the glory will be a canopy. ⁶ It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.

ISA 5:1 I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. ^{ISA 5:2} He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.

ISA 5:3 "Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. Very appropriately, God asks the dwellers of Jerusalem and the men of Judah to judge between Him and His vineyard. These two groups are eminently qualified to judge, having seen the destruction and carnage of their own countrymen as a result of Ephraim’s policies. As we are about to find out, Ephraim is God’s vineyard!

ISA 5:4 What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?

ISA 5:5 Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.

ISA 5:6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it." This is a parable, one of many in the Bible. And like all parables, it is not open to interpretation by humans. God Himself makes the meaning known! And here it is:

ISA 5:7 The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress. Here we see that God refers prophetically to the House of Israel as His vineyard. The vineyard is what produces wine. Wine is a symbol of knowledge – either good or bad. It can be either. Satan and his brood dispense evil information or knowledge to corrupt everyone from obedience and service to the Creator God.

In V5 above, God speaks of taking away the hedge that protects His vineyard from predators and free-loaders, and then He speaks of breaking down its wall to enable invaders to trample it down. It just so happens that God’s Vineyard is presently building a wall on its southern border to keep out these invaders who want to swarm in and trample down the Vineyard – the House of Israel.

Eze 3:4-9 "He then said to me: "Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. ⁵ You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israel-- ⁶ not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. ⁷ But the house of Israel is not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for the whole house of Israel is hardened and obstinate. ⁸ But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. ⁹ I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house." And this about sums it up! The House of Israel is indeed a rebellious House who are well on their way to rebelling against their Creator God in favour of some fanciful theory of evolution, to name just one of their major flaws. God intends to sweep away their fanciful ideas and make His fame and presence known. They will certainly acknowledge their Creator God once He sweeps away everything they have and when they cling to a mere thread of life.

Continuing on in: Eze 3:10-17 "And he said to me, "Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you. ¹¹ Go now to your countrymen in exile and speak to them. Say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says,' whether they listen or fail to listen." ¹² Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound--May the glory of the LORD be praised in his dwelling place!-- ¹³ the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound. ¹⁴ The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me. ¹⁵ I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Abib near the Kebar River. And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days--overwhelmed. ¹⁶ At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me: ¹⁷ "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me." So you can see why Ezekiel was overwhelmed by what he saw. He heard a loud rumbling sound and saw the dwelling-place of the LORD God Almighty. Like Elijah, Ezekiel was picked up by a smaller craft, one of a number that were flying around like birds in flight, and transported to meet with representatives of the House of Israel. In Ezekiel’s case, it was just a few Israelites, yet God states that he had been made a watchman for the House of Israel – the whole rebellious House!

So Ezekiel, through the words of the Book that bears his name, is a sign and a messenger for the House of Israel. His Book is a powerful fountain of knowledge for the House of Israel in our day. It concludes with the description of the New Temple to be built (Chapt 40-47), the allotments of all the Tribes of Israel when they return to the Promised Land (Chapt 48) – and even the River of Life (Chapt 47), which is also spoken of in the Book of Revelation. So you can see that it is a powerful and comprehensive Book for our day – this perilous end time! It’s quite laughable to see self-proclaimed preachers trying to convince their parishioners that the House of Israel is ‘lost’ forever and removed from history and Bible prophecy in favour of themselves. The truth is that the whole Bible is about the House of Israel and their final chapter as the premier nation of the earth forever and ever. Just remember that Jesus said He had been ‘sent only to the lost sheep of Israel’, and at that time had refused to even acknowledge a foreign woman (Matt 15:23-26).

ISA 5:8 Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land. This indicates that those with wealth and power tend to take the greatest portion for themselves, depriving others of the same privileges. In such cases, the privileged believe they need far greater acreage than the poor to fulfill their sumptuous lifestyle. They, that is, those who acquire wealth to the detriment of all others, feel that they alone should be the beneficiaries of these prime residential lands and all others excluded. They certainly don’t want their district turned into a slum, which could lead to a reduction in property values.

How well God understands the motivation of those who consider themselves to be the elite. It was necessary for the poor to always be with us, as Jesus stated (Matt 14:7), and as Moses stated: Deut 15:11 "There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land." To their credit, many wealthy people in America are philanthropists and are willing to help the needy, but there are others that don’t or who only choose to throw a few crumbs when necessary to preserve their public image while they go on living a sumptuous lifestyle oblivious to the needs of others. It’s this latter category that has polluted God’s vineyard and God wants to make sure that His target of the mindset of the self-proclaimed elite could be seen for what it is. And also to fulfill the prophecy that all will be humbled in the day when there will be no security for man or beast. This is made clear in this next verse:

ISA 5:9 The LORD Almighty has declared in my hearing: "Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants. When disaster comes, Homeland Security will protect no-one. The great houses and fine mansions will be stripped bare and left desolate. God has spoken. It should be noted that wholehearted and generous philanthropists will fare a whole lot better than the mean and greedy sector. The reason being, that God wants to populate the Kingdom of God with people who have a generous and empathetic spirit. Greedy, cunning, self-serving people are not the type of people who find God’s favour.

There is an interesting aside to all this. In the days of Moses, God set in place a system for numbering the true Israelites, and each who was numbered had to pay a ransom for their life: Ex 30:11-12 "Then the LORD said to Moses, ¹² "When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the LORD a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them." It’s not clear how often the people were polled for the census, but Moses had to keep an accurate account of all God’s people including all the new-born. These polls were very important to God then, and still are today. Polling for this census will be mandatory in the coming Kingdom of God.

The odd thing about this is that King David told a parable and a riddle about this ransoming of life: Ps 49:4-13 "I will turn my ear to a proverb (parable); with the harp I will expound my riddle: ⁵ Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me – ⁶ those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches? ⁷ No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him – ⁸ the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough – ⁹ that he should live on forever and not see decay. ¹⁰ For all can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others. ¹¹ Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves. ¹² But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish. ¹³ This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings." Of course, we are speaking about both greed and wealth and the fate of such people. David couched this in terms of a parable and a riddle, and it concerns a time when a man’s life will be up for ransom or he will die. This is a parable about the time when wicked deceivers surround him as per his riddle. He says that no amount of money can ransom another by giving God a ransom for him. Today, ransoms are being paid everyday for others – take the Somalia pirate saga, for instance. Ransoms are paid nearly every day it seems, but not to God. God is not referring to the demands of pirates. He is speaking of how much a man would be prepared to pay to Him for his own life.

Just to put this into some sort of perspective, your ransom to God is to enlist His protection. He’s saying, don’t pay ransom to your enemies, because God Himself will deliver you and this is what your ransom to God will buy. Isa 50:2-5 "When I came, why was there no one? When I called, why was there no one to answer? Was my arm too short to ransom you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you? By a mere rebuke I dry up the sea, I turn rivers into a desert; their fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst. ³ I clothe the sky with darkness and make sackcloth its covering." Almighty God has a penchant for doing the unexpected and has the power to punish in unexpected ways. He has the power to turn whole nations into a dung pile by turning off their support systems – and this is the point He is making here. So, of course, God can ransom you and rescue you! And it concludes with advice about God’s prophet: V4 "The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. ⁵ The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back." If you can’t be taught by God then you are worthless for any purpose. And just to add one more point, all of God’s sons were taught by Him.

God, of course, doesn’t need money or gold because everything belongs to Him. Yet God surely knows that those who pay only lip-service and who refuse to pay Him his portion of their income are greedy, self-serving people who could never be trusted. In the Book of Hosea, called Ephraim’s Book, God calls on the House of Israel to return to Him: Hos 14:1 "Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall!" So how can the Israelites return to God? Almighty God repeats the call for the House of Israel to return to Him in Mal 3:7-10 "Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty. "But you ask, `How are we to return?' <sup>8</sup> "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, `How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. ⁹ You are under a curse--the whole nation of you--because you are robbing me. ¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house." So all those who refuse to pay God’s tithe, be sure that God will require everything you have if you expect to be ransomed from the enemy – or you can be sure that you will fall into the hands of the enemy!

God has determined that those who have been the recipients of the treasures hidden from the foundation of the world – referenced as ‘a treasure hidden in a field’ or ‘a pearl of great value’ (Matt 13:44-46) will have a very great debt to Him. And He will demand it! And just to put into perspective what this treasure is, Jesus added this in V52 "He said to them, "Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old." So these treasures are God’s Truth that He has kept in reserve for these last days in the run-up to the Kingdom of God. These treasures were reserved for those who were truly taught by God.

But God does offer a waiver concerning ransoms. For those who have nothing, they must actually forfeit their lives by laying it down for their friends. Then they will definitely return to God – in a resurrection. But if they run in the face of danger, then they will be dead forever. Did you notice this comment above in Ps 49:9 "that he should live on forever and not see decay."? When people die, their bodies do decay. In fact they rot away to dust. Dust they are and to dust they return. Yet David is speaking of a time when they will come to life before they decay and transported to the Glory Mothership where God dwells, and where Jesus ministers at the Altar (this Altar had an exact copy on earth in the days of Moses). Within three days of their death the angels will gather them and they will assemble under the heavenly Altar, where they will be fed and clothed to await the killing of their fellow-servants and brothers on earth below. This is the account in the Book of Revelation: Rev 6:9-11 "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. ¹⁰ They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" ¹¹ Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed." Just as the Lord Jesus was raised bodily and His body never saw decay, so it will be with those who share His faith. This is the meaning of being a part of the Body of Christ. This, of course, is referring to true and Godly martyrs. So these are the choices that God makes for His people. Therefore, choose life – even if you must first experience death as a martyr in the defense of the innocent.

This subject needs one more clarification. As David says, not only will these people not decay, but they will live on forever as part of the God Family – just like Jesus Christ. So will everyone who lives in God’s Kingdom have eternal life? No, they won’t. When the House of Israel returns to their ancestral allotments in the Promised Land, they will be human and they will remain human. They’ll have many children and will live to a very great age – like the age of a tree, and if anyone dies at the early age of 100, he will be considered accursed. Isa 65: 19-25 "I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. ²⁰ "Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. ²¹ They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. ²² No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands. ²³ They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them. ²⁴ Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. ²⁵ The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my Holy Mountain," says the LORD."

Concerning the subject of eternal life, there will be kings and priests in the Kingdom of God who will be of the ruling class – specifically chosen by God. These are being trained to take rulership from the present rulers, the real rulers who are not flesh and blood. God’s family will be the rulers in the Kingdom of God forevermore. These are the ones who distinguished themselves by refusing to compromise God’s Truth under the present rulership of Satan and his demons. It was to these that God revealed His treasures. The fact is that Jesus gave a description of these in Luke 13:28 "There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. ²⁹ People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last." The prophets are those who teach God’s unblemished truth – just as He has taught them, and this is why Jesus referred to a ‘prophet’s reward’ in Matt 10:41. The reference to ‘but you yourselves thrown out’ is a reference to those who opposed God’s Truth and refused to accept it. Therefore, God has refused to accept them! Such people have built a religious base for themselves in defiance of God and continue to deceive their followers with mindless dribble. What is more, they hold them captive to their nonsense.

Getting back to what King David wrote in Ps 49:13 above, where he says: "those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve of their sayings". And this is where the riddle part comes in – David is speaking of the fate of the fools and the senseless alike who will perish and especially those who mislead people with lies about God, and also their followers. Firstly, such people have no right to appoint themselves as teachers when they don’t have God’s Holy Spirit (though they probably think they have). People who teach lies in God’s Name don’t, repeat, don’t have God’s Holy Spirit. So this is the warning in this riddle: Don’t approve the sayings of liars and deceivers because the fate of such people is to die and never live again. What we see today are thousands of churches who teach a lame doctrine that offers great rewards to all who approve of their sayings. These false teachers are lying to you! Soon this will be very evident.

ISA 5:10 A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath of wine, a homer of seed only an ephah of grain." When a nation’s food-basket fails, there is no quicker way for the masses to turn to plundering. We’ve already seen that in times of disaster certain elements of society turn to plundering. A recent example was Hurricane Katrina. Shops were looted of anything that could be carried away. Even under the glare of news cameras these people had no conscience about what they were stealing. While others were providing assistance to the less fortunate, these looters were taking advantage of the disaster to avail themselves of luxury consumer goods.

ISA 5:11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine. This is a reference to those who chase after any substance for the purpose of descending into a mind-altering stupor. In the days of the prophet, this was accomplished by wine and strong drink, and they liked to ‘celebrate’ with music and frivolity as well as other acts that human beings are prone to devise. At such times, the last thing that would enter their minds is their obligation to their Creator God. Such people will soon find that wine and drugs are no substitute for food and sustenance.

ISA 5:12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets, tambourines and flutes and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of his hands. How well God knows these types of people! What is more, God knows how to humble them and get their attention. Today we have senseless fools who like to impugn God because they think it makes them look intelligent. They particularly like to ridicule the first chapter of Genesis as a myth, denying the existence of a Creator God. Why would God show such people mercy? Would they be fit to enter His Kingdom? Obviously, they won’t be there. In fact they will be dead forever.

When God speaks about His people and His chosen ones, who does the average person believe He is talking about? We’ve just read this in Isa 65:22 "…For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands." You can be sure He is not speaking about Muslims or any other nation of degenerates on this earth. He is speaking about His people Israel! We should also add that those who are obviously not of the House of Israel, but have assimilated into the nation and left their ‘culture’ behind, will be considered ‘native-born Israelites’ in God’s Kingdom: Eze 47:21-23 "You are to distribute this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. ²² You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens who have settled among you and who have children. You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. ²³ In whatever tribe the alien settles, there you are to give him his inheritance," declares the Sovereign LORD." This demonstrates just how fair God is! These aliens will be considered native-born Israelites once they adopt the way of God and His chosen people. There will be no multiculturalism in God’s Kingdom!

Why would anyone want to learn the way of the heathen when God specifically says not to? The KJV renders it best in Jer 10:2 "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them." The heathen like to study astrology charts as if the stars can predict the future. This is just a minor example of the ways of the heathen nations, but it has certainly spread to the House of Israel. God’s Word is truth – not the alignment of the stars!

And now to get back to the next lot of verses in the Book of Isaiah. So we are left in no doubt about who this parable is speaking of, concerning breaking down the wall and having foreigners invade the land – as stated in V5 of this chapter. In V3 God asks the dwellers in Jerusalem and the men of Judah to judge between Him and His vineyard. So the victims of this vineyard, who have suffered humiliation and are heading for destruction because of the lack of understanding of this vineyard, are the ones who are asked to judge. As custodians of the Law of God, they are well-able to judge. God knows in advance what the judgment will be from those who are obedient to His Law, and goes on to confirm judgment:

ISA 5:13 Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding; their men of rank will die of hunger and their masses will be parched with thirst.

ISA 5:14 Therefore the grave enlarges its appetite and opens its mouth without limit; into it will descend their nobles and masses with all their brawlers and revellers.

ISA 5:15 So man will be brought low and mankind humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled.

ISA 5:16 But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the Holy God will show himself holy by his righteousness. So here we see that God’s justice is righteousness. God’s vineyard presently disagrees. This vineyard seems to believe that justice is anything that brings them peace. If they believe that the sacrifice of hordes of innocents – the custodians of the Law of God; the very ones entrusted with the Word of God – that is the Jews in the Holy Land, deserves to be decimated by the Muslim hordes and have their land overrun, then the vineyard deserves every humiliation they get. God intends to turn it all back on the heads of His vineyard. All they have conspired to do to little Israel will befall them – only their punishment will be magnitudes greater! The Jews have suffered their holocausts, leaving an example of what to expect. As surely as day turns into night it’s coming.

^{ISA 5:17} Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture; lambs will feed among the ruins of the rich.

ISA 5:18 Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,

ISA 5:19 to those who say, "Let God hurry, let him hasten his work so we may see it. Let it approach, let the Plan of the Holy One of Israel come, so we may know it." Obviously, they don’t currently know it! In those days, the Plan of the Holy One of Israel will be a mystery to those who never sought understanding. Wickedness will prevail, but there will be some who will seek understanding even though they will be the extreme minority. At least it will be a start in the right direction.

ISA 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. We’re seeing plenty of this type of madness today! Political correctness has turned the whole nation on its head. Things that are by nature evil and detestable, are today, considered virtuous and honourable! And all this just to placate minority groups! God certainly knows how to pick them, and He has reserved them for special retribution. Entering God’s Kingdom will be a very great privilege, and those who don’t meet the standard will lose their lives forever.

ISA 5:21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. How detestable such people are to God. Such people pride themselves on deceiving others while using every device to make themselves appear wise and clever to the unwary. Many of these gravitate to become Senators and Congressmen, though not all are like this – only about half of them. Others become university lecturers or community organizers, and they serve their master Satan well. Just when the masses were beginning to grasp what evil was, the advocates of political correctness decide that evil is good and good is evil, and so they begin to formulate ways of punishing those who disagree. To give Satan his dues, he certainly knows how to recruit.

ISA 5:22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks,

ISA 5:23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent. Well, what do you know! Here we have drunkards described who dispense justice (or claim to do so). Who could it possibly be talking about? Who might these drunken law-makers be? Well, the prophet makes it very clear later in the Book of Isaiah: Isa 28:1-3 "Woe to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim's drunkards, to the fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley – to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine! ² See, the Lord has one who is powerful and strong. Like a hailstorm and a destructive wind, like a driving rain and a flooding downpour, he will throw it forcefully to the ground. ³ That wreath, the pride of Ephraim's drunkards, will be trampled underfoot." So Ephraim’s city of lawmakers is about to be thrown forcefully to the ground. Just like the effects of a hailstorm and a destructive wind it will be left in ruins and battered to pieces. In this day and age of thermonuclear weapons, it should be obvious to everyone what this is speaking of. And especially since it’s speaking of the City (Washington) where all the law-makers gather to enact laws that seem like the ramblings of a drunkard! I’ll leave the reader to decide on where all this liberal legislation is leading.

ISA 7:10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, ¹¹ "Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights."

ISA 7:12 But Ahaz said, "I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test."

ISA 7:13 Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you House of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. ¹⁵ He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. ¹⁶ But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. ¹⁷ The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah--he will bring the king of Assyria."

It shouldn’t go unnoticed that another ‘Immanuel’ was born to a virgin some 700 years later, and the Apostle Matthew (a Levite) cited this very event as a prophecy for the birth of Jesus who was also born of a virgin (Matt 1:23). The virgin who conceived in Isaiah’s time was later referred to as a prophetess in Isa 8:3, indicating that this was a prophecy for a future time. Just as Joseph was Mary’s husband, so Isaiah was the husband of his virgin. Hopefully, before this study of the Book of Isaiah finishes, we’ll get a clearer view of the importance of these two sons born to virgins. It’s worth noting however, that at the age of 12, Jesus knew enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, and He astounded Jewish scholars with His knowledge of Scripture (Luke 2:46-47).

ISA 7:18 In that day the LORD will whistle for flies from the distant streams of Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria (flies are a nuisance, but bees sting). ¹⁹ They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices in the rocks, on all the thornbushes and at all the water holes. ²⁰ In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the River (that is the Euphrates River) --the king of Assyria--to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to take off your beards also. ²¹ In that day, a man will keep alive a young cow and two goats. ²² And because of the abundance of the milk they give, he will have curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds and honey. ²³ In that day, in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be only briers and thorns. ²⁴ Men will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns. ²⁵ As for all the hills once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns; they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run.

ISA 8:1 The LORD said to me, "Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. ² And I will call in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me."

ISA 8:3 Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said to me, "Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. ⁴ Before the boy knows how to say `My father' or `My mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria (Israel) will be carried off by the king of Assyria." This is the third named son of Isaiah. The first is Shear-Jashub (Isa 7:3), the second Immanuel (Isa 7:14), and now Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. It’s generally thought that Isaiah’s first wife died after the birth of Shear-Jashub, and he married his second wife – the virgin, who was also a prophetess.

ISA 8:5 The LORD spoke to me again:

ISA 8:6 "Because this people (Israel) has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah,

ISA 8:7 therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the River-- the king of Assyria with all his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks

ISA 8:8 and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through it and reaching up to the neck (that is, the Gates of Jerusalem). Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land, O Immanuel!" Here we see where God describes these conquerors as being like mighty floodwaters sweeping on and running over the banks. This is in contrast to the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, which they rejected! This is retribution against Israel and Damascus for attempting to unite for the purpose of destroying Judah and the House of David. In the end, it was only Jerusalem that was holding out in the siege. Jerusalem was the last bastion and stronghold.

God has reiterated over and over, that the Book of Isaiah is a prophecy about the last days. If prophecy tends to repeat itself, this is because it was designed to do just that. It’s so designed in order that people will learn from the past and prevent making the same mistakes. Yet, it’s only those who know their God who observe these things. As Jesus said, many centuries later, few people will understand what is happening until the flood comes and sweeps them away (Matt 24:38-39). Like the Book of Isaiah, Jesus was referring to the flood of war, though He likened it to the flood of Noah, where destruction was virtually complete except for eight human beings. So in these last days, we either heed God’s warnings or prepare to die:

ISA 8:9 Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered! Listen, all you distant lands! Prepare for battle, and be shattered! Prepare for battle, and be shattered!

ISA 8:10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us. God is with us, that is, Judah and Jerusalem, against all the plotters and schemers who attempt to destroy God’s Land and His people. Immanuel means ‘God is with us’.

ISA 8:11 The LORD spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said:

ISA 8:12 "Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. Ephraim has a long history of conspiring to get their own way. Up until now, little Israel has been an important democracy in the Middle East, but now things have dramatically changed as America moves to shore up their relationship with the Arabs and the Muslim hordes of old. They have chosen God’s enemies over God’s City!

ISA 8:13 The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, (Fear? Dread? Does anyone fear God today? Most Christians today believe they are already ‘saved’ – yet they have no idea what salvation is! They seem oblivious to the fact that the definition of ‘salvation’ means to be rescued from the hands of their enemies.)

ISA 8:14 and he will be a sanctuary; but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a Rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem He will be a trap and a snare. God Himself will be a trap and a snare to catch the unwary predators. The Rock spoken of here is Jesus: 1Cor 10:3-4 "They all ate the same spiritual food ⁴ and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that Rock was Christ." Yes, Jesus is the God of the Old Testament, though modern-day Christianity can’t seem to accept this plain teaching from the Bible. The House of Israel today has rejected the real Jesus in favour of a weak, insipid, emotional Jesus, who is rarely even depicted as the Mighty Warrior and Conqueror, which is the real meaning of ‘Christ’ or ‘Messiah’. He’s been empowered or anointed by God to put down all rebellion (1Cor 15:24) and to destroy the devil’s work (1John 3:8)! Judah, on the other hand, rejected Jesus as the Messiah, because He failed to live up to their expectations of conquest over their enemies at that time. All this will change at a very dramatic time (Zech 12:10). So both the House of Israel and the House of Judah are equally guilty of the same rejection of the Rock. The difference is that Judah will be reprieved early, but the House of Israel will not. Ephraim has suffered very little adversity in comparison to the Jews, who have suffered for thousands of years, yet have never abandoned God or the Holy City. During all this time, they always had an overriding desire to return to the Holy Land and the Holy City. Ephraim, however, sees an opportunity to placate their enemies by giving them both the Holy Land and the Holy City even though it will mean the slaughter of millions of Israelis.

It won’t happen! Sure there will be another slaughter, as Isaiah has pointed out, but the survivors will be called holy, and together with the Sons of Jerusalem, will strike against the surrounding countries like a flaming torch among sheaves (Zech 12:6).

ISA 8:15 Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured."

ISA 8:16 Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among my disciples.

ISA 8:17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.

ISA 8:18 Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion. So much for the signs and symbols that the House of Israel refuses to listen to! Ephraim prefers to put their trust in their power and wealth with little regard for their brother Israelites. All the good things Ephraim has done will no longer be remembered and they are about to pay for their treachery towards God’s people Judah and the Holy City Jerusalem. All those who voted a Muslim into the White House will now pay with their lives – never to live again! Unless, of course, they repent of their madness but this seems unlikely on present trends.

ISA 8:19 When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? ²⁰ To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. ²¹ Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. ²² Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness. Utter darkness is a symbolic description of death. How many people today speak to the Law and the Testimony? Most speak against them – especially the Law of God! Such people certainly don’t have any light of dawn. In fact, they will never see the prophesied dawning of a new day. Because of their own stupidity, they will blame everyone else, including their king and their God. Because they rejected the light of God, they will be thrust into utter darkness.

ISA 9:1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan--

ISA 9:2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. This is a passage quoted by the Lord Christ in Matt 4:12-17. This is the most northern region of the House of Israel that bordered right on the behemoth to the north – the Assyrian Empire then, which later became successively the Babylonian Empire and the Medo-Persian Empire. In the time of Isaiah, this land was about to be conquered and destroyed and the inhabitants led away into captivity. So it seems a little surprising that the prophet should be speaking about good news for the region. It’s also worth mentioning that this is an area adjacent to the land of the shadow of Death – a term used by King David in Psalm 23.

So just to put this into some sort of perspective, this is what the Apostle Matthew wrote: Matt 4:12-17 "When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. ¹³ Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali-- ¹⁴ to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: ¹⁵ "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles-- ¹⁶ the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." ¹⁷ From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." So it’s fairly obvious that Isaiah was pointing the way to the appearance of Jesus as he was with the episode of the virgin birth. He then goes on to elaborate on the virgin birth in V6 below.

ISA 9:3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. Plunder from all the surrounding nations will surely be divided in that day of conquest. These nations will be mowed down in a succession of massive slaughters as described in Zech 12:6.

ISA 9:4 For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. It’s obvious who the surrounding nations are and who live adjacent to Holy Land. It’s Islam – the brood of vipers.

ISA 9:5 Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. Well this seems like a good idea.

ISA 10:12 When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, "I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes. ¹³ For he (the king of Assyria) says: " `By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their kings. This is not the type of behaviour that engenders favour with God! Arrogant pontificating about one’s own worth can quickly draw God’s retribution. Human beings have a hard time understanding this, but then, so do the rulers of the heavenly realms! They seem to forget that God sets up kings, and He also destroys them. Kings rule at the pleasure of God – or not! A century or so later, Daniel reminded King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon of this very principle, that God, and He alone, is the God of Kings and sets up rulers as He wishes. It alarmed Nebuchadnezzar so much that he began to behave himself (for a while), and fell prostrated before Daniel (Dan 2:46).

The problem with most of Christianity today is that they see only human rulers, and have no concept of the invisible rulers of the heavenly realms. They have certainly not followed God’s intent: Eph 3:10 "His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, ¹¹ according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord." The Church has not only failed to follow God’s intent, but they still don’t realize that these rulers of the heavenly realms – including Satan – have no idea what God’s eternal purpose is. At the present rate of knowledge – or lack thereof – the Church has a long way to go. Perhaps they should stop listening to the pontificating arrogance of their leaders and start believing God. Since Jesus was sent only to the ‘lost sheep of Israel’, perhaps the Church should begin pondering what their real purpose is, and stop all the vainglorious behaviour about their own importance. So perhaps they can ponder for a while what God’s intent is, but the Church will soon learn the answer to this question. The first clue is found in the fact that God requires some service! Remember Jesus’ words, Luke 17:9-10 "Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? ¹⁰ So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, `We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’" Leaving aside the fact that most Christians haven’t even done their duty and obeyed God, and even if they have been obedient, there is still a service God requires of them. Was Jesus obedient to God, obeying all His Laws faithfully? Obviously! Did God the Father demand more service from Him beyond that? We all know that He did! So it is with all who claim to be followers of Christ.

ISA 10:14 As one reaches into a nest, so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations; as men gather abandoned eggs, so I gathered all the countries; not one flapped a wing, or opened its mouth to chirp.'" So, Sennacherib, King of Assyria was in full bloom as he boasted of his accomplishments. It didn’t go unnoticed by God!

ISA 10:15 Does the ax raise itself above him who swings it, or the saw boast against him who uses it? As if a rod were to wield him who lifts it up, or a club brandish him who is not wood!

ISA 10:16 Therefore, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors; under his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame. In 701 BC, at the very gates of Jerusalem, 185,000 of his sturdy warriors were struck dead by and angel of God. Who knows what the wasting disease was – and who can say? But they dropped dead on the spot, and Sennacherib fled for his life, later to be killed by his own sons. There was no blood or gore or dismemberment – they were all simply dead! The death of 185,000 warriors seems like a huge number of dead bodies, but it pales in comparison to the deaths in Egypt of the firstborn when God sent Moses to rescue His people. On the night of that Passover in 1446 BC, every household in Egypt had at least one dead body, and every one of them was a first-born. So this was an even greater miracle that such selective deaths were carried out.

ISA 10:17 The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers. Here we see another mention of the Light of Israel who came from Galilee as a prophet. But now we see Him as a consuming fire. We find this in Heb 12:28 "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our "God is a consuming fire." This is a direct quote from Deut 4:23-24 "Be careful not to forget the Covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden. ²⁴ For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God."

Concerning God’s upraised hand allowing the enemy to prevail, a similar situation arose in Moses’ day. During one of the Israelite battles against the enemy, Moses noticed that when both his hands were raised, the battle turned in favour of the Israelites. When he lowered them, the battle turned in favour of the enemy. This is the account: Ex 17:9-15 "Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands." ¹⁰ So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. ¹¹ As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. ¹² When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up--one on one side, one on the other--so that his hands remained steady till sunset. ¹³ So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. ¹⁴ Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven." ¹⁵ Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. ¹⁶ He said, "For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation." So this was something that had to be remembered, and God insisted that Joshua hear it. Now Joshua was the one who led the House of Israel into the Holy Land and clear it of the enemy. (Moses died on Mount Nebo across the Jordan River just prior to this). I won’t expand on this any further except to say, that as long as God’s servant Moses had his hands upraised, the battle went in favour of the Israelites – and this is something to be remembered. It had to be Moses’ hands that were upraised and no other.

ISA 10:18 The splendor of his (the King of Assyria) forests and fertile fields it will completely destroy, as when a sick man wastes away. Remember that it was the King of Assyria that conquered the House of Israel anciently, and now we have a description of God’s retribution against him.

ISA 10:19 And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few that a child could write them down. To have their fertile fields and crops wiped out as well as their forests, would be a sobering situation for the Assyrians. It would certainly cause them to have a re-think.

ISA 10:20 In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely on him (the King of Assyria) who struck them down (in 721 BC) but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. As we mentioned before, the Assyrians lived in the land of Media and were later called the Medes. The Medes were allied with the Persians (Iran today) and the Medes actually took over power from the Persian kings by seizing the throne and it became the Medo-Persian Empire anciently. The real power behind the throne was a being called Cyrus, and he showed favour towards God’s Holy City and its people, the Tribe of Judah. Judah was permitted to return to God and the Holy City.

ISA 10:21 A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God. This is speaking about a small number, a remnant, in contrast to the great number that presently exists.

ISA 10:22 Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand by the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous. The population of the Tribes of Israel truly is like the sand by the sea for numbers, with about 500 million in total. This, of course, discounts those who are not true Israelites by birth. How do we know this? Well, God reveals it in the Song of Moses (which incidentally, will be sung in God’s Kingdom – see Rev 15:2). The Song of Moses is found in Deut 32 and the reference to the number of Israelites is found in Deut 32:7-9 "Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. ⁸ When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. ⁹ For the LORD's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance." So Almighty God set up 12 boundaries for all the nations on the earth in accordance with the number of the tribes of Israel. It’s not too hard to figure out where those boundaries are. So God’s elders are telling you now that Israel’s population portion is one/twelfth of the population of the earth. With a world population of 6 billion people approximately, Israel’s population stands at 500 million approximately.

ISA 10:23 The Lord, the LORD Almighty, will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land. The whole land of present-day Israel, that is, that land of Ephraim, the United States of America, is facing destruction – total destruction. Well may the people be concerned today with the present erosion of their standard of living under the present Obama Administration – this is merely a forewarning, a sign from God of the evil portent that is presently being master-minded.

ISA 10:24 Therefore, this is what the Lord, the LORD Almighty, says: "O my people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians, who beat you with a rod and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did.

ISA 10:25 Very soon my anger against you will end and my wrath will be directed to their destruction."

ISA 10:26 The LORD Almighty will lash them with a whip, as when he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb; and he will raise his staff over the waters, as he did in Egypt.

ISA 10:27 In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat. No-one is too sure of this last phrase or its translation. It probably relates to complacency and acceptance of what seemed their inevitable fate. Perhaps they thought, ‘Let’s eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die’.

ISA 10:28 They enter Aiath (a city of Benjamin, east of Bethel, and which was formerly called Ai in the days of Abraham.); they pass through Migron (also in the territory of Benjamin); they store supplies at Micmash (and another city in Benjamin’s tribal allotment, about 13Km from Jerusalem). Aiath is actually the feminine version of Ai, indicating it to be the daughter or rebuilt city of Ai after Joshua conquered it and destroyed it some 700 years before. It was the second Canaanite city destroyed by Joshua, the first being Jericho.

ISA 10:29 They go over the pass (this pass is between Bethel and Micmash and in parts bounded by two cliffs), and say, "We will camp overnight at Geba." Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees. As a point of interest, General Allenby in WW1 used the strategic position of this Pass to defeat the Turks.

ISA 10:30 Cry out, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! Poor Anathoth! (Where Jeremiah lived 130 years later. Anathoth was a Levite city for the Priesthood in the territory of Benjamin). Gallim and Laishah are also settlements in Benjamin’s territory.

ISA 10:31 Madmenah (another town in the territory of Benjamin) is in flight; the people of Gebim (in Benjamin’s territory near Anathoth) take cover.

ISA 10:32 This day they will halt at Nob; they will shake their fist at the mount of the Daughter of Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem. And now they are right outside the City of Jerusalem and threatening their destruction. I would imagine by this time, the king Hezekiah of Judah would be regretting the action of his father King Ahaz for stripping the Temple gold and silver to pay-off the Assyrian king. Jerusalem became the only hold-out City in all of Judah.

ISA 10:33 See, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will lop off the boughs with great power. The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low.

ISA 10:34 He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One. And here we see that Lebanon was allied with those who wanted to attack and destroy the Holy City Jerusalem.

ISA 11:13 Ephraim's jealousy will vanish, and Judah's enemies will be cut off; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.

Still there is more to it than this. Judah’s power and prowess in war has been emasculated by the stupidity prevailing in America in believing they can befriend the Muslim hordes and convert them to democracy and normal, decent behaviour. This, America has now sought to do by a great sacrifice of Judah and the Holy City of God. As V13 above states, Judah has plenty of reason to be hostile towards Ephraim, but the Jews are very forgiving of their enemies, and will have compassion towards the suffering of the American people in the holocaust they now face. Having suffered more than any other Tribe of Israel, the Jews have developed qualities of mercy that the rest of Israel can only dream about.

Getting back to Isa 11:13 again, we see that Judah’s enemies will be cut off. Anyone with half a brain will understand that Judah’s enemies are the Muslim hordes that surround the Holy Land and are now trying to seize land that doesn’t belong to them. As the Kingdom of God is taken by force – by forceful men, and the Holy City Jerusalem established, Islam is going to be cut off.

This will occur with an awesome display of power – power that was once in Ephraim’s hand, but they failed to utilize it even in defence of their own nation. This power will be demonstrated by God’s army against Judah’s enemies, and these enemies will be cut off (a better description would be vaporized and turned to ashes) – just as God has foretold (Mal 4:1-3).

God has been preparing His army, who await the signal from the Mighty One Jesus to go into battle. They will be called to duty, but not with the worthless weapons of mankind, but with the weapons of God – the same city-destroying weapons that turned Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes. This army is called the Sons of Jerusalem and they’re mentioned in Zech 12:2 "I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. ³ On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. ⁴ On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness," declares the LORD. "I will keep a watchful eye over the house of Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations. ⁵ Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, `The PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM are strong, because the LORD Almighty is their God.' The leaders of Judah will quickly learn the meaning of being strong, and especially when they realize that the Sons and Daughters of Jerusalem are the children of Almighty God! On that day, the leaders of Judah will take up the cudgel against the hordes that surround the Holy Land: ⁶ "On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume right and left all the surrounding peoples, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place.

⁷ "The LORD will save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem's inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah. ⁸ On that day the LORD will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the House of David will be like God, like the Angel of the LORD going before them. ⁹ On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem."

So Judah will share equal honour with the Sons of Jerusalem, and will become ‘like a flaming torch among sheaves of grain’ as they consume all the surrounding nations. And consume them they will! The evil creatures that surround the Holy Land will be ashes under the feet of the righteous. And we all know who these lying, murderous, evil creatures are! The Prophet Habakkuk called them ‘Babylonians’ and all competent Bible students know the extent of the Babylonian Empire. Habakkuk spoke of the time of the end when these Babylonians would sweep across the earth seizing dwellings they don’t own (that is, live in the regions of the House of Israel where they have no right to live) and they would be a law unto themselves (that is, impose their Shariah law on everyone else). To their eternal shame, Britain and Europe are presently falling over themselves trying to placate them by introducing Shariah law. Hab 1:5-7 "Look at the nations and watch-- and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. ⁶ I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own. ⁷ They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor." We’ll discuss more of what Habakkuk prophesied about later in this study. He speaks of the return of the Mighty Christ and how the earth will shake with His arrival. Habakkuk also speaks of the demise of all the Babylonians in his concluding chapter.

Ephraim’s jealousy for Judah will vanish as some Ephraimites are recruited into the army of God. They’ll serve Judah and her cause, and rise again to greatness, but they will never again have dominion over Judah. From Judah will come the Cornerstone, and every ruler, and from Judah will come the battle-bow (command of armies). Judah will forever be the ruling Tribe. All those who have a penchant for hostility towards Jews are going to be in trouble. As for me, I’ll personally see these trouble-makers are shipped right back to the enemy – where they deserve to be! Just for the record, I’m not a Jew but a Levite. Though, most people generally associate Jews with Levites since both remained faithful to God anciently. The House of David comprises both the Tribe of Judah and the Tribe of Levi. Remember back in chapter seven how Ephraim was allied against the House of David? ^{ISA 7:2} Now the House of David was told, "Aram has allied itself with Ephraim"; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.

ISA 13:4 Listen, a noise on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations massing together! The LORD Almighty is mustering an army for war. Yes, this will cause an uproar all right. When God musters an army the pagan nations are going to do the same, but what they don’t know is that God’s weapons will make theirs look like toys.

ISA 13:5 They come from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens-- the LORD and the weapons of his wrath-- to destroy the whole country (of Babylon).

ISA 13:6 Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty." God’s army will pound on them, but they will certainly know that the destruction comes from the Almighty.

ISA 13:7 Because of this, all hands will go limp, every man's heart will melt.

ISA 13:8 Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other, their faces aflame.

ISA 13:9 See, the day of the LORD is coming --a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger-- to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it.

ISA 13:10 The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.

ISA 13:11 I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless. You’ll recall that God describes the Babylonians specifically as ‘ruthless’ in Hab 1:6. Most people today would have to agree! A bloodbath of unprecedented death and horror will descend on the earth and human beings will be decimated almost to the point of rarity.

ISA 13:12 I will make man scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir. I certainly won’t go into it now, but it was the gold of Ophir that funded the building of the Great Pyramid in Egypt. The builder was the greatest man of the East and a servant of Almighty God. It’s no coincidence that the Great Pyramid is depicted on the money, and the Great Seal, of the nation of Ephraim, together with a reference to the chief cornerstone that the builders rejected. That Cornerstone or Rock was, and is, Jesus Christ.

ISA 13:13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the Day of his burning anger. I know that most people can’t conceive of the landmass being shaken from its place, but there are whole sections of the landmass that are in the wrong place. The original landmass was in the shape of the same pyramid depicted on American money. As a point of interest, Jerusalem is in the exact dead-centre of the original landmass. All this has been covered in other articles at our website.

ISA 13:14 Like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land. This is a fair indication that nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and everyone will be fleeing to reach the familiar ground of their homeland and their own people. Those who fail to reach there will be those who are killed on the way. Virtually everyone will be against his neighbour – this is Satan’s mindset.

ISA 13:15 Whoever is captured will be thrust through; all who are caught will fall by the sword.

ISA 13:16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives ravished.

ISA 13:17 See, I will stir up against them the Medes, who do not care for silver and have no delight in gold. The Medes are not the sort of people who are swayed by riches and bribes. And neither do they have any sympathy today for Sunni Muslims. The Medes are the Kurds today, and they have long memories for what Saddam Hussein did to them, slaughtering whole Kurdish villages. Don’t be too surprised by what they give them in return!

ISA 13:18 Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants nor will they look with compassion on children. So I guess this could be called justice in action! If there is one group in all the Middle East capable of gaining God’s favour, it’s the Medes/Kurds. They are brave and capable fighters, and they always seem to keep themselves at arm’s length from the other degenerates in the region. You may be surprised to know that they will gain God’s favour! This will become apparent later in this study. The Kurds have endured a lot of hostility from their neighbours. There have been numerous clashes with the Iraqis, they have ongoing skirmishes with Turkey, and they even have border conflicts with Iran, who still periodically bombs their towns. So it should surprise no-one that at a time of global conflict the Kurds will have little tolerance for any foreigner trying to flee to his native land – especially if the foreigners happen to be Sunni Muslims.

ISA 13:19 Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the glory of the Babylonians' pride, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.

ISA 13:20 She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flocks there.

ISA 13:21 But desert creatures will lie there, jackals will fill her houses; there the owls will dwell, and there the wild goats will leap about.

ISA 13:22 Hyenas will howl in her strongholds, jackals in her luxurious palaces. Her time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged. Observations about this must be made! There are a lot of crackpot religions who claim that Rome is Babylon. Of course they didn’t get this from the Bible, but from their own fertile imaginations. Read the above description again. Does it say that no Italian will pitch his tent there? No, it says no Arab will. How many jackals and hyenas are there in Italy? Is Italy a desert region where desert creatures live? It just goes to show how eager these false prophets are to promote their stupidity while posing as ‘angels of light’. In so doing, they’ve proven themselves to be angels/demons of darkness. Satan wanted everyone to believe that Babylon is Rome so they wouldn’t baulk when the real Babylon came to prominence. How easily Satan’s agents comply in their deceptive quest.

ISA 14:1 The LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again he will choose Israel and will settle them in their own land. Aliens will join them and unite with the house of Jacob. Here we see that some aliens will join the House of Israel and unite with them – and against their own people. These will be a breed apart from the evil nations from which they came. Bible students will recall that Jesus Christ said that He harvests where He has not sown any seed (Matt 25:26), and here we have aliens who repudiate their own people to align with God’s people – and God accepts them. The reasons for this will become evident as we progress in this study, but the reader will recall what happened in WW2 in Germany, when many German families protected Jews from the Nazis at great risk of their own lives. These German people realized that the Jews were guilty of nothing and that it was all satanic propaganda. They refused to be a part of it, even though the penalty was death in so doing. One of the standout heroes of this era was Oscar Schindler.

God gives two examples of these selfless acts in two separate nations. The two nations where these selfless qualities emerge are Egypt and Assyria (Medes or Kurds). Isa 19:23-25 "In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. ²⁴ In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. ²⁵ The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance." You’ll notice that God refers to Assyria as His handiwork. God is speaking of a change of heart in these people, who once fought, in Isaiah’s day, against God’s own people. But just bear in mind that God brought them forth to punish His people for turning against Him, His Holy City, and His most favoured people – the Tribe of Judah. God’s handiwork involves making His presence known through His mighty army and making it clear whose side He is on. When people realize they are fighting against God they will have a change of heart. This change of heart will result in many protecting God’s refugees. And in these two nations, Egypt and Assyria (Kurds/Medes) there will be many Israelites. God Himself declared that the children of Israel will return to Egypt in the last days and many of these will find themselves enslaved. While it presently seems unthinkable that Americans would go to live in Egypt, circumstances are about to change very quickly.

For years now, this Brotherhood has been warning of the penalty for treachery against Judah and the Holy City. And now that day has come! The maniacal and evil prince of Israel, Barack Hussein Obama has embodied all of Satan’s treachery to expose Judah to slaughter. Eze 21:25 "O profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose time of punishment has reached its climax, ²⁶ this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Take off the turban, remove the crown. It will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low. ²⁷ A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! It (rulership over the House of Israel) will not be restored until he comes to whom it rightfully belongs; to him I will give it." God speaks of ‘a ruin, a ruin, I will make it a ruin’ and says this relates to the exalted ruling body. He says it will not be restored until the rightful ruler comes along. From this it can be inferred that the premier city of Washington is to become a ruin. And of this we will find plenty more evidence relating to this catastrophe later in this study. Power will not be restored to Israel until the one to whom it belongs comes. King David will once again be king and shepherd over Israel. Take note of the mention of a turban in the verse above. Muslim Sultans wear turbans! The definition of ‘profane’ is to ‘violate the sacred character of a place or language’.

And the rightful ruler is clearly identified! It just so happens that this ruler spent his whole life fighting the very people who, today, surround the Holy Land. And this is the much-loved servant of God – King David. Eze 37:24 "My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd (see also Eze 34:23-24). They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. ²⁵ They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. ²⁶ I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. ²⁷ My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. ²⁸ Then the nations will know that I the LORD make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.' "

ISA 14:2 Nations will take them (the Israelites – see V1) and bring them to their own place. And the house of Israel will possess the nations as menservants and maidservants in the LORD's land. They will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors.

ISA 14:3 On the day the LORD gives you relief from suffering and turmoil and cruel bondage, ⁴ you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has come to an end! How his fury has ended! The real king of Babylon is Satan himself, and Babylon is the place where Satan plans to set up his throne in these last days. We’ll examine the parable about this a little later.

ISA 14:5 The LORD has broken the rod of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers, ⁶ which in anger struck down peoples with unceasing blows, and in fury subdued nations with relentless aggression. Here God is speaking of the real rulers – rulers who are not flesh and blood. These are the spirit rulers of the heavenly realms.

ISA 14:7 All the lands are at rest and at peace; they break into singing. As a point of interest, did you know that a certain song is referred to in the Book of Revelation that will be sung by all the saints? And contrary to all those who hate the Laws that God gave to His servant Moses, the song they will sing is called the Song of Moses (which is also the Song of the Lamb). Rev 15:3 "And they sang the Song of Moses the servant of God and the Song of the Lamb."

For those interested, you will find the Song of Moses in Deut 31:30, 32:1-47. The song is virtually a brief synopsis of everything we have covered in this study. It may not be pleasant reading to those who like to sneer at Moses and who hate the Law of God. Nevertheless, you should read it. Promise? The point is that on the other side of the worldwide holocaust, that is about to descend on the whole earth, the Song of Moses will remind everyone why it all happened. At the present time, the Song of Moses is a reminder of what to expect.

ISA 14:8 Even the pine trees and the cedars of Lebanon exult over you and say, "Now that you have been laid low, no woodsman comes to cut us down." In many ways, Lebanon has been the fall guy for all the excesses of their neighbours. Damascus in Syria has dominated them, and in one instance assassinated their leader. Now they have Hezbollah, the militant wing of Shiite Persia (Iran) dominating politics. The Lebanese have certainly had no peace in these last few years. As a point of interest, Lebanon is still a reasonably safe place, but only in the north, for Christians – unlike other Muslim countries.

Now we come to another prophecy that deals with Satan’s 1,000 year prison sentence, which he will serve in the Abyss. If you think that’s a long prison sentence, consider those demon rulers who went on a rampage when Noah was building the ark (1Pet 3:19, 2Pet 2:4-5). They are still in the Abyss and it’s not a happy place to be. Demons fear being sent there (Luke 8:31)! One of the long-term inmates of the Abyss is a tyrannical ruler with a horrific reputation. He is scheduled to be released at a certain time in the near future (Rev 9:1, 11). He intends to do what his name indicates. For all those who have never believed that these evil, spirit rulers exist, they will soon have full-in-the-face evidence of them.

ISA 14:9 The grave (Abyss) below is all astir to meet you (Satan) at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed (‘departed spirits’ is a better term and it means the former demon-rulers who were imprisoned) to greet you-- all those who were leaders in the world; it makes them rise from their thrones-- all those who were kings over the nations. It is certainly not speaking of dead human beings. When human beings die they return to dust. Dust we are, and to dust we return. There is, however, a resurrection of saints in the future, just as David will be resurrected. The resurrection to eternal life is only for those who had God’s Holy Spirit when they died.

ISA 14:10 They will all respond, they will say to you, "You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us." In the Abyss, all their spirit powers are taken away, and they are powerless – just like an ordinary human being.