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| 1 Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and that dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! When thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; when thou shalt make an end of dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee. |
Thee that spoilest – We will know who is meant when the time of trouble is fully on, or nearly over. R2488:5
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| 2 Jehovah, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be their arm every morning, yea, our salvation in the time of trouble. |
Be gracious unto us – The saints in the time of trouble. A338; R1470:5
Be thou their arm – The helper of all truth seekers, even though not overcomers. R1470:5
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| 3 At the noise of the tumult the peoples fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered. |
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| 4 And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpillar: as the running of locusts shall they run upon it. |
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| 5 Jehovah is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness; |
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| 6 and he shall be the stability of thy times, the riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge: the fear of Jehovah shall be your treasure. |
Fear of the LORD – Reverence. R1470:5
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| 7 Behold, their valiant ones cry without; the messengers of peace weep bitterly. |
Shall cry without – Shall become discouraged and weep, powerless to stem the tide of anarchy. R1470:5
Verses 7 to 14 give a vivid description of the awful time of trouble. R5735:4
Ambassadors of peace – Those who are crying "Peace, peace" and predicting a Millennium of peace by arbitration. R1470:5
Shall weep bitterly – When the time of trouble brings their hopes to naught. R1470:5
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| 8 The highways are desolate, the wayfaring man ceaseth. He hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man. |
The highways – Of commerce. R1470:6
The wayfaring man – The traveler. R1470:6
Broken the covenant – Contracts cease to be of value. R1470:6
Despised the cities – Which, because depending on commerce, will become very undesirable places. R1470:6
Regardeth no man – Principles of honor and manhood will no longer be regarded or trusted. R1470:6
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| 9 The land mourneth, it languisheth; Lebanon is ashamed, is withered; the Sharon is become as a desert, and Bashan and Carmel are stripped. |
The earth – Society in general. R1470:6
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| 10 Now will I arise, saith Jehovah; now will I be exalted, now will I lift up myself. |
Lift up myself – The appointed time to overthrow the present order of things and establish the Kingdom of God having come. R1874:2
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| 11 Ye shall conceive dry grass, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath shall devour you as fire. |
Ye – The "sinners in Zion." (Verse 14) R1874:3
Bring forth stubble – When you draw the worldly into the nominal church. R1874:3
Your breath – False doctrines of belief and policy. R1874:3
As fire – Shall set her on fire. R1470:6
Shall devour you – Lead to fearful trouble and destruction. R1874:3
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| 12 And the peoples shall be as burnings of lime, as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire. |
The people – Assembled as a religious union. R1874:3
Burnings of lime – An organization of such heterogeneous elements must, of necessity, be self-destructive. R1874:3
Like staking lime; the heat will be intensified as the water of truth is cast on, until the hardness of heart is all dissolved, bringing them into complete harmony with the laws of the Millennial Kingdom. R1470:6
As thorns – The coming religious union will be a union of thorns; each party will be a thorn in the flesh of the other. R1874:3; D552, D267
Cut up – Made ready. R1874:3
Burned in the fire – Consumed; have their opportunities for doing evil destroyed. R1470:6
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| 13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and ye that are near, acknowledge my might. |
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| 14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling hath surprised the hypocrites: Who among us shall dwell with the consuming fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting flames? |
The sinners in Zion – In nominal spiritual Zion. D23
Who have forgotten, or failed to keep, their covenant with the Lord. C304
Wilfully blind leaders and their wilfully blind followers who love and prefer error. R1874:5
Are afraid – Of the clouds of the time of trouble. C304
The hypocrites – Those of the clergy who offer their own false reasonings along the lines of Evolution as superior to the Word of God. R1874:6
They are seized with the fear of sectarian fences, gates and bars; wild lest their hypocrisy be revealed. CR351:2; HG557:6
Who among us – A class who will not be consumed. R1470:6
Like the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace, coming out of the flames without even the smell of fire upon them. R2087:4*
Everlasting burnings – The trouble which threatens to last until the whole present order of things is consumed. R1875:2, R2087:4*
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| 15 --He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from taking hold of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil: |
Walketh righteously – Who have no part nor lot with the workers of iniquity. R1875:2
Contrary to the course of this present world. R1875:4
Speaketh uprightly – Bold and fearless presentation of the truth. R1875:4
Gain of oppressions – Refusing to be profited by any unrighteous scheme. R2087:3*
Holding of bribes – Cannot be bribed to do evil. R2087:3*, R1875:5
Hearing of blood – Any scheme that might cost another's life, or wreck him morally, physically or financially. R1471:1, R2087:3*
From seeing evil – From beholding evil approvingly or with quiet acquiescence. R2087:3*
Determined opposition to sin in all its forms and a firm resistance to it. R3114:4
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| 16 he shall dwell on high, the fortresses of the rocks shall be his high retreat; bread shall be given him, his water shall be sure. |
He shall – The Church of Christ. Q270:T
Dwell on high – Above the fears, unrest and distress which will overwhelm the world. R1875:5
In the place of divine favor. R2087:4*
Munitions of rocks – The Rock of Ages. R1875:5
Bread – The Bread of life, spiritual and physical. R1875:5
"Give us this day our daily bread." (Matt. 6:11) R5202:4
Shall be given him – Whatever we have, we acknowledge our dependence upon the Lord for what he provides for us; and we ask for nothing beyond what he does provide. R5202:5
He who sustained Elijah can equally sustain us. R2326:3
His waters – The water of life, spiritual and physical. R1875:5
Many of nominal Israel are hungry and thirsty. In the meantime the Church of Christ is in the protected place. R5032:1
Shall be sure – The Lord has promised to provide for our temporal wants as well as our eternal welfare, not sumptuously, but nevertheless surely. R1313:1, R1745:2
This may have applied to the Jews at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and others who have put their trust in the Lord. R5031:6; Q269:8
"I shall not want." (Psa. 23:1) R1745:2
Bread, water, plain clothing; but what some fear is the loss of some of the comforts, the luxuries which God has not guaranteed us. R832:5
The saints have little to fear from financial disasters. R2274:5
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| 17 Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty; they shall behold the land that is far off. |
Thine eyes shall see – The eyes of faith shall catch the inspiration of the glory to be revealed. R2087:5* C304
The king in his beauty – The beauty of holiness. R2087:6*
Reigning in power and great glory. R2087:5*
A blessed and inspiring promise. R5863:1
The land – Paradise restored. C304
That is very far off – Beyond the vista of a thousand years. C304
Looking through the telescope of God's Word, it is a glorious vision. R2087:4*
"But he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off." (2 Pet. 1:9) R2097:6*
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| 18 Thy heart shall meditate on terror: Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers? |
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| 19 Thou shalt no more see the fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst comprehend, of a stammering tongue that cannot be understood. |
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| 20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be removed, the stakes whereof shall never be pulled up, neither shall any of its cords be broken; |
Shall see Jerusalem – Restored earthly Jerusalem and her priesthood. R35:4*
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| 21 but there Jehovah is unto us glorious, --a place of rivers, of broad streams: no galley with oars shall go there, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. |
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| 22 For Jehovah is our judge, Jehovah, our lawgiver, Jehovah, our king: he will save us. |
The LORD is our king – Our esteem, homage and obedience must be to him whom the Lord has appointed, King Immanuel. R3219:4
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| 23 Thy tacklings are loosed; they strengthen not the socket of their mast, they cannot spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey. |
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| 24 And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. |
And the inhabitant – Of paradise restored. C304; R1072:6*
Not say, I am sick – The final results at the close of the Millennium. R1073:1
After the Redeemer shall, during the Millennium, have put away sin. R4587:2
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