Signs Series

Isaiah 27: 1 – 13

Signs

1 In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong, will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea. 2 In that day sing to her, “A vineyard of red wine! 3 I, the LORD, keep it, I water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I keep it night and day. 4 Fury is not in Me. Who would set briers and thorns against Me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together. 5 Or let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me.” 6 Those who come He shall cause to take root in Jacob; Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit. 7 Has He struck Israel as He struck those who struck him? Or has He been slain according to the slaughter of those who were slain by Him? 8 In measure, by sending it away, you contended with it. He removes it by His rough wind in the day of the east wind. 9 Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be covered; And this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: When he makes all the stones of the altar like chalkstones that are beaten to dust, wooden images and incense altars shall not stand. 10 Yet the fortified city will be desolate, the habitation forsaken and left like a wilderness; There the calf will feed, and there it will lie down and consume its branches. 11 When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off; the women come and set them on fire. For it is a people of no understanding; Therefore He who made them will not have mercy on them, and He who formed them will show them no favor. 12 And it shall come to pass in that day that the LORD will thresh, from the channel of the River to the Brook of Egypt; And you will be gathered one by one, O you children of Israel. 13 So it shall be in that day: The great trumpet will be blown; They will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria, and they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

I am sure that you are familiar with actor/producer Mel Gibson. In the Christian circle of course he is most identified in his production of the movie – The Passion. In another film, called – Signs – He performed as a minister who lost his wife in a bizarre accident. You have to watch it yourselves to really understand my point, for it keeps you in suspense and to a large degree confusion as to what was really going on. In other words things that were going on were happening for other reasons. Do I have you completely confused by this point?

In the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 4 we read this, “18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

There you go. Now everything I am trying to point out to you is clear. No? Are you still unsure of my point? In the book of Revelation we get confused easily because it is written in signs or a better description is symbols. Why all this mystery? Simple, dear Watson. You see when you go back in the Apostle John’s time you could very easily be put to death for pointing out certain truths especially about Caesar. In addition, seeing into the future to describe something never seen before is hard to put down on paper. So, the apostle John writes down in the beginning of his book something symbolic and then he goes on to explain what he means by the symbol. From this point on he will use symbols and want us to understand from other scripture to know what he is talking about. Let me give you an example from the book of Revelation chapter 1, “9 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” 12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. 19 Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. 20 The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.’