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THE DAY OF THE LORD

(A GOOD THING OR A BAD THING, DEPENDING UPON WHO YOU ARE)

07-03-11

THE JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS (THE BAD)

(Isa 34:1-4)  Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation [Heb: wrath] of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases [Heb: corpses, dead bodies], and the mountains [of pride] shall be melted with their blood. And all the host of heaven [pagan deities] shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll [the old cosmos will give way to the new]: and all their host [the fallen angels] shall fall down [i.e., be cut off], as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.

1.     (2 Pet 3:10-13)  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation [Gk: life-style] and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

(Isa 34:5-7)  For my sword [the Word of God, Jesus Christ] shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea [Heb: Edom, the elder twin-brother of Jacob] [symbolizing “the flesh”], and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah [the royal city of Edom], and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. And the unicorns [symbols of great supernatural power and invincible might. Probably in this context referring to fallen angels] shall come down with them [the people of Edom, “the flesh”], and the bullocks with the bulls [representing lesser human powers]; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

(Isa 34:8-11)  For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance [Heb: revenge], and the year of recompenses [Heb: retributions] for the controversy [Heb: for the causes] of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch [tar], and the dust thereof into brimstone [ref. Sodom and Gomorrah], and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. But the cormorant [Heb: pelican (an unclean bird)] and the bittern [“porcupine” Amplif., also unclean] shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the [horizontal measuring] line of confusion, and the [vertical] stones of emptiness [“the plummet stones of chaos over its nobles” Amplif.] [i.e., God will reveal nothing to this people].  

1.     The Nelson Study Bible: The Hebrew words translated confusion [Heb: tohuw] and emptiness [Heb: bohuw] are translated “without form and void” in Gen 1:2. Edom will be returned to chaos.

2.     (Isa 28:9-11)  Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept [the vertical revelation: from God to man]; line upon line, line upon line [the horizontal revelation: from man to man]; here a little, and there a little: For with stammering lips [Heb: as a buffoon /// to speak unintelligibly, laughed at, to be mocked] and another tongue [Heb: a strange tongue] will he speak to this people [i.e., with the tongue of the Lord God, the Bible].

(Isa 34:12-17)  They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there [there will be no nobles to hear], and all her princes shall be nothing [“shall be no more” Amplif. “will vanish away” NIV]. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles [Heb: to sting; a prickly plant] and brambles [Heb: to pierce, a thorn, thistle] in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons [Heb: a marine or land monster], and a court for owls [unclean birds]. The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr [Heb: shaggy he-goat: devil] shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures [unclean birds] also be gathered, every one with her mate. Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these [prophecies] shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit [the Holy Spirit] it hath gathered them. And he hath cast the lot for them [for the unclean animals], and his hand hath divided it unto them by line [“and His hand has portioned Edom to the wild beasts by measuring line” Amplif.]: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.

THE RETURN TO ZION (THE GOOD)

(Isa 35:1-10)  The wilderness and the solitary place [“the dry land” Amplif.] shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon [Heb: the white mountain (from its snow)] shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel [Heb: fruitful field] and Sharon [“I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.” Song 2:1], they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance [Heb: revenge], even God with a recompense [Heb: a retribution]; he will come and save you. Then [the fullness of the Spirit will manifest] the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart [Heb: a male deer], and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons [“jackals” Amplif., NIV], where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And an highway shall be there, and a way [Heb: a road (as trodden); fig. a course of life or mode of action], and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean [unsaved] shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those [“for the redeemed” Amplif.]: the wayfaring men [walking the way], though fools, shall not err therein [“the simple ones and fools, shall not err in it and lose their way” Amplif., “wicked fools will not go about on it” NIV]. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

1.     (Prov 16:17)  The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth [Heb: guards, protects] his way [Heb: a road (as trodden); fig. a course of life or mode of action] preserveth [Heb: places a hedge about] his soul.

2.     (Isa 19:23-25)  In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

3.     (Isa 40:3)  The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert [of this world] a highway for our God.

Amen