Feast of Tabernacles 2005: Day 4-Part 2

All right, now let’s continue on here in the book of Isaiah and let’s continue here and do the things that God wants us to do and find out what else He’s going to do. Now let’s come down here to verse 17 of Isaiah 41. Since we’re right here we’ll just finish this off.

Now here is what God is going to do, verse 17: “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together…” Now as I have mentioned here the climate is going to change. It’s going to be put back to the way that it was. And he says here: “…That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it” (Isa. 41:10,13-14, 17-20, KJV). So again, after all the destruction centered around the return of Christ, He’s going to recreate the surface of the earth. He’s going to repair all of mankind, that is those who survive on into the Millennium.

Now let’s come back here to Isaiah 11. Let’s see the kind of administration that Christ is going to have. And let’s see how it’s going to be carried out. And of course we’re going to be a part of it. This is one of my favorite chapters in the book of Isaiah concerning the Millennium, and it is also one that tells us some great and fantastic things that are going to happen and how the whole nature of the earth – men and animals will be changed.

Now verse 1: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: and the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him [now this applies to the first coming as well as the second coming], the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; and shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD…” Now also this is a pattern for us. The more that we learn these things that are here – wisdom, understanding, spirit of counsel, might and knowledge and fear of the Lord, the more that it’s going to give us understanding of God. The more it’s going to give us understanding of the Word of God. “…And shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears: but with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth…”

Then it talks about His second return here: “…and He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall he slay the wicked.” Now if any start to rise up and be wicked during the Millennium they will be taken care of very quickly. We’re not going to have as it is today with hundreds of thousands of convicted sex perverts living in the community. They will either be totally repentant and be righteous or they will be eliminated.

Now it also says here, verse 5: “And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins.” Faithful to God the Father, because see when it’s all done, when everything is finished then He’s going to take the whole Kingdom and deliver it up to God the Father. And as we will see, the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven. Now we’re getting ahead of our self a little bit here, but that’s what’s going to happen.

Now back on the earth, here’s what’s going to take place: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb [complete change of nature], and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.” Now I tell you what – all of these pets are going to be fantastic replacements for all of the stupid toys that we have now. You think about it. How many toys that children have today are absolutely worthless. As I was coming back on a plane trip recently, I was walking up and down the aisle because I had to sit on a plane for three hours and it’s good to get up and move around. And as I was going up and down the aisle I was amazed the number of children and men and women that have these little games. And they’re sitting there playing these games. And you know what most of these games are, are demonic games and warring, and most of them have to do with an attack from outer space. So what’s happening with all of this today is it’s training them to fight the return of Christ. Now think about that. It is. So God is going to eliminate all of those things. He’s going to replace it with the real thing. They’re going to have animals, they’re going to have pets, and they are going to be able to lead them. You know, can you imagine that – a little child coming out and calling a lion and say, “Here kitty, kitty, kitty.” And here comes a lion loping up to them peaceful, not wild, not vicious. A total change. Now you ask any of your children if they would like to have a lion for a pet like that. Ask them if they’d be willing to give up their toys for a pet like that. Of course you can’t have it today, but that’s what all the children are going to have available to them then. They’re going to have their own horses, they’re going to have their own pets, they’re going to have to take care of them, they’re going to learn responsibility and all of this that goes with it.

Now verse 7: “And the cow and the bear shall feed…” They’ll feed together. You look out in the pasture and there’s a cow and there’s a bear, both of them eating grass. “…Their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.” Now that’s going to be a change. I don’t know what God is going to do. I don’t know if He’s going to change the teeth when He recreates them with this nature or not, and it’s going to be awfully hard to envision a lion with a set of choppers like ours all of the same length. You picture a lion and it opens it’s mouth and here are these big fangs hanging out. Can you imagine a lion smiling and it has this perfect denture of teeth because it now eats grass? Well I don’t know, we’ll have to see. But I’ve often wondered that when I read this. I’ve often wondered, “Is that what’s going to happen?” Who knows?

“And the sucking child [now this is one that is crawling] shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.” Now God is saying this to prove a point. Verse 9: “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain…” Now the mountain of God is going to be exalted, as we saw, “above all the hills and all the mountains.” That means over all the governments of the earth, and all the governments of the earth are going to be in the hands of the saints, and those will be under Christ. So when He says “in all My holy mount,” He means in all the jurisdiction which then is the whole earth, and follows up with this statement: “…for [this is the reason for this – this is the cause for this] the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isa. 11:1-9, KJV). Now if you ever have an opportunity to get out and go on the ocean (I don’t recommend you get out there when there’s a storm or whatever), but if you ever do and you look out and you see the vastness of the ocean, and the ship that looks so big at the dock is just nothing but a little chip of wood out on this fantastic ocean where day after day, after day, after day all you can see is water. And you think about how insignificant man is.

Now you think we have knowledge of God today? No way. We have the bare essentials here in the Word of God. That’s what we have. So this tells us there is going to be a tremendous outpouring of knowledge that comes from God. A tremendous educational process that we are going to also be involved in, in teaching people. And it also means that we are going to understand this tremendous knowledge, and we are going to be able to help dispense it to the people. Now I tell you, that’s something – the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. That is really a fantastic thing.

Now let’s come back here to Isaiah 62. You know the whole book of Isaiah is filled with so many great and fantastic descriptions concerning the Kingdom of God, the rule of the saints and what it’s going to be like, and how everything is going to be changed and recreated and made perfect. It’s not going to be like we have today.

Now Isaiah 62:1: “For Zion’s sake will I not hold My peace…” No, God is going to bring it. “…And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness…” So in other words when Christ returns this tells us that not only He but us are going to be busy and active and working all through the Millennium till when? “…The righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.” And it’s going to reach out to the whole world, because it says verse 2: “And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God” (Isa. 62:1-3, KJV). Now that’s talking about the dispensation that God is going ... I hate the word “dispensation.” Please don’t think I’m preaching dispensationalism because I’m not. But this has to do with the reign of Christ. This is how it’s going to be done and we are going to be part of it.

Now since we’re here in Isaiah let’s come back here to Isaiah 19. And just think about this. Here is what God has given us for hope, for inspiration, for instruction, for knowledge that we have not only a goal and purpose in our lives now to enter into the Kingdom of God, but we have a job and a work before us which is going to be all through the Millennium and then all out into eternity. See, this is what is so great. This is what is so marvelous.

Now Isaiah 19:23. Now you think about this – think about the way that it is today and then as I read these verses think about the change in human nature that’s going to come about. “In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria…” Now the only way that that goes is right through what is called the Holy Land, because Assyria is up in the area of northwestern Iraq. “…And the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with…” In other words it will be a partnership between Israel, Egypt, and Assyria. And that doesn’t mean the third behind because Israel will be the first third, Egypt will be the second third, and Assyria will be the third, third. “…Third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land…” What are we today? We are a curse in the midst of the land because we’re always involved in warring and fighting against each other. So total change of nature of human beings, of our relationships with the different nations. This also tells us that the nations are going to retain their identity, and they’re going to retain the inheritance that God originally intended them to have, and that they are all going to work together.

Now notice: “…Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people…” Well, you read it today. God says, “Don’t go down to Egypt.” Don’t learn of the way of the Egyptians. Don’t go after the gods of the Egyptians. Don’t do the ways that they do. He says, they’re blessed. “…Egypt My people...” Now that is stunning. “…And Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance” (Isa. 19:23-25, KJV). So a total change in the nations, a total change in how people deal and function with one another. Love, and joy, and peace, and righteousness, and trust, and working together. So, I tell you this is going to be something. And it just blows my mind when I think about people who have given up on the knowledge of what God has for us and how He’s going to do it and the way it’s going to be done and all these Scriptures that we find here in the Bible talking about our calling and our job and what Christ is going to do, how beautiful the world is going to be, how fantastic the cities are going to be, how absolutely wonderful and cooperative all the nations will be. And I’ll tell you what this is going to prove, it’s going to prove that the United Nations was absolutely a Satanic counterfeit of the Kingdom of God and the rule and government of Christ. It’s going to be just absolutely no comparison.

Now let’s come to Isaiah 33. Here’s what it’s going to be – everything that the Millennium pictures, and it’s described here in the Scriptures. Isn’t it interesting. Stop and think for just a minute, the Catholics say that they could preach the teachings of Christ without the Bible and so therefore they don’t know a thing about what God has planned. The Protestants say you don’t need to read the Old Testament, so when they hear about something like we have here and what we’re reading it doesn’t make any sense to them because they’re all going to waft off to heaven. Well Christ is going to come to the earth, the saints are going to be with Him, and the whole world is going to be changed.

Now here, Isaiah 33:5: “The LORD is exalted; for He dwelleth on high: He hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness. And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.” So those are going to be the parameters – the governing policies of the government of Jesus Christ of which we are going to execute.

Now let’s come over here to verse 13: “Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge My might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” We’re going to be delivered from them. Verse 15: “He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high…” Now this also shows that those of us who enter into the Kingdom of God and become the priests and the teachers and the kings and the leaders – no more corruption in government, right? No, there won’t be any more at all.

Now verse 20: “Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle…” That’s where God is going to dwell. Remember, the whole theme of the Feast of Tabernacles is always that God will dwell with His people. That’s what God wants. “…A tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us” (Isa. 33:5-6, 13-16, 20-22, KJV). So there again, look at all of these themes that we have showing what the Millennium is going to be like, showing what the rule of God is going to be like. It’s going to be a fantastic and marvelous thing.

Now let’s look at preaching the gospel. Let’s come back here to Isaiah 51 and let’s see some things concerning the gospel and what’s going to be taught. It’s going to be a marvelous thing. Isaiah 51:1: “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.” In other words realizing what we are. “Look unto Abraham your father…” Now Abraham is going to be one of the rulers in the Kingdom of God in a very, very high position. “…And unto Sarah that bare you…” So she’s going to have a great responsibility. “…For I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him. For the LORD shall comfort Zion: He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.” People will be singing with joy in their hearts all the time.

So he says: “Hearken unto Me, My people; and give ear unto Me, O My nation [that’s us right now]: for a law shall proceed from Me, and I will make My judgment to rest for a light of the people.” And that’s what we’re going to carry out. “My righteousness is near; My salvation is gone forth…” Salvation is going to be coming continually all during the Millennium – a great and a fantastic process. “…And Mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon Me, and on Mine arm shall they trust.” And it’s going to be quite something here.

Verse 6: “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke…” So we’re going to be looking forward all during the Millennium when we know that all of this is going to come to an end. All the great things that we have described here are eventually going to come to an end. “…And the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but My salvation shall be for ever, and My righteousness shall not be abolished.” Hello, all of those in Protestant-land. “My righteousness shall not be abolished.” And what does it say? All His commandments are righteousness. It shall not be abolished.

“Hearken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My law…” That’s us now. That will be all the people then during the Millennium. “…Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.” We have to face the things in the world today but look forward to what we have. “For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but My righteousness shall be for ever, and My salvation from generation to generation” (Isa. 51:1-8, KJV). All through the Millennium. That’s going to be a fantastic thing, I tell you. You read all these things and it just is really a marvelous thing that we have been called to. Now just stop and think, with all of this to look forward to God has given it so we can be zealous, so we can anticipate, so we can look forward to it, so we can understand that everything that we go through today is fitting us and molding us and shaping us for this tremendous responsibility.

Now let’s come to Isaiah 55. This is quite a chapter here. This tells us an awful lot. Here’s what’s going to be preached, verse 1: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters [God’s Spirit and salvation is going to be freely offered], and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Now that’s not the physical thing. That is the true deep things of the Word of God and the way of God and the character of God. “Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?” That’s what people do today. They spend money for things not only physically but also spiritually. “…And your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.” Now remember Psalm 34 says, “O taste and see that the LORD is good.” This is talking about the spiritual things to nourish our hearts and our minds and our spirit, you see, which all human beings during the Millennium are going to partake of. “Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people [and that’s what he’s going to be during the Millennium, isn’t he?]. “Behold, thou shalt call a nation…” That’s what we are. We are a holy nation of priests and kings. “…A nation that thou knowest not…” Of course they don’t know us. The world doesn’t know us. “…And nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for He hath glorified thee.” Then it says: “Seek ye the LORD while He may be found…” (Isa. 55:1-6, KJV), and so forth and how God’s Word is going to go out and it’s going to come down just like the rain. It’s going to be a tremendous and wonderful thing for us.

Now let’s come to Isaiah 61. Now this is talking about Christ. This is talking about His mission, but remember Christ’s mission and His work continues through all ages into the ages of eternity. “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me…” And this is what He read as recorded there in Luke 4:16 when He was given the roll of Isaiah. “...Because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound [that’s also going to happen with the start of the Millennium]; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God [that’s His second return]; to comfort all that mourn…” So here’s the whole mission statement of Christ. It covers His first coming, covers His second coming, covers all the way through the Millennium and everything that that’s going to accomplish and on over into the Great White Throne Judgment.

Verse 3: “…to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes…” Now, we come to Zion that’s in heaven above. So let’s apply this to ourselves. “…To give unto them beauty for ashes…” So whatever your trouble and difficulties are, you’re going to be clothed with beauty. “…The oil of joy for mourning…”, regardless of your troubles and difficulties. “…The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified.” That’s talking about all of the things that we go through today to prepare us to be born into the Kingdom of God and for the jobs that He’s giving to us.

Verse 4: “And they [we’re going to supervise them] shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.” And that’s going to happen. People are going to be doing things. People are going to be working for us. And it also indicates that we’re going to have some ownership here too. Now you stop and think about this for a minute. Did not God institute the tithing system? Yes. Don’t you think there’s going to be the tithing system then? And to whom shall it be given? It will be given to us. And then we to Christ. In the same situation as it was with the priesthood and the Levites – all the people tithed to the Levites and then the Levites tithed to the priesthood. So likewise they will tithe to us and we will tithe to Christ. It’s going to be there.

That’s why it says here verse 6: “But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.” So our time of glory is ahead. And that’s what this Feast of Tabernacles pictures. “For your shame [or whatever difficulties that you go through] ye shall have double; and for confusion [the difficulties and problems we go through] they shall rejoice in their portion [it’s going to be completely changed]: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them. For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth…” That’s what we are going to do. And then we will direct the people that we have been given charge and rule over. “…And I will make an everlasting covenant with them [so they will come into the Kingdom of God too].” Now we can apply this not only to people in the Millennium, but to us. Christ has made an everlasting covenant with us. Now that’s why when we have gone through the series in the book of Hebrews, we read of all the warnings for those who fall away, because you see it’s an everlasting covenant and God won’t break it. The only one who’s going to break it will be us if we fall away.

Now notice verse 9: “And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation…” Now we’re going to have our garments, aren’t we? The fine linen of the saints – clean and white. And I imagine we’re going to have a lot of glorious fantastic clothing. But you see, what counts is this: “…He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels”, showing the relationship between Christ and the church after the marriage of the Lamb. “For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations” (Isa. 61:1-11, KJV).

Now let’s just take a glimpse at the economics in closing here and see what this world is going to be like. Isaiah 60:16: “Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles [that means the very best], and shalt suck the breast of kings…” Again, an outpouring of riches. That is a metaphor for that. “…And thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.” All the way through it says they’re going to know the Lord. All the way through it says they’re going to know God. And the earth is going to be filled with the knowledge of God as the oceans cover the earth.

Now economically here’s what’s going to happen, verse 17: “For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness [so everything’s going to be done fairly]. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.” I’ll guarantee you one thing, I don’t think there are going to be any locksmiths in the Kingdom of God. Think of that. Today, if you’re a locksmith you can make a lot of money. But you’ll be unemployed then. So that’s quite a thing, isn’t it?

“The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory” (Isa. 60:16-19, KJV), showing going on into New Jerusalem and out into the ages of eternity. So that’s what God has planned. So we’ll see how things will be as we come down toward the end of the Millennium. So at this mid-point in the feast, we’ll go ahead and say, “See you tomorrow.”

Feast of Tabernacles – Day 4 – 2005

Scriptural References

Isaiah 34:16-17
Isaiah 35:1, 3-10
Ezekiel 34:23-31
Isaiah 9:6-7
Isaiah 30:18-21
Psalm 119:18
Ezekiel 36:8-11
Isaiah 32:15-20
Isaiah 41:10,13-14, 17-20
Isaiah 11:1-9
Isaiah 62:1-3
Isaiah 19:23-25
Isaiah 33:5-6, 13-16, 20-22
Isaiah 51:1-8
Isaiah 55:1-6
Isaiah 61:1-11
Isaiah 60:16-19