| The
ending of evil seen in four chapters
as compared to the captivity and restoration |
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Promise and protection for the end-time righteous |
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End-time wicked to be punished; Preadvent judgment |
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Desolation of a thousand years |
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The earth restored and possessed |
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| .1 ¶ Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee. | Woe The Lord has been good to those who claim His name. Yet some are wicked. This is in contrast with those who sow without concern for who will reap, in the previous verse is3220. |
| .2
O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm
every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
3 At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered. 4 And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them. |
2 -
We
have waited Salvation in the time of trouble. That this
is the final time of trouble may be seen in the chapter da1201.
The message was first given to the people of Israel, but the results of
their behavior and ours will be seen at the very end of time.
4 - Spoil ... gathered In the time of trouble there will be chaos, some claiming what others lose. |
| .5
The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with
judgment and righteousness.
6 And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure. |
6 - Throne Seen as the place for judgment ps00907, re2011. |
| .7
Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace
shall weep bitterly.
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man. 9 The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits. 9 Mourned, languished hath the land, Confounded hath been Lebanon, Withered hath been Sharon as a wilderness, And shaking are Bashan and Carmel. (YLT) |
7 -
Ambassadors
... weep A sad picture. Many who have been representatives of
the Lord will, in the end, be found unfaithful mt0721ff.
8 - Wayfaring man Those who have broken the covenant (who once claimed God's peace) now run in chaos with the rest of the wicked. 9 - Earth mourneth The whole area of the Assyrian conquest was devastated. |
| .10
Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift
up myself.
11 Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you. 12 And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire. .13 ¶ Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. |
10
- I rise In response to the crushing of the whole area. The
people of Judah were about to be completely wiped out.
11 - Conceive chaff "This verse stresses the emptiness and vanity of Assyrian pretensions. For all their effort they would produce only chaff. Their bold schemes would turn to devour the very ones who had given them birth." (SDA Bible Commentary). 12 - Burnings They would be ground up as limestone becomes lime. And when thorns are burned up. 13 - Far off ... near There would be no doubt about the ultimate ruler. This is a lesson for our time. The nations are angry and seem to have power to crush the world re1118. It is nearly the time for Him to take charge re1115. |
| .14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? | 14
- Sinners in zion They will be shaken out – devoured by their
own wickedness. In contrast, those who have hated evil will be secure.
This is the work of the preadvent judgment.
14 - Who ... shall dwell ... fire See mal-0302. To get the picture of judgment, you will want to read the whole page. |
| .15
He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth
the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes,
that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from
seeing evil;
16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. |
15
- Stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood Here is a blessing
for those who refuse to watch the almost continual violence and adultery
of the media and/or to listen to people who seem to enjoy reporting and
describing evil. See note below.
Also ph0408.
16 - Defence ... rocks Here is a clue about how God will protect the righteous during this time of chaos. We may underline the last part, too. We will be provided food 1ki1704. This time is also seen in Rev. 13. See re1315, 17. |
| .17
Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land
that is very far off.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers? 19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand. |
17
- King ... beauty Heaven and its King seen with the eye of
faith. The scene of Christ coming in the clouds will certainly be beautiful
for the righteous lu2128.
This beauty is in contrast to the ugliness attributed to Him also described
by Isaiah is5302-4. In the present scene,
"Hezekiah is in sackcloth oppressed by the enemy, but King Messiah (Isa
32:1) in His beauty" (Song
5:10,16; Re
4:3)." (JFB).
18 - Shall meditate After the defeat of Sennacherib's defeat. God's people would recall the terror. 18 - Scribe ... receiver Calculation of tribute money expected. 19 - Stammering No more invading armies. |
| .20
Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem
a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one
of
the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords
thereof be broken.
21 But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. .22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us. |
20
- Look upon Zion Jerusalem was at peace. No more Syrian armies.
And the New Jerusalem will not be like the tents that are moved here and
there hoping for better pasture.
21 - Broad rivers ... galley Wide rivers instead of the desert ps02302. No mighty war ships which plunder. The treasure is taken freely by the weak mt0505. 22 - Lord ... judge ... "perfect ideal of the theocracy, to be realized under Messiah alone; the judicial, legislative, and administrative functions as king to be exercised by Him in person (Isa 11:4; 32:1; Jas 4:12)."(JFB). God's plan for Israel was a theoracy — He was their leader and king until they rejected Him 1sa08. |
| 23 Thy tacklings are
loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread
the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the
prey.
.24 And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be [or perhaps "shall have been"] forgiven their iniquity. |
23
- Thy tacklings "He directs his speech to the Assyrians;
and having designed their army under the notion of a gallant ship, (verse
21), he here represents their undone condition, by the metaphor of a ship,
tossed in a tempestuous sea, having her cables broke, and all her tacklings
loose, so that she could have no benefit of her masts and sails; and therefore
is quickly swallowed up." (John Wesley's Notes).
24 - Sick No more sickness, physical or spiritual! re2202. |
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| For
a long time now video games have been a primary entertainment of children
and adolescents who push buttons to destroy, deceive, and corrupt the characters
they see on the TV-like screen. The young people, in their minds, become
part of the activity. It has not taken wise parents so long to understand
the effect of these games on character development but the majority of
parents seem to approve and may even participate. The choices made in these
areas may well have intensified city gang violence.
Recent research at the University of Indiana (USA) revealed that 30 minutes of killing imaginary people on the game screen affected the brains of participants for up to an hour after the experience. In the study of the effects of the games half of the 44 subjects were assigned to splattering Nazis [mowing them down with bullets] and the others with a bloodless car chase, itself strengthening wrong character traits. After the games the brain scans of of those "killing" virtual people "showed higher activity in the emotional centers of the brain, and less in the areas for concentration and inhibition" a situation naturally leading to more impulsive choices. Information taken from an article "This Is Your Brain on Alien Killer Pimps of Nazi Doom" in Newsweek Dec. 11, 2006, p. 48. See on verse 15 above. The game business is clearly making a lot of money. Of course sports events don't motivate people to develop Godly characters either. What can we do? Prayerfully study book and to learn from the experiences of people in the Bible. I was a child long before video games but my mother wisely prohibited my brother and me from playing with toy guns. She also insisted that we be taught in a Christian school. Our parents were a great blessing for us. |