Monday, March 26, 2012

Isaiah 4:5


Copyright Ó 2012 J. Neely
Isaiah 4:5

5 And the LORD [Yahovah] will create [bara'] upon every dwelling place [makown] of mount [har] Zion, [Tsiyown] and upon her assemblies, [miqra'] a cloud [`anan] and smoke [`ashan] by day, [yowmam] and the shining [nogahh] of a flaming [lehabah] fire ['esh] by night: [layil] for upon all the glory [kabowd] shall be a defence. [chuppah] KJV-Interlinear

5 then the Lord will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy. NASB

The key to this verse is found in the word, create, ‘bara,’ which means to create out of nothing.

In other passages, God created, ‘bara,’ the universe out of nothing.  God created, ‘bara,’ human life out of nothing.  And here, God creates, ‘bara,’ a dwelling place out of nothing.

This does not mean that God is going to build a bunch of homes or put up a bunch of tents, but it simply means that God is going to make the dwellings, not man.  The source of homes and safety and comfort is God, not man.

Man cannot create anything, out of nothing.

There is nothing that man can make, or invent, or imagine, that will provide any of these things.

The dwelling place is of Mt Zion.  Zion is the representation of the vast expanse of Gods truth or doctrine.  Doctrine in the soul to the maximum, since it must be learned and used and applied by the believer, means spiritually mature believers.

Remember that the term, Israel, represents the nation of believers.  The term, Jerusalem, represents the residence of mature believers, the city of peace.  The city is inside of the nation, obviously.  Only believers can advance to spiritual maturity.  The term, Mt Zion, represents the vast source of truth, or doctrine.  Zion is the mountain that is inside of the city of Jerusalem, and this represents that mature believers are mature, not because they enter into a city, but because they have learned and retained doctrine.

So, the dwelling place of safety, comes from doctrine, which comes from God, who creates this new spiritual species, namely the believer, and especially the believer who advances to spiritual maturity through learning doctrine.

Her assemblies, is a reference to all of the interactions that the believer has with God, through doctrine resident in the soul.  The mature believer who is in fellowship is in constant contact, spiritually speaking, with God.  That is the ultimate perpetual assembly.

Your Bible study, when you are in fellowship, is an assembly.  Your prayer is an assembly.  All that you do on a daily basis is an assembly, when you are in fellowship.  Any and all spiritual assemblies whether between you and God or when with others, is a spiritual assembly only when you are in fellowship.  Your location, your building, your posture, your health, etc., are irrelevant.

The symbolism of the cloud of smoke by day and the pillar of fire by night, comes from the time when the Israelites were wandering in the desert.  These symbols made it very clear to all that saw them, that this people, Gods people, all believers, belong to God and He alone protects them and there is nothing and no one who can interfere with that which belongs to God.  God watches over His people, around the clock, everyday.

In that day, in the end times, after God has returned and destroyed all evil, the entire world will be totally devastated.  It will take Gods help and provision to keep all survivors alive and moving forward into the Millennium.

In past history, when peoples migrated from one region to another totally new region, many did not survive.  They did not have the resources or the wherewithal to make it on their own.  And when the Millennium begins, people on their own could not survive.  But with Gods help, they will all survive and thrive and return the world to a phenomenally huge population, far greater than anything that the world will have prior to the Millennium.

For by this glory, ‘kabowd,’ weight, glory, honor, which all comes from God alone.  By means of Gods essence and power and so forth, everyone who enters into the Millennium will survive and thrive.

By the same token, all people who enter into spiritual maturity, regardless of their position or time in history, will survive and thrive and succeed in Gods care.

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