Monthly Archives: February 2020

Keys to Prophecy: Oops! Locked by God!

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Do we know everything, even if we
understand prophecy? Hardly!

In fact, Paul emphasizes how limited is our knowledge.

“But if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he doesn’t yet know as he ought to know.”
2Cor 8:2 WEB

There is much to know, even of this flawed and temporary world that we live in. Of course God does reveal secret things to men.

“The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.”
Psa 25:14 KJV

God often does declare things before they happen.

“Behold, the former things have happened, and new things do I declare. Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Isa 42:9 WEB

Again from Isaiah, and He tells part of the reason that He sometimes tells us things.

“therefore I have declared it to you from of old; before it came to pass I shown it you; lest you should say, My idol has done them, and my engraved image, and my molten image, has commanded them.”
Isa 48:5 WEB

But there is no effort to tell us everything.

The purpose of inspired Scripture is,

“that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
2Tim 3:16 WEB

So Scripture and prophecy is not helter-skelter random pieces of information to no purpose. A statement of what will happen is not a piece of theoretical “oh well, this might happen.” Rather this is information focused on what is,

“… profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction which is in righteousness,”
2Tim 3:16 WEB

Are many things still secret? What is the
dividing line?

Yes, many things are still secret.

“The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
Deut 29:29 WEB

We are told what we need to know, so we can do what we should do.

However, not everyone is supposed to
understand all of this.

“10 The disciples came, and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.””
Mtt 13:10-11 WEB

These are true mysteries, even in the very same sense as many occult secrets / mysteries.

But the wicked will never understand.

Satan is allowed to blind many.

“in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.”
2Cor 4:4 WEB

“Many shall purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but those who are wise shall understand.”
Dan. 12:10 WEB

KJV is the King James Version, 1611.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Keys to Prophecy: Oops! Locked by Misdirection, Ignorance or Oversight!

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I think that many of our unconscious errors in Scripture are because of

1.) being misled, either accidentally or on purpose. There are many who deliberately mislead us so that they have more control of us, or can exploit us. As Scripture points out, many would mislead us from such motives.

“having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing;”
2Pe 2:14 WEB

2.) However another area of misdirection is our just not doing our homework as we should. Sometimes we too uncritically accept what others say without actually testing the ideas we hear against Scripture.

Sometimes we do not think and reason and study as we should. Perhaps at other times we tend to read our own ideas into Scripture instead of actually listening to what Scripture has to say.

3.) Sometimes either accidentally or on purpose we start neglecting parts of God’s word, and so overtime our views of Scripture and the world become distorted, because we are not playing with a full deck! Paul tells us,

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
2Tim 3:16 KJV

SO HOW MUCH Scripture “is PROFITABLE for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness”?

The answer is all of it is! And if we use all of it, then we can be,

“… throughly furnished unto all good works.”
2Tim 3:16

But if we habitually neglect parts of Scripture, then we will be missing some of the spiritual vitamins and minerals that we need.

Now we are not under Moses law, it has been taken out of the way, nailed to the cross, Col 2:14. Even so it is true that,

“Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good.”
Rom 7:12 WEB

That indeed sounds like something that we should be able to learn from, and it is. So even though we are under the law of Christ, Gal 6:2, etc., we should be getting even “doctrine” from Moses law, BECAUSE: “All scripture … is profitable for doctrine,” 2Tim 3:16 KJV

So in 1 Corinthians 9 Paul uses a regulation about oxen from Moses law (“You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain. ” Deut 25:4 WEB), to prove that full-time ministers of Christ should be paid!

Sometimes we accidentally neglect
parts of Scripture

Sometimes we merely like some portions of Scripture more than others. This is true of both preachers and teachers and also those in the pew. At other times, current errors in society and the church mean that we emphasis some parts over others. Then over time, that perhaps needed emphasis, results in neglect of vital parts of the truth, much to our detriment!

How you approach things is very important:
your “angle of entry.”

So it has been that many portions of the church have completely neglected prophecy, much to out detriment.

KJV is the King James Version, 1611.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Keys to Prophecy: Oops! Locked by Men!

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Indeed, some do try to take away the
keys to knowledge.

Jesus spoke of some who where doing that in His day.

“Woe to you lawyers! For you took away the key of knowledge. You didn’t enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered.”
Lk 11:52 WEB

The lawyers were concentrating on the regulations of the law, and the minutest details of this and that, and ignoring the more important issues of justice, mercy, and compassion. The keys to knowledge are always a central issue. Often men have reasons to subvert what is true and good and pure. These things happen in all sort of situations.

AC or DC?

Nikola Tesla, 1856-1943. U. S. inventor born in Croatia of Serbian descent. In 1944 the U. S. Supreme Court ruled he was the actual inventor of radio. It appears some of his discoveries are still being suppressed.

Sometimes the issues are money and power. Around 1900 AD there was a terrific battle between “DC” electricity (Direct Current, the kind you get from a battery), and “AC” electricity (Alternating Current, the kind of electricity that you have in your house from the power company). AC electricity was being designed and built by electrical genius Nicolai Tesla who had developed all of the devices necessary for the generation, transmission, and use of AC. Also AC electricity was far more efficient than DC, and could be economically transmitted great distances, whereas DC could not.

J. P. Morgan. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9108261

But there was a problem. One of America’s biggest financiers, J. P. Morgan, had gained financial control of another genius, Thomas Edison. Edison had developed some huge DC electrical systems for powering lights and homes and factories. J. P. Morgan was invested up to his eyeballs in DC electricity, and Tesla’s new inventions could make almost all of that investment worthless. So what could be done?

Suppressing the truth about the advantages
of AC electricity.

Thomas Edison, 1915. Most of the pictures and movies of electrocuting animals are being suppressed on the internet as of this date. Movies of him electrocuting Topsy the elephant in 1904 can be seen as of this date

The J. P. Morgan interests started a science war against AC electricity claiming it was too dangerous to use for everyday things. (Some call this “The Current War,” 1886-1904 prox.) Thomas Edison actually had public demonstrations of the dangers of AC electricity. He publicly electrocuted dogs and horses to show how dangerous all of this was, and some of these demonstrations were filmed and can still be seen even today. Suppressing the truth to make money.

There is also much suppression of the truth
concerning much prophecy.

But God has something to say about these things.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,”
Rom 1:18 WEB

Why do they do that? Because,

“Because they hated knowledge,
And didn’t choose the fear of Yahweh. ”
Prov 1:29 WEB

So it is a choice, and we can and do make choices, even about prophecy.

Such things are the backdrop for many
religious battles

“49 But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50 nor do you consider that it is advantageous for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.””
Jn 11:49-50 WEB

They were manipulating religion to secure money and power, and were afraid that their setup would be destroyed by Jesus teachings. The “solution”? Have Rabbi Jesus murdered!

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Judah in Trouble and Three Prophecies, Part VI of VI

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It has already been pointed out in Part IV of this series that Ahaz has already decided who to trust and it was not the Lord God. He has decided to side with the up and coming dominant power Assyria. He decided to become an ally, really a client state to Assyria, and a vassal, a subordinate, to the King of Assyria, and to pay him tribute/taxes, 2Kgs 16:7-9.

The author of 2 Chronicles comments on these arrangements.

“Tilgath Pilneser king of Assyria came to him, and distressed him, but didn’t strengthen him.”
2Chron 28:20 WEB

In other words, even from the first this was not an arrangement which was beneficial to Judah. However even before Ahaz made his plea to the King of Assyria, Isaiah had warned what was coming.

Isaiah warned that God was going to use
Assyria to afflict Judah.

Isaiah warns that Judah is about to have trouble such as they had not seen those first days when Israel had withdrawn from Judah and had set up their own kingdom. This will all come from the king of Assyria, Isa 7:17

The Lord God is going to whistle for both the Egyptians and the Assyrians to camp in Judah, and they will come and settle in the land, in all of the defensible places, and all the watering places, Isa 7:18-19. God will used a hired razor to shave Judah. God is going to use Assyria to shave Judah bare. They will shave the head, and the legs, and yes, even the beard. In other words they will shave Judah bare, taking everything that is of value in the whole kingdom, Isa 7:20.

Yes, the Assyrians were good soldiers.

There will not be any planting or sowing going on in those days. Not for quite a while. The land itself will become so neglected that it will be overgrown in briars and thorns. Where they used to farm, then they will hunt with a bow and arrow, Isa 7:23-25.

In those days, if a man had a cow and a sheep he will be able to stay in food with curds and honey, Isa 7:21-22. But farming? There will be none for a while. Ahaz is going to Assyria for assistance, but instead of that, Assyria will bring disaster on the land of Judah.

But also the Assyrians were merciless conquerers. Here an Assyrian monument pictures the Assyrians skining some captives alive!

This is Isaiah’s third prophecy in Isaiah 7.

The first was about the lands of Israel and Aram being abandoned, before a young child learns to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. But some of that prophecy did not seem to fit Isaiah’s day. The second prophecy was about how that God/man the Messiah would come as a child. The answer was that He would be born of a virgin. The third prophecy was about how Assyria would not be deliverance to Judah, rather she would bring great affliction.

And when did this last prophecy happen?

Despite Ahaz going to Damascus to politic with Tiglath Pileser, all of these evils seem to have begin even in Ahaz day, but reached their full force in the days of his son who succeeded him, Hezekiah.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Judah in Trouble and Three Prophecies, Part V of VI

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So Isaiah gave Ahaz a sign anyway.

“Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isa 7:14 WEB

The World English Bible (WEB) is correct here: “the virgin shall conceive.” The Hebrew word for a virgin is almah, and it describes an unmarried “maiden,” who would in normal circumstances would be a virgin. The word also occurs in Gen 24:43, Ex 2:8, Psa 68:25, Prov 30:19, and Song of Solomon 1:3, 6:8. Jewish translators around 200 BC when translating the Old Testament into Greek, choose to translate the word as the Greek parthenos, which is unequivocally a virgin.

And what will happen with this child born of
a virgin?

It seems to speaking in the immediate context of Ahaz and Judah’s dilemma. It seems to speak of child to born soon. This child will eat curds and honey (KJV) and before the child is old enough to refuse the evil and choose the good (just a small number of years) the land of the two kings who are fighting against Ahaz, will be abandoned,
Isa 1:16!

In other words, Isaiah confirms what he told Ahaz earlier, that Israel and Aram will not be able to overcome Judah … without the interference of any foreign powers.

It is widely debated who the “almah” is.

There is further analysis of Isaiah 7 in Prophecy Principles.

Some say it was a wife of Ahaz. In Prophecy Principles, in the section called “We Sit,” I discussed the prophecy as if it had reference to Isaiah’s wife having a baby, and how that would be analyzed. Other also have done the same or similar things. Clearly Isaiah is telling Ahaz that he should NOT enter treaties with pagan powers, but that he should trust in the Lord, and everything will be alright. This would be the first prophecy.

But as we have already seen, trusting God or believing God, is not in Ahaz vocabulary.

But STILL there is the implicit contradiction of a
virgin (rather “the virgin”) having a baby.

Isaiah has one of his sons with him when he meets Ahaz, Isa 7:3. She is sometimes represented as one of Ahaz’s wives or whoever. But still … how can you call them a “virgin.” That is the implicit tension in the prophecy. These are signs of a type, when something does not really fit.

And of course there is still to be considered
Isaiah’s master subject: the Messiah.

He was to come as a child, and to be “Mighty God, Eternal Father” in Isa 9:6 WEB as discussed in Part III of this series.

So how does “THE virgin” conceive a child?

The answer of the angel is,

“The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God.”
Lk 1:35 WEB

Of course this would be no big trick with the God who made heaven and earth and everything they contain. This would be second prophecy, and the true anti-type of whoever had a baby in the eighth century BC.

Your answer may depend on whether you decide to a priori rule out God as working in history!

KJV is the King James Version, 1611.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Judah in Trouble and Three Prophecies, Part IV of VI

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Judah is in deep trouble. She is facing both Israel and Aram in war, and has already suffered defeats from both, and now they are coming to assault Jerusalem itself. King Ahaz and all the people are terribly afraid. Isaiah has been commanded to meet with Ahaz and to instruct him. He has told him to not be afraid of Israel and Aram, Isa 7:4-9. However, Ahaz does not seem to be convinced. Then through Isaiah the Lord again speaks to Ahaz.

“Ask a sign of Yahweh your God; ask it either in the
depth, or in the height above.” Isa 7:11

So here by inspiration, Ahaz is told to do something to normally we are not taught to do, that is to ask for a sign.

We can see the dangers in passages like the one in Exodus 17

“Therefore the people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” ¶ Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahweh?””
Ex 17:2 WEB

There is the commentary at the end of these things

“You shall not tempt Yahweh your God, as you tempted him in Massah.”
Deut 6:16 WEB

Ahaz slyly answers as if he is very devout, which of course he is not. But he does say “I will not ask, neither will I tempt Yahweh.” Isa 7:12b

Evidently Ahaz has already made up his mind.

We told the beginning of what happened in 2 Kings. Ahaz did not trust God. Instead he trusted in the brute force of nations.

“So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, saying, I am your servant and your son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me.”
2Kgs 16:7 WEB

Tiglath Pileser, from an ancient Assyrian monument.
By Unknown, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2138739

To seal the deal, Ahaz offered Tiglath Pilser a large amount of tribute to seal his become a vassal, a captive-state of Assyria.

“Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of Yahweh, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.”
2Kgs 16:8 WEB

And he did get some results.

“The king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and killed Rezin.”
2Kgs 16:9 WEB

In Ahaz mind he had won. He had done what was really smart. He had sided with the biggest bully on the block.

Then Ahaz went to meet his new protector, the King of
Assyria, in Damascus.

And there he went even further in idolatry. The story can be read in 2Kgs 16:10-18.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves. All of this evidently happened after his encounter with Isaiah in Isaiah 7.

So what Word of the Lord was it which Ahaz
rejected from Isaiah?
And how did it all come out?

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Judah in Trouble and Three Prophecies, Part III of VI

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So in a short time Judah has come to be in very real trouble. It is in the situation described in Parts 1 and 2 in this series that Isaiah the prophet is told to go talk to Ahaz in Isaiah 7.

Isaiah is a special Messianic prophet.

Isaiah deals with Jesus the Christ in all sorts of ways throughout his books. Isaiah is perhaps the largest single book about the Christ in the whole Bible. The most quoted book in the New Testament is the Psalms, and next is Isaiah. For instance, Isaiah clearly tells us this Savior will come as a a child.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be on his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”
Isa 9:6 WEB

So Isaiah clearly points to Christ both being in the flesh (an Incarnation), but also Him being God Himself.

Isaiah talks about all of these things, and Him coming in Judah, and coming back at the end of this world, and judgement, and heaven and hell. All of it. It is all about Jesus of Nazareth. I think that Isaiah is possibly the greatest book ever written, and for sure one of the most sublime.

This is in the days when Rezin and Pekah made
their assaults Jerusalem itself, Isa 7:1.

It goes on to say, speaking of the outcome of these things that they, “could not prevail against it.” Isa 7:1 WEB.

But the reaction when this was about to happen.

“It was told the house of David, saying, “Syria is allied with Ephraim.” His heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with the wind.”
Isa 7:2 WEB

This is not to be wondered about when these enemies had already individually defeated Judean armies. And now these armies were united against little Judah.

“Then Yahweh said to Isaiah,

““Go out now to meet Ahaz, you, and Shearjashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, …””
Isa 7:3 WEB

For sure these were scary times for both Judah and Ahaz, but Isaiah, speaking by the word of the Lord tells Ahaz to be careful, and to be calm and to not be afraid. Isaiah calls King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah of Israel as smoking firebrands. Yes, they are smoking, but they are also almost extinguished, and not to be feared. Yes they are planning to conquer (but not destroy Judah), and put a man named “the son of Tabeel” on the throne (Isa 7:6), to replace Ahaz, and to make Judah a reliable ally.

Isaiah says that in sixty-five years they will both be broken into pieces, and Israel itself will cease to be a people. That is to say, in sixty-five years the deportations which would destroy Israel would be completed, Isa 7:4-8.

Then Isaiah adds one more thing to Ahaz.

“’… If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.’”
Isa 7:9

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Judah in Trouble and Three Prophecies, Part II of VI

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Ahaz son of Jotham has now come to the throne of Judah. He has good examples in his father and grandfather, of faithfulness and strength in the Lord. However it seems he was more impressed by the strength of the pagan world powers.

Ahaz evidently co-ruled for a while with his father,

and it seems ruled on his own for sixteen years. The record says clearly,

“2 … he didn’t do that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh his God, like David his father. 3 … and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations, whom Yahweh cast out from before the children of Israel. ”
2Kgs 16:2-3 WEB

“Pass through the fire,” Human sacrifice of your own children! As the author of Second Kings noted, these are very sins which caused the original Canaanites to lose Palestine. Also it says that he not only did NOT shutdown the high places, but offered worship on them himself. Worship was by Moses Law supposed to only be at the Temple in Jerusalem

The Southern Kingdom of Judah was a very
small nation even in those times.

The Northern Kingdom of Israel was several times larger than Judah, and Aram (Syria it called in the King James Version) was larger than Israel, and Assyria was larger than Aram.

Assyria was the threat of which Aram and Israel were afraid. It seems that Aram and Israel wanted Judah to unite with them to oppose Assyria.

Ahaz’s reign seemed to have started with
war and some big defeats.

So a combination of the Northern kingdom of Israel and Aram, working together began attacking the Souther kingdom of Judah. Further, because of Ahaz’s sins, they were being able to defeat him in battle.

“Therefore Yahweh his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they struck him, and carried away of his a great multitude of captives, and brought them to Damascus. He was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with a great slaughter.”
2Chron 28:5-6 WEB

It doesn’t mention Ahaz being outnumbered, although I am sure he was. Smaller nations are often able to defeat larger nations, especially in defensive warfare, and Judah had in the past been able to maintain her independence. No, the real reason for defeat was that God had removed their protection. God overrules men and nations, 2Sam 23:3.

Israel by herself was able to inflict serious loses.

2Chron 28:6-7 says that Judah lost 120,000 men in one day of battle in which one of the Ahaz’s sons was killed and two of his key officials were killed. Compare that to the United States of America losing approximately 50,000 men in the eleven years of the Vietnam War. Then they lost 200,000 captives who were later returned.

Then King Rezin of Aram captured some cities, and the Philistines and the men of Edom were also able to mount successful attacks, 2Chron 28:17-18.

“For Yahweh brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he had dealt wantonly in Judah, and trespassed severely against Yahweh.”
2Chron 28:19 WEB.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Judah in Trouble and Three Prophecies, Part I of VI

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If we are reading along in Scripture and are coming to the 8th century Before Christ, we see that,

The Southern kingdom ofJudah has had
a couple of good kings in a row.

The first was Azariah, who was also called Uzziah. He started reigning about the year 792 BC when he was a mere sixteen years old and reigned for fifty-two years, 2Kgs 15:2. Further, “He did right in the sight of the LORD,” only the high places were not taken away. He did many good things, and made many improvements, and God supported in his wars (2Chron 26:7). He did get carried away with himself at his height, and ended up a leper (2Chron 26:16-21), and his reign was completed by his son Jotham, of whom it says that he likewise “did what was right in the sight of the LORD,” 2Kgs 15:34 WEB.

Other things were also happening in those days.

Assyria was beginning to rise.

The northern kingdom of Israel was plunging into wickedness, and was politically unstable. So God seemingly chose Assyria to discipline Israel.

Here is a restoration of what the palaces at Nineveh, the captial of Assyria, looked like in ancient times. Assyria was prosperous and wealthy, and they had many good engineers and architects.

“The God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath Pileser king of Assyria,”
1Chron 5:26a WEB

So the Most High God, Yahweh, Lord of Armies is stirring up this pagan nation, to bring retribution on His own people for their sins. Even the beginning results were noteworthy, and are pertinent to our story. Some cites in Israel were captured and the peoples enslaved. Then Menahem, the king of the Northern kingdom of Israel, gathered up a gift of a thousand talents of silver to bribe King Pul of Assyria to leave his nation alone. That would be about thirty-seven tons of silver. That is not small change in anyone’s terms.

Wars are about money, and the power to make
or collect money.

“1 Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members? 2 You lust, and don’t have. You kill, covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. 3 You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives,”
Jas 4:1-3a WEB

Was Menahem right? Why should King Pul of Assyria withdraw if he can clearly beat Menahem? Well, if the objective is money, to feed and pay and give bonuses to your troops … , and oh yes, to have a little left over for personal wealth at the end, and if you can have more left over by not fighting than by fighting … then why not? So it says,

“… So the king of Assyria turned back, and didn’t stay there in the land.”
2Kgs 15:20c WEB

It seemed to work, at least for a while. Many a nation has rolled over in history, and let a stronger power take away her resources or her markets, rather than be destroyed in a war, and still lose those resources anyway. That is war, world history long.

Then came the unfaithful King Ahaz of Judah.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Out of the North, Part III of III

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Not all the references to the North seem to have an earthly reference. When Ezekiel has a vision of God, it seems it comes out of the North.

“I looked, and, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with flashing lightning, and a brightness round about it, and out of the midst of it as it were glowing metal, out of the midst of the fire.” Ezek 1:4 WEB

Then there follows a dazzling vision of God and of the four living creatures which surround him.

God? From the North?

There are other references, which could be taken more than one way.

“Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion, on the north sides,
The city of the great King.” Psa 48:2 WEB

The KJV and the New King James Version says “on the sides of the north.” The New American Standard Bible, 1995 edition, and the English Standard Version say “Mount Zion in the far north.” Taken this way it would seem to say that the “true” Mount Zion is in the far north, and earthly Mount Zion is only symbolic of the true Zion in heaven!

The Hebrew word is yerekah, and can mean the side of something, the flanks, or can mean the extremes or far parts of something. None of the translations are entirely satisfying. Mount Zion on the North sides? Well, maybe, but look at some maps. Mount Zion in the far North? Mount Zion is not really in the North at all, of anything. Perhaps we should come back to this.

Or again, where does exaltation come from?

“6 For neither from the east, nor from the west,
Nor yet from the south, comes exaltation.
7 But God is the judge.
He puts down one, and lifts up another.”
Psa 75:6-7 WEB

Here is another enigmatic passage. Exaltation is clearly from the Lord, but look how it states this. Exaltation is not from the east or the west or south, … but it leaves out the North, and says exaltation is from God, and seems to imply that His throne is in the North!

When Isaiah writes of Satan’s revolt
against God in Isaiah 14, it says.

“You said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on the mountain of congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north;” Isa 14:13 WEB

This is a far plainer passage about where “heaven” is. Further this word “uttermost” is again that word yerekah. If you take the KJV on this passage, then heaven is “in the sides of the north,” “above the stars of God“!

Where does God come from?

The book of Job of course far precedes those later times when Assyria and Babylon are such powerful entities. But Job speaks of the North in more than one place.

“Out of the north comes golden splendor;
With God is awesome majesty.”
Job 37:22 WEB

Other translations are more explicit.

“He comes from the north as golden splendor;
With God is awesome majesty.”
Job 37:22 New King James Version

Putting them together, it does seem to suggest that heaven is North of our earth, and that God will come out of the North.

KJV is the King James Version, 1611.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901