Isaiah 18:7
7 In that time [`eth] shall the
present [shay] be brought [yabal] unto the LORD [Yahovah] of
hosts [tsaba'] of a people [`am] scattered [mashak] and
peeled [mowrat], and from a people [`am] terrible [yare'] from their
beginning hitherto [halaah]; a nation [gowy] meted out [qav-qav] and
trodden under foot [mabuwcah], whose land ['erets] the rivers [nahar] have
spoiled [baza'], to the place [maqowm] of the name [shem] of the
LORD [Yahovah] of hosts [tsaba'], the mount [har] Zion [Tsiyown]. KJV-Interlinear
7 At that time a gift of homage
will be brought to the Lord of hosts From a people tall and smooth, Even from a
people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation, Whose land the
rivers divide — To the place of the name
of the Lord of hosts, even Mount Zion. NASB
This chapter begins
with the identification of land beyond Ethiopia, a land where the rivers
divide, and in Isaiah’s day that is a reference to Africa. And now, in that time, is a reference to the
final days of history, after the greatest judgment of them all, when evil is
destroyed and the predatory animals of the world are all gathered together to
the great feast, as the dead of humanity are scattered everywhere.
But not all of Africa
is evil, as there will be a remnant of survivors, delivered by Christ at the
Second Advent, who had lived in the great lands divided by rivers, beyond
Ethiopia, namely Africa, during the devastating and evil years of the Tribulation.
And they will come out
of their hiding or from wherever they had been living, despite the massive
destruction of Africa, and they will go to Jerusalem, where Jesus Christ will
set up His capital for the 1000 year kingdom of God here on the earth.
But this reference is not
stated as Jerusalem, per se, but as mount Zion.
For Zion is the symbol of
Gods dwelling place, which is truth, which is given to us in the form of the
scriptures or bible doctrine. And that
is where the remnant is heading, being guided by doctrine which they knew,
because the had learned it at some time during those seven years of the
Tribulation.
Remember that when the Tribulation
begins, there will be only unbelievers on the earth. All believers will have been initially
removed at the Rapture, and then the Tribulation will begin. So, anyone who believes after the Rapture,
will have done so, during the move horrendous time in all of human
history. Learning doctrine in those
years will be extremely difficult and anyone trying to be good Christians will
have tremendous obstacles to overcome, including but not limited to, crime,
gangs, war, famine, government regulations against them, unemployment,
starvation, being extremely poor, and probably worst of all, the constant
temptation of compromising their new beliefs, which they did not know or have
before, in order to survive life.
And as should be
obvious, most believers will not be able to stand up against the pressures of
life and they will die. Heaven will fill
up fast with the innumerable numbers of Christian martyrs.
But there will be some,
even from the remotest of places on the earth, who will believe, who will hold
fast to their Christian beliefs, who will learn when learning is near
impossible, and they will travel to Jerusalem, because of the doctrine in their
souls. They will be mature believers.
