You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
24 The
LORD [Yahovah] of hosts [tsaba'] hath
sworn [shaba], saying ['amar], Surely as I have thought [damah], so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed [ya`ats], so shall it stand [quwm]: KJV-Interlinear
24 The Lord
of hosts has sworn saying, "Surely, just as I have intended so it has
happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand, NASB
This is an emphatic statement of certainty.
The phrase, I have thought, means the design and intent that God has foreseen in eternity past. And therefore, just as God has foreseen, then so it shall be.
And as God has purposed, refers to his divine decision and determination based on all of the facts of history.
And finally, the phrase, so shall it stand, simply means that nothing in history will change this outcome.
And that is our lesson from this verse.
These verses were written by Isaiah over 2800 years ago. Anyone and everyone who has ever lived and has been able to read or hear or learn, has had ample opportunity to know this text, and this prophecy.
The Bible discloses innumerable details of future events. People from generation to generation throughout history have been familiar with these prophecies, or have had opportunity to become familiarized with these prophecies.
But even the knowledge and even the understanding of the way things are going to be, is insufficient for anyone to change the ultimate outcome.
Satan for example, knows all of these prophecies in detail. He knows the certainty of Gods promise of his own demise, and yet Satan disregards all, believing that he is going to be able to overcome these prophecies and defeat God.
People throughout history, have opportunity to read and study the Bible and know their obligations and responsibilities, and understand the rules and mechanics for spiritual growth, and of the function of the spiritual life. And yet knowing, is insufficient to get them to make the right choices and pursue life as God intends for people to pursue life.
When people lack Bible doctrine in their soul, which simply means they have not taken the time to study or be taught doctrine on a regular basis day after day during their lives, then they lack truth, and they lack discernment, and they lack orientation to all of the many facets of life, which includes all of history that has gone before, as well as lacking understanding of contemporary events and where it is all heading.
Somehow, naïve people believe they can change history and either postpone or prevent the ultimate outcome of human destruction and the end of the world. And as noble a purpose that this might be, it disregards the fundamental sin nature of people, and the ultimate results of people rejecting truth, by their own choice.
Of the many trends that the Bible has used to describe our current dispensation, which we call the church age, many are notable and obvious, such as the rise in earthquake numbers, the rise in world population, the rise in science and knowledge, and such things.
But the one prediction made by both Paul and Jesus, described as the ‘great apostasy,’ will not be so easily identified, simply because the very nature of apostasy, which is indifference toward truth due to a fixated fascination of other beliefs, will blind everyone from seeing the error of their ways and therefore this prediction.
And that is the last great and final characteristic of our dispensation, which will exist prior to and during the time of the rapture. The rapture is the termination event of our dispensation. Then the seven year tribulation will take center stage.
With the restraint of sin removed, the worst evil of every possible kind will reveal itself, and occur during the tribulation. And not because God causes it, because he does not. But because people of their own free will will choose against truth, against learning doctrine under instruction, against confession in order to keep themselves in fellowship with God, against spiritual growth as God intends for everyone, and instead they will pursue evil because they choose to pursue evil. They will refuse to disregard Gods defined responsibilities and roles for them in life.
And so these events of the tribulation and the very end of the tribulation, at the second advent, will occur with certainty.
No amount of sincerity, no amount of good intentions, no amount of believing that they can be changed, will ever change the ultimate outcome of human history.
And so God through Isaiah, clearly states here, that these events have been foreseen, that these events are by mans free choice, and therefore these events will occur. And as a result of man’s evil, God will bring it all to an end.
The same principle applies to your individual personal life. Continue pretending that you know what you’re doing, refuse to engage in a daily study of the word of God, and that means daily study, remain indifferent and apathetic toward Gods mandates in preference for the convenience of your own beliefs, and you will suffer the same outcome, perhaps not as dramatic or intense as in the tribulation, but nonetheless a failure for yourself in life.
The Bible is not a children’s book, nor a book that collects dust on the shelf, but it is the manual for the completed and fulfilled life of the individual. All you have to do is figure that out.
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