Isaiah 29:1-12
THE WOE UPON ARIEL... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WOE UPON ARIEL... [ Continue Reading ]
Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, a name signifying either "lion of God" or, more likely, "mountain of God," THE CITY WHERE DAVID DWELT! which is still distinguished by that fact. ADD YE YEAR TO YEAR, another year to the present year; LET THEM KILL SACRIFICES, so that another cycle of festivals will be comple... [ Continue Reading ]
Yet I will distress Ariel, at the time indicated, AND THERE SHALL BE HEAVINESS AND SORROW, sighing and groaning; AND IT SHALL BE UNTO ME AS ARIEL, Jerusalem would prove herself a place where the judgment of the Lord would be carried out.... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will camp against thee round about, the enemies carrying out His plans in their siege of the city, AND WILL LAY SIEGE AGAINST THEE WITH A MOUNT, with fortifications fully manned, every soldier determined to take the city, AND I WILL RAISE FORTS AGAINST THEE, earthworks or entrenchments.... [ Continue Reading ]
And thou shalt be brought down and shalt speak out of the ground, as though covered with earth, her voice faint and hollow, AND THY SPEECH SHALL BE LOW OUT OF THE DUST, muffled and hard to understand, AND THY VOICE SHALL BE AS OF ONE THAT HAS A FAMILIAR SPIRIT, OUT OF THE GROUND, like that of a vent... [ Continue Reading ]
Moreover, the multitude of thy strangers, of the enemies of Zion, SHALL BE LIKE SMALL DUST, utterly crushed, AND THE MULTITUDE OF THE TERRIBLE ONES SHALL BE AS CHAFF THAT PASSETH AWAY, carried off by the wind without a trace to show that they were there; YEA, IT SHALL BE AT AN INSTANT SUDDENLY, the... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou, Jerusalem, SHALT BE VISITED, but graciously, with a view to deliverance, OF THE LORD OF HOSTS, the mighty Commander of the heavenly armies, WITH THUNDER, AND WITH EARTHQUAKE, AND GREAT NOISE, WITH STORM AND TEMPEST, AND THE FLAME OF DEVOURING FIRE, all the forces of nature being employed by th... [ Continue Reading ]
And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, the mount of the Lord, typical of His holy Church, EVEN ALL THAT FIGHT AGAINST HER AND HER MUNITION, her mountain fortress, AND THAT DISTRESS HER, SHALL BE AS A DREAM OF A NIGHT VISION, with nothing tangible to boast of, with no victory... [ Continue Reading ]
It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth, the dream being so very vivid; BUT HE AWAKETH, AND HIS SOUL IS EMPTY, no real food having passed his lips; OR AS WHEN A THIRSTY MAN DREAMETH, AND, BEHOLD, HE DRINKETH; BUT HE AWAKETH, AND, BEHOLD, HE IS FAINT, with his thirst u... [ Continue Reading ]
Stay yourselves and wonder, stopping in foolish astonishment and unbelieving amazement; cry ye out and cry, rather, "blind yourselves and become blind," said of those who deliberately harden themselves against the influence of the joyful message brought to their attention; THEY ARE DRUNKEN, BUT NOT... [ Continue Reading ]
For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, with which they were stupefied, AND HATH CLOSED YOUR EYES, blinding them against the light of understanding; THE PROPHETS AND YOUR RULERS, THE SEERS, HATH HE COVERED, the very leaders who were supposed to teach the people were afflicted... [ Continue Reading ]
And the vision of all, that which was revealed by the vision of the true prophets concerning all things, IS BECOME UNTO YOU AS THE WORDS OF A BOOK THAT IS SEALED, of a roll of parchment sealed so that the writing is not visible, WHICH MEN DELIVER TO ONE THAT IS LEARNED, SAYING, READ THIS, I PRAY THE... [ Continue Reading ]
and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, an illiterate person, SAYING, READ THIS, I PRAY THEE; AND HE SAITH, I AM NOT LEARNED. In either event, the writing will not be revealed, the teaching of God is hidden from them, just as it is from the hearts and minds of all such as harden their... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people, the men of the Southern Kingdom, the children of Judah, DRAW NEAR ME WITH THEIR MOUTH AND WITH THEIR LIPS DO HONOR ME, in a mere outward form of worship, BUT HAVE REMOVED THEIR HEART FAR FROM ME, faith being lost entirely, AND THEIR FEAR TOWARD ME I... [ Continue Reading ]
THE COUNSEL OF GOD... [ Continue Reading ]
therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder, by an exceptional act of judgment; FOR THE WISDOM OF THEIR WISE MEN SHALL PERISH, so that the counsel and help of those upon whom Judah depended would no longer appear, AND THE UNDERSTANDI... [ Continue Reading ]
Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, trying to conceal their object from the eyes of God, as even Hezekiah did at times, AND THEIR WORKS ARE IN THE DARK, as they think, hidden from the omniscience of the Lord, and they say, WHO SEETH US, AND WHO KNOWETH US?... [ Continue Reading ]
Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay, the sentence being like an exclamation: "Alas upon your perversion! As clay is the potter to be considered?" FOR SHALL THE WORK, the vessel as it comes from the potter's hands, SAY OF HIM THAT MADE IT, HE MADE ME NOT?... [ Continue Reading ]
Is it not yet a very little while and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? The reference is to the time of the Messiah, when the hearts of men, moral deserts without the Lord, will be reclaimed so as to bear fruits of righteousness.... [ Continue Reading ]
And In that day shall the deaf, those whose ears had, by their natural perversity, been closed to the voice of the Lord, HEAR THE WORDS OF THE BOOK, of the written revelation, AND THE EYES OF THE BLIND, those suffering with spiritual blindness, SHALL SEE OUT OF OBSCURITY AND OUT OF DARKNESS, for the... [ Continue Reading ]
The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, the godly among the afflicted finding their one satisfaction in communion with Him, AND THE POOR AMONG MEN SHALL REJOICE IN THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL. Cf Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20.... [ Continue Reading ]
For the terrible one is brought to naught, and the scorner is consumed, both the tyrants and the mockers, the enemies of Jehovah being laid low, AND ALL THAT WATCH FOR INIQUITY ARE CUT OFF, their wickedness in watching for opportunities to commit iniquity being duly punished,... [ Continue Reading ]
that make a man an offender for a word, unjustly condemning him, no matter what his cause may he, AND LAY A SNARE FOR HIM THAT REPROVETH IN THE GATE, one who has a matter at issue in the courts, which were commonly held in the gates of the cities, AND TURN ASIDE THE JUST FOR A THING OF NAUGHT, bring... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore, thus saith the Lord who redeemed Abraham, by calling him away from his father's house, out of the midst of idolatry, CONCERNING THE HOUSE OF JACOB, the congregation of people chosen by Him, JACOB SHALL NOT NOW BE ASHAMED, NEITHER SHALL HIS FACE NOW WAX PALE, the Church of the Lord no long... [ Continue Reading ]
But when he seeth his children, the work of Mine hands, a new generation of sincere believers in Him, IN THE MIDST OF HIM, as a new congregation and assembly of saints, THEY SHALL SANCTIFY MY NAME, AND SANCTIFY THE HOLY ONE OF JACOB, AND SHALL FEAR THE GOD OF ISRAEL, the lesson of Judah's punishment... [ Continue Reading ]
They also that erred in spirit, those whose spirit had forsaken the way of the Lord, SHALL COME TO UNDERSTANDING, namely, that of God's will and ways, AND THEY THAT MURMURED SHALL LEARN DOCTRINE, receive the discipline or instruction of the Lord. God desires His children of all times to learn the tr... [ Continue Reading ]