Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Isaiah 9:19


Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely
Isaiah 9:19ues

19 Through the wrath [`ebrah] of the LORD [Yahovah] of hosts [tsaba'] is the land ['erets] darkened, [`atham] and the people [`am] shall be as the fuel [ma'akoleth] of the fire: ['esh] no man ['iysh] shall spare [chamal] his brother. ['ach] KJV-Interlinear

19 By the fury of the Lord of hosts the land is burned up, And the people are like fuel for the fire; No man spares his brother.  NASB


When people break the law, they are dealt with through a legal due process and punished accordingly.  Crime is a transgression against that which is lawful.

In the greater spiritual world, all transgressions against truth, are a criminal act, as it were.  All transgressions against truth, regardless of whether they are from do-gooder self-righteousness, or from acts of crime, are punishable by means of divine justice.

In this temporal world, criminal or social misbehavior can be relative from generation to generation, from culture to culture, from geographical region to geographical region, from person to person.  There is no real standard by which to gauge crime by, except for legal documents, laws, regulations, and even social or cultural traditions.

But in the greater realm, there is an absolute standard, which is called truth.  And it is by that standard that God applies justice, fairly and equally to all since time began.  And, that will never change.

The fury of the Lord, is the application of justice against all transgressions, of every type imaginable.

The greatest transgression of all is the indifference toward truth, for lack of the knowledge of truth, leads to only one destination, which is evil and ultimately judgment.  And people lack truth for only one reason, which is because they simply do not learn it, because they are not interested in it, because they are comfortable with what they already think they know, and believe that to be good enough.

If your current beliefs serve your purpose in life, then you are in deep trouble.  Because when you start learning truth, then you soon discover that you can never learn it all, because it is so vast.  And that should be sufficient to drive you to want to learn more and more, and that requires from you, a daily study for the rest of your life.

But of course you have to want to abide by Gods truth, which includes His mandates, principles and so forth.  You cannot pick and choose what truth you will or will not use in your life.

Unfortunately, most folks do not want to commit to that approach for learning.  They, again, are comfortable or prefer what they have and feel it to be sufficient.  And of course there are those who could care less and are driven by their many lusts.

The Lord of Hosts, is Jesus Christ.  Hosts, is a reference to large groups, many groups arrayed for battle.  And Jesus Christ is the General of the many armies of history and beyond.  His power and resources are infinite and cannot be compared to anything in this world.

A land darkened, is a land under Gods judgment.

People are the source fuel of that darkness and destruction.  People commit sins.  People are indifferent toward truth.

The rocks and trees and grass and animals do not sin.  Only people sin.  Only people reject God and truth.

And as a result of sin, trouble in every sense of the word, entered into this world.

In the Garden, life was perfect until sin. Then, every flaw, every problem, every sin, every transgression, every handicap, every limitation on human attributes, all came out of that single sin and spread to the entire human race.

When people are so spiritually low, then they will not care for even the basic human structures, such as family.

Everyone will turn against their own brother.  No family, no loyalty, no charity, no empathy.  The only thing that will exist will be, me first, and everyone else is expendable.

In history, humanity has seen many cycles of human behavior.  But in the last generation, the Tribulation generation, the worst of the worst of human character will become unrestrained and manifest.  And as Isaiah is one of the best resources of documentation of prophecy of those final days, here we can see the prophecies of the ultimate judgment against evil.  And it will not be a pretty sight.

If you have believed in Christ, then you will not see that era.  Only those who remain unbelievers when the Rapture occurs, will be the unfortunate ones who will live and experience those dark final seven years.

And of course we do not know when that historical event will occur.

But you do know, you and now, and whether or not you will become enlightened with truth by pursuing and using a daily study, or whether you prefer the company of the stubble of humanity, and add yourself to the fuel for discipline or judgment.