Dear Friends,
This week we come to the end of our study in Isaiah. As we have gone through this book we have seen several prophecies that have already been fulfilled with pinpoint precision. Not only several prophecies about the Messiah, but specific prophecies about individual nations and their destiny. King Cyrus was called by name over 150 years before he arrived. (Isa 45:1) Most of the prophecies in this chapter are yet to be fulfilled but fast approaching. In keeping with his model of a mini Bible, Isaiah’s last chapter corresponds to the last book of the Bible.
Father, give us understanding as we read thy word, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Isaiah 66
1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
As the chapter opens, Isaiah looks to the seventieth week of Daniel (1) when they will rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. (Rev 11:1, 2) They have been preparing to rebuild the temple for around fifty years now. I have a book that was published in 1973 that said there were 200 rabbis in Israel that training for temple sacrifice. Everything is ready now for the temple to be built at a moment’s notice, but there does not seem to be a consensus on what the temple will represent. Ideas range from ultraconservative hardline Judaism to an ultraliberal ‘coexist’ type temple. I have yet to see anyone, however, propose a temple that glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. See, the truth is that Christianity is true Judaism. (Isa 53; Jer 31:31; et al) Having rejected their Messiah, God’s chosen people are now going off in different directions coming up with all sorts of different ideas about what exactly Judaism is supposed to mean. As far as the temple goes, we can see from the verses above that God will not be impressed. Nor will He be impressed with those who sacrifice lambs in the court of the temple, yet reject the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
3 He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.
The event that marks the beginning of the seventieth week of Daniel is when the false prophet will confirm the covenant, ie will allow the Jews to reinstitute the temple sacrifices under the old covenant. (Dan 9:27) The Bible says to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. Jesus said that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. (Luke 16:15) To build a temple to God and yet reject God’s Son is an abomination. There is a common belief in Israel that they will know the Messiah when he comes because he will allow them to build the temple. The problem, however, is that is what the Antichrist is going to do, because he wants to sit in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. (Isa 14:13; 2 Thess 2:4)
4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.
Verse 4 dovetails with 2 Thessalonians 2:11 which says God is going to send a strong delusion to those who follow the Antichrist … that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
5 Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.
One of the most unpopular groups in Israel is Jews for Jesus. Their detractors claim they are not really Jewish because of their belief in Messiah, but those who reject them and their message will wish they had listened when Jesus returns.
6 A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that rendereth recompence to his enemies.
I find the placement of this verse interesting. (Isaiah 66:6) John 6:66, for example, says that many of Jesus’ disciples went back, and walked no more with him. In the middle of the seventieth week of Daniel, the false prophet is going to cause all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Anyone who takes this mark will be pledging allegiance to the Antichrist and declaring war on God. What follows are the seven vial judgments, which are even worse than the seal judgments and the trumpet judgments. (Rev 16)
7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.
The rebirth of the nation of Israel was preceded by the birth of Messiah. The rebirth of the nation may be thought of as its real birth, just as the resurrection of Christ was his real birth. (Acts 13:33) The great tribulation period will be a time of travail giving birth to the nation of Israel.
8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
The modern nation of Israel was founded on May 14, 1948, but the answer to the question above is no. A nation is not born in a day. The kingdom age promises are still wanting. The birth is not complete.
9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.
God says He will complete the job. The kingdom age promises are soon to be fulfilled. After the Second Coming of Christ, the rebirth of Israel will be complete.
10 Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:
One thing that the Bible consistently teaches from cover to cover is that God loves Israel. Those who tremble at the word understand this. Those who tremble at YouTube are being fed a steady diet of antiSemitism and being deceived into hating Israel.
11 That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.
12 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.
Solomon’s kingdom was a microcosm of the kingdom age. The peace and prosperity that will fill the earth when Jesus returns will be like nothing the world has ever seen.
13 As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
14 And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.
Things are going to get rough for those who reject Messiah. The seventieth week of Daniel ends with fire:
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD. [Cf Rom 2:12]
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
Isaiah is describing the same event described in Joel 3: I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. … Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
19 And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish [Western Europe and the UK], Pul [uncertain, Northeast Africa or possibly Assyria], and Lud [uncertain, either Egypt or Asia Minor], that draw the bow, to Tubal [Ukraine], and Javan [Greece and its territories], to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.
The nations listed here represent a wide swath of the known world at that time. Those who reject the mark of the beast and escape the grasp of the New World Order during the great tribulation period will repopulate the earth during the millennium.
20 And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.
21 And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD.
22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.
23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
24 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
Isaiah 66
Isaiah ends the book with a verse that Jesus quoted when He preached on hell. Hell is real or Jesus would not have preached on it more than anyone else in the Bible. Jesus suffered so you don’t have to. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
When we began this study they were attempting to overthrow the election of Donald Trump with a soft coup based on the Russian collusion hoax. When that failed they attempted another coup through a sham impeachment. When that failed we were hit the COVID-19 pandemic/hoax. (Social distancing is a hoax. The lockdowns are a hoax. Beijing, a city of 21 million—more than twice the population of New York—is starting another lockdown phase because of 158 cases. The lockdowns are nothing more than new world order social engineering controls. If you have iOS 13.5 you are already being contact traced, but you can turn it off in the privacy settings for your Health app.) Then came the nationwide riots, just as we were starting to reopen. Several communities were burned to the ground (cf Isa 1:7) leaving people with nowhere to shop, many of them black. It is the emerging new world order that has been behind each of these things. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. The iniquity, or lawlessness, that we are seeing is all part of a planned political agenda. They have lionized George Floyd, a man who held a gun to a pregnant woman’s belly—a black woman—in order to rob her. I wonder what she thinks about all that has been happening? Floyd reportedly received Christ as his Saviour so he is forgiven, but that doesn’t make him a hero. They are attempting to tear down anything related to American history. ‘They’, Antifa, Black Lives Matter and the like, are overwhelmingly funded by white people with a political agenda to bring in the new world order. Antifa members themselves are mostly white, yet they teach that white people in general are bad. In communist ideology, people who are easily persuaded by such propaganda are known as ‘useful idiots’. The truth is the new world order hates black people. It was Bill Gates’ dad who started Planned Parenthood and placed the clinics in black neighborhoods to reduce the black population. The clinics are concentrated in black communities to this day and for the same reason. Margaret Sanger, one of their heroes, called black people “weeds.” Their current goal is to defund the police so they can replace them with a new police system that will enforce the new world order. Their other goal, of course, is to get rid of Trump, a man who has done more for black Americans than any president in the last 55 years. Never mind that the recent atrocities both took place in deep-blue Democratic-controlled precincts (Minneapolis and Atlanta). Jesus said nation [Gk ethnos] will rise against nation [Gk ethnos]. The Greek word ethnos is where we get our word ethnicity, but Jesus loves black people and He does not like seeing them exploited to further the agenda of the new world order. He certainly does not like seeing black babies killed because the new world order considers them weeds. The only thing letting, or withholding, this agenda is the Holy Spirit working through the church. In other words, it’s up to us to stop them. Through our prayers and actions we are to be salt and light. It us up to us to counter their false narrative with the truth.
Let’s review the convergence of prophetic events that are setting the stage for great tribulation period: We have the situation in the Middle East (Ez 38; 39), the situation with the emerging cashless society (Rev 13:16-18), the situation with earthquakes, famines, and pestilences (Matt 24:7), wars and rumors of wars (Matt 24:6), the sea and the waves roaring (tsunamis), the recent and rare blood moon appearances and other rare celestial occurrences (Luke 21:25), the rise of one world government (Rev 13), the unprecedented return of Jews to the Holy Land (Ez 37), the moral collapse of society (Matt 24:12; 2 Tim 3:1-4), the rise of many cults and false messiahs (Matt 24:5, 11), the turmoil surrounding Jerusalem (Zech 12:2, 3), the fact that the third temple is ready to be rebuilt (Rev 11:1, 2), the emerging one-world religion (Rev 13), and the fact that Satanism is on the rise (Rev 13:4). The US national debt has increased nearly $1 trillion in the last thirty days. The US government has gone nearly $3 trillion further into debt since March 1. I believe this massive spending on the supposed war on COVID is creating a bubble that will prepare the way for rider on the black horse. Does all this mean that Jesus is almost here? I don’t know; Jesus said In your patience possess ye your souls. I do know this: Jesus died for the sins of all mankind. He rose from the dead on the third day in fulfillment of the scriptures. He is coming back again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end. I know that Jesus came into the world to save sinners and salvation is a free gift. I know That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Rom 10:9) Knowing that that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. (Gal 2:16)
In closing, my takeaway from Isaiah’s closing statements is that we need to tremble at the word. Isaiah used this phrase twice in this chapter. If you fear God you will not have anything to fear from the new world order. We live in a day and age when it is fashionable to correct the word of God. ‘In the original Greek it really means this…’ That is not trembling at the word. That is correcting the word. As Christians, however, we are supposed to let the word correct us. Not vise versa. Studying Greek and Hebrew to learn other shades of meaning is fine (like ethnos in Matt 24:7), but the word chosen by the KJV translators is always right and accurate. Jesus said If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. To truly continue in the word we need to be doers of the word, and not hearers only (Jam 1:22). If we do that, it will not only keep us from being deceived, but we will be content in our souls. The word of God is good medicine and it does not require a prescription or a copayment. Jesus said the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Father, I pray that we will take what Isaiah has taught us and put it into action. Help us, Lord, to give You and your word the respect You deserve. Help us to tremble at your word. Help us, Father, to not be afraid of anything in the world but to fear You and You alone. We know and believe that all of your promises are yea and Amen. We know this means You will keep your promise to send your Son back to collect us and take us to meet You. Help us to make ourselves ready, Father. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
(1) For a detailed explanation of the seventieth week of Daniel see Where Did All the People Go?, Chapter 2.
