IN THAT DAY - Part 1
Scriptures and comments
Priscilla Van Sutphin
3/13/03
www.upstreamca.org

Deut 32:1-43 NKJV  ( The Song of Moses )
"Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. 2 Let my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, as raindrops on the tender herb, and as showers on the grass. 3  For I proclaim the name of the LORD: ascribe greatness to our God. 4  He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice;  Righteous and upright is He. 

5  "They have corrupted themselves; They are not His children, because of their blemish: a perverse and crooked generation. 6  Do you thus deal with the LORD, O foolish and unwise people ?  Is He not your Father, who bought you ?  Has He not made you and established you ?  7  "Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations.  Ask your father, and he will show you; Your elders, and they will tell you: 8  When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. 9 For the LORD's  portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. 10   "He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. 

11 As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, 12  So the LORD alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him. 13  "He made him ride in the heights of the earth, that he might eat the produce of the fields; 

Matthew Henry's Commentary says:  He did that for them which the eagle does for her nest of young ones, v. 11, 12. The similitude was touched, Ex 19:4,
 I bore you on eagles' wings; here it is enlarged upon. 
The eagle is observed to have a strong affection for her young, and to show it, not only as other creatures by protecting them and making provision for them, but by educating them and teaching them to fly. For this purpose she stirs them out of the nest where they lie dozing, flutters over them, to show them how they must use their wings, and then accustoms them to fly upon her wings till they have learnt to fly upon their own. 
This, by the way, is an example to parents to train up their children to business, and not to indulge them in idleness and the love of ease. 

God did thus by Israel; when they were in love with their slavery, and loth to leave it, God, by Moses, stirred them up to aspire after liberty, and many a time kept them from returning to the house of bondage. He carried them out of Egypt, led them into the wilderness, and now at length had led them through it. The Lord alone did lead him, he needed not any assistance, nor did he take any to be partner with him in the achievement, which was a good reason why they should serve the Lord only and no other, so much as in partnership, much less in rivalship with him. There was no strange god with him to contribute to Israel's salvation, and therefore there should be none to share in Israel's homage and adoration, Ps 81:9.

III. The settling of them in a good land. This was done in part already, in the happy planting of the two tribes and a half, an earnest of what would speedily and certainly 
be done for the rest of the tribes.
1. They were blessed with glorious victories over their enemies (v. 13): He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that is, he brought him on with conquest, and brought him home with triumph. he rode over the high places or strong holds that were kept against him, sat in ease and honour upon the fruitful hills of Canaan. In Egypt they looked mean, and were so, in poverty and disgrace; but in Canaan they looked great, and were so, advanced and enriched; they rode in state, as a people whom the King of kings delighted to honour.
___________
He made him to draw honey from the rock, and oil from the flinty rock; 14 Curds from the cattle, and milk of the flock, with fat of lambs; and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the choicest wheat; and you drank wine, the blood of the grapes.

This gets more symbolic of Jacob it says He made him draw honey from the rock...honey represents the sweetness of the Lord, His word, and the Rock is Jesus .

             OT:1706  debash (deb-ash'); from an unused root meaning to be gummy; honey  (from its stickiness); by analogy, syrup: KJV-honey ([-comb]).

             OT:5553   cela` (seh'-lah); from an unused root meaning to be lofty; a craggy rock, literally or figuratively (a fortress):  KJV-(ragged) rock, stone (-ny), strong hold.  Then it says "and oil from the flinty rock"...again symbolic as the word for oil here is grease, olive oil, usually perfumed,  then from the flinty rock
             Flinty:  OT:2496  challamiysh (klal-law-meesh'); probably from OT:2492 (in the sense of hardness);  flint: KJV-flint (-y), rock.

             OT:2492  chalam (khaw-lam'); a primitive root; properly, to bind firmly, i.e. (by implication) to be (causatively to make) plump; also (through the figurative sense of dumbness) to dream: KJV-(cause to) dream (-er), be in good liking, recover.
             Rock:   OT:6697  tsuwr (tsoor); or tsur (tsoor); from OT:6696; properly, a cliff (or sharp rock, as compressed); generally, a rock or boulder; figuratively, a     refuge; also an edge (as precipitous): KJV-edge, X (mighty) God (one), rock, X sharp, stone, X strength, X strong. See also OT:1049.

Remember how Jacob laid his head on the rock in Genesis and then he dreamed of the ladder to heaven ?  What does our head hold ?  It holds our mind when our mind is stayed on the Rock Who is our refuge and on His Word. There is honey to be drawn from the sweetness and love of the Lord, which also brings everything we have need of and we get anointed - the glory is in His presence and He is the Source of everything we need.

15 "But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; you grew fat, you grew thick, you are obese ! Then he forsook God who made him, and scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation. 

It is a recurring theme in the old testament that when they did worship God as they should, they prospered, but then they gradually grew self-sufficient and prideful because God blessed them...and they grew satisfied, and began to neglect the Lord and become lax in obeying the Word, then they began to worship other gods.

16 They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; with abominations they provoked Him to anger. 17  They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they did not know, to new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear. 18  Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, and have forgotten the God who fathered you. 19  "And when the LORD saw it, He spurned them, because of the provocation of His sons and His daughters. 20  And He said: 'I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be,  For they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faith. 21  They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God;  They have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols.  But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation;   I will move them to anger by a foolish nation. 22  For a fire is kindled by my anger, and shall burn to the lowest hell; It shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. 

Thus comes the promise of provoking to jealousy by the enfolding of the Gentiles by the blood of Jesus. And He indicates moving them to anger by a foolish nation.

Matthew Henry says this:
“God would therefore plague them with despicable enemies, that were worthless, weak, and inconsiderable, and not deserving the name of a people, which was a great mortification to them, and aggravated the oppressions they groaned under The more base the people were that tyrannised over them the more barbarous they would be (none so insolent as a beggar on horseback), besides that it would be infamous to Israel, who had so often triumphed over great and mighty nations, to be themselves trampled upon by the weak and foolish, and to come under the curse of Canaan, who was to be a servant of servants. 

But God can make the weakest instrument a scourge to the strongest sinner; and those that by sin insult their might Creator are justly insulted by the meanest of their fellow-creatures. This was remarkably fulfilled in the days of the judges, when they were sometimes oppressed by the very Canaanites themselves, whom they had subdued, Judg 4:2. But the apostle applies it to the conversion of the Gentiles, who had been a people not in covenant with God, and foolish in divine things, yet were brought into the church, sorely to the grief of the Jews, who upon all occasions showed a great indignation at it, which was both their sin and their punishment, as envy always is, Rom 10:19.”

IV. He had planted them in a good land, and replenished them with all good things; but now he would strip them of all their comforts, and bring them to ruin. The judgments threatened are very terrible, v. 22-25.

23  'I will heap disasters on them; I will spend My arrows upon them. 24  They shall be wasted with hunger, devoured by pestilence and bitter destruction; I will also send against them the teeth of beasts, with the poison of serpents of the dust. 25  The sword shall destroy outside; There shall be terror within for the young man and virgin, the nursing child with the man of gray hairs. 26  I would have said, "I will dash them in pieces, I will make the memory of them to cease from among men," 27  Had I not feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should misunderstand, lest they should say, "Our hand is high; and it is not the LORD who has done all this." ' 

28  "For they are a nation void of counsel, nor is there any understanding in them. 29 Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end !  30  How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had surrendered them? 31 For their rock is not like our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. 32  For their vine is of the vine of Sodom And of the fields of Gomorrah; Their grapes are grapes of gall, Their clusters are bitter. 33  Their wine is the poison of serpents, and the cruel venom of cobras. 
34  Is this not laid up in store with Me,sealed up among My treasures? 35  Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them.' 

36  "For the LORD will judge His people and have compassion on His servants, when He sees that their power is gone, and there is no one remaining, bond or free. 37  He will say: 'Where are their gods, the rock in which they sought refuge? 38  Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offering?  Let them rise and help you, and be your refuge. 39  'Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive;  I wound and I heal;  Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand. 40  For I raise My hand to heaven, and say, "As I live forever, 41  If I whet My glittering sword, and My hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to My enemies, and repay those who hate Me. 42 I will make My arrows drunk with blood, and My sword shall devour flesh, with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the heads of the leaders of the enemy." '  43  "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people;  For He will avenge the blood of His servants, and render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people." 

God is just, and it is truly a fearsome thing to behold his wrath. But remember that His judgment is His love greatly provoked to jealousy. The word for wrath in Hebrew means to set right, to make straight. To have balance in our understanding of God's just ways, we must not just know His love, but understand His justice, and what His wrath is about.  His wrath is reserved for the wicked and unjust, and as we read on, for those who say they know Him but will not obey Him.

Isa 2:10-22 NKJV
10 Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, from the terror of the LORD and the glory of His majesty. 11  The lofty looks of man shall be humbled,  The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. 

When judgment comes, it will come with such a fury. People will try to hide.  All pride and haughtiness will be removed and God will be recognized in it.  He will be exalted at least by those who know Him.

11 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up--And it shall be brought low 13 Upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan; 

In Scripture, often God refers to men or mankind as trees [ this is the meaning here. Oaks are strong trees, and cedars.]  they represent those strong in their own strength.

14 Upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up; 15  Upon every high tower, and upon every fortified wall; 16  Upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all the beautiful sloops. 

Hills and mountains represent authority in scripture, so those authorities who do not lift up God will be judged.  High towers and walls, ships and sloops are those things of man's greatness - his ideas, his creation - every system will fall.

      17 The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, 

Again the Lord reiterates the purpose of this judgment...that HE ALONE would be exalted.  And all who stand on their pride, including any in the church who are in pretense, shall be brought low.

18  But the idols He shall utterly abolish. 19  They shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, from the terror of the LORD and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily. 20  In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made, each for himself to worship, to the moles and bats, 21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the crags of the rugged rocks, from the terror of the LORD And the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily. 

Idols of man, whether they be material or any other carnal form....like lust, or pride will be destroyed in the day of the Lord's vengeance.  Twice again He says He will mightily shake the earth. 

22  Sever yourselves from such a man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he? 

The Lord warns us to not have anything to do with unrighteous men. In old testament He warned that if we approve of those who do evil we are aligned with them and subject to the same judgment.

Isa 3-4 NKJV For behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah The stock and the store, the whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water;   

God warns of the judgment on His own people of famine and like Amos says, not just a famine of food, but of spiritual food: Who is our bread ?  Who is our water ? Jesus is our Bread of life.  The Holy Spirit our Water of lifem the Living waters. 

2 The mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, and the diviner and the elder; 3  The captain of fifty and the honorable man, the counselor and the skillful artisan, and the expert enchanter.  

In this judgment HE is not partial. All God's ways are without partiality. Judgment comes first to the house of the LORD, then to the world.  In some cases there isn't much differance.

4 "I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. 5  The people will be oppressed, every one by another and every one by his neighbor; the child will be insolent toward the elder, and the base toward the honorable." 

There will be such hatred in the world, and as we see it is growing in strength, it will affect every relationship. Nothing will be held sacred as the spirit of antichrist is arising in the earth.  All over the earth anti-semitism is rising,violence and rebellion, & the spirit of anti-Christ is arising.

5 When a man takes hold of his brother In the house of his father, saying, "You have clothing; You be our ruler, and let these ruins be under your power," 7 In that day he will protest, saying, "I cannot cure your ills, for in my house is neither food nor clothing; Do not make me a ruler of the people."  

Man will not be the answer to the world's ills, even though they will try.

8 For Jerusalem stumbled, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, To provoke the eyes of His glory. 9  The look on their countenance witnesses against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom; they do not hide it.  Woe to their soul!  For they have brought evil upon themselves. 

The church is spiritual Jerusalem and Judah - Those who say they praise Him.  Perversion is the example here. They declare their pride in these identities and lifestyles, and do not hide it and God  pronounces a WOE. And He says they have brought it upon themselves as they knew and had access to the Truth.

10 "Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. 11  Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him. 12  As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths." 13  The LORD stands up to plead, and stands to judge the people. 14 The LORD will enter into judgment with the elders of His people and His princes: "For you have eaten up the vineyard; The plunder of the poor is in your houses. 15  What do you mean by crushing My people And grinding the faces of the poor ? "Says the Lord GOD of hosts. 

It is an interesting phenomenon, that the same problems that existed when He came the first time, are here again. Much of the church hasn't God's heart for the poor. I have heard pastors rationalize the words of James as if their savior did not come into the world poor for a reason.  I have heard them say preaching good news to the poor doesn't really mean the poor. "It means the poor in spirit" . By this they commit the same sin as the pharisees who didn't want to give up any of their wealth either to help the poor.  And God says...YOUR LEADERS cause you to ERR, and destroy the way of your paths.... YOUR WALK !  And sadly it is so in many places.  It is the rare church today that is not filled with complacency and apathy to even the needs of their own members.

16  Moreover the LORD says: "Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with outstretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, making a jingling with their feet, 17  Therefore the Lord will strike with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will uncover their secret parts." 

He isn't talking about only women per se here. He is talking about daughters of Zion - the local churches - having wanton eyes to the world and all it has to offer. Everything is sold, for high price. Have you ever noticed that Christian bookstores by en large sell things more expensively than the world?  Maybe they don't do that other places, but here, but in Southern California they do.  It is amazing.  While the church markets tapes and books in the guise many times of needing money for ministry when their own people are going without paying rent or having enough food and clothing for their children. Sometimes I know the Lord weeps and weeps over this...but soon, He will judge...very soon.  Meetings and conferences cater to the middle class and wealthy.  I know ONE pastor who used to give the single moms, or poor free tapes and books.  The gospel is SOLD to elevate ministries that are supposed to glorify JESUS, while Jesus looks on crying. 

I am not saying if you can afford it, you shouldn't pay for a book.  But where do the poor get worship tapes?  How do the poor buy books to elevate them in their studies of the word?   Guess what?  Jehovah's Witnesses give their books, color pictures and all FREE to whoever they convert!  And on top of that, they come to THEIR home and do bible study with them to help them understand. NOW if a cult can do that, why can't the TRUE church of Jesus Christ?  Are we stuck to our seats in the pews or living in 500,000 dollar homes instead of living for God.  The church in America has become like the young rich man who came to Jesus...and couldn't give up his worldly belongings.

18 In that day the Lord will take away the finery: the jingling anklets, the scarves, and the crescents; 19  The pendants, the bracelets, and the veils; 20  The headdresses, the leg ornaments, and the headbands;  The perfume boxes, the charms, 21 and the rings; The nose jewels, 22 the festal apparel, and the mantles; the outer garments, the purses, 23 and the mirrors; the fine linen, the turbans, and the robes.  24  And so it shall be: Instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench; Instead of a sash, a rope; Instead of well-set hair, baldness; instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty. 25 Your men shall fall by the sword, and your mighty in the war.  26  Her gates shall lament and mourn, and she being desolate shall sit on the ground. 

So because we have not been our brother's keeper, because we are feign to help others and too busy building our own kingdoms, we will be destitute and smelly (homeless), and in total LACK of those things we once worshipped, unless we repent now. Whatever we idolize will be destroyed. 

Isaiah 4:1-6  NKJV And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, "We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by your name, to take away our reproach."  2  In that day the Branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped. 

Of the seven women taking hold of one man Matthew Henry says:
    1. That though Providence has so wisely ordered that, communibus annis-on an average of years, there is nearly an equal number of males and females born into the world, yet, through the devastations made by war, there should scarcely be one man in seven left alive. As there are deaths attending the bringing forth of children, which are peculiar to the woman, who was first in transgression, so, to balance that, there are deaths peculiar to men, those by the sword in the high places of the field, which perhaps devour more than child-bed does. Here it is foretold that such multitudes of men should be cut off that there should be seven women to one man.
(from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

3  And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy--everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. 4  When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, 5  then the LORD will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. 6  And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain. 

God has been washing the filth from the daughters of  Zion [the church ] and he has been bringing the spirit of burning in our midst to purge our hearts to refine us till we come forth as gold. This will escalate to an explosion of His glory in our midst.

Isaiah 5:1-26 NKJV
Now let me sing to my Well-beloved a song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard:
My Well-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. 2  He dug it up and cleared out its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine.  He built a tower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. 3  "And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. 4  What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes? 5  And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; and break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 

6  I will lay it waste;  It shall not be pruned or dug, but there shall come up briers and thorns.  I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it."   7  For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant plant.  He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.

Some people think the Lord will never judge the church, because the church is His, but the word clearly says that judgment comes FIRST to the house of the Lord. And in many of the in that day scriptures it talks about HIS own being judged for lack of obedience. Above it says He looked for those who render justice, but behold oppression.  And so it is towards the poor here and in many places everywhere in the world with the church.  Oppression, and suffering abound, and who will open their eyes and see, and who will stand up for me against the evildoers the Lord would say..

8 Woe to those who join house to house; they add field to field, till there is no place where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land ! 9  In my hearing the LORD of hosts said,  "Truly, many houses shall be desolate, great and beautiful ones, without inhabitant. 10  For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield one ephah."  

Isa 5:8-9  Matthew Henry Commentary
    Here is a woe to those who set their hearts upon the wealth of the world, and place their happiness in that, and increase it to themselves by indirect and unlawful means (v. 8), who join house to house and lay field to field, till there be no place, no room for anybody to live by them. If they could succeed, they would be placed alone in the midst of the earth, would monopolize possessions and preferments, and engross all profits and employments to themselves. Not that it is a sin for those who have a house and a field, of they have wherewithal, to purchase another; 

    (1.) That they are inordinate in their desires to enrich themselves, and make it their whole care and business to raise an estate, as if they had nothing to mind, nothing to seek, nothing to do, in this world, but that. They never know when they have enough, but the more they have the more they would have; and, like the daughters of the horseleech, they cry, Give, give. They cannot enjoy what they have, nor do good with it, but are constantly contriving and studying to make it more. They must have variety of houses, a winter-house, and a summer-house, and if another man's house or field lie convenient to theirs, as Naboth's vineyard to Ahab's, they must have that too, or they cannot be easy.
         (from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition,                     Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

11  Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may follow intoxicating drink; who continue until night, till wine inflames them! 12  The harp and the strings, the tambourine and flute, and wine are in their feasts; but they do not regard the work of the LORD, Nor consider the operation of His hands. 12 Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge; Their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

The thirst at the end is in reference to knowledge - knowledge of the Word of God. Many Christians, I know, do not know the word of God.  Many churches teach opinion more than the word.  And so people learn from their teachers who err in their pride and do not study the word for themselves, nor do they know the HEART of the Lord, because they have not taken time to get to know Him - to know the whole of the Word. 

13 Therefore Sheol has enlarged itself and opened its mouth beyond measure; Their glory and their multitude and their pomp, and he who is jubilant, shall descend into it. 15  People shall be brought down, each man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled. 16 But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness. 17  Then the lambs shall feed in their pasture, and in the waste places of the fat ones strangers shall eat. 

This does not speak well for pride, vanity and arrogance. As I read the first sentence it seemed to speak of those who have the outward appearance of Christianity, but have grown puffed up in their own eyes and the Lord says their glory, their multitudes, and pomp, and jubilation will descend to hell !  Yikes !  It makes you want to be far away from any form of pride of our own opinions or in ourselves in any way. He does mention lambs feeding in their pasture so He is speaking of the children of God.

18  Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as if with a cart rope; 19  That say, "Let Him make speed and hasten His work, that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it." 

Here He is speaking to the hypocrites who claim to love God yet follow their carnal nature.  1 John says if you love Him, you will obey Him.

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! 

Surely this is perversion common to the enemy to call good evil and evil good, and when I think of the bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, I think of those who are unaware of their own bitterness and rationalize the abominable way they treat people instead of apologizing, they rationalize their behavior. 

21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! 

This is reiterated in 1 Corinthians 1.  Not many wise are chosen, and God used the foolish things to confound the wise in their own opinion. He says even the despised things He uses. This shows how much He hates pride and those who disdain the less sophisticated of society. So many of us are so prideful of our intelligence, our prowess.  Well God uses the meek, God uses the humble, not the haughty.

22 Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink, 23  Who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away justice from the righteous man! 

Job, in the Living Bible translation I think says, when a nation turns from God, there is no justice in the land. America has surely become such in many ways, and I believe God is restoring,  but it has been that justice is taken from the righteous man for a long time. Prejudice is one of those injustices. 
The woe for drinking wine and intoxicating drinks makes me think of the blight of alcoholism and all the sorrow it produces, the abuse in families and consequent recovery needed by its victims and how prevalent it is here, and many other places in the earth. There is so much pride in all that, it is sickening. What is worse is when it is hidden in the church, covered over and not even addressed.  And the cycle continues to go on. One of the charges of the Holy Priesthood in Ezekial 44 is to teach the people good from evil.

24 Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble, and the flame consumes the chaff, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom will ascend like dust; because they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25  Therefore the anger of the LORD is aroused against His people; He has stretched out His hand against them And stricken them, And the hills trembled. Their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. 
26  He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar, and will whistle to them from the end of the earth; surely they shall come with speed, swiftly.

Note it says against HIS PEOPLE !  But then He says, He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar, and will whistle to them from the end of the earth and they will come speedily assumingly to repentance.

Isaiah 7:18-25
18And it shall come to pass in that day that the LORD will whistle for the fly that is in the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19  They will come, and all of them will rest in the desolate valleys and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all thorns and in all pastures. 20  In the same day the Lord will shave with a hired razor, with those from beyond the River, with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the legs, and will also remove the beard.   21  It shall be in that day that a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep; 22  So it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give, that he will eat curds;  For curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land. 
23  It shall happen in that day, that wherever there could be a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver,  It will be for briers and thorns. 24  With arrows and bows men will come there, because all the land will become briers and thorns. 25  And to any hill which could be dug with the hoe, you will not go there for fear of briers and thorns; but it will become a range for oxen and a place for sheep to roam. 

This judgment was pronounced on the wicked Ahaz but seems relevant to end times judgment as well as we know pestilence is one of the judgments in Revelation.

         Matthew Henry Commentary says  Summons given to the invaders (v. 18): The Lord shall whistle for the fly and the bee. See Isa 5:26. Enemies that seem as contemptible as a fly or a bee, and are as easily crushed, shall yet, when God pleases, do his work as effectually as lions and young lions. Though they are as far distant from one another as the rivers of Egypt and the land of Assyria, yet they shall punctually meet to join in this work when God commands their attendance; for, when God has work to do, he will not be at a loss for instruments to do it with.
    Then a man again will be so scarce, and those that have escaped judgment will eat curds and honey, which I think though literal still has a spiritual meaning of the honey that is the Lord's word and love, and the curds come from the milk of the cow; the word is also described by Paul as the milk of the word and the meat of the word.

Isa 10:20 NKJV
20  And it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, will never again depend on him who defeated them, but will depend on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 

Our dependence should always be on GOD ALMIGHTY, not on man or anything else of this world.  One thing God seems to be doing in those who are allowing Him to refine them is making them MORE dependent on HIM.  God's kingdom works different from the world.  The world says to be self-sufficient but we are to be God-dependent.

Isa 10:27 NKJV  It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil. 

The him here is the enemy. His yoke will be removed from your shoulders and neck and destroyed because of the anointing oil. God's anointing will increase, as the glory increases we will become more and more free. We go from glory to glory, and this is a MARVELOUS PROMISE for our times !

Isa 10:33-34 NKJV Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, will lop off the bough with terror; those of high stature will be hewn down, and the haughty will be humbled. 34  He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.  

Again, there is the theme of destroying the prideful, those who are certain of their own opinions and think themselves above others.

Isa 11:10-16   NKJV
10  "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious." 
11  It shall come to pass in that day That the LORD shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea. 
12  He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 13  Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim. 14  But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west; together they shall plunder the people of the East; they shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab; and the people of Ammon shall obey them. 15  The LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; with His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River, and strike it in the seven streams, and make men cross over dry-shod. 16  There will be a highway for the remnant of His people who will be left from Assyria, as it was for Israel In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt. 

This speaks of the restoration of Israel; them being drawn again from the nations. The rest makes you feel sorry for the Muslim nations who oppose Israel, as they will be judged by the Lord Himself and it is a fearsome thing to be in the hands of the Almighty when you have come against His beloved.

Isaiah 12:1-6 NKJV   And in that day you will say: "O LORD, I will praise You; though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me. 2 Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; 'For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.'"  3  Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4  And in that day you will say: "Praise the LORD, call upon His name; Declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted. 5  Sing to the LORD, for He has done excellent things; this is known in all the earth. 6  Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!" 

Hallelujah, for He will be seen upon us Is 60 says.  He will be a wall of fire around us and the glory in our midst - Jer 31.

Isa 19:16-21:1  In that day Egypt will be like women, and will be afraid and fear because of the waving of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which He waves over it. 17  And the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt;  everyone who makes mention of it will be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts which He has determined against it. 18  In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear by the LORD of hosts; one will be called the City of Destruction. 

Matthew Henry's Commentary
What they see in their own land. They shall fear (v. 16) because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, and (v. 17) because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which from the shaking of his hand they shall conclude he has determined against Egypt as well as Judah. For, if judgment begin at the house of God, where will it end? If this be done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? See here, how easily God can make those a terror to themselves that have been, not only secure, but a terror to all about them. It is but shaking his hand over them, or laying it upon some of their neighbours, and the stoutest hearts tremble immediately.

19 In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border. 20  And it will be for a sign and for a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the LORD because of the oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them.

Herein is the promise of salvation to Egypt . He will send them a Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them Hallelujah !  We haven't seen anything yet !

21  Then the LORD will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day, and will make sacrifice and offering; yes, they will make a vow to the LORD and perform it. 22   And the LORD will strike Egypt, He will strike and heal it; they will return to the LORD, and He will be entreated by them and heal them. 
23  In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians.  24  In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria-- a blessing in the midst of the land, 25   whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, "Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance." 

The Lord told me recently, sons of Esau and sons of Jacob will sit down together.  Now sitting down to eat together is something of a hospitality thing in the middle east and you do it with friends, not your enemies.

Isa 22:12-25  NKJV  And in that day the Lord GOD of hosts Called for weeping and for mourning, for baldness and for girding with sackcloth. 13  But instead, joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!" 

And it shall be as in the days of Noah everyone marrying, giving in marriage, partying, and unaware, when the Lord returnsand He will thoroughly purge His threshing floor.

14  Then it was revealed in my hearing by the LORD of hosts,  "Surely for this iniquity there will be no atonement for you, even to your death," says the Lord GOD of hosts.  15 Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: "Go, proceed to this steward, to Shebna,  who is over the house, and say: 16  'What have you here, and whom have you here, that you have hewn a sepulcher here, as he who hews himself a sepulcher on high, who carves a tomb for himself in a rock?  17  Indeed, the LORD will throw you away violently, O mighty man, and will surely seize you. 18  He will surely turn violently and toss you like a ball Into a large country; there you shall die, and there your glorious chariots shall be the shame of your master's house. 19  So I will drive you out of your office, and from your position he will pull you down. 

20  'Then it shall be in that day, that I will call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah; 21  I will clothe him with your robe and strengthen him with your belt; I will commit your responsibility into his hand.  He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.   22  The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder;  so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open. 23   I will fasten him as a peg in a secure place, and he will become a glorious throne to his father's house. 

Some consider Eliakim a type of the apostle. Eliakim means God arising. Eliakim did not undermine Shebna, and so honored him, like David did Saul.  He is not self-serving or self-promoting but GOD appoints him.

24   'They will hang on him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the posterity, all vessels of small quantity, from the cups to all the pitchers. 25  In that day,' says the LORD of hosts, 'the peg that is fastened in the secure place will be removed and be cut down and fall, and the burden that was on it will be cut off; for the LORD has spoken.'" 

Those that are proud ( who think they are secure from the judgments of the Lord )  will have their day with the Lord where all their security ( the peg ) will be removed and all whom they have depended on will also fall, or who have depended on them.

Isa 24:21-23  NKJV   It shall come to pass in that day That the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones, and on the earth the kings of the earth. 22  They will be gathered together,  as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison; after many days they will be punished.  23  Then the moon will be disgraced and the sun ashamed; for the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before His elders, gloriously. 

This speaks of the day of the Lord; the moon will be disgraced in that like in Joel, it will be darkened along with the sun. Nothing can compare to the light of His glory.  For He shall reign in that day, and reign gloriously, for the wicked will be destroyed, and His enemies imprisoned in the pit until the millennial reign is finished.

Isa 25:6-12 NKJV  And in this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of well-refined wines on the lees. 7  And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations.  8  He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken. 

9  And it will be said in that day: "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us.  This is the LORD; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." 10  For on this mountain the hand of the LORD will rest, and Moab shall be trampled down under Him, as straw is trampled down for the refuse heap. 11  And He will spread out His hands in their midst  as a swimmer reaches out to swim, and He will bring down their pride together with the trickery of their hands.   12  The fortress of the high fort of your walls He will bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, down to the dust. 

In that day, all the enemies of the Lord will be crushed, and even before He returns, it would say He will destroy the covering that is spread over the nations. How else can their be world revival represented by the white horse of revelation riding forth to conquer ?  Isaiah 60 talks about how the glory of the Lord will be SEEN upon us.

Isa 26:1-4 NKJV In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city; God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks. 2  Open the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in. 3  You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.  4  Trust in the LORD forever, for in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength. 
The word for city here is:  
 OT:5892 `iyr (eer); or (in the plural) `ar (awr); or `ayar (Judg 10:4) (aw-yar'); from OT:5782 a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post): KJV-Ai [from margin], city, court [from margin],                town.
      OT:5782 `uwr (oor); a primitive root [rather identical with OT:5783 through the idea of opening the eyes]; to wake (literally or figuratively): KJV-(awake (-n, up), lift up (self), X master, raise (up), stir up (self).

This gives the sense of us being protected by the Lord and our eyes opened, awakened to His love for us, and He will keep us in peace, if our minds are stayed on Him...good advice for these end times. As Heidi Baker says, "God will do anything for a radical lover".   He is our Source of strength.

Isa 27:1-28:1 NKJV  In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong, will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; and He will slay the reptile that is in the sea. 

Don't ya just want to go " Yeah God !!! Hallelujah !!!  HE will punish Leviathan.  He will slay him !  God will conquer His enemies. Leviathan is pride. See Job 41.

2 In that day sing to her,  "A vineyard of red wine! 3  I, the LORD, keep it,  I water it every moment; lest any hurt it,  I keep it night and day. 4  Fury is not in Me. Who would set briers and thorns against Me in battle?  I would go through them,  I would burn them together. 5  Or let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me." 

The Lord keeps His vineyard in that day, He says and HE waters it and keeps it that none should hurt it. He will keep us day and night.  Seems like the Lord wants to also wrestle here with any who have an issue. If you want peace, sometimes you have to wrestle like Jacob.

6  Those who come He shall cause to take root in Jacob; Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit. 7 Has He struck Israel as He struck those who struck him? Or has He been slain according to the slaughter of those who were slain by Him?  8  In measure, by sending it away, You contended with it.  He removes it by His rough wind in the day of the east wind. 
9  Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be covered; and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: when he makes all the stones of the altar like chalkstones that are beaten to dust, wooden images and incense altars shall not stand.  10  Yet the fortified city will be desolate, the habitation forsaken and left like a wilderness; there the calf will feed, and there it will lie down and consume its branches. 
11  When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off; the women come and set them on fire. For it is a people of no understanding; therefore He who made them will not have mercy on them, and He who formed them will show them no favor.  12 And it shall come to pass in that day that the LORD will thresh, from the channel of the River to the Brook of Egypt; and you will be gathered one by one, O you children of Israel. 

The River is the largest passage of running water, and the brook the least, so the concept is from the greatest to the smallest place where the water flows ( in spiritual Israel)  He will gather together His own remnant

13  So it shall be in that day:  The great trumpet will be blown; they will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria, and they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem. 

Just like with Moses, the Lord will deliver the children of Israel who are outcasts all over the world and they will worship the Lord alone. We know that in worshiping, He comes. The Lord inhabits the praises of His people. That is our hiding place - with Him.

Isa 28:5-6 NKJV  In that day the LORD of hosts will be for a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of His people, 6  For a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. 

Note he uses LORD OF HOSTS and those who are left after all the purifying and judgment , the Lord will fill with His glory and He will provide all that is needed for us.  He will strengthen His warriors and and provide a spirit of justice to His prophets.

Isa 29:18-30:1 NKJV   In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.  19   The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice In the Holy One of Israel. 20  For the terrible one is brought to nothing, the scornful one is consumed, and all who watch for iniquity are cut off21  Who make a man an offender by a word, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and turn aside the just by empty words. 
Those who have not judged rightly, and who have mocked and oppressed instead of helping will be judged.

22  Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: "Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now grow pale; 23  But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, they will hallow My name, and hallow the Holy One of Jacob, and fear the God of Israel.  24   These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, and those who complained will learn doctrine." 
See the hope God gives even for those who are in the church, but lost or in error some way ?  Our tendency is to judge and want to see Him judge, but His heart is in LOVE with those who are His own, and He is able to correct them and change them even when our hearts are unable to endure their sins.  We always have to remember that we war NOT against flesh and blood.  And that the Lord's love is unconditional.

Isaiah 30:23-33 NKJV
In that day your cattle will feed In large pastures. 24  Likewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground will eat cured fodder, which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan. 25  There will be on every high mountain and on every high hill Rivers and streams of waters, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 

Cattle and oxen, donkeys were the wealth of an agricultural society and being fed fodder that has been winnowed is rich food for them, so it symbolizes affluence. Mountains and hills refer to authorities. Rivers and streams of waters represent the continual flow of the Holy Spirit's power.  Towers symbolize places of safety, security and strength. 

26 Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD binds up the bruise of His people and heals the stroke of their wound. 
27 Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar, burning with His anger, and His burden is heavy; His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue like a devouring fire. 
28  His breath is like an overflowing stream, which reaches up to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of futility; and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.   29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy festival is kept, and gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute, to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the Mighty One of Israel. 

30 The LORD will cause His glorious voice to be heard, and show the descent of His arm, with the indignation of His anger And the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, tempest, and hailstones.   31  For through the voice of the LORD Assyria will be beaten down, as He strikes with the rod. 32  And in every place where the staff of punishment passes, which the LORD lays on him, it will be with tambourines and harps;  and in battles of brandishing He will fight with it. 

Our worship ( the tambourines and harps) will bring will bring down the punishment of God upon His enemies and release salvation in the earth.

33  For Tophet was established of old, Yes, for the king it is prepared. He has made it deep and large; its pyre is fire with much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, kindles it. 

Tophet is HELL and the king it is prepared for is the king of this world - Satan. He's going down as we say when the Lord returns.

Isa 31:7-9 NKJV
7  For in that day every man shall throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold--sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves. 8   "Then Assyria shall fall by a sword not of man, and a sword not of mankind shall devour him.  But he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall become forced labor.  9   He shall cross over to his stronghold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the banner," Says the LORD, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem. 

Every man is a lot of men and means a revival of unprecedented proportion and note the sword of the LORD is what devours the enemy a sword NOT of man.

Isa 52:5-15 NKJV   Now therefore, what have I here," says the LORD,  "That My people are taken away for nothing?  Those who rule over them Make them wail," says the LORD,  "And My name is blasphemed continually every day. 6  Therefore My people shall know My name;  Therefore they shall know in that day that I am He who speaks: 'Behold,  it is I.'" 7  How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"   8  Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together; for they shall see eye to eye when the LORD brings back Zion.   9  Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem!  For the LORD has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. 

They will see eye to eye now - that has to mean unity and the Lord it says brings back Zion.  Rejoice He tells us and sing together & worship together - a second time He says this emphasizing it.

10 The LORD has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 11  Depart! Depart! Go out from there, touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her, be clean, you who bear the vessels of the LORD. 12  For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight; for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. 
13  Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.  14  Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men;   15  So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider. 

He is the “sprinkler”, and every nation must hear the gospel before His return. And the Lord will go before us and after us. Emmanuel - God with us to the nations.

PART 2

IN THAT DAY
Priscilla Van Sutphin
tearsofthefather@sbcglobal.net
Jer 4:9-17 NKJV  "And it shall come to pass in that day," says the LORD, "That the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder." 10  Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, 'You shall have peace,  'Whereas the sword reaches to the heart." 11  At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem,  "A dry wind of the desolate heights blows in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people--Not to fan or to cleanse 12  A wind too strong for these will come for Me; now I will also speak judgment against them." 13  "Behold, he shall come up like clouds, and his chariots like a whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are plundered!" 
14  O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved.  How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you? 15  For a voice declares from Dan and proclaims affliction from Mount Ephraim: 16  "Make mention to the nations, yes, proclaim against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country and raise their voice against the cities of Judah. 17  Like keepers of a field they are against her all around, because she has been rebellious against Me," says the LORD. 

Matthew Henry says this about warnings: 
"God's usual method is to warn before he wounds. In these verses, accordingly, God gives notice to the Jews of the general desolation that would shortly be brought upon them by a foreign invasion. This must be declared and published in all the cities of Judah and streets of Jerusalem, that all might hear and fear, and by this loud alarm be either brought to repentance or left inexcusable. The prediction of this calamity is here given very largely, and in lively expressions, which one would think should have awakened and affected the most stupid. "     

Thus today, there are those who have sounded the warnings, but many still have not heard or choose not to listen. In Revelations it says even after judgments, many will shake their fist at God.

Jer 30:8-17 NKJV  'For it shall come to pass in that day, ' Says the LORD of hosts, 'That I will break his yoke from your neck, and will burst your bonds; foreigners shall no more enslave them. 9  But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.  10  'Therefore do not fear, O My servant Jacob,' says the LORD, 'Nor be dismayed, O Israel;  For behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity.  Jacob shall return, have rest and be quiet, and no one shall make him afraid. 11  For I am with you,' says the LORD, 'to save you; though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, yet I will not make a complete end of you.  But I will correct you in justice, and will not let you go altogether unpunished.' 

12  "For thus says the LORD:  'Your affliction is incurable, your wound is severe. 13   There is no one to plead your cause, that you may be bound up; you have no healing medicines. 14  All your lovers have forgotten you; they do not seek you; for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of your iniquities, because your sins have increased. 15  Why do you cry about your affliction?  Your sorrow is incurable.  Because of the multitude of your iniquities, because your sins have increased, I have done these things to you. 

16  'Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured; and all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; those who plunder you shall become plunder, and all who prey upon you I will make a prey.  17  For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds,' says the LORD,  'Because they called you an outcast saying: "This is Zion; no one seeks her." ' 

This is about the Day of the Lord in which Jacob will be troubled, but the Lord will defend Israel and heal up their wounds. It says your lovers have forgotten you, even the U.S. seems to have turned their backs on Israel, by what has happened.  Yet the Lord says because of your iniquities.  I have done these things to you, yet HE, THE ALMIGHTY ONE OF ISRAEL WILL SAVE AND DELIVER THEM FROM ALL CAPTIVITY and a reiteration of an old promise to Israel. Those who devour you will be devoured. Those who plunder you shall become plunder !!!  And this is also for the church..Zion...it says, because they called you an outcast saying, This is Zion, no one seeks her. That is surely true. No one wants us.  But the Lord of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel shall SAVE. This MUST happen for ISRAEL to turn to the LORD.

Jer 30:18-24  NKJV
18  "Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will bring back the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; the city shall be built upon its own mound, and the palace shall remain according to its own plan.  19  Then out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry;  I will multiply them, and they shall not diminish;  I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. 20  Their children also shall be as before, and their congregation shall be established before Me; and I will punish all who oppress them. 21 Their nobles shall be from among them, and their governor shall come from their midst; then I will cause him to draw near,  and he shall approach Me; for who is this who pledged his heart to approach Me?' says the LORD.   22  'You shall be My people, and I will be your God.' " 

23 Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goes forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind; It will fall violently on the head of the wicked.   24  The fierce anger of the LORD will not return until He has done it, and until He has performed the intents of His heart.  In the latter days you will consider it. 

The whirlwind of the Lord according to Conner (Interpreting the Symbols and Types in the Bible) is a symbol of hurricanes, sweeping power, inability to resist it's power.  Wind is the symbol of power of God or satan, the Breath of life.  The Lord has promised vengeance on the wicked and will not relent till it is accomplished.  Then it says "In the latter days you will consider it ".  It is time.


Continue to Part 2