Our church has “equipping classes” instead of Sunday School classes on Sunday mornings before our worship service. One of the classes that we have this session is “Systematic Theology 1,” which is largely based on Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology book. It is a remarkable blessing for the church to offer this kind of teaching and two Sunday mornings ago there were 50 people in the small classroom listening to teaching on “The Attributes of God.” It is remarkable that a church offers this, but it is also remarkable that 20% of the church membership was sitting in a classroom wrestling with pretty heavy ideas about the character of God.

I think that one question that could come up about Systematic Theology would be “Why study Systematic Theology?” Is it just to fill your head and your ego with esoteric ideas? Is it to show how intellectual you are? Is there value in this study? I think the answer is an unqualified “yes.” The following are my thoughts on why study Systematic Theology.

First, it is required that we have a definition of what I mean when I say, “Systematic Theology” (ST). Real ST is necessarily rooted and grounded in the word of God. Speculations and extrapolations which deviate from the express teaching of the Bible are necessarily suspect. These are to be examined critically and, if they are found wanting, these speculations are to be rejected. On the other hand, the closer a given doctrine agrees with the explicit teaching of the Bible, the more vigorously that doctrine is to be held and defended. ST is the discipline that aids us in discerning and examining deeply these essential biblical teachings.

ST is a sanctifying activity, since it is the intense meditation on the word of God and what is taught therein.

ST deepens out faith in the Lord by allowing us to understand more about what the Lord has revealed to us about Himself and prevents us from merely speculating wildly (2 Cor. 10:5).

ST not only deepens our faith, but it simultaneously dispels our ignorance and pushes back the place where we say, “Well, I will just take that on faith.” Now, it is acknowledged that there is a place where everyone, no matter how biblically fluent, must confess that a given idea will be taken on faith. Deuteronomy 29:29 tells us that “the secret things belong to the LORD 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.” ST helps us to see and understand “the things that are revealed” so we may obey our God and praise His name.

ST glorifies God, for just as the more we learn about the creation, the more we praise the Creator, so the more we learn about our awesome God and all that He has done for us in Christ, the more loudly and joyously we worship Him.

The speculations which come from the minds of fallen men and women pale into insignificance when compared to what God has already revealed about Himself and His work in His word. ST enables us to uncover and display in an orderly fashion all the treasures contained in God’s word and, when ST is done well, it helps us to remove the dross of man’s errant musings.

Imagine a 7-year old who has just learned her addition tables being told about algebra. Her knowledge has recently been extended to include addition, and now she is told of some strange new “math” that makes no sense to her ears. Addition has been revealed to her, but algebra is still a “secret thing.” For her, algebra is just something she must take on faith. It sounds fantastic and strange, and although she is not entirely convinced about this bizarre idea, our 7-year old is willing to take our word for it that algebra really is in a math book somewhere.

In the same way, a true believer will remain ignorant of biblical doctrines to the degree they are ignorant of God’s word. ST is one of the ways that a believer can emerge from their ignorance about what God has already revealed in His word. We do not “remain children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming (Eph. 4:14).” Rather, we are to grow up! It is not helpful or wise to take “on faith” what God has already clearly revealed in His word. So we make use of any and all means that God has provided to drive out our ignorance and to replace that with firmly grasped truth, and ST is one of those means.

SDG        rmb        2/11/2020

This post is part of a series from the book of Exodus. These posts share some of the riches which I discovered this year in my annual read through this Old Testament book about the LORD’s deliverance of His people from their slavery in Egypt.

In the fifth chapter of the book of Exodus, the LORD sends Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh to tell him that the LORD, the God of Israel, demands that His people be let go to worship Him in the wilderness. Pharaoh responds with these fateful words:

But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and besides, I will not let Israel go.” Exodus 5:2

The plagues of Egypt will come upon Pharaoh as a thundering answer to his reckless, arrogant question in Exodus 5:2. Defiantly, Pharaoh despises the LORD when he asks Moses, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD . . .” These sharp words create the plot for the plagues of Egypt and Pharaoh will live to regret these words. The LORD will make Himself known to Pharaoh through ten devastating plagues, and finally Pharaoh will die regretting these words, as the LORD destroys him and his whole army in the Red Sea. O, yes; Pharaoh will know the LORD.

For the LORD does not take defiance lightly. “Oh, you do not know Me, Pharaoh? Very well. Let me introduce Myself to you. I am the LORD. I rule heaven and earth, and if you will not bow down to Me, I will destroy you and your nation.” And the LORD hardens Pharaoh’s heart so that he will not repent of his defiance, in order that Pharaoh’s arrogance may be utterly extinguished by the punishing plagues from the LORD. The LORD makes sure that Pharaoh will never again be so foolish as to say, “Who is the LORD?” By the time this ordeal is finished, Pharaoh will certainly know who the LORD is.

Notice in these verses that, as the LORD brings His plagues on Egypt, many of them are brought so that Pharaoh and Egypt may know the LORD. Consider these verses:

• 7:5 – “The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand against Egypt.”
• 7:17 – “By this you will know that I am the LORD: Behold, I (Moses) will strike the water, and it shall turn to blood.”
• 8:10 – (With the plague of frogs) This will be done, “so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God.”
• 8:22 – There will be no swarms of flies in Goshen, “that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.”
• 9:14 – “I will send all My plagues on you, so that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth.”
• 9:29 – “The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s.”
• 10:2 – “I have dealt harshly with eh Egyptians, that you may know that I am the LORD.”
• 14:4 – “I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his hosts, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.”
• 14:18 – “And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh.”

The LORD does not forget or overlook the boastful, arrogant jeers of the any earthly monarch. Pharaoh was the most powerful man on earth at that time, but the LORD demands that He be worshiped, or He will destroy in judgment. “Our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29).”

SDG     rmb     2/8/2020

This is part of a series of articles from Matthew chapters 5-7, known as the Sermon on the Mount. As I was reading through this well-known passage of Scripture in my annual read through the Bible, several passages struck me in a new way, and I wanted to share them with you as an encouragement and as a way to spur us on.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” – Matthew 5:14

Having just talked about the reward and the blessing that are promised to those followers of Jesus who are persecuted for the sake of the gospel (5:10-12), Jesus now talks about the believer’s attitude toward the world. The conclusion we can draw from this verse is that there is no such thing as a secret or hidden saint.

First, Jesus says that “you are the light of the world.” The “you” here is all disciples of Jesus. We are the light of the world. Now, for the disciple of Christ in America, this means that there is no option for being secret about your faith. How can “the light of the world” be covered or obscured? The purpose of the light is to dispel darkness. A light that does not dispel darkness is useless. Therefore, we, as the light of Christ, are to actively and intentionally shine His light.

But Jesus also says, “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” The context demands that this “city” of this sentence is the same thing as the “you” and the “light” of the preceding sentence. That is, we are not to be in a darkened canyon afraid to shine our light, but we are to find a prominent position on the side of a hill where our light is visible to the most people possible.

Application: The default attitude of the follower of Christ is to be a light for Christ in the world. This is the purpose for which the believer has been saved. The local church is to take the same attitude and purpose as the individual. We are His witnesses (Isaiah 43:10, 12; Acts 1:8).

Strategies:

1. Consider how we can use our existing context most effectively to shine Christ’s light.
2. Plan how we can increase the intensity of our light so that more people are exposed to that light.

SDG        rmb        1/27/2020

In Revelation 2-3, the Lord of the church, Jesus Christ, speaks to seven churches and gives them an assessment of their spiritual condition and exhorts them to heed His words to them. There are many lessons that can be learned from the words of Jesus to these seven churches, for, while these churches were real, first century churches, they are also representative of the spectrum of churches that will exist throughout the time between Christ’s advents. In that light, I want to look at these churches in terms of what they teach us about persecution.

One of the most obvious features of the book of Revelation is that it is set in a context of persecution. John writes the letter from the island of Patmos, because he has been exiled there “for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” Up until the return of Christ in 19:11ff, there are episodes throughout the book where believers are being persecuted because of their faith in Jesus. So it is with these two chapters devoted to Jesus speaking to His churches. What can we observe and learn from these chapters?

First, it is interesting that, of these seven churches, five receive a rebuke from Jesus and a command to repent, and two do not. Notice that the two churches that are not commanded to repent, Smyrna and Philadelphia, are both undergoing persecution of some degree. Jesus mentions “testing” to both these churches and He does not mention testing to the other churches.

The churches that are being tested do not need to repent, because the persecution is the means of creating a fire that burns away the dross of carelessness and worldly thinking.

LESSONS:

In the book of Revelation, both the apostle John and the Lord Jesus are commending persecuted believers for their endurance in the face of suffering and they are, at the same time, warning those who are not persecuted of their greater spiritual danger. Why a warning of greater spiritual danger? If you are NOT undergoing persecution to some degree, then you are in greater danger of drifting from the truth. More ominously, without persecution, you are in greater danger of believing that you are in Christ and are saved, when, in fact, you have no basis for such a belief. Fierce persecution will not allow for anemic doctrine or lukewarm worship, but without the flame of testing, pretenders can deceive and be deceived (2 Timothy 3:13) and false teachers can propagate lies with relative impunity.

Persecution purifies the church and drives true believers to the Word. When the heat intensifies and testing rages, true believers cling tenaciously to the Word (2 Samuel 23:10), they pray fervently and urgently (Acts 4:24-31; Romans 12:12), and they gather together with other believers for fellowship and encouragement.

When there is no cost of entry, people will drift in and out of the church as their preferences and convenience dictate. Many weak churches can arise when there is no persecution to separate the wheat from the chaff. Weak churches attract those who want to appear religious because they provide religious respectability but do not demand obedience or insist on any doctrines. Apostate churches appeal to worldly people who want a form of godliness without any biblical substance (2 Timothy 3:5). But when the flame of persecution is ignited, the flimsy and the false are easily seen and the true churches are the ones who take the heat of opposition.

So, persecution is the best means for the church to remain pure. But there is another thought on this. Biblical history shows us that opposition leads to singleness of purpose and a refusal to be distracted from the goal, whereas ease usually leads to a person’s undoing. Joshua fought for many years to conquer the land of Canaan, and Joshua was a hero. But following Joshua we have the book of Judges, where the land has been all but conquered and there is relative peace. What happens? With no identified leader and no opposition, the nation of Israel degenerates into a bunch of warring tribes fighting among themselves. Or consider David and Solomon. David was constantly fighting against Saul and the Philistines, trying to establish Israel and give them rest from the other nations. During this time, David is too busy to think about other sinful things. As soon as David has the nation under control, however, he is wandering around on his roof looking at bathing women. And then comes Solomon. He inherits a kingdom that has conquered all its enemies on every side and enjoys peace. Solomon increases and displays his prodigious wealth and builds the temple, while he has 700 wives and 300 concubines. In the end Solomon follows the gods of his wives and his heart is drawn away from the Lord. Ease appears to be not as good as it used to be. Or what about the church of the early apostles in the book of Acts compared to the church after Constantin? The early church is bold and courageous and takes the gospel from “Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum” (Romans 15:, unafraid of anything and with the motto of, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” But in 325 AD Constantin makes Christianity one of the accepted state religions of the Roman Empire and persecution is dramatically reduced. As a result of that decision, the Christian church goes flabby and weak.

The Lord ordained persecution as the means of growing a strong and healthy church. Let us embrace it and run with endurance (Hebrews 12:1).

SDG                 rmb                 1/20/2020

I had first seen the vase on Etsy. It was a faux ivory vase of interesting and intricate Chinese design, completely unique among the choices from my Google search. Yes, this would make the perfect 14^th anniversary gift for Lisa! But let me give some background to this story.

Sometime around the beginning of December, for whatever reason I was prompted to start my search for an anniversary gift for Lisa. The occasion was our 14^th wedding anniversary and the traditional gift for the 14^th is something of ivory. Well, actually not of REAL ivory, because that would mean that elephants have to die to give up their tusks, but rather of faux ivory, and there on Etsy was a beautiful faux ivory vase with Chinese carvings on it. It was not practical, but it was beautiful and unique, so I decided to buy it for Lisa. Our anniversary was on January 14 and it was still early December, so this would get to Charlotte in plenty of time. It was only after I had purchased the vase that I realized that the seller was in Latvia. Can you say long delivery time? Add to that the fact that I had ordered it on December 2, at the peak of the Christmas shipping and shopping season, and there was a built-in possibility of having a long wait. But our anniversary was not till January 14, so surely there was enough time for the vase to get here by then.

I was further encouraged on December 4^th when I received an email telling me that the vase had, in fact, shipped from the seller in Latvia, and there was even a tracking number for following the vase on its way to Charlotte. All was looking splendid! A few days of no news and a tracking number that yielded only the statement that the vase had left Latvia put a dent in my enthusiasm and my optimism, but then on December 19 my tracking update reported that the shipment has been “Processed Through Facility ISC NEW YORK NY (USPS). Your item has been processed through our facility in ISC NEW YORK NY (USPS) at 2:30 pm on December 19, 2019.” Now here was good news, indeed! The vase had been processed (past tense) through the USPS facility, so surely it would only be a couple of days till the faux ivory vase was safely in my hands. Or so I thought.

Instead of a rapid route to Charlotte, however, the vase seemed to drop out of existence. I checked the tracking number almost every day, and every day the message was the same as it had been on December 19: “Your item has been processed through our facility in ISC NEW YORK NY (USPS) at 2:30 pm on December 19, 2019.” There was no change, no progress, no movement. Christmas came and went, and then New Year’s came and went, and still the message was the same. I began to wonder if the package had been lost or stolen. Why was it not moving? Would it ever move? Maybe someone at USPS can give me more information than I am getting from the tracking number.

There was a phone number on the USPS Website that offered to give tracking information on missing packages, and I was getting so nervous that, on January 6, I contacted that number. My expectations were low, but I thought it was worth a try, so I punched the numbers on my phone and waited. An automated voice answered my call and told me that “she” would be happy to help. She asked me for my tracking number, which I spoke into the phone letter by letter and number by number. All was going well until we got to the very last letter of the tracking number. For some reason the machine could not make out my “V” and continued to insist I was saying “C.” Three tries at this relegated me to the alternate queue where a “live person” would help me with my inquiry. “The estimated wait-time for the next available representative is between 48 and 55 minutes.” Needless to say, at that point I ended the call much more frustrated than when the call began and much more certain that my beautiful faux ivory vase was lost forever. Now it was January 6, and I was out of options.

On Tuesday, January 7, I dutifully checked the tracking number again and again received the same answer. December 19 was the last update. Now I was despondent, convinced that I would never receive the vase and that I needed to come up with another idea for our 14^th anniversary. At about 2:00 on Tuesday afternoon January 7, I decided to pray to the Lord about the lost vase.

“Lord, I know that this vase is a trivial thing and that it doesn’t make any difference in your plan of redemption, but this is important to me and You say in Your Word that you hear my cries. Lord, Your Word also says that nothing is too difficult for You (Jeremiah 32:17), and so I am asking that You would hear my prayer and that You would bring that vase to me in Charlotte, and that You would do that before our anniversary. I bought this vase to show Lisa, the wife You gave me, that I love her. Lord, please glorify Yourself and show Your power by bringing that vase to me. In Jesus name, Amen.” That was about 2:00 on Tuesday afternoon on January 7.

I again went to the USPS Website and suddenly saw a selection on the site that I had not noticed before. There was a place on the site where a person could request that any updates to the tracking information be emailed to them. I went through the steps to enter that information and then went back to work, not really expecting that anything would happen.

At 3:11 PM, I received an email update from the USPS Website giving me the information that my package “had been processed through our facility in ISC NEW YORK NY (USPS) at 2:30 pm on December 19, 2019.” Not exactly exciting news, since I had seen and received that same information every day for almost three weeks.

Then at 4:06 PM I received the following email message from the USPS Website: “Your item arrived at our USPS facility in JERSEY CITY NJ NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CENTER on January 7, 2020 at 3:50 PM. The item is currently in transit to the destination.” I was amazed at what had just happened. There had been almost three weeks of no movement whatsoever. The package appeared hopelessly stuck. Then I had prayed and in less than two hours the Lord had started the vase moving again and had sent me an email to make sure that I received that notification about what He had done. I was overwhelmed at the power of my God and at the compassion of my God. I offered prayers and praises to the Lord for the way He had heard and answered my prayer. “Yes, My child, I can get the vase to you before your anniversary. All you needed to do was ask (Matthew 7:12).”

From that point on I received daily updates from the USPS Website keeping me informed of the progress of that faux ivory vase. On Friday, January 10, I received a notification that the package was scheduled to arrive at my house on Saturday January 11. When I returned home from doing a service project at church, there in front of the garage door was the international package. I scooped up the box and deposited it upstairs in my home office. I carefully opened the box and viewed the contents. Beautiful! The vase was exactly what I had been hoping it was, and I was so pleased at the way the Lord had brought it to me at exactly the right time.

Our God is mighty and yet He regards the lowly (Psalm 138:6a). He cares for the concerns of His children. Praise His holy name!

SDG          rmb          1/15/2020

As we get ready to enter a new year and so begin to consider plans for the future and things that we might improve in our lives, I thought it would be good to review the rules that John Wesley imposed on the men that joined him in his Methodist enterprise.

These twelve rules are quoted by J C Ryle in the chapter on John Wesley in Ryle’s book on great church leaders of the 18^th Century. These are “the twelve rules which he (Wesley) laid down for the guidance of his helpers in evangelistic work in the Methodist communion.” Consider the allegiance to Wesley, the discipline and the commitment involved in the workers who would accept these rules.

1. Be diligent. Never be unemployed for a moment. Never be triflingly employed. Never while away time. Neither spend any more time in any place than is strictly necessary.
2. Be serious. Let your motto be, “Holiness to the Lord.” Avoid all lightness, jesting, and foolish talking.
3. Converse sparingly and cautiously with women, particularly with young women in private.
4. Take no step toward marriage without first acquainting me with your design.
5. Believe evil of no one. Unless you see it done, take heed how you credit it. Put the best construction on everything. You know that the judge is always supposed to be on the prisoner’s side.
6. Speak evil of no one, else your words especially would eat as doth a canker. Keep your thoughts within your own breast till you come to the person concerned.
7. Tell everyone what you think wrong in him, and that plainly, and as soon as may be, else it will fester in your heart. Make all haste to cast the fire out of your bosom.
8. Do not affect the gentleman. You have no more to do with this character than with that of a dancing master. A preacher of the gospel is a servant to all.
9. Be ashamed of nothing but sin; not of fetching wood or of drawing water, not of cleaning your own shoes or your neighbor’s.
10. Be punctual. Do everything exactly at the time and, in general, do not mend our rules, but keep them. Do this not for wrath, but for conscience sake.
11. You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore, spend and be spent in this work. Go always not to those who want (need) you, but to those who want (need) you most.
12. Act in all things not according to your own will, but as a son of the gospel. As such, it is your part to employ your time in the manner which we direct, partly in preaching and visiting the flock from house to house, and partly in reading, meditation, and prayer. Above all, if you labor with us in the Lord’s vineyard, it is needful that you should do that part of the work which we advise, at those times and places which we judge most for His glory.

To put these rules into perspective, the men who signed up for this work did so voluntarily and considered it a privilege to labor for the gospel with Mr. Wesley. These rules reveal a military discipline wherein the work is advanced by rigorous labor that is directed by a trusted leader, to whom the workers willingly submit. These rules may have been a bit overbearing, even by the standards of that day, but their effect was such that the workers made an impact for Christ wherever they went. Those who labor in the gospel in this age would be well-served if they included these disciplines in their own labors.

One additional point has occurred to me. These rules are not for pastors. Note that these rules are for those “in the evangelistic work of the Methodist communion.” These workers “have nothing to do but to save souls (rule #11).” So, these were not pastors laboring to nurture the flock, but these were gospel soldiers engaged in “evangelistic work,” which is more narrowly defined as proclaiming the gospel to intentionally win sinners to Christ. The focus was on preaching Christ to lost sinners, and so involved a much narrower range of activities. This was a platoon of men targeting the conquest of a specific hill. This, to me, justifies the strict control that Wesley demanded from his helpers and explains their remarkable impact.    SDG        rmb          12/30/2019

In the last several posts we have been looking at Isaiah 26:19ff and considering what I have called “the eschatology of Isaiah.” At this point I want to take a short break to do some general musing about eschatology before moving on to look at Isaiah’s vision of the coming of the LORD in Isaiah 26:21.

First, I want to define the word “eschatology.” Eschatology is, from its etymology, simply the study of “last things,” from the Greek word ‘eschatos,’ meaning “last.” Of course, eschatology is much more than that. Eschatology is the study of what the Bible says will be “the last things,” what the Bible says about the events that will occur at the end of the age. These events all revolve around and relate to the bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ in power and in glory, which has been referred to as “The Second Coming.”  So, that is eschatology.

Second, I wanted to state that eschatology is a uniquely Christian concept and field of study. No other philosophy or form of religious tradition has any meaningful explanation or concept of “last things,” because no other religion has clear and consistent teaching about last things in its holy book. In fact, no other tradition even sees world history as linear and as heading toward a necessary, predetermined end, and it could be argued that all religions could go on forever, because there is no final event and no requirement for an end. By contrast, the Bible presents history as decidedly linear with a clear beginning and a certain end, both of which are determined by God. As soon as sin entered the world with Adam’s disobedience in Genesis 3, the world headed toward destruction and there arose a requirement for an ultimate judgment for sin. The Bible warns mankind that there is certainly an end coming when God will judge all sinners and the Bible uses these means to impress upon sinners the urgency of repentance and the peril of its delay. Now that Jesus has come the first time, the Second Coming (and the end) could occur at any time. As biblical revelation unfolds, the details of the end times become clearer and more detailed. Thus, Christians study what the Bible has to say about eschatology so that we may discern the signs of the times and so that we can glorify God by understanding His patience in delaying the end and we can praise Him for His holiness and righteousness in judging sin. So, only Christians study eschatology, because only Christians have anything to study.

Third, God’s plan for the “last things” (‘eschatology’) has been in place since before the foundation of the world, but God graciously reveals the features of that plan to us in the progression of Scripture. What is remarkable about the Bible is that the eschatology of Isaiah that we are looking at in these recent studies is consistent with the eschatology of Jesus in the gospels and of Paul and of Peter in the epistles, and of John in the book of Revelation. There may be a difference in the amount of detail or in the emphasis of the text, but there is nothing contradictory in these different texts. There will be a Resurrection of the righteous. The world will grow increasingly hostile toward believers as lawlessness persecution intensify. The Lord Jesus will return bodily to this earth in power and great glory to judge the earth. The wicked will be destroyed and cast into the lake of fire, along with their evil prince the devil. That is the basic framework that occurs again and again in the Bible, and this attests to the divine authorship of the Scriptures, which are breathed out by God (2 Tim. 3:16).

SDG                 rmb                 12/24/2019

The prophet Isaiah wrote powerful prophecies not only of the events of Jesus’ first advent, but also about the events of that day, the final day when the glorified Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the resurrected Lamb of God, returns from heaven on a white horse (Revelation 19:11ff) to judge all the earth.

It is Isaiah’s eschatology that I want to explore with this study, from one brief passage of four verses, Isaiah 26:19-27:1. Here the prophet tells us of things to come at the end of time. As we have seen in the post of December 1, Isaiah has told us about the great final resurrection of the dead when the tomb will become a womb and the dust will give birth to those who will sing for joy. In this post, we will read about the time of tribulation of God’s people, although it will not be as clear as the passage about the resurrection.

PART 2 – THE TRIBULATION OF THE RIGHTEOUS – 26:20

“Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by.”

I will admit that, at first reading, this is not the classic ‘tribulation’ passage telling of the distress of God’s people, but a careful reading of the verse, especially in light of the verse’s context, will reveal this to probably be a verse about the suffering of the righteous at the end of the age.

Consider the verse’s context. As we have seen, the preceding verse (26:19) tells of the final resurrection of the dead using almost the same words and images that Paul later uses to describe the Resurrection in 1 Thessalonians 4:14ff. The verse that follows (26:21) is about “the LORD coming out of His place” and could be compared to Revelation 19:11ff or 2 Thess. 1:7-10. What other eschatological event happens around the time of the resurrection and the return of Christ? From other passages of Scripture we know that just before the return of Christ there will be intense distress and tribulation for God’s people as the unsaved world seeks to destroy the church. Consider Matthew 24:21-22, where Jesus describes a “great  tribulation” that must be cut short to spare the elect. Then “immediately after the tribulation of those days” we will “see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky (Matthew 24:29-30).” A great tribulation followed by the coming of the Lord – this sounds a lot like “God’s people hiding themselves for a little while until the fury passes (Isaiah 26:20),” followed by, “Behold, the LORD is coming out of His place (26:21).”

Another similar passage to consider is 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10, in which the saints are being afflicted severely, but are suddenly relieved and avenged as the Lord Jesus comes from heaven “inflicting vengeance” on unbelievers and bringing “the punishment of eternal destruction . . . when He comes on that day.” It doesn’ take a seminary professor to see that the context of 2 Thess. 1 is similar to Isaiah 26:20. Paul and Isaiah had received a similar vision about the end of the age, and both men had seen that the end times will be a time of distress for God’s people.

Although full of visions that are often difficult to understand, the book of Revelation agrees with Isaiah 26:20 in that, as the time of the Lord’s return approaches, God’s people will need to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). They will need to be bold in their witness, but also wary of their adversaries. There will be times when they need to “hide themselves for a little while until the fury passes.” In other words, John on Patmos received a similar message to the one Isaiah had received 700 years before. For example, in Revelation 6 the martyrs under the altar must “rest a little longer,” until the number of martyrs should be complete (Rev. 6:11). Obviously this is a time of great distress. In chapter 11, the “two witnesses” (probably representing the Law and the Prophets, and so symbolizing the church) are killed by the beast, then come back to life and ascend to heaven and escape from their enemies. The point is that the end times will be difficult for believers. Chapter 12 gives more of the same type of thing as “the dragon” (certainly representing Satan) pursues “the woman” (representing the church, in my opinion), but she escapes into “the wilderness.” So then “the dragon” goes off to make war with the woman’s offspring. Very difficult to interpret this passage and that is not my goal here. What I want to point out is that, according to the book of Revelation, there are times when believers at the end of the age will need to flee from the adversary and find a hiding place, just like Isaiah said in 26:20.

To sum up then, so far in our two studies of verses from Isaiah we have seen that Isaiah foresaw the final Resurrection of the dead when those who are in the dust will arise and sing for joy, and we have seen that the end of the age will be a time when God’s people will need to seek refuge from the fury of a hostile world.

In our next study of Isaiah’s eschatology, we will examine Isaiah 26:21 in which the prophet saw the LORD coming out of His place to punish the earth for its wickedness. Join me then.

SDG        rmb        12/13/2019

The prophet Isaiah wrote powerful prophecies not In his powerful prophecy, Isaiah ben-Amoz writes not only of the events of Jesus’ first advent, but also about the events of that day, the final day when the glorified Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the resurrected Lamb of God, returns from heaven on a white horse (Revelation 19:11ff) to judge all the earth. This is what I am calling “Isaiah’s Eschatology.”

As I was writing about Isaiah’s eschatology regarding the Resurrection on the last day as expressed in Isaiah 26:19 (posted December 1, 2019), my attention was drawn to the word “dust” in that verse: “You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy.” It turns out that the word dust appears in some very significant contexts in the Scriptures, so I have captured some random thoughts on dust in the ASIDE below.

ASIDE: A study on “dust.” The LORD God created man out of the DUST of the ground (Genesis 2:7). When Adam sinned, the LORD God said, “For you are DUST, and to DUST you shall return (Genesis 3:19).” In Psalm 103, David declares that the LORD “is mindful that we are but DUST.” This means that the LORD is aware that we are weak and sinful and are bent toward failure, and so the LORD has pity on His children because of their weakness. He has mercy on them, because though they are weak, yet their Savior is strong. In 1 Corinthians 15 (ESV), Paul reminds us that “as was the man of DUST, so also are those who are of the DUST.” We now have bodies that bear “the image of the man of DUST (v. 47-49).” Paul’s point is breathtaking: Every human being is born with a body that is made of DUST and that will certainly return to the DUST. As Adam, our first father, was made of DUST, so we, too, are made of DUST. As Adam must return to the DUST because of his sin, so our bodies, too, must return to the DUST of the earth because of our sin. Our first body is made of DUST, and to DUST it shall certainly return. But those who are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ will receive a new glorified body that is of the likeness of the Second Adam in His resurrection. We will lay into the DUST our body of DUST, but in the Resurrection, we will receive from heaven the glorified body of heaven. We will lay aside our body of DUST and receive our new body of GLORY. As Christ laid aside His earthly body and was raised with His glorious body, so we will lay down our body of DUST and will be raised with our body of GLORY. We now have a body that must die, but on that day, we will receive a body that will never die. The body of DUST must surely die, but the body of GLORY can never die.

SDG        rmb        12/2/2019