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| 1 Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious adornment, which is on the head of the fat valley of them that are overcome with wine. |
Ephriam – Christendom. R1357 |
| 2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, as a storm of hail and a destroying tempest; as a storm of mighty waters overflowing, shall he cast down to the earth with might. |
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| 3 The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under feet; |
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| 4 and the fading flower of his glorious adornment which is on the head of the fat valley shall be like an early fig before the summer: as soon as he that seeth it perceiveth it, scarcely is it in his hand, he swalloweth it down. |
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| 5 In that day will Jehovah of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the remnant of his people; |
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| 6 and for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. |
A spirit of judgment – The spirit of a sound mind. 2 Tim. 1:7
To him that sitteth in judgment – To those of the Lord's people "in that day," the Day of the Lord's Presence, who have the courage to judge between Truth and error and are prepared to do battle for the Lord. They do not sit in judgment of individuals but they do judge doctrines and (based on the Lord's word) systems.
For strength to them – The Holy Spirit gives the Lord's people a strength to which all others are strangers. Psa. 29:11
Turn the battle to the gate – The following definition is from King James Dictionary:"To turn the battle to the gate, is to fight valiantly, and drive the enemy, who hath entered the city, back to the gate."
In this picture Ephraim is Christendom (falsely so-called.) What the Lord is doing here (as in other places) is making reference to the Kingdom class being developed during the entire Gospel age. The Kingdom class is pictured as wheat but tares have entered in and far out-number the wheat. While we normally think of the saints coming out of Christendom, this passage presents the same situation from the standpoint of the Kingdom class as being the True Kingdom (the one described in Daniel 2 as being the stone that smites the image.) The Kingdom is here still represented as a city. With this in mind we see that it is the true saints that drive out of the Kingdom class the false, the tares, thus they "turn the battle to the gate." |
| 7 But these also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are they gone astray. The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink; they are overpowered by wine, they are gone astray through strong drink; they have erred in vision, they have stumbled in judgment. |
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| 8 For all tables are full of filthy vomit, so that there is no more place. |
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| 9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand the report? Them that are weaned from the milk, withdrawn from the breasts? |
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| 10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little. ... |
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| 11 For with stammering lips and a strange tongue will he speak to this people; |
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| 12 to whom he said, This is the rest: cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing. But they would not hear. |
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| 13 And the word of Jehovah was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little: that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. |
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| 14 Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. |
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| 15 For ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol have we made an agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. |
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| 16 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I lay for foundation in Zion a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation: he that trusteth shall not make haste. |
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| 17 And I will appoint judgment for a line, and righteousness for a plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.
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Hail – Hard truth. When hail is cut open it is in layers. Hard Truth is also layered, built up line upon line (vs. 10).
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| 18 And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, ye shall be trodden down by it. |
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| 19 As it passeth through it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass through, by day and by night; and it shall be terror only to understand the report. |
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| 20 For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on, and the covering too narrow when he would wrap himself in it. |
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| 21 For Jehovah will rise up as on mount Perazim, he will be moved with anger as in the valley of Gibeon; that he may do his work, his strange work, and perform his act, his unwonted act. |
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| 22 Now therefore be ye not scorners, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard from the Lord Jehovah of hosts a consumption, and one determined, upon the whole land. |
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| 23 Give ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech. |
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| 24 Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow? Is he all day opening and breaking the clods of his land? |
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| 25 Doth he not, when he hath levelled the face thereof, cast abroad dill, and scatter cummin, and set the wheat in rows, and the barley in an appointed place, and the rye in its border? |
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| 26 His God doth instruct him in his judgment, he doth teach him. |
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| 27 For the dill is not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart-wheel turned about upon the cummin; but dill is beaten out with a staff, and cummin with a rod. |
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| 28 Bread corn is crushed, because he will not ever be threshing it; and if he drove the wheels of his cart and his horses over it, he would not crush it. |
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| 29 This also cometh forth from Jehovah of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel, great in wisdom. |
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