Isaiah 14:24
24 The LORD [Yahovah] of hosts [tsaba'] hath sworn [shaba], saying ['amar], Surely as I have thought [damah], so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed [ya`ats], so shall it stand [quwm]: KJV-Interlinear
24 The Lord of hosts has sworn
saying, "Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I
have planned so it will stand, NASB
This is an emphatic
statement of certainty.
The phrase, I have
thought, means the design and intent that God has foreseen in eternity past.
And therefore, just as God has foreseen, then so it shall be.
And as God has
purposed, refers to his divine decision and determination based on all of the
facts of history.
And finally, the
phrase, so shall it stand, simply means that nothing in history will change
this outcome.
And that is our lesson
from this verse.
These verses were
written by Isaiah over 2800 years ago. Anyone and everyone who has ever lived
and has been able to read or hear or learn, has had ample opportunity to know
this text, and this prophecy.
The Bible discloses
innumerable details of future events. People from generation to generation
throughout history have been familiar with these prophecies, or have had
opportunity to become familiarized with these prophecies.
But even the knowledge
and even the understanding of the way things are going to be, is insufficient
for anyone to change the ultimate outcome.
Satan for example,
knows all of these prophecies in detail. He knows the certainty of Gods promise
of his own demise, and yet Satan disregards all, believing that he is going to
be able to overcome these prophecies and defeat God.
People throughout
history, have opportunity to read and study the Bible and know their
obligations and responsibilities, and understand the rules and mechanics for
spiritual growth, and of the function of the spiritual life. And yet knowing,
is insufficient to get them to make the right choices and pursue life as God
intends for people to pursue life.
When people lack Bible
doctrine in their soul, which simply means they have not taken the time to
study or be taught doctrine on a regular basis day after day during their
lives, then they lack truth, and they lack discernment, and they lack
orientation to all of the many facets of life, which includes all of history
that has gone before, as well as lacking understanding of contemporary events and
where it is all heading.
Somehow, naïve people believe
they can change history and either postpone or prevent the ultimate outcome of
human destruction and the end of the world. And as noble a purpose that this
might be, it disregards the fundamental sin nature of people, and the ultimate
results of people rejecting truth, by their own choice.
Of the many trends that
the Bible has used to describe our current dispensation, which we call the
church age, many are notable and obvious, such as the rise in earthquake
numbers, the rise in world population, the rise in science and knowledge, and
such things.
But the one prediction
made by both Paul and Jesus, described as the ‘great apostasy,’ will not be so
easily identified, simply because the very nature of apostasy, which is
indifference toward truth due to a fixated fascination of other beliefs, will
blind everyone from seeing the error of their ways and therefore this
prediction.
And that is the last
great and final characteristic of our dispensation, which will exist prior to
and during the time of the rapture. The rapture is the termination event of our
dispensation. Then the seven year tribulation will take center stage.
With the restraint of
sin removed, the worst evil of every possible kind will reveal itself, and
occur during the tribulation. And not because God causes it, because he does
not. But because people of their own free will will choose against truth,
against learning doctrine under instruction, against confession in order to
keep themselves in fellowship with God, against spiritual growth as God intends
for everyone, and instead they will pursue evil because they choose to pursue
evil. They will refuse to disregard Gods
defined responsibilities and roles for them in life.
And so these events of
the tribulation and the very end of the tribulation, at the second advent, will
occur with certainty.
No amount of sincerity,
no amount of good intentions, no amount of believing that they can be changed,
will ever change the ultimate outcome of human history.
And so God through
Isaiah, clearly states here, that these events have been foreseen, that these
events are by mans free choice, and therefore these events will occur. And as a
result of man’s evil, God will bring it all to an end.
The same principle
applies to your individual personal life. Continue pretending that you know
what you’re doing, refuse to engage in a daily study of the word of God, and
that means daily study, remain indifferent and apathetic toward Gods mandates
in preference for the convenience of your own beliefs, and you will suffer the
same outcome, perhaps not as dramatic or intense as in the tribulation, but
nonetheless a failure for yourself in life.
The Bible is not a
children’s book, nor a book that collects dust on the shelf, but it is the
manual for the completed and fulfilled life of the individual. All you have to
do is figure that out.
