Isaiah 18:5
5 For afore [paniym] the harvest
[qatsiyr], when the bud [perach] is perfect [tamam], and the
sour grape [bocer] is ripening [gamal] in the flower [nitstsah],
he shall both cut off [karath] the sprigs [zalzal] with pruning hooks [mazmerah], and take away [cuwr] and cut down [tazaz] the branches [natiyshah]. KJV-Interlinear
5 For before the harvest, as soon
as the bud blossoms And the flower
becomes a ripening grape, Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives And
remove and cut away the spreading branches. NASB
Using the imagery of a
harvest that is not quite ready, but is getting close to the time of harvest,
God can step in at any time and intervene and interrupt the plans of man.
The bud and the flower
are indications of a fruit that is beginning to form but still needs some time
in order to come to a complete harvest ready state.
When humanity was
building the Tower of Babel, God allowed the construction to continue for a
time, but then intervened with language confusion in order to bring the whole
project to a stop, and to otherwise scatter the people in order to promote
their freedom from the slavery of the project.
The project of the
tower being the symbolism of human effort to rise up to Gods level by means of
mans energy, in total disregard for the promised savior, who would complete the
work of salvation and thus bring man to God by means of Gods work.
Throughout history man
has formed nations and empires with one purpose which was to promote themselves
by means of subduing or destroying others, all of which was driven by evil.
But in every case, God
intervened and destroyed the predator empire, thus extending the promise of
freedom so that man could have yet another chance to pursue God and Christ and
doctrine and gain the ultimate freedom and liberty and prosperity that has been
intended by God from the start.
But of course history
repeats itself as evil man does not learn from the mistakes and corruption of
prior generations, believing that somehow this next time the new leaders will
succeed with even better ideas where others have failed. Never once believing or realizing that
failure is based on the negative attitude toward Christ, not mans better ideas.
Any ideas that reject
Christ and truth, have but one destiny, which is failure. None of mans plans will ever succeed.
And right up to the
bitter end of history, humanity will pursue idea after idea, plan after plan,
regulation and law after regulation and law, and the end result will be the
near extinction of the human race. That is
the result of mans plans.
And so that we all have
some semblance of hope and confidence, here is Gods promise that no plans of
man, no nations, no empires will ever succeed, as God possesses the right and
power and ability and sovereignty and authority over all things, and will terminate
any and all of mans plans at the proper time, so that freedom and truth can be
restored.
Granted mans plans can span
across several generations, but then evil plans are only promoted and
perpetuated because people promote and perpetuate them.
Nevertheless, even when
there is very little on the side of truth in this world, remember that God does
not rely on human means. The battle is
the Lords.
