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Isaiah 18:1 - 18:7
The last Chapter of Isaiah 17, verses 13 and 14, are about the
time of God's consuming fire burning Lucifer's future false world kingdom as 'chaff'
before a 'whirlwind'. That event is Christ's second Advent (coming), to earth, on the 'last
trump'. All will be changed into the spiritual body at the 'twinkling of an eye' (I
Cor.15:52; 2 Thess.2:8). As the last Chapter of Isaiah 17 was prophecy which includes
Ephraim, this Chapter 18 is going to continue that Message of Christ's return as KING OF
KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Moreover, Isaiah 18 will tell us about the 'gathering' of God's
dispersed elect from all four corners of the earth, those of both the 'house of Judah',
and the 'house of Israel' (Ten Tribes under Ephraim), and the Gentiles of Rev.7:9.
We ask a Word of Wisdom from our Father in Christ Jesus' Name,
Amen.
Isa 18:1 Woe to the land shadowing
with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
This word 'beyond' is the Hebrew word 'eber' and is from the root 'abar',
meaning 'to cross over; used very widely of any transition' (Strong's nos. 5674;
5676).
That word 'eber' is where the name Hebrew was derived
from. And Eber was ancestor to Abraham and Christ (Luke 3:35 as 'Heber';
Gen.10:31). Thus this 'beyond' reference to Eber in this verse of Isaiah 18:1
represents God's People of 'election', that of 'seed', and that of 'Grace', as all
believers on Christ as Savior. In as much as the future everlasting Kingdom of God is
spiritual, this election includes the Gentile believers also. This Truth will become more
apparent as we continue in this Chapter. Understanding the Lost
Ten Tribes study will help greatly here also.
The 'land shadowing with wings' is talking about guess
who? What nation on earth pioneered and developed aviation to its state today? The United
States of America. As the founders of the United States branched off and separated from
Ephraim (Great Britain and Europe), they represent Ephraim's elder brother Manasseh, i.e.
the 'thirteenth' tribe of Israel. And remember, this Message of the past Chapter was to
Syria and to Ephraim.
Isa 18:2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea,
even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, "Go, ye swift
messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their
beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the
rivers have spoiled!"
Ephraim (Great Britain) and Manasseh (United States) were first to send 'ambassadors' by
steam ship, symbolic of 'vessels of bulrushes', across the seas to other nations.
The word 'scattered' is 'mashak' in the Hebrew meaning 'to draw,
used in a great variety of applications (including to sow, to sound, to prolong, to
develop, to march, to remove, to delay, to be tall)'
(Strong's no. 4900). And 'peeled' is 'mowrat' meaning 'scoured,
polished, smooth' (Strong's no. 4178; BDB definition).
The meaning is 'tall and clean shaven'. A nation feared (terrible)
from their beginning even till now (hitherto); a land where the rivers have
divided (spoiled, such as the Mississippi, etc., cleaved, i.e. 'baza';
Strong's no.958). These are all references to the most powerful nations on earth, Great
Britain and The United States of America. These along with Europe are symbolic of Ephraim,
i.e. the Western Christian Nations. They are the Ten Tribes of Israel scattered.
Isa 18:3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and
dwellers on the earth, see ye, when He lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when He
bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.
This 'ensign' which God lifts up, is not Christ, but those which we covered back
in Isaiah 5:25-26. They are the 'beasts' of Rev.13 and their one world government
apparatus, which our Father is bringing as a punishment upon the earth, for turning away
from Him. Just as Satan wishes to be Christ, he mimics everything our Father and His Son
represent (Ezek.28; 31; II Thess.2; Isaiah 14; Deut.32). So this ensign of this verse is a
'false ensign', i.e., Satan sitting in his future role as a false king, upon the U.N.
foundation which has been built. We learned in Isaiah 10:5 that the Assyrian is God's "...rod
of Mine anger, and the staff in their hand is My indignation."
It's important to understand that God is controlling
Lucifer. The wicked one can only do what our Father allows. Satan cannot act from his own
power, as he only can act according to God's Will. That's why those truly in Christ, who
have done their homework, don't suffer today's spiritual famine of not understanding God's
Word (Amos 8). We know God is in control, and He is with us, Christ Immanuel.
Isa 18:4 For so the LORD said unto me, "I will take
My rest, and I will consider in My dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and
like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."
The phrase 'I will take my rest' is Hebrew 'shaqat' meaning 'to
repose'; and the phrase 'I will consider' is Hebrew 'nabat' meaning
'to scan; i.e. look intently' (Strong's nos. 8252; 5027).
Our Father is saying something like: "I'm just going to sit
back in My dwelling place and watch how they operate". It's like a parent who sits
back watching just what kind of mischief one of their children can get into, patiently
waiting the best time to step in to dish out Truth and correction through discipline. In
other words, our Heavenly Father is watching today's events in the world very intently!
Isa 18:5 For afore the harvest, when the bud is
perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs
with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.
This verse goes with the previous one. Before the time of harvest, before the grape is
ripe or the bud is complete, He's going to crop it off! The whole vine of plenty is
mowed down.
For Ephraim, i.e. the ten tribes or 'house of Israel', this
pruning has been happening for quite some time now. The blessings which were from our
Father to His People have now gone over to the 'beasts', under their control. In other
words, our economic vineyard is trodden down by beasts (Kenites, i.e. the children of
Satan).
Many today listen to the lies from the beast's media propaganda
system, about how good the economy is and such. I remember a time in America when the head
of the house could go out and make a fine living for a large family. Now, in the majority
of households, both parents must work in order to keep the family afloat. And even that is
failing with many. Check the stats, bankruptcies are on the rise. Family inheritances are
subject to takeover by stupid and unrighteous laws. Foreign markets can make ours
unstable. And 'fiat' money, which is paper money not backed by a lick of gold or silver,
is churned out by the Fed every time some banker or third world government nears danger of
going under. The bank's profits are always guaranteed as it comes out of our pockets
through inflation by making more fiat money out of thin air. They present the lie to
Congress that the nation's economy would go under if they didn't 'bail out' one of their
third world socialist puppets, or banks. Guess who foots the bill? You, the taxpayer. Ever
do a total of all taxes and fees you pay in one year? What's left after your
salary?
It is illegal according to our U.S. Constitution what they are
doing with printing 'fiat' money with no gold backing it.
Isa 18:6 They shall be left together unto the fowls
of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall
summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
I hope you're getting a better understanding of what the 'beast' and 'mark of the beast'
of Revelation is. That's exactly what a 'beast' does...devours everything. To 'winter'
upon them means to strip them naked and put 'em out in the winter cold.
Our Lord and Savior gave us a Message about how 'fowls of the
air' came and devoured up what the sower sowed 'by the way side'. That means sowing seed
in hard untilled ground, much like a compacted trodden dirt path. Christ was teaching us
there in Mark 4:4 that the 'seed' is The Word of God, and those 'fowls' are a symbol for
Satan's host. This subject here in Isaiah about the controls given to the 'beasts'
(Satan's children; Matt.13) is partly what Jesus was teaching in Mark 4. That's what
Satan's four dynasty system of world controls has done with deceiving so many away from
God's Word. And thus the Birthright blessings God gave to His who are deceived, get
devoured up by Satan's 'fowls'. God's Blessings and following Him by knowing and doing His
Word, go together; can't have one without the other.
But this verse 6 is the time when our Savior returns, and the
'heavenly' fowls are turned on Satan and his beast system, bringing him and that system to
a final destruction (See Rev.19:17-21).
Isa 18:7 In that time shall the
present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled,
and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation
meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place
of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.
This 'present' is God's elect. These are gathered to the New Jerusalem when
Christ returns. This word 'present' is the root 'shavah', meaning 'properly,
to level, i.e. equalize' (Strong's no. 7737). They are the 'equalizer' which God
utilizes to keep the 'playing field' according to His Plan. Even though the 'beasts' have
mixed in and gotten control of many functions within the Western Christian Nations, God's
elect still work to provide the freedoms to search for our Father Jehovah through His Son
Jesus Christ. And now only by great deception under the banner of peace, have the 'beasts'
been allowed by those deceived into taking away many of the blessings our Father gave us.
And who are God's elect? Those who follow our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. That means those believers on Christ from all twelve tribes of Israel, which
are still scattered today in many lands, the Gentile believers in Christ, and those of
Christ who make up the Western Christian Nations of today. They are those who refuse to
worship the beast or his image, that is to say, Satan as 'false messiah' soon to come in
our near future, in the role of king of the world.
All others, the non-believers and those who worship the false
messiah who comes first, thinking he is Christ, are going where? To know our Salvation
through God's Savior Jesus Christ is to know the Promises which our Father gave His
People, both to Jew and Gentile in Christ. Our 'gathering' to Christ, which is the true
Message behind I Thess.4, is stated here in Isaiah 18:7, "to the place of the
name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion".
The apostle Paul, who was a scholar of the Hebrew Old Testament
and prophets, assumed one knew these references here about the gathering to Christ in
Zion, when he wrote Thessalonians.
The 'beyond
the rivers of Ethiopia' link of this Chapter
There were several Israelite colonies in Egypt, as written in Jer.44:1 and Ezek.30.
Historically, these ambassadors of Israel came to the Israelite colonies in Egypt for help
against the king of Babylon. As Joseph married Asenath, the daughter of Poti-pherah,
priest of On in Egypt, his two sons of Ephraim and Manasseh became adopted Israelite
tribes (Gen.41). Ephraim, the younger, took the place of Joseph, as being one of the
twelve tribes, and Manasseh became the 'thirteenth' tribe of Israel technically. Both
represent the 'double-portion' Birthright Blessing Covenant which God first gave to
Abraham. The Sceptre rule would stay with the one tribe Judah (I Chron.5).
As Ephraim now represents the largest of the scattered ten tribes
(Great Britain and Europe), and Manasseh, the 'thirteenth' tribe of Israel, represents the
United States of America, that's where this 'beyond the rivers of Ethiopia' links
to our times today. Consider the following verse which was covered earlier in this Isaiah
study:
Isa
11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again
the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from
Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar,
and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
The 'islands of the sea' represents the lands which the ten tribes migrated to after their
Assyrian captivity, forming the Western Christian Nations of today, which includes the
Gentiles which Christ's ambassadors went to and preached His Salvation, and many of those
did receive Jesus Christ as Savior also. The next Chapter of Isaiah 19 will cover more of
this Egypt link.
Peace be
with in Christ,
Dave Ramey.
Footnotes:
All references to "Strong's nos." are from Strong's Exhaustive
Concordance, PC Study Bible, Biblesoft, 1993-1996.
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