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| 1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith Jehovah, who take counsel, but not of me, and who make leagues, but not by my Spirit, that they may heap sin upon sin; |
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| 2 who walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked of my mouth, --to take refuge under the protection of Pharaoh, and trust in the shadow of Egypt! |
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| 3 For to you the protection of Pharaoh shall be a shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt a confusion. |
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| 4 For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. |
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| 5 They were all ashamed of a people that did not profit them, nor were a help or profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. |
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| 6 --The burden of the beasts of the south: Through a land of trouble and anguish, whence come the lioness and lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to the people that shall not profit them2. |
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| 7 For Egypt shall help in vain, and to no purpose; therefore have I named her, Arrogance, that doeth nothing. |
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| 8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and record it in a book, that it may be for the time to come, as a witness for ever, |
Note it in a book – The prophets did not confine themselves to oral teachings. R1145:3
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| 9 that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of Jehovah; |
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| 10 who 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 Therefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel: Because ye reject this word, and confide in oppression and wilfulness, and depend thereon, |
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| 13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a towering wall, whose breaking shall come suddenly in an instant. |
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| 14 And he shall break it as the breaking of a potter's vessel, that is broken in pieces unsparingly; and in the pieces of it there shall not be found a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to scoop 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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| 15 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be your strength; but ye would not. |
In returning – To God. R1787:6
And rest – In him alone. R1787:6
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| 16 And ye said, No, but 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 rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as a banner on a hill. |
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| 18 And therefore will Jehovah wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he lift himself up, that he may have mercy upon you; for Jehovah is a God of judgment: 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 be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; as he heareth it, he will answer thee. |
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| 20 And the Lord will give you the bread of adversity, and the water of oppression; yet thy teachers shall not be hidden any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers. |
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| 21 And when ye turn to the right hand or when ye turn to the left, thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it. |
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 silver covering of your graven images, and the gold overlaying of your molten images; thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth: Out! shalt thou say unto it. |
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| 23 And he will give the rain of thy seed with which thou shalt sow the ground; and bread, the produce of the ground, and it shall be fat and rich. In that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures; |
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| 24 and the oxen and the asses that till the ground shall eat salted provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan. |
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 high mountain and upon every hill that is lifted up, brooks and water-courses, in the day of the 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 And 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 breach of his people, and healeth the wound of their stroke. |
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--a grievous conflagration; his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a consuming fire; |
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| 28 and his breath as an overflowing torrent, which reacheth even to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction, and to put a bridle into the jaws of the peoples, that causeth them to go astray. |
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| 29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a feast is sanctified; and joy of heart, as of one who 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 the majesty of his voice to be heard, and will shew the lighting down of his arm with indignation of anger, and a flame of consuming fire, with waterflood and storm and hailstones. |
And tempest – This Day of Vengeance. D527
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| 31 For through the voice of Jehovah shall the Assyrian be broken down: he will smite him with the rod. |
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| 32 And wherever shall pass the appointed staff, which Jehovah shall lay upon him, it shall be with tambours and harps; and with tumultuous battles will he fight with it. |
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| 33 For Topheth is prepared of old; for the king also it is prepared: he hath made it deep and large; its pile 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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