Isaiah

Chapter 49

"Messiah in Person, Call, Qualifications, and Mission [1-12]."

"Zion. Reconcilliation, Restoration, and Enlargement [13-26]."

 

This Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's transcription/location is provided by http://www.theseason.org

Over the past few chapters we have studied what God intends to do to the Babylon of the end times, by using the old Babylon as a type. Now in this forty-ninth chapter we will be given the Messiah's call, His duties and what those duties will accomplish, in other words, Christ's mission. That is the only introduction that is needed.

Isaiah 49:1 "Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.

God is telling you not just to listen, but pay attention to what I am saying, with understanding. The calling forth of a Christchild and naming Him we read of in an earlier study, from Isaiah 7:14.

Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

His name is called "Immanuel", "GOD (`El) with us." This message is directed to the people afar off, in the Isles. In the Hebrew text, it basically means, to people living all over the world. Isles means "a shore across". This is not directed to the people of Isaiah's time but to each generation that reads this, to the final generation. So now we are going to expand on the prophecy given in Isaiah 7:14.

Isaiah 49:2 "And He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand hath He hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in His quiver hath He hid me;"

That sharp sword that shall come out of Jesus' mouth is the Word of God. God hid Jesus out of the way in Nazareth and other places unknown for thirty years, before Jesus would start His three year ministry. John wrote in Revelation 1:16 about the sharp two edged sword that would come forth from Jesus mouth.

Revelation 1:16 "And He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength."

Christ's tongue is a "twoedged sword" that will cut both ways. It will cut through every lie that Satan and his followers would ever tell. So we see the promise given by God of the coming Messiah.

Isaiah 49:3 "And said unto Me, 'Thou art My Servant, O Israel, in Whom I will be glorified.'

This verse can get a little confusing, and thus we must refer back to the manuscripts. Many would say that this is now talking about the tribes of Israel, however, "Israel" in the Hebrew text means the "Prince of God". The Messiah is making use of this word "Israel" and applying the name "Israel" to Himself. Israel could not "raise up Israel" as we will see in verse six, but Christ is called "Israel" in the same way that He is called "Jacob" in Psalm 24:6; "This is the generation of them that seek Him, That seek Thy face, O Jacob. Selah." "Jacob" is Jesus Christ, the generation is not seeking Jacob the person whose name was changed to Israel, but Christ. The word "Selah" means to stop and meditate on what was said.

So God is saying; "Thou art My Servant, the Prince of God [Jesus Christ], in Whom I [the Father] will be glorified."

Isaiah 49:4 "Then I said, `I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.' "

We are speaking here of the first advent, or coming of Jesus Christ, when He was born of the virgin Mary. He came as a baby, born in the cave in Bethlehem because there was no room for them in the Inn. Jesus came into this world in the flesh for the sake of being crucified, as stated in Psalm 22. That entire chapter is the prophesied record written a thousand years in advance with all the details concerning Jesus' death on the cross. It tells of the words that He would say, and the word and actions of the high priest, the soldiers that would spit on Him, and part His garments.

This was the "mission" for Christ's coming to earth in the flesh, for in His death and resurrection came the victory that each of us can share in. It is through the blood of Christ that He became our Kinsman Redeemer, whereby upon our faith in Him and repentance in Jesus name, our sins will be forgiven. Many look to the crucifixion of Jesus as a failure that ended in death, and they just can not see beyond the tomb. For them, the failure is in their own minds and hearts, for it is only through the victory that Christ had over death, that gives us the right to approach the throne of God in faith, that we can have salvation for our souls.

The greatest gift that God has given to man is the gift of His only begotten Son. He gave His Son willingly, lovingly, and thankfully.

[Luke 2:7 "And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn." Reference on "Manger" - A feeding-trough, crib, or open box in a stable designed to hold fodder for livestock (Luke 2:7,12; 13:15). In Bible times, mangers were made of clay mixed with straw or from stones cemented with mud. In the stables of King Ahab at Megiddo, a manger cut from a limestone block was discovered. Mangers were also carved in natural outcroppings of rock, such as livestock being stabled in a cave; some were constructed of masonry. - (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)]

Isaiah 49:5 "And now, " saith Lord That formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob again to Him, "Through Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My strength."

This is part of the reason for Christ's coming to earth in the flesh; the restoration of the lost House of Israel back to Himself. When Christ first started His ministry, one of the first statements that He made in the book of Matthew to those that He had taught was to "go first to the lost house of Israel."

Matthew 10:5 "These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:"

Matthew 10:6 "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

Matthew 10:7 "And as ye go, preach, saying, `The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' "

This verse in Isaiah then puts into effect this part of the promised covenant that God made with Jesus ["Yehowshua, yeh-ho-shoo'-ah"], (a figure of speech spiritually). That contract said that He would gather them all together and back to Himself at His coming. This has not happened yet because the House of Israel and the House of Judah will not be joined until Jesus returns to set up His Millennium kingdom. The tribes are still scattered to this day, even though we know where a small part of Judah is, for they are flying the flag of that tiny nation called "Israel" today.

However the "House of Israel" that would become a numerous as the stars of the heaven, and the sands of the sea still do not know who they are. Though they call themselves by a race "Caucasians", they are ignorant to the fact that this is the record of an event, and not a race. They were called "Caucasian" after Sennacherib and his Assyrian army uprooted them from off their land, and placed them in lands in northern Iraq of today. Then the House of Israel, all ten tribes, divided into groups and migrated through the Caucasus mountains, and on to locations in Western Europe, the British Isles, and the Americas. Today the House of Israel is divided into many nations, however they can all be identified because Hosea tells us they call themselves Christian nations, "sons of the living God".

Today these nations are gathered together in Christ, and God's plan is exactly on time. The gathering takes place every time a person repents of His sins in Jesus name and comes under the blood of Christ. This applies not only to the House of Israel, but to Gentiles alike, for each of the souls that receive Christ are grafted into Israel, and become one of His.

Isaiah 49:6 "And He said, "It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my Salvation unto the end of the earth."

The expansion of Israel came by the adding of the Gentile people into the tribes of Jacob, when these souls come to the saving knowlege of Christ and repent of their sins. Many today think this is a "light" or small thing that Jesus Christ was born in such a common fashion, and that He was rejected by the leaders of His day. They look at Jesus as one who was trying to fight the establishment of His day. At every turn the religious leaders wanted to kill him, and in the end their murderous plots were fulfilled. Many people just can't accept, nor do they understand the importance of Jesus' life in the flesh, in that it was a fulfillment of God's Word through the prophets centuries, and thousands of years before. The prophecy of Christ's birth and death even goes back to the Garden of Eden, as we read in Genesis 3:15.

Genesis 3:15 "And I [God] will put enmity between thee [Satan] and the woman [Eve], and between thy [Satan's] seed [the Kenites] and her Seed [Jesus Christ]; It [Christ] shall bruise thy [Satan's] head, and thou [Satan] shalt bruise His [Christ's] heel."

Eve's seed is our Lord Jesus Christ; while Satan's seed are the children of Satan's son Cain, that came by the sexual union between Eve and Satan [who was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil]. These offspring are called "Kenites".

It is Jesus Christ that shall bruise the head of Satan at the time of Christ's return at the second advent; while it was Satan's children the "Kenites", and not brother Judah that bruised the heel of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. This was done when the spikes were driven through Christ's heel as He hung on the cross to pay the full price for our sins, once and for all times. Not until you understand what took place in the Garden of Eden and why; will you mature in the Word of God and come to the full understanding of all of God's Word.

Most so called "men of God" acknowledge that Genesis 3:15 is talking about the death of Jesus Christ, when He was nailed to the cross for our sins. They recognize that "seed" is referring to the children of the woman "Eve", yet somehow they just want to spiritualize everything else that happened in the Garden of Eden between Eve and the two men, Satan and Adam. The "seed" of Satan in the Hebrew text is called "zirmah", and in the Greek it is "sperma". We in the English language call it "sperm", and in the Strongs Hebrew Dictionary #2233; "Posterity, carnally, child, fruitful." It can not be any clearer, the seed of Satan's "posterity" who is Cain, are called Kenites, While Adam's posterity is in Christ, and of the pure bloodline through Seth.

While Jesus Christ was here on earth for His three year teaching period, His teaching has changed the world. There would be a digression or confusion that would take place in a certain generation, and Christ spoke of it in all the Gospels. God is saying here in Isaiah that not only will Christ save the House of Jacob, but He will save the rest of the world that would have the faith to repent and believe on His name likewise. God has set aside His certain kings and queens of the Gentiles that would lead their people to Christ.

Isaiah 49:7 "Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and His Holy One, "to Him Whom man despiseth, to Him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord That is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and He shall choose The."

This verse tells of both the first and the second advent. Many don't realize that there are two advents, one where Christ would be despised and rejected by kings and rulers, and one when He would come as "the King of kings and the Lord of lords". Again here we see that legal term, "Redeemer" which is the "Kinsman Redeemer" and this gives Christ the right to be the Kinsman Redeemer to those that would believe on His Name. He redeemed the divorced "House of Israel" by His blood shed on the cross. Christ was spat upon and cursed as He hung on the cross, and the crown of thorns pierced into His head the blood poured down over His body. He hung there on the cross paying the price of the "Kinsman Redeemer" to purchase your soul and mine from the sentence of death that had been placed upon it. When Christ came the first time, He came as a servant of rulers and as the Lamb for the slaughter, and we know that they certainly did not worship Christ at the first advent.

John 3:14 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up."

John 3:15 "That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. "

When the children of Israel were grumbling over their conditions in the wilderness, God sent serpents to bite the people, and many of them died. The people lost sight of all the miracles that God had performed for them in leading them out of Egypt, and they started to look to other things for their salvation. So the people came to Moses and had Moses pray to God for help.

Numbers 21:8 "And the Lord said unto Moses, "Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live."

Numbers 21:9 "And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived."

"pole" - 5251 nec- something lifted up, a standard, a signal, a signal pole, an ensign, a banner, a sign, a sail
a) a standard (as rallying point), a signal
b) a standard (pole)
c) an ensign, a signal

The lifting of Christ on the cross had to be done for salvation to come to flesh man. The Serpent on the pole was a type of Jesus Christ on the cross, it was representative of the healing that would come. When the people looked to that pole, or cross they showed their belief in God's promise, and were made whole. When we look to the cross of Christ and believe on His name and that finished work on the cross, then our souls are healed for the sin that is destroying it.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the World, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

When God allowed His own Son to die on the cross for your sins, we cannot know of any greater love that could be given for the salvation of your soul.

At the second advent every knee shall bow to Christ and know that He is God. They will all know that He is Faithful and the Holy One of Israel. Has God chosen you? Is your life full and blessed, or is it all tied up in worldly problems? Jesus Christ is our Savior and He is Faithful and true to those that put their trust in Him. He paid the price to handle those problems that are to great for you. He wants you to come to Him:

Matthew 11:28 "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

The word "rest" means "sabbath" in the Hebrew tongue. Christ becomes our sabbath, and all of sabbaths when we accept Him, repent and believe on His name. What Christ is saying here; is that those with eyes to see and ears to hear, and are labouring in this world, why do you carry your heavy burdens alone? Let Jesus Christ the Lord lighten those burdens and give you rest.

Matthew 11:29 "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek an lowly in hearth: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."

Jesus is asking you to learn all about Him. When His Word becomes part of your life and the central part of your heart, which is your mind, then the Holy Spirit will reveal the Word to you. It is in your knowledge of those promises, and your applying them to your life that you will find rest in Him.

If you are thinking that by taking on Christ's yoke it will be adding work to yourself, then you are comparing yourself to a dumb ox. The purpose of the yoke is to share the work by [pulling] equally with each one that is hooked up to the yoke. Christ is telling you to take that heavy burden, and hook it to His yoke, so He can do some of the pulling for you. The yoke allows you to pull only what you can handle, and the load that is too heavy for you, Christ tends to. The other purpose for the yoke is to take away the sharp points that would harm the animal, and place only smooth and soft edges next to the skin. When you hook up to Christ yoke, He gives us protection from all your burdens.

Matthew 11:30 "For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."

When we learn of His teachings and follow the guidelines that are set up in His Word; then we can bring our burdens to Him in prayer and repentance. What we thought was heavy and impossible we find out are light and easy to bear. The yoke of Christ is not given unless you ask for it. Christ does not force Himself onto anyone for it takes your faith and belief and commitment to ask for His help. That is why we must learn of Him first, for how can you believe on someone and have faith in someone that you just don't know?

Isaiah 49:8 "Thus saith the Lord, "In an acceptable time" have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the People, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;"

There is a right time for everything, and "in the acceptable time" when the Word of God took hold in your mind and you understood, you accepted the salvation that God was offering you through the shed blood of His Son. When you accepted Christ, God made a covenant with you and that covenant is a will which gives you an inheritance to His kingdom. The only reason that you can inherit any part of the covenant is because of the will that God wrote beforehand. A will is something that is committed before the death while the person is of sane and sound mind. The covenant was promised from the very beginning of our Bible, and over and over it is re-established with all the promises that God has made to you. The will is there but it is you that must claim your inheritance, you must ask for the promises, and pay attention to the conditions that apply to them. I'm sure that if your had an inheritance from your earthly father, you would make every attempt to claim your inheritance, and know all of the words of the will.

When God stated that "I will perserve thee", it means that He will preserve thee in the same manner that you would perserve food. God would not change His Word, but will keep the same freshness and texture no matter how much time has passed. It is perserved in such a way that it can not be polluted. The protection that is placed around the salvation that is offered to you can never be changed nor altered. When we repent to the Father in Jesus name, and believe on Him that inheritance is firm. To those that are truly preserved, Satan has absolutely no chance of deceiving and penetrating the wall that God has put around them when he comes to set up his world rule, because that wall is Christ.

Isaiah 49:9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, `Go forth;' to them that are in darkness, `shew yourselves.' they shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places."

This is what Jesus spoke of in John 10, when He said that I know my sheep and my sheep know my voice.

John 10:25 "Jesus answered them, "I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Fathers"s name, they bear witness of me."

John 10:26 "But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you."

John 10:27 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:"

John 10:28 "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."

The "pasture" is where the sheep go for feeding, and when you are one of Jesus Christ's sheep you feed in His pasture, and not the neighbors. You know the voice of your shepherd, and His voice is written In His Word. There is no middle ground of being one of God's sheep, you either are, or are not. You either believe that what God has spoken in his Word is true completely, or you do not. When you doubt part, you doubt it all. Are you being fed well from the Word of God? Or are you starving yourself of the truth because of listening to doctrines of men instead? Does your pastor get down to the teaching of God's Word, or do they instead teach of their own words, books or religious order?

Our Heavenly Father promised a full pasture of feeding from the full Word of God. Included in that promise, is that you would be fed from His Word with understanding. We are to listen and hearken to all of the Word's that He has spoken to us, His sheep. When you preserve anything, you cook the contaminants out of what you are trying to reserve with heat and pressure, and then you seal it up so those vile things cannot return. Then as you allow time to pass and it cools, the seal holds and preserves the product until it is to be used.

If you have been fed from the Word of God, it is God's Holy Word that will preserve you. You will not be easily shaken when the events of our day come to pass, because you know it is all part of His Word, and His plan. Every prophecy and promise is sealed in your mind, and when the deceptions and lying wonders of Satan try to enter in and contaminate your mind, it is the sealing of your mind that will hold you fast in Christ. The tongue of the Lord is His Word, Christ is the Living Word that will build that wall around you in these final days.

Isaiah 49:10 "They shall not hunger nor thirst; either shall the heat nor sun smite them: for He that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall He guide them.

This is God's promise to you when you are one of His sheep who listens to His voice and follows Him. God could take you out into the desert and leave you in the heat of the sun and you would die. However, even though you may be in the heat for a while, God will supply you with that spring of living water that is His Word, and give you the understanding and strength to see you through those difficult times. Jesus Christ is that living water that when you partake of Him you never thirst again. Our Heavenly Father is promising you here that when you feed in His pasture, He will take care of you. Jesus made this very clear in John 4:13, 14.

John 4:13 "Jesus answered and said unto her, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:"

John 4:14 "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall geve him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

Do you have the faith to believe that? The Samaritan woman at the well with her five husbands did, and couldn't wait to tell the others of the city. If you pray without faith and belief in His promises to you, then that prayer is in vain and more then likely will not come to pass. Your faith must be focused on Christ and the cross, just as the Children of Israel's faith had to be focused on that signal pole, and the promise that God had given to Moses. Did the people think the signal pole or serpent would heal them? Of course not, they knew that God told Moses that if they looked at the signal pole, God would heal them. They were acting on God's Words given to Moses, and the promises that He gave to them. Our prayers must also be based on the promises that God has given to us throughout His entire Word, Old and New Testament alike.

It doesn't take long to see what kind of faith you have, by your receiving God's blessings or not. God doesn't bless just that individual, but He will bless everything that the individual touches. God is true, loyal and faithful, and God is speaking in Isaiah 49 of the mission of Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 49:11 "And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted."

Even though there are many mountains that we face as we walk through life in our flesh bodies, God is going to make a highway that is straight and level for your save passage. God's highways are going to be above the ways of the world.

Isaiah 49:12 "Behold, these shall come from afar: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim."

"Sinim" is an ancient word for the land of China. This represents places that are very far off, and it is a way of expressing that people shall come to Him from all over the earth. These are the ones that want to follow that pathway that that God has made so straight and high up. Remember that Christ said, "I am the Way" and that means "the highway", "the pathway."

John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me."

Jesus Christ is the path for all mankind to our Heavenly Father, and our eternal salvation for our souls, so that we can share in the inheriatance that our Father has prepared for us in eternity.

Isaiah 49:13 "Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted His People, and will have mercy upon His afflicted."

Our comforter is here today, it is the Holy Spirit of God that was sent to earth to comfort our souls. When one soul repents and comes to the faith and knowledge of Christ, even the angels in heaven sing and rejoice over that one soul. When you say "Father forgive me for My sins is Jesus name", immediately the singing begins, and there is joy in Heaven over the one lost soul. God and His angels care about you.

Isaiah 49:14 "But Zion said, "The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me."

This "Zion" is not the Lord, but this is the capital city called Jerusalem. Remember that the time is at the end of this earth age, and man is still in the flesh. Mankind is all tied up with his new world order, and preparing for the coming of their false messiah, and they are looking to themselves rather then to God. You can hear people saying even today; "what has God ever done for me?", as they whine in their self-pity, lacking any understanding of God's will. Today the common thinking is that the world owes me a living, and what is yours is mine.

Isaiah 49:15 "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? ye, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee."

A mother can certainly appreciate this far more than a man. When the mother is away from the sucking child, the milk builds up to where there is pressure. That pressure reminds her that it is time for feeding. That mother went through the pain of having that child, and she will fight to the death for that child. That child is part of her body, and she loved and cared of that child until it was born. Once you understand the binding force that keeps that mother's bonding love for her child, God is saying that His love for you is stronger than that bonding force. There are times when a mother may forget something in the care of that child, but Gods care for you will never cease. God uses this tenderness of a mother to child to show His tenderness of love that He has for you.

Isaiah 49:16 "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me."

God has placed the protection in the palms of His hands, and the walls are the many ways that God protects you and cares for you, He is your help. Your very name is graven in the hands of God, how can any child of God say that God never thinks of them. You are His child, how could He ever forget you. That was His promise to you that He would never leave you, nor forget you.

Hebrews 13:5 "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: of He hath said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

Hebrews 13:6 "So that we may boldly say, "The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."

Those promises were given to us in Deuteronomy 28:1-14, that if we keep His Word and commandments, blessings would come our way.

Deuteronomy 28:8 "The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and He shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

Deuteronomy 28:9 "The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto Himself, as He hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in His ways."

The main reason that our names are engraved in His hands is because of the nailprints in His hand. Those prints from when the spikes were driven through His hands and feet on the cross. That documented the fact that He would never leave you nor forsake you because of His love for you. Every person that would love Him and repent of their sins to Him in Jesus name will be kept safe in His love. Friend, it is the one thing that we can count on in this life.

Isaiah 49:17 "Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee."

The day is coming when all those that tried to make waste of you will be gone. God will remove them to a place of holding for eternal judgment. However there is also a day coming when we shall all receive incorruptible bodies, and many of those that did evil in the flesh will see and be ashamed of their works in the flesh. During the Millennium age there will be a time fo teaching through discipline, for that thousand years all souls will see Christ and understand His Word completely. That day that is coming is the "day of the Lord", at the last (seventh) trumpet, when all will be changed, not raptured. That is the Mystery Paul spoke of in I Corinthians 15:50-54.

I Corinthians 15:50 "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."

These flesh and blood bodies can not exist in the kingdom of God, that time when God, our Jesus Christ returns to earth to set up His Millennium kingdom. During that kingdom there will be no flesh left on earth.

I Corinthians 15:51 "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,"

The three things to note here is that it is mystery or unknown to those whom God has not opened their spiritual eyes. "sleep" here is "die", while "changed" does not mean rapture, but changed from our physical bodies to our spiritual bodies.

I Corinthians 15:52 "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible."

That shedding of our physical bodies into our new soul bodies, as the angels have, will take place instantly at the sounding of the seventh and last trumpet. This is after Satan has ruled over his one world sistem in the role of Antichrist, and all souls living in our generation have been tested. It is at this time that those that tried to make waste of God's children, as well as all evil shall be done away with.

Isaiah 49:18 "Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. "As I live," saith the Lord, "thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth."

This shall happen on the first day of the Millennium age at the second advent, and then every knee shall bow to Jesus Christ. This is the only gathering that shall be, however by the end of the Millennium age, many will again fall away. Isaiah 45:23 "I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." "Every knee" means even the evil doers will bow to Christ on that day, or they will not be here. When they see Christ love and mercy, they will bow to Him. The judgment at the end of the Millennium will decide how many continued on with Christ or fell away.

On that first day of the Millennium age, Christ's firstfruits, those of the elect that were sealed in their mind and did not worship the Antichrist will receive their rewards, and an inheritance in the kingdom of God. We will be joint heirs with Christ, and not only will we be in their incoruptible body, (that which never gets old nor sick), but we also will receive our immortality, which we read of in I Corinthians 15:53.

I Corinthians 15:53 "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."

Incorruption means that the body will be free from aging and sickness, and shall have the full capacity of the mind and body. "Immortality" though comes only to those that are saved and were sealed and did not yield to Satan in the age of the flesh. Immortality means eternal, and those that receive their immortality at the seventh trumpet will not stand judgment at the end of the Millennium age, for they will stand in judgment at the coming of Christ, for their judgment is the rewards that they receive. In other words, the overcomers receive their inheritance at the time of judgement.

I Corinthians 15:54 "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on imortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in Victory."

Our victory comes at the seventh trumpet, however all other souls that were not saved and did follow Satan the Antichrist must wait until after the judgment of Revelation 20:13-15, and then, those that were found worthy by their works performed in the thousand year Millennium age will be give immortality. All others will go into the lake of fire with Satan, and all his realm.

Revelation 20:13 "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."

The dead are the spiritually dead, those that are in their immortal bodies, that do not have immortality. Those that are judged by their works are judged by their works done in the Millennium age, for their works of the flesh were given over to Satan when they bowed to him.

Revelation 20:14 "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire, This is the second death."

Death as given here is Satan, and the hell are those fallen angels as well as those removed at the time of the sounding of the seventh and last trumpet into the place of holding for judgment. This death is the death of the soul.

Revelation 20:15 "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

At this point on the eternal clock, you are either written in the Lamb's book of life, or you are not. If you are written there, then you have immortality which is eternal life. If you are not written of there, then even the memory of you will be removed from the minds of your loved ones. You will be blotted out.

I Corinthians 15:55 "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"

Friend, in Christ, death has no sting on your soul, for at the death of this flesh body you shall have the victory of your soul. That victory is immortality and spending eternity with our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

I Corinthians 15:56 "The sting of death is sin; and the strenght of sin is the law."

I Corthians 15:57 "But thanks be to God, Which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Isaiah 49:19 "For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away."

God is saying that a time is coming when that little narrow strip of today will not be big enough to hold His Children. This is referring to the rejuvination time when all of Israel will be drawn back to Him. It is in the time of the Millennium age.

Isaiah 49:20 "The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, `"he place is too straight for me: give place to me that I may dwell.'"

In other words, the lost is found, and the lost sheep have come home to pasture. Those that had their eyes covered and their ears could not understand in their age of the flesh will not see. They will see the errors of their ways, and understand the part of the Word that was not visible to them in their flesh bodies. They will recommit their ways to our Lord Jesus Christ. What a time of teaching and discipline this will be. This is what the purpose of the Millennium age is all about, teaching and discipline. There are many churches that do not teach this discipline, and the sharp two edged sword today.

Isaiah 49:21 "Then shalt thou say in thine heart, `Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro: and who hath brought up these: Behold, I was left alone; these where had they been?"

What thou shalt "say in thine heart", is what you think in your mind. This has to do when children are taken away, there is a time when they will be restored. Remember in Job, while Job was being tested by Satan, his children and wife were taken away, then after the testing God appeared to Job and restored many times over his wealth, a wife, and many children.

We see with in this, that in the Millennium age the family of God will be enlarged greatly. Those that were lost in this age of the flesh, that died in ignorance and had no hope of salvation, will see the light of God's Word, and come back to Him. This is all part of our Heavenly Father plan, and written in His Word. God felt that each of His Children were worth saving, and many of them just do not have a chance to hear the true Word in this age of the flesh, for many different reasons.

Isaiah 49:22 "Thus saith the Lord God, "Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders."

God is telling us that in the Millennium age, He is going to reach out to all the peoples of all races, and bring His standard who is Christ, to all the people. It is only through Christ that eternal life comes, and all the souls of every race shall have an opportunity to come under that standard.

At the time of this writing, girls had to shift for themselves. The boys were valued much higher than their daughters, however this is stating that at a certain time even the girls would also be carried as high as the boys. It is a figure of speech showing that everyone will be equal in the kingdom of God, both by race and by gender. Everyone shall be cared for in the Millennium age.

Isaiah 49:23 "And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for Me."

Don't get carried away by this verse, for it is using an Hebrew idiom. Lets go to Revelation 3:9, where it was stated that on the first day of the Millennium, every knee would bow to Christ, and even the Kenites themselves would bow to Christ and to those that knew who they were, and withstood Satan.

Revelation 3:9 "Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee."

Those of the elect are at the feet of the standard, who is Christ, and even the Kenites will then understand and know who Christ is and bow to that standard. At that time they will all be loving and wanting Christ. Though at a later time many of them will fall away and go away from Christ.

Isaiah 49:24 "Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?"

This is saying, to some this might seem impossible that the majority of the people of the world would all bow to that standard who is Christ. However it shall come to pass. It will happen because our Father is God and He said it will happen. This should be no surprise to anyone that knows prophecies and understands how God has already brought things to pass.

Isaiah 49:25 "But thus saith the Lord, "Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children."

God is saying this is no problem for Him, and that He is able to rip anyone He chooses from the hands of their captives. The "so-called" mighty pose no threat to their prey when it comes to the saving arms of God. Satan is the one that holds people captive, and he is only a man, a created being just like any man. When Satan is taken away, all those that remain shall be saved for the Millennium, to chose for themselves with full understanding of who God is, and His love for them.

Remember what "Isaiah" means in the Hebrew tongue, "God's salvation". This is God's plan for His salvation. It is spelled out just as sure in the Old Testament as was written in the New Testament. This is the way that God will draw His children back to Him, it is the way it happens and shall come to pass.

God is telling you that if you love Him, there is no one, not even Satan himself that is going to be able to take you from God. God is a God of love, but He also corrects those that He loves, just like when we discipline our own children. When you consider God's love, we must consider all three ages in their true perspective. The Millennium age has its importance just as the age of the flesh we are in today, and the first earth age, when man's souls were not in the flesh but as the angels are. By this comparision, we can see God's love for all His children, for we can see all the ways that God gathers His children in. Some in the first age, before the foundations of this earth age; some in the flesh and other in the age of the Millennium, when full understand is returned to all souls.

Isaiah 49:26 "And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob."

Our Heavenly Father is in control, and in the Millennium age all souls will see Jesus Christ as our Kinsman Redeemer. This is why we should thank Him often that He is in control. God knows you and when you have become one of His elect, God will build a wall around you to protect you. I have seen many times that when someone did evil against one of God's elect that real trouble entered into that persons life.

God can bless and God can correct when it is needed. When correction is given it is for the sake of drawing our attention to the fact that we have taken our eyes from off of Him and His Word.

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