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| 1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith Jehovah, that take counsel, but not of me; and that make a league, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; |
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| 2 that set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt! |
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| 3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. |
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| 4 For their princes are at Zoan, and their ambassadors are come to Hanes. |
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| 5 They shall all be ashamed because of a people that cannot profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame and also a reproach. |
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| 6 The burden of the beasts of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the humps of camels, to a people that shall not profit them. |
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| 7 For Egypt helpeth in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I called her Rahab that sitteth still. |
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| 8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever. |
Note it in a book – The prophets did not confine themselves to oral teachings. R1145:3
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| 9 For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of Jehovah; |
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| 10 that say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits, |
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| 11 get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. |
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| 12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely thereon; |
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| 13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly in an instant. |
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| 14 And he shall break it as a potter's vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing; so that there shall not be found among the pieces thereof a sherd wherewith to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern. |
He shall break – The coming of the King of earth means much of trouble. R1692:4
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He shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces – Psa. 2:9; Rev. 2:27 - This is the honor of Jesus and His church. It should be noted that both the Psa 2 and Rev 2 texts are describing the reign of Christ.
He shall not spare – Note the similarity of language to that of Eze. 8:18; 9:10. The breaking in pieces is also associated with Eze. 9:2. There the slaughter weapon is "a weapon of his breaking in pieces" (margin). |
| 15 For thus said the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. |
In returning – To God. R1787:6
And rest – In him alone. R1787:6
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| 16 But ye said, No, for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. |
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| 17 One thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill. |
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| 18 And therefore will Jehovah wait, that he may be gracious unto you; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for Jehovah is a God of justice; blessed are all they that wait for him. |
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| 19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; thou shalt weep no more; he will surely be gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear, he will answer thee. |
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| 20 And though Jehovah give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be hidden any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers; |
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| 21 and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it; when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. |
A word behind thee – The voice of our Lord from the past. F410; CR497:6
The voice of God that comes through the apostles and prophets of the past. R4136:1, R4882:2, R1753:2; HG590:1
Not before thee, as of some new theology, like Evolution, Spiritism or Christian Science. R1753:1
This is the way – To the Church now, a way of faith and consecration even unto death. R1753:4
To fleshly Israel and the world under the Millennial reign of Christ, a highway of holiness. R1753:3
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| 22 And ye shall defile the overlaying of thy graven images of silver, and the plating of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as an unclean thing; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence. |
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| 23 And he will give the rain for thy seed, wherewith thou shalt sow the ground; and bread of the increase of the ground, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. |
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| 24 The oxen likewise and the young asses that till the ground shall eat savory provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork. |
Clean provender – In contrast, the ministers and theological schools of Babylon turn out very poor grist-largely husks and chaff, which will not sustain spiritual life and strength. D609
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| 25 And there shall be upon every lofty mountain, and upon every high hill, brooks and streams of waters, in a day of great slaughter, when the towers fall. |
There shall be – The blessings of restitution are due, not only to Israel and Palestine, but also to the whole earth. R1380:1
Now commencing to be fulfilled. R1379:6
Great slaughter – Disintegration, grinding to powder. R1379:6*
The towers fall – Kings, potentates, etc. R1379:6*
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| 26 Moreover, the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that Jehovah bindeth up the hurt of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound. |
Light of the moon – The Mosaic Law. R334:2
Increased light thrown upon the Law shadows showing the true teachings of the Tabernacle, its services and sacrifices. R499:6
Sevenfold – Perfect. R334:2
Light of seven days – Not spoken of natural, but of spiritual light. R49:2*
When the sin-blinded eyes shall be opened, the world will see right and wrong, justice and injustice, in a light quite different from now. D519
In the day – The Millennial age. D519
It is the same day (period) in which he assembles the outcasts and makes up his jewels. R499:6
The breach – Caused by sin. R334:2
His people – The Jews. R49:2*
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| 27 Behold, the name of Jehovah cometh from far, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is as a devouring fire; |
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| 28 and his breath is as an overflowing stream, that reacheth even unto the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction: and a bridle that causeth to err shall be in the jaws of the peoples. |
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| 29 Ye shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel. |
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| 30 And Jehovah will cause his glorious voice to be heard, and will show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with a blast, and tempest, and hailstones. |
And tempest – This Day of Vengeance. D527
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| 31 For through the voice of Jehovah shall the Assyrian be dismayed; with his rod will he smite him. |
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| 32 And every stroke of the appointed staff, which Jehovah shall lay upon him, shall be with the sound of tabrets and harps; and in battles with the brandishing of his arm will he fight with them. |
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| 33 For a Topheth is prepared of old; yes, for the king it is made ready; he hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. |
Tophet – Valley of Hinnom, symbol of Second Death. Q640:2; R5041:6[R5042:6]
King – The devil with his messengers, those in sympathy with evil. Q640:2; R5042:1[R5042:6]
Fire and much wood – A type of the real Gehenna, unquenchable until its work is done. R1449:5*[R1449:21*]
Plenty of fuel to accomplish its complete destruction. R5042:1[R5042:6]; Q640:2
Breath of the LORD – The Spirit of the Lord will set it afire and cause it to burn to complete destruction. Q640:1; R5042:1[R5042:6]
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