ISAIAH -Chapter 33 - The defeat of Antichrist and the Triumph of Jesus Christ
ISAIAH Chapter 33
The defeat of Antichrist and the Triumph of Jesus Christ
Tuesday Morning Bible Study
May 6, 2014, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Isa. 33:22: The Lord is our Judge. The Lord is our Lawgiver. The Lord is our King. He will save us.
The three branches of government are under the authority, power and Kingdom of God.
Hallelujah! As we continue our journey through Isaiah, this chapter prophesies the punishment of the Antichrist and the triumph of Jesus Christ. Chapter 28 to 33 belong to the terrifying days of the Assyrian siege of the city of Jerusalem as told in Isa. 36 & 37.
I believe it is also prophetic of the tyranny of terror in the 21st century.
In verse 1-2 the destruction of the Assyrian is declared which is a type of the end-time anti-christ and/or spirit of the anti-christ which encompasses all who are opposed to Jesus Christ and Christianity (His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven).
The Holy Spirit has been quickening to me that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he will gather together in one all things in Christ.
As prophesied in this chapter, there will also be a gathering out of his kingdom all things that offend. Matt. 13:41: “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity. And shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth; then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Zion shall stand. All else shall be moved!
Historically many scholars believe this chapter was written as a thanksgiving hymn for the destruction of the destroyer, manifest in Sennacherib and the Assyrians in general. The nature of the unholy trinity is to kill, steal and destroy. Treacherous deceivers like Sennacherib are to be cut off as a result of God’s favor to His people and His answer to their many prayers. Then in verses 13-16, we see the plight of the godless in the face of the Assyrian menace. Their fearful trembling is the result of their sin and unbelief.
God Himself will protect Jerusalem like an encircling stream on which the enemy’s disintegrating ships go down.
Finally there is salvation by seeing Messiah-King in His beauty. The Lord and His righteous remnant will prevail.
33:1: “Woe to thee that spoils, and you were not spoiled; and dealt treacherously, and they did not deal treacherously with you. When you cease to spoil, you shall be spoiled; and you shall make an end to dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with you.”
Sennacherib was paid by Hezekiah to help Judah, and then turned on the kingdom to destroy the Jews. This mistaken foreign policy of appeasement is being practiced by the government of the United States today. This is prophetic of the treachery going on as the United States pays appeasement money, guns, ammunition and equipment to our enemies and they in turn use the equipment to attack us. The United States is duped into thinking our enemies can be appeased with money when they are using us, and laughing behind our backs.
It is my persuasion this is what happened in Benghazi. We gave money, munitions and supplies to the Muslim Brotherhood and to a terrorist group to overturn the Libyan government. The terrorist in turn attacked our embassy killing our ambassador and three other Americans. This same scenario happened when the U.S. walked guns into Mexico to give to the cartel to supply munitions to the terrorist.
33:2: “O Lord, be gracious unto us: we have waited for you: be thou our arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.”
The arm of the Lord is a symbol of power and strength. This is the prayer of the righteous remnant.
(As I prayed this prayer on Tuesday morning, the Spirit of the Lord touched me as I was preaching.)
33: 3-4: “At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered. And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpillar; as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them”
Again this is prophetic of the dispensation of the fullness of times, when the Lord will gather together in one all things in Christ or his angels shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend.
The people were stricken with panic. This is a graphic description of the effect produced by the consciousness of the Presence of God as of fire. The sinners are full of fear, but the righteous dwell safely in the midst of the burning. The Lord has called the elect out again and we are in the midst of the consuming fire of God. This is the only place of safety. Through it all, Isaiah goes about calmly assuring the people that God will smite the enemy with terror, and they shall flee leaving vast loot.
When the Assyrian is finished spoiling Jerusalem. God is going to spoil them! This chapter celebrates a great victory, and is prophetic of the method of the final triumph.
1 Kings 19: 33-35: “Therefore says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, says the Lord. For I will defend this city, to save, for My own sake, and for My servant David’s sake. It came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a 145,000; and when they arose early in the morning, behold they were all dead corpses.”
33:5-6: “The Lord is exalted; for he dwells on high; he has filled Zion with judgment and righteousness. And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of your times, and strength of salvation; the fear of the Lord is his treasure.”
The fear of the Lord denotes the worship of Yahweh and is seen as the key to the treasure He gives His people. This states one of the keys to the Kingdom. “The fear of the Lord is his treasure”. It is only as we are in “awe”, “respect” and “reverence” of the power of a Holy God that His people will walk in judgment and righteousness. Without that fear, we would all fall into sin.
33: 7-9: “Behold their valiant ones shall cry without; the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly. The highways lay waste, the wayfaring man ceases; he has broken the covenant, he has despised the cities, he regards no man. The earth mourns and languishes. Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down. Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.”
This verse predicts the utter uselessness of trying to make peace with the Antichrist who will be determined to destroy the nation. Today Iran publically states that it is their intent to destroy the nation of Israel. Not only Israel, but Christianity.
33: 10-13: “Now will I rise, says the Lord; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up Myself. You shall conceive chaff, you shall bring forth stubble; your breath, as life, shall devour you. And the people shall be as the burnings of lime; as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire; Hear, you that are far off, what I have done; and, you that are near, acknowledge My might.”
That is what I am talking about!
This is the God I serve and preach! All power in heaven and earth are His. The might of God is demonstrated in the overthrow of the Assyrians which strikes terror in the hearts of the irreligious, revealing the Lord as a Consuming fire.
33:14: “The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings”?
None can endure the revelation of the Holy Presence of God but the godly. Isaiah’s keynote through this book is righteousness. All of Judah owe God a debt of thanksgiving for deliverance, but not all---by any means are godly enough to be worthy to enter the Holy of Holies. But those who are truly grateful may show it by amendment of life; gratitude demands it and moreover, Divine promises commend it.
33: 15-17: “He that walks righteously, and speaks uprightly; he that despises the gain of oppressions, that shakes his hands from holding of bribes, that stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high. His place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks; bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty; they shall behold the land that is very far off.”
The Holy Bible has over 7000 promises. All we have to do is meet the condition, and step up and claim the promise. Here the Lord tells us the keys to the Kingdom whereby we may live in the presence of the Lord in the midst of all tribulation:
- Walk righteously.
- Speak uprightly
- Despise the gain of oppressions.
- Do not take bribes.
- Stop ears from hearing of blood (Do not watch or hear the movies that depict death and hell on our media). The pale horse is riding with the two riders, death and hell everyday in the media.
- Shut our eyes from seeing evil. (Do not watch nudity, unclean sex scenes, pornography or vulgarity).
Jesus the King is the seed of Abraham and David. As such, he has the land and the throne. The land is the earth, and the throne is the right to rule it.
Those who possess the qualifications are privileged to live in the constant Presence of God, find in God a perpetual refuge, receive all necessary sustenance, and behold the King in all His beauty. These are the attributes of the overcomer, the one who shall be able to dwell or live in the Most Holy Place, the place of a baptism of fire. The reality of such a word is devastating to the hypocrites whose life does not match their lip, nor their walk their talk. The Lord is coming suddenly to his temple to require His fruit.
These promises are outlined. The enemy, whose presence was still so obvious and so hateful will ultimately be banished, leaving a land with wide horizons and then with undivided minds the worshippers will be able to see their God in his beauty. God worshipped as Judge, King and Savior, will provide perfect peace to the city of His sanctuary.
33:18-19: “Your heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? Where is the receiver? Where is he that counted the towers? You shall not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than you can perceive; of a stammering tongue that you cannot understand.
Again, I believe we can prophetically apply this scripture to the terrorist and those who fear the terrorist. The falling of the towers were a sign of the beginning of sorrows and was the beginning of the war on terror. The terrorist are fierce people and fit this prophecy which I perceive to be applicable to the 21st century.
33:20-22: “Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities; thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, 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 ships pass by. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our King, he will save us.”
The Lord and His righteous remnant will prevail!
Zion will stand. All else shall be moved.
Heb. 12:22: “You have come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. See that you do not refuse him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused him that spoke on earth, How much more shall we not escape, if we, turn away from him that speaks from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth; but now he has promised saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And the word, yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and Godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.”
33: 23-24: “Your tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail; then as the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame took the prey. The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick; the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.”
All invading ships will be damaged. Jehovah will be to His people a river of defense. In the midst of it, He will administer its affairs in justice. With such a God, all the attempts of the enemy to overcome the city are useless. Everywhere there is healing for the people, both physically and spiritually.
This whole passage reveals that we cannot chart our own course---the King must do that! All else is broken in His Day!
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.