ISAIAH
1st 783-738 B.C. Chp. 1-40
2nd 735-719 B.C. Chp. 40-55
3rd 719-704 B.C. Chp. 55-66
7
Isaiah 1:2
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth,
For the Lord has spoken:
I (the Lord) reared the children and
brought them up—
And they have rebelled against Me!
Isaiah 1:4
My people takes no thought
Ah, sinful nation!
People laden with iniquity!
Brook of evildoers!
Depraved children!
They have forsaken the Lord, …
Turned their backs on Him.
Isaiah 1:23 Your rulers are rogues
And cronies of thieves,
Every one avid for presents
And greedy for gifts.
The majority of
‘people’ ‘take no thought’ and the
leaders are rogues; the typical realities at the end of an age. (references
from the new translation of the Tanakh)
The Lord here is probably Melchizedek, who through Moses and the patriarchs "reared and brought the children" of Israel up. Now we slip into what is still the future to us:
Isaiah 2:2 In the days to come,
The Mount of the Lord’s House
Shall stand firm above the mountains.
And tower above the hills’
And all the
nations
Shall gaze upon it with
joy.
And the many
peoples shall go and say:
"Come,
let us go up to the Mount of the Lord,
To the House
of God of Jacob;
That He may instruct us in His ways,
And that we may walk in His
paths."
For instruction shall come forth
from Zion
The word of the Lord from
Jerusalem.
Then he will judge among the
nations
And arbitrate for the many peoples,
And they shall beat their swords
into plowshares
And their spears into pruning
hooks;
Nation shall not take up
Sword against nation;
They shall never again know war.
War will cease forever when Melchizedek takes sovereignty. The "mount of the Lord’s house" is the present temple mount of modern Israel on which the 3rd Temple will be built and in which "the presence of the Lord" (Melchizedek’s semi-material form) will dwell once again. The nations will be judged and the world’s corrupt leadership will be deposed and replaced by those of true merit. Melchizedek will personally instruct, judge, arbitrate and do away with war on this world. If not for divine intervention, the world as we know it would have perished. The Lord continues to speak through Isaiah to the leaders:
Isaiah 2:17
Then man’s haughtiness will be humbled
And
the pride of man brought low.
None but the Lord shall be
Exalted in that day.
Isaiah 3 :15 How
dare you crush My people
And grind the faces of the poor…
Isaiah 4:2 In that day,
The
radiance of the Lord
Will
lend beauty and glory,
And the splendor of the land
Will give dignity and majesty
To the survivors of Israel
And those who remain in Zion. (the remnant)
Lord Melchizedek’s semi-material presence is capable of emanating large quantities of visible light, thus "the radiance of the Lord." The "splendor of the land" alludes to the transformation of the soon-to-be-desolated modern Israel, into a beautiful and bounteous "new garden of Eden." Notice here that there are two remnants after the upcoming world events: " the survivors of Israel " and " those who remain in Zion," i.e., Jerusalem. Both of these remnants: one from the northern Lost Ten Tribes and another from the southern tribes of Judah lineage, today’s modern Israel, will be further discussed elsewhere. Next we have:
Isaiah 5:12
They
(the leaders) never give a thought
To the plan of the Lord,
And
take no note
Of what He is designing…
Isaiah 5:14
And
down it shall go,
That splendor and tumult
That din and revelry …
Isaiah 5:20 Ah,
those who call evil good
And good evil;
Who present
darkness as light
And light as
darkness;
Ah,
Those who are so wise—
In their own opinion;
So clever—
In
their own judgment!
Such people are all around us. They are our leadership class (the class of the power elite). The confusion created by ‘those who call evil good and good evil’ is also all around us today. Values seem to be upside down from what they should be. But those who love God will not succumb because:
Isaiah 8:10
Hatch a plot—it shall be foiled.
Agree on
action—it shall not succeed.
For with us
is God!
Slipping into the future again, we have:
Isaiah 10:20-22
And in that day,
The remnant of Israel
And the escaped of the House of Jacob
Shall lean no more upon him
That beats it,
But shall lean sincerely
On the Lord, the Holy One of Israel
Only a remnant shall return,
Only a remnant of Jacob,
To mighty God.
Even if your people, O Israel,
Should be as the sands of the sea,
Only a remnant shall return.
Those "who beat" the "escaped of the House of Jacob" and the "remnant of Israel" are the leaders and power elite who persecute and "hold captive" those who follow God during the trial period at the end of this age. The Lord through Isaiah tell us that the people, once liberated from their leaders who ‘beat them’ will lean/rely directly only on the Holy One of Israel. Notice "only a remnant" of Jacob and Israel returns – the faithful and true.
Note here again, there returns two remnants: "The Israel remnant," the remnant of the Northern Ten Tribes who lost their identity and have never returned; and the remnant of the "House of Jacob" probably referring to the remnant of the Jews/Judah, those who will escape the future destruction of modern Israel. Also note again the phrase "sand of the sea " to refer to the multitudes of the Lost Ten Tribes. Remember, "Israel" (the Northern Tribes) is composed mainly of the "myriads" of Joseph’s chosen son Ephraim and the "multitudes" of his other son Manasseh. We will identify this large group of people soon. Both Ephraim and Manasseh were to be abundantly blessed; past, present and future. God and Melchizedek have temporarily allowed the land of Canaan to be taken from Jacob (Judah and Israel) in consequence to their backsliding; but they never take away their love for them or the promises they gave Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These promises will be made good in the years directly ahead of us. Now we next have:
Isaiah 11:6 The
wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard lie
down with the kid …
A babe shall
play over a viper’s hole …
The Urantia Book tells us that the angels have powers over the beasts of the land. I believe that we will witness this power. Again we have:
He (the Lord Melchizedek) will hold up a signal to the nations
And assemble the banished of Israel
(northern ten lost tribes)
And gather the dispersed of Judah (the
Jewish remnant)
From the four
corners of the earth. (my parentheses)
God’s people will be gathered from all corners of the earth at age’s end, wherever a soul exists that loves and respects his Creator, no matter what religion, race, or creed.
Isaiah 12:5
Hymn the Lord,
For He has done
gloriously;
Let this be
known
In all the
world!
Oh, shout for
joy,
You who dwell in
Zion!
For great in your midst
Is the Holy One
of Israel.
The semi-material Melchizedek (Holy One of Israel) will literally dwell "in our midst," once again in Zion as before. Now we have:
Isaiah 24:14 These
shall lift up their voices,
Exult in the
majesty of the Lord.
They shall shout
from the sea:
Therefore honor
the Lord with lights
In the coastlands of the sea—…
From the end of
the earth
We hear singing.
Glory to the
righteous!
Notice here that those who rejoice in God’s victory are located far away from Canaan, and across the sea from the country Israel and shout from coastlands. Where and who could they be? Why are they shouting and singing? Next, we change subjects:
Isaiah 24:18
For
sluices are opened on high,
And earth’s
foundations tremble.
The earth is breaking, breaking;
The earth is
crumbling, crumbling.
The earth is
tottering, tottering;
The earth is
swaying like a drunkard;
It is rocking to
and fro like a hut.
Its iniquity
shall weigh it down …
In that day, the Lord will punish
The host of
heaven in heaven
And the kings of
the earth on earth.
This stanza
indicates large-scale motions and disruptions in the earth at the time when
"the Lord" arrives to establish peace. This may represent large scale
tectonic activity or possibly even shifting of the poles as discussed in the
chapter on Emily Dickinson. In that day confirms
that this passage refers to the end of the age. The "hosts of heaven"
are the rebellious spirit beings involved in the Lucifer rebellion. Also notice
that the "kings of the earth" will be singled out for their
mis-leadership. This is because these "leaders of nations" will cause
the peoples of the earth to war with one another, as well as many other
problems. These leaders, including our own, will be held responsible for the
reprehensible conditions the world will be in. I believe these conditions refer
to the environmental degradation, war, famine, disease, oppression of the weak,
social strife, political chaos, and religious persecution that will exist. God expects that leaders given power will
act as wise shepherds over His children.
To those who have been given much, much will be expected.
Isaiah 24:23 Then
the moon shall be ashamed,
And the sun
shall be abashed.
For the Lord of
Hosts will reign
On Mount Zion
and in Jerusalem,
And the Presence
will be revealed to His elders.
The last stanza states again that the "Lord of Hosts" will reign and dwell on Mount Zion for the benefit of all the world. Could "the Presence" be Melchizedek’s semi-material presence, as in the days of old? Next, we have:
Isaiah 29:5 And suddenly, in an instant, …
With roaring,
and shaking, and deafening noise,
Storm and
tempest, and blaze of consuming fire.
Then, like a
dream, a vision in the night,
Shall be the
multitude of nations . . .
So shall be all
the multitude of nations
That was upon
Mount Zion.
(Dotted lines represent breaks in the continuous text.) Here again we have evidence of cataclysmic natural events occurring at the time of Lord Melchizedek’s arrival. Are these local or global events? The effect of this cataclysm will be to defeat the ‘multitude of nations’ that are upon Mount Zion attacking Jerusalem/Israel.
The "multitude of nations" is similar to another phrase; ie: "all the nations" that will bring a final war against Jerusalem and modern Israel. Recently, the United States has abandoned its long-standing support of modern Israel and has now joined the rest of the world’s nations in currying favor with the Arab contingent. NATO, a previously defensive organization, has now become the United Nations’ "world police force." If and when this police force is used against modern Israel, the prophecy of "all the nations" coming against Israel will have been fulfilled. The political activity in the Middle East is a clock for the fulfillment of prophecy; for when the hour of this war strikes, Melchizedek will sometime thereafter make his entry and all the world will know it. Also the Lord through Isaiah says to these leaders:
Isaiah 29:9 Act
stupid and be stupefied!
Act blind and be
blinded!
(They are drunk,
but not from wine,
They stagger, but not from liquor.)
For the Lord has
spread over you
A spirit of deep
sleep,
And has shut
your eyes, the (false) prophets,
And covered your
heads, the seers;
So that all
prophecy has been to you
Like the
words of a sealed document.
Isaiah 29:11 If
it is handed to one who can read and he is asked to read it,
he will say, "I can’t, because it
is sealed;" and if the document
is handed to one
who cannot read and he is asked to read it, he
will say,
"I can’t read."
My (Isaiah’s)
Lord said:
Because that
people has approached [Me] with its mouth
And honored Me
with its lips,
But has kept its
heart far from Me,
And its worship
of Me has been
A commandment of men, learned by rote—
Truly, I shall
further baffle that people
With bafflement
upon bafflement;
And the wisdom of its wise shall fail,
And the prudence of its prudent shall vanish.
Those who unknowingly bring about God’s prophecy will be totally oblivious to that prophecy. When we turn away from God, we also turn away from the source of all wisdom and knowledge. We are "blind and blinded," "stupid and stupefied." To many of us, living religion is crystallized into "a commandment of men, learned by rote." We pay lip service to God but have no living connection to Him. What we say and what we do are two different things. Since God, and only God, is the source of love and life, we, like the living branch of a vine, become cut off and withered by our separation from Him. We are told:
Isaiah
Surely, in a little while,
29:17-20 Lebanon will be transformed
into farmland,
And farmland
accounted as mere brush.|
In that day, the deaf shall hear even
written words,
And the eyes of
the blind shall see
Even in darkness
and obscurity.
Then the humble
shall have
Increasing joy
through the Lord.
And the neediest
of men will exult
In the Holy One
of Israel.
For the tyrant
shall be no more.
The scoffer shall cease to be;
And those diligent for evil shall be wiped out.
The disappearance of ‘the scoffer, the tyrant, and those diligent for evil,’ who still are all too prevalent among us, tells us that these prophecies lie still in our, hopefully, not too distant future.
This truly will be a transformed world when Melchizedek takes sovereignty. Yet what will the majority of people think and say when they hear these prophecies? Isaiah answers:
Isaiah 30:9 It
is a rebellious people,
Faithless
children,
Children who
refuse to heed
The instruction
of the Lord;
Who say to the
seers,
"Do not
see."
To the prophets,
"Do not
prophesy truth to us;
Speak to us in
falsehoods,
Prophesy
delusions
Leave the way!
Get off the
path!
Let us hear no
more."
Many of us will not be willing to let go of our cherished secular worldviews. We would rather not hear the truths of our failings and deceptions. But before very long, in the coming days of justice, every one of us will stand alone in the light of truth on the "Day of the Lord." But we know that God’s justice is always tempered with mercy, therefore:
Isaiah 30:18
Truly, the Lord is waiting to show you grace,
Truly, He will
arise to pardon you.
For the Lord is
a God of justice;|
Happy are all
who wait for Him.
Indeed, O people in Zion,
dwellers of Jerusalem, you shall not have cause to
weep. He will grant you His
favor at the sound of your cry; He will respond as
soon as He hears it. My Lord
will provide for you meager bread and scant water.
Then your Guide will no more be ignored, but your eyes
will watch your Guide;
and, whenever you deviate to
the right or to the left, your ears will heed the
command from behind you:
"This is the road; follow it!"
Here the Lord is addressing the faithful and true remnants, as well as the downtrodden and humble. This passage applies to the future, the end of this age, because "the Lord" has not yet arisen to "pardon" Israel and Judah for their transgressions. However, He has started the process of gathering some of "his peoples" back to Israel. The pardon will follow when Melchizedek returns to heal the long-open wounds of "his people." The amazing statement regarding our "Guide" is exactly the teaching of the Urantia Book, i.e., that the Kingdom of Heaven is within us, in the form of the indwelling spirit of God, which "guides" us from within our consciousness and keeps us from "deviating to the right or the left" from God’s Will straight ahead. The true way, the kingdom of heaven within, is an ancient way although it seems new to our modern world. Now, back to the "Day of the Lord" when Melchizedek arises.
Isaiah 30:25 And
on every high mountain and on every lofty hill, there
shall appear
brooks and watercourses—on a day of heavy
slaughter, when towers topple. And the light of the
moon shall
become like the
light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall
become
sevenfold, like the light of the seven days, when the
Lord binds up
His people’s wounds and heals the injuries it
has suffered.
A large scale healing of spiritual and physical wounds is implied in scripture regarding the Messianic end of the age.
The "day of heavy slaughter" is the day that ‘all the nations’ come against modern Israel and are defeated by the arrival of Melchizedek. "When towers topple" refers to the large, possibly global, tectonic event that will cause walls and towers to topple. The brooks and watercourses shall result from this same tectonic event. The reference to the increased light occurs repeatedly. This may be due to some physical event or possibly due to the light emanated from Melchizedek’s presence. These events described have not yet happened; therefore, their future occurrence is very probable. More on this subject:
Isaiah 31:4-5 So
the Lord of Hosts will descend to
make war
Against the
mount and the hill of Zion.
Like the
birds that fly, even so will
The Lord of
Hosts shield Jerusalem,
Shielding and
saving, protecting and rescuing.
Melchizedek enters at a time of great trouble, but peace is destined to reign. Also, we now know that a remnant of Jerusalem and modern Israel (Judah) survive, probably due to the protection provided them by Melchizedek. We are also told here that the "Lord of Hosts" "descends" and "shields" like "the birds that fly." We recall how previously the Lord’s presence was said to reside in a pillar of cloud overhead the exodus community. "The Lord" led the peoples by day and provided light at night from this "pillar of cloud." Now we are told that he will "descend like a bird" and shield Jerusalem upon his arrival. What could this mean? What might we see that could descend in the literal sky. Next, we have some other cloud references describing events during the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.
Psalms 78:14 In the
daytime also He (the Lord) led them
(the Israelites) with a cloud,
and all the
night with a light of fire.
Psalms 99:7
He (the Lord) spake unto them
in the cloudy pillar;
They kept
His testimonies, and the ordinance that He gave them.
Nehemiah. 9:19 Yet
Thou (the Lord) in Thy manifold mercies forsook them not in the
Wilderness,
and the pillar of the cloud departed
not from them
Day by day,
to lead them in the way. . .
There are dozens of these cloud references, and they are among many diverse books in the Old Testament. If it were only one line in one book, one could easily discredit this description. God wants us to understand His plan. He doesn’t hide it from us. Emily Dickinson writes that:
Tis not
revelation that waits—
But our
unfurnished eyes! (poem #685)
I couldn’t agree more. Revelation is all around and within us but we can not see what we are not aware of. More about clouds will come later. For now we will simply note the occurrence of these events in the sky that involve the Lord’s (Melchizedek’s) presence. And now:
Isaiah 32:1 Behold,
a King shall reign in righteousness,
And ministers
shall govern with Justice;
The name Melchizedek literally means King of Righteousness. Presently, the world has little or no justice therefore this line describes a world not yet come, but when it does:
Isaiah 32:3 Then the eyes of those who have sight
shall not be sealed,
And the ears of
those who have hearing shall listen;
And the minds of
the thoughtless shall attend and note . . .
Isaiah 32:5 No more shall a villain be called noble,
At last, the upside down world is set upright
on its axis:
Isaiah 32:14
For
the castle shall be abandoned,
The noisy city
forsaken;
Citadel and tower shall become
Brushland
forever
Till a spirit
from on high is poured out on us,
And wilderness
is transformed into farmland . . .
Then my people
shall dwell in peaceful homes,
In untroubled
places of rest
Even as the city
is laid low.
Cities fare very poorly in the events to come both as a result of natural and man made disasters. Consider:
Revelation: 16:19 And
the great city (Jerusalem) was divided unto three parts,
(by tectonic
activity)
And the cities of the nations fell.
Psalms 9:6 The enemy has been cut
off and has
Vanished in everlasting
ruins,
You (Lord) have
plucked up and
Overthrown their cities;
The very
memory of them
Has perished and
vanished
But the Lord shall remain
And continue forever.
And he will judge the world
In
righteousness.
Arise, O Lord!
Let not man
Prevail; lest the nations be judged before
You.
The time period of the above scripture is the Messianic end of the age because ‘The Lord shall remain and continue forever’ in reference to Melchizedek’s sovereign presence. How many cities will ‘perish and vanish?’
Back to Isaiah, we have:
Isaiah 35:8 A
highway shall appear there,
Which shall be
called the Sacred Way . . .
Isaiah 35:9 The redeemed shall
walk it;
And the ransomed
of the Lord shall return,
And come with
shouting to Zion,
Crowned with joy
everlasting.
A sacred highway ‘appears’ on which the faithful remnants make their way to Zion (Jerusalem). This will be discussed later.
Zion refers to the highest of the mountain eminences on which Jerusalem was built. It is surrounded on all sides by deep valleys except to the north where the temple mount lies. Zion is sometimes used in the Old Testament to denote Jerusalem in general. It literally means ‘sunny’ and ‘height’. It is just south of the temple mount and is also called the City of David. Note the grand celebration below of a joyous reunion between Melchizedek and his estranged children, the remnants of "lost Israel" and "Judah."
Psalms 53:7 O
that the deliverance of Israel
Might come from Zion!
When God
restores the fortunes of His people,
Jacob will
exult; Israel (lost northern tribes) will rejoice.
The Psalms
writer discloses this happy ending, an ending that was disclosed to him by
their one time instructor and collaborator, Melchizedek. Again, important events are mentioned throughout the Psalms, prophets,
as well as other Old Testament scripture. These statements are all consistent
with each other despite their diverse locations in the body of scripture.
Next we have:
Isaiah 40:3 A
voice rings out:
‘Clear in the
desert
A road for the
Lord!
Level in the
wilderness
A highway for
our God…
The Presence of
the Lord shall appear
And all flesh
shall behold –,
For the Lord
Himself has spoken. …(Isaiah 40:5)
A voice rings
out ‘Proclaim!’ …(Isaiah 40:6)
Ascend a lofty
mountain,
O herald of joy to Zion;
Raise your voice
to with power, …
Raise it have no
fear;
Announce to the
cities of Judah:
Behold your God
(Melchizedek) …(Isaiah 40:9)
John the Baptist took the first stanza above for his own and used it to announce Jesus. The Final Prophet to come will also use these lines to announce another Lord who comes, Lord Melchizedek. The Final Prophet is specifically identified here as ‘the herald of joy to Zion’ who proclaims to Zion ‘Behold your God!’ ‘Behold your God’ is the same as ‘Your divine being reigns’ cited in 11Q13 of the Dead Sea Scrolls which identifies this messenger as the interpreter of the law (Final Prophet) and the divine being as Melchizedek. ‘The Presence’ recalls the ‘Lord in the bush’ and the ‘Presence of the Lord’ dwelling in Zion and within the cloud during exodus. All of these presences are the semi-material presence of Lord Melchizedek as described in the Urantia Book. The statement ‘that all flesh will behold’ also conjures up the Lord Messiah who is described in scripture to come in a very visible display, in contrast to no display with regard to Jesus. And so we have one scripture passage, which pertains to two different ending ages with two different Lords and prophets. Next, the Lord addresses the coastlands:
Isaiah 41:1
Stand silent before Me, coastlands,
And let the
nations renew their strength.
Let them
approach to state their case;
Let us come
together for argument.
Here are those "coastlands" again. Who could they be? Who will win the "argument" when the nations’ leaders stand in the presence of Melchizedek on that fateful day? Now turning from the leaders to those at the opposite end of the spectrum, the Lord says:
Isaiah 42:17 The
poor and needy
Seek water, and
there is none;
Their tongue is
parched with thirst
I, the Lord,
will respond to them . . .
I will open up streams on the bare
hills
And fountains
amid the valleys . . .
There seems to be a drought in the time and place of this reference. The time in reference is the messianic end of the age because only then are "streams opened on bare hills and fountains amid valleys." To be sure, when men turn their backs on God they move out from under the gentle rain/reign of His mercy. The impersonal universe of law knows only that there is an imbalance present and that it needs to restore that balance by any means possible, including the elimination of the inciting agent, which in this case is mankind. If my timing is correct, I would expect the drought that is now developing in the Middle East and elsewhere to continue to get worse right up until the imbalance is set right by Melchizedek. This is also applicable to the other sundry ecological and environmental imbalances, which continue to worsen. Should it really come as a surprise to us that physical processes are affected by spiritual determinants? After all, the Urantia Book teaches us that at higher levels of reality the seemingly diverse realms of matter, mind and spirit are unified into a seamless whole. The rays of reality converge in the Source and Center of All Things. The physical and spiritual are intertwined on higher levels of reality and therefore interact and affect one another. Next the Lord turns his attention to His servant:
Isaiah 42:1
This is My servant, whom I
uphold,
My chosen one, in whom I delight.
I have put My
spirit upon him,
He shall teach
the true way to the nations.
He shall not cry
out or shout aloud,
Or make his voice heard in the streets.
He shall not
break even a dim wick.
He shall bring
forth the true way.
He shall not
grow dim or be bruised
Till he has established the true way on earth;
And the
coastlands shall await his teaching.
Who is this servant? He teaches the true way (or true religion, mishpat in Hebrew) to the gentile nations. The true way is the Kingdom of Heaven within, Jesus’ true message, and the main subject of the Urantia Book.
UB 1107 True religion consists in the experience
that "the Spirit
itself hears
witness with our spirit that we are the children of
God. (Also see chapter True Religion Urantia Book
and Jesus’
Discourse on True Religion Urantia Book)
True religion,
the true way, is a way that has never yet been taught "to the
nations". Elsewhere in scripture we are told that before the end of the
age the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven will be proclaimed to all the world.
Who in the present world knows about the Kingdom of Heaven? Certainly not the
popular scholars. Read their work! Certainly not those who espouse the gospel about Jesus Christ. Then, just who might
this be? It would appear that the servant in Isaiah 42 is an individual that
will teach about the Kingdom of Heaven within.
Note that God ‘puts his spirit’ on
the servant, therefore God ‘anoints’ the servant!
Anointment is what happens to make someone a messiah. This is why the Dead Sea Scrolls speak of more than one messiah. The Messiah is Melchizedek a divine being, another messiah is God’s servant, the Final Prophet whom God has ‘put His spirit upon’ (anointed).
Also note that God calls His servant My chosen one. This provides a link to a Dead Sea Scroll fragment, which describes a chosen one who reveals God’s truths and wisdom at the end of the age. The fragment gives us physical characteristics, education, life history and purpose. I believe this Scroll fragment describes the end of the age, final prophet to come:
4Q534 …of
his hand: two…a birthmark. And the hair will be red.
Chosen And there will be
lentils on…and small birthmarks on his thigh.
One And after two years
he will know how to distinguish one thing
from another. In
his youth he will be like…a man who knows
nothing until
the time when he knows the three Books.
And then he will
acquire wisdom and learn understanding…
vision to come
to him on his knees. And with his father and
his
ancestors…life and old age. Council and prudence will be
with him, and he
will know the secrets of man. His wisdom
will reach all
the peoples, and he will know the secrets of all
the living. And
all their designs against him will come to
nothing, and his
rule over the living will be great. His designs
will succeed,
for he is the Elect of God. His birth and the
breath of his
spirit…and his designs will be forever…
One can
speculate that this information regarding the final prophet was part of the
revelation to the Teacher of Righteousness of the Qumran community. More on
this topic will come later.
We also note the coastlands again;
they are the ones who "await the teaching" of God’s servant. Next,
the Lord further addresses the coastlands:
Isaiah 42:9
See, the things once predicted have come,
And now I
foretell new things,
Announce them to you ere they sprout up . . .
Isaiah 42:10 You coastlands and their inhabitants! . . .
Isaiah 42:11 Call
out from the peaks of the mountains.
Let them do
honor to the Lord,
And tell His
glory in the coastlands . . .
Isaiah 42:16 I
will lead the blind
By a road they did not know,
And I will make
them walk
By paths they
never knew.
I will turn
darkness before them to light,
Rough places
into level ground.
These are the
promises—
I will keep them
without fail.
First, God tells us that he is announcing something new. Since the described events have not yet happened, we can be sure that they will happen in the future. (The near future, in my estimation). The Lord tells us that He will lead those who live in the coastlands by roads and paths they never knew, turning darkness into light, and rough places into level ground. These promises will definitely be kept. Now, if we are falling asleep while reading this, God says:
Isaiah 42:18
Listen, you who are deaf;
You blind ones,
look up and see!
Who is so blind
as My servant,
So deaf as the
messenger I send?
Who is so blind
as the chosen one,
So blind as the
servant of the Lord?
Seeing many things, you give no heed;
With ears open,
he hears nothing.
The Lord desires
His servant’s vindication,
That he may
magnify and glorify His teaching.
Here we have a comical account of the servant—who is as blind or more so than the rest. He needs God’s vindication as he stumbles along. We are also told here that this servant in the coastlands is a messenger as well as a servant, thus linking the servant of Isaiah to the "messenger" and "interpreter of the law," both of which are terms used to describe the final prophet in the Scrolls. Only God could love such a foolish sounding person. God loves to bring his truth through the lowly and humble. (Out of the mouths of babes comes wisdom.) Some may be disappointed if they have unrealistic expectations regarding this servant.
God now reassures those who love Him:
Isaiah 43:1
Fear not, for I will redeem you;
I have singled
you out by name,
You are Mine.
When you pass
through water,
I will be with you;
Through streams,
They shall not
overwhelm you.
When you walk through fire,
You shall not be
scorched.
Through flame,
It shall not
burn you.
Isaiah 43:4
Because you are precious to Me,
And honored, and I love you,
I give men in
exchange for you
And peoples in
your stead . . .
Bring My sons
from afar,
And My daughters
from the end of the earth—
This passage is
one of the most touching expressions of the Father’s love for His children.
Truly, "the hairs on our heads are numbered." Also, notice again the
theme of God’s protection of His people through "water and fire."
Lastly, note that His sons and daughters are located far away from the central
location Israel. This must be the Lost Israel remnant as the Judah remnant
(Jews) are already gathering in modern Israel.
Now we have:
Isaiah 43:9
All
the nations assemble as one,
The peoples
gather.
Who among them
declared this,
Foretold to us
the things that have happened?
Let them produce
their witnesses to be vindicated,
That men, hearing them, may say, "It is
true!"
My witnesses are
you,
-declares the
Lord—
This assembly of nations and people has never yet occurred, but will occur, and we (the readers) will be witnesses to the truth of this prophecy that we are now reading. Only God knows the future. He is demonstrating that. Now God speaks through Isaiah about why He chose to have a servant:
Isaiah 43:10
My
servant, whom I have chosen
To the end that you (the people) may take thought,
And believe in
Me,
And understand
that I am He . . .
Isaiah 43:12
Beside Me, none can grant triumph
I alone told the
deliverance
And I brought it
to pass;
I announced it .
. .
So you are My
witnesses.
Consider yourself a witness to the coming deliverance of those who elect God. God continues to tell us what He is going to do:
Isaiah 43:19 I
will make a road through the wilderness
And rivers in
the desert.
The wild beasts
shall honor Me. . .
Isaiah 44:3
Even as I pour water on a thirsty soil,
And rain upon
the dry ground,
So will I pour
My spirit on your offspring,
My blessing upon
your posterity
And they shall
sprout like grass . . .
The drought will finally be broken by an outpouring of physical water upon the physical desert as well as the spiritual water on the spiritual desert that so many souls are living through. These people:
Isaiah 44:18 Have
no wit or judgment;
Their eyes are besmeared, and they see not;
Their minds, and
they cannot think.
They do not give
thought.
This is a good description of many people that lived then and many that live now. We are told what to think by the mass media. We have stopped thinking for ourselves because our minds are numb and atrophied. We "hear no evil, see no evil and do no evil." America, wake up! Turn off the T.V. and the experts. Listen to God speak through his servants, the prophets........
Isaiah 44:24 It
is I, the Lord, who made everything,
Who alone
stretched out the heavens . . .
I annul the
omens of diviners,
And make fools
of the augurs;
Who turn sages
back
And make
nonsense of their knowledge;
But confirm the
word of My servant
And fulfill the
predictions of My messengers.
The intellectual elite of our world appears daily in newspapers and on our televisions. They are the "experts" who write the books about marriage, although they are divorced three times. They tell us how to bring up our children, and yet their own children rebel against them. They know everything about anything, and there is no doubt about it. Ask if they believe in God and somber tones cover the smirk and smile. And yet, the question of God is the essential question of all philosophy, all ideologies, and all human understanding. If this most essential question were on a test, it would count for ninety-nine percent of the grade and the remaining one percent of the test would directly depend on the answer to the first. If you are wrong about God, then you are wrong about very much else as well. Yet the intellectual and political elite are all confirmed in the opinion that "religion is the opiate of the masses." Those who won’t say this in public believe it in private, as their very actions and behavior betray them. If our leaders are wrong about the first question, what hope do we have for a peaceful world guided by wisdom. My answer for that is zero. What do you think? Many of us deny or question the existence of the very One who gave us existence. God replies:
Isaiah 45:9
Shame on him who argues with his Maker,
Though naught
but a potsherd of earth!
Shall the clay
say to the potter, "What are you doing?
Your work has no
handle."
If you live on this world at this time, no doubt you know of people who display this level of arrogance. Next, more of that divine compassion. Our Father explains to us:
Isaiah 46:4
Till you grow old, I will be the same
When you turn
gray; it is I who will carry;
I am the Maker,
and I will be the Bearer;
And I will carry
and rescue you.
And so our Father tends his children, most often without recognition and without thanks. Yet, His commitment never wavers, never hesitates, and never sleeps.
The Urantia Book speaks of Second Isaiah (Chapters 40-55) with high praise.
UB 1069 He
was poetic in his portrayal of the infinite attributes of the
Universal
Father. No more beautiful pronouncements about the
Heavenly Father
have ever been made.
UB 1068 He
(Isaiah) also believed with Jeremiah that Yahweh had
become the God
of all nations.
Next, God has further words for the high and mighty; our elite leaders and controllers:
Isaiah 47:8 And
now hear this, O pampered one—
Who dwell in
security,
Who think to
yourself,
I am, and there is none but me; . . .
You thought,
"No one can see me."
Isaiah 47:10 It
was your skill and your science
That led you
astray.
Notice how
similar that time is to ours. Ends of ages have highly similar circumstances
and types of people. Human history is monotonously similar, repeating cycles of
sameness. But there is evolutionary progress; the remnant groups have a
survival advantage that results from biologic factors that modify the capacity
for spiritual receptivity. The Adamic genes should therefore become
increasingly prevalent over long periods of time.
The comment of 47:10 on science as
the cause of our going astray is well taken. True religion and true science are
complementary and never contradictory, however man’s error exists in forming a religion about science that denies or
ignores God and true religion. This religion of science believes that science
has all the answers for man’s every problem, that science is the only true
knowledge, that man doesn’t need the axiom of God, that man can completely
understand his world through science, and that science offers proof and
certainty. All of these beliefs are false, but they go unrecognized and
unchallenged. As the Urantia Book states, we overreacted to the superstitions
and tyranny of the Middle Ages and threw out the baby with the bath. (The baby
being God and the bath being knowledge based on superstition). Balance is what
we have lacked, and balance is what we are given in the Fifth Epochal
Revelation, the Urantia Book. Further, God reads our thoughts to us and
comments:
Isaiah 47:10 And
you thought to yourself,
"I am and
there is none but me."
Evil is coming
upon you
Which you will
not know how to charm away;
Disaster is
falling upon you
Which you will
not be able to appease;
Coming upon you
suddenly
Is ruin of which you know nothing.
Isaiah is speaking about Babylon
and its upcoming conquest by Cyrus of Persia. But ends of ages are similar.
Perhaps this verse will also pertain to our own upcoming "world
crisis." Let’s review here what the Urantia Book tells us about "the
world crisis." (The comments in parentheses are mine.)
UB 1863
Although Jesus referred one phase of the kingdom to the
future and did,
on many occasions, intimate that such an event
might appear as
a part of a world crisis. (dotted lines are my
breaks in the
text)
UB 2081 The
father of secularism was the narrow minded and godless
attitude of . . . atheistic
science. Secularism had its inception
as a rising
protest against
the domination . . . by the institutionalized Christian
church. The majority of professed Christians . . .
are unwittingly
actual
secularists. Secularism . . . sells man
into slavish bondage to the
totalitarian
state . . . the tyranny of political and economic
slavery. Secularism
can never bring peace to mankind. Nothing
can take the
place of God in human society . . . Secularism
simply ignores
God. More recently, secularism has assumed
a more militant
attitude, assuming to take the place of the
religion whose
totalitarian bondage it one time resisted.
But Beware:
this godless philosophy will lead only to
unrest, animosity,
unhappiness, war, and worldwide disaster. Complete secularization . . .
can lead only to disaster.
Those that argue that this "disaster" lies in our past (WWII) should answer the question whether or not secularism still governs the world of today or not. If you think that it does, then it must follow that disaster is yet to come because "worldwide disaster" is the result of worldwide secularism according to the Urantia Book quotation above.
UB 2086
Christianity unwittingly seems to sponsor a society, which
staggers under
the guilt of tolerating science without
idealism,
politics without
principles, wealth without work, pleasure
without
restraint, knowledge without character, power
without
conscience, and industry without morality.
Selfish men
and women simply will not pay such a price for
even the
greatest spiritual treasure ever offered mortal man.
Only when man has become sufficiently
disillusioned by the
sorrowful disappointment attendant upon
the foolish and
deceptive
pursuits of selfishness . . . will he be disposed to
turn . . . to
the religion of Jesus of Nazareth. (Man is not yet
so
disillusioned)
UB 2082
During the first third of the twentieth century, Urantia
killed more
human beings than were killed during the whole
dispensation of
the Christian church. And this is only the
beginning. . .
Still more terrible destruction is yet to come.
UB 1487 War on Urantia will never end so long as
nations cling to
the illusive
notions of unlimited national sovereignty.
UB 1490
Another world war (WWII) will teach the so-called sovereign
nations to form
some sort of federation, thus creating the
machinery for
preventing small wars . . .(but not large ones)
An international
police force will prevent many minor wars,
but it will not
be effective in preventing major wars.
Worldwide
confederations of nations . . . will not prevent
world wars nor
control the three, four or five most powerful
governments. (Is
this applicable to today?)
UB 2082 Times
of great testing and threatened defeat are always
times
of great
revelation.
Shortly, we will be entering this period of world crisis. Mankind’s latest Tower of Babel will fall. It will involve not only wars but also ecological, environmental, meteorological, financial, economic, social and political chaos. Further:
UB 1087
Institutional religion cannot afford inspiration and provide
leadership in
this impending, worldwide social
reconstruction
and economic
reorganization because it has unfortunately
become more or
less of an organic part of the social order and
the economic
system, which is destined to undergo reconstruction.
(Doesn’t reconstruction imply deconstruction first?)
But, lest we despair:
UB 1088 The
religion of living experience finds no difficulty in keeping
ahead of all
these social developments and economic upheavals,
amid which it
ever functions as a moral stabilizer, social guide
and spiritual
pilot.
UB 2082 A new and fuller revelation of the religion
of Jesus is destined
to conquer an empire of materialistic
secularism . . .(our world
empire of today)
UB 2083 The hour is striking for a rediscovery of
the true and original
foundation of
present-day distorted and compromised Christianity—
the real life
and teachings of Jesus. (The Kingdom of Heaven within)
However:
UB 2083 The
spiritual renaissance must await the
coming of these new
teachers of
Jesus’ religion who will be exclusively
devoted to the
spiritual
regeneration of men. And then will these spirit-born souls
quickly supply
the leadership and inspiration requisite for the social,
moral, economic and political reorganization of the world.
And why does secularism fail?
UB 1126
Those who would invent a religion (any system of strong
convictions)
without God are like those who would get the
fruit without trees. . . You cannot have effects
without causes.
UB 1126 Man
may graft many purely humanistic branches onto his
godless
religion, but such an experience is devoid of survival
values . . . only social fruits are forthcoming, not
spiritual . . .
UB 2075 A lasting social system without morality
predicated on
spiritual
realities can no more be maintained than can a solar
system without gravity.
Secularism fails
because it is inherently faulty. Man is dependent on God whether he likes it or
not. Man cannot find his way without God. This dependence is built into the
very nature of the Father-Son relationship. And this relationship is the rock that we must build on and
the star that we must hope upon.
UB 1747 . .
. by the insight of the spirit of my Father which dwells
within you, I am
led to declare that upon this foundation (the
indwelling
spirit) will I build the brotherhood of the Kingdom
of Heaven. Upon
this rock of spiritual reality . . .
Consider further information from the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSC):
Thanksgiving Psalms
DSC, Vs. 7 The way of man is not established except by
the
spirit of God
which created him . . .
The Community
Rule, DSC
Mankind has no way, and man is unable to establish his
steps since
justification is with God and perfection of way is
from His hand.
All things come to pass by His knowledge;
He establishes things by His design and without Him nothing
is done.
(Teacher of Righteousness)
Finally, I would note that secular humanism gives birth to all the present reigning ideologies: communism, socialism, and capitalism too. "Isims" are systems of human thought that have become so highly revered that they become the intellectual equivalent of the ancient physical idols that were worshipped in vain. Capitalists consider profit and capital first, last, and always. Spiritual values, social values, and environmental values are usually not part of the equation. Capitalism and other ideologies should be made to serve people rather than people being made, as now, to serve the ideology. People are the purpose and meaning of life. The Fatherhood of God forever establishes the transcendent value of His sons and daughters. People must come before profit. People will come before profit. God has established it. We live in His Universe. At this point in time however, we collectively, choose and have chosen profit over people, and humanity languishes in the cold, dark night of the inevitable results.
Let’s now look at some quotes from Humanist Manifestos I and II, which are the declarations of belief proposed by secular humanists.
Humanist Manifesto I was the first
major document (1933) of the modern Humanist
Movement. Consider the following quotes from this document.
"Religious
humanists regard the universe as self-existing and not created."
To say that the universe has no cause is the equivalent of professing belief in an astounding miracle of infinite magnitude, unsurpassable by any human mind. And yet science, the very study of cause and effect, is the pillar of secular humanism. Secular humanists say that we should discard "super-natural superstitions" that are non-scientific. The statement that the universe has no cause is not testable and therefore non-scientific. The statement is an overt declaration of an unfounded, unscientific, belief, no different than any other belief, including religious varieties. My beliefs are axioms, yours are superstitions, would be one way to express this. Also note that “religious” means highly convicted and not God-believing.
"Humanism asserts that the nature of the universe depicted by
modern
science makes
unacceptable any supernatural or cosmic guarantees of
human
values." (Humanist Manifesto I)
Here science is used to exclude the possibility of any "supernaturally" established values. First of all, science can have nothing to say about the domain of intangible value, only religion can answer the question why? Science attends only to the questions how, when and where. Ultimate causes, origins, and destiny are questions of religion. Second of all, humanists have already declared that the universe merely is and is not created. This statement itself, as shown above, lies outside the natural world of causes. It is itself a "supernatural" explanation.
"We are convinced that the time has passed for theism, deism,
modernism,
and the several
varieties of ‘new thought’."(Humanist Manifesto I)
Here we have stated the real battle of the human will. Who makes the rules? God or man? Whose universe is it anyway? The question has a real answer and if the wrong answer is given there are real consequences that will result. We truly reap what we sow.
"In the place of the old attitudes involved in worship and prayer
the
humanist finds
his religious emotions expressed in a heightened sense
of personal life
and in a cooperative effort to promote social well-being."
The fruits of the spirit (peace, happiness, and joy) will only grow from a good tree rooted in God’s spirit. All goodness comes from God, man has no goodness of his own, regardless of the words he may utter.
"Man will learn to face the crises of life in terms of his
knowledge of
their
naturalness and probability. Reasonable and manly attitudes will be
fostered by
education and supported by custom. We assume that
humanism will
take the path of social and mental hygiene and discourage
sentimental and
unreal hopes and wishful thinking."
(Humanist
Manifesto I)
Now it is revealed that secular
humanists are "reasonable and manly." Theists are therefore
superstitious and weak, and they rely on fantasy religion, the "opiate of
the masses."
"Man is at last becoming aware that he alone is responsible for the
realization of
the world of his dreams, that he has
within himself the
power for its
achievement. He must set intelligence and will to the task."
Man is capable of doing anything and everything. This sounds great, unfortunately it lacks truth. Man needs God. We can assert our power and mastery, but our experiences reveal our insignificance. This phrase from the Urantia Book comes back again and again to my mind, "our arrogance outruns our reason." Pride goeth before the fall.
Now we go to Humanist Manifesto II written in 1973. (select passages)
"As in
1933, humanists still believe that traditional theism, especially
faith in the
prayer-hearing God, assumed to live and care for persons, to
hear and
understand their prayers, and to be able to do something about
them, is an unproved and outmoded faith.
Salvationism, based on mere
affirmation,
still appears as harmful, diverting people with false hopes of
heaven
hereafter. Reasonable minds look to other means for survival."
We now learn that faith is unproved, ineffective, and outmoded. How many studies have we ever done to actually find out if there are any differences in the lives of believers vs. non-believers? The answer is zero. I would bet that you would find dramatic differences if such a study were done without bias. In fact, a few recent medical studies have shown strong correlations between faith and positive health outcomes. The humanist dogma is succumbing to truth. Lastly, to say that faith is unproved is the equivalent of saying nothing because there would be no faith necessary if proof were possible. Similarly, one can prove anything in mathematics if one allows dividing by zero as this statement does.
"Humanism can provide the purpose and inspiration that so many
seek;
it can give
personal meaning and significance to human life."
(Hum. Manifest. II)
If this were true, we would
probably be in great shape. But it isn’t and we aren’t. Establishing purpose
and meaning to life without God is like establishing a solar system without the
sun. In both situations, planets or people fly apart.
"We affirm a set of common principles that can serve as a basis for
united action –
positive principles relevant to the present human condition.
They are a
design for a secular society on a planetary scale."
This reveals the grand scope (planetary) that this vision is being applied to. The United Nations charter is a direct outgrowth of these planetary Humanist Manifestos. Will it work?
"We find insufficient evidence for belief in the existence of a
super-
natural; it is
either meaningless or irrelevant to the question of survival
and fulfillment
of the human race. As non theists, we begin with humans
not God, nature
not deity. Nature may indeed be broader and deeper than
we now know; any
new discoveries, however, will but enlarge our know-
ledge of the
natural."
Here, the victory over theism is openly stated and confidently relied on to predict that "new discoveries" will only add to the conviction. How can unknown discoveries already be known to be explainable by what we presently know? This is another statement of arrogance, not reason.
"The preciousness and dignity of the individual person is a central
humanist
value."
The aspirations appear noble at times. Give credit where credit is due. Success requires more than good intentions though. It requires wisdom and truth.
"People are more important than decalogues, rules, proscriptions,
or regulations."
Great, but are people also more important even than profit? The world system answers no. And why are regulations, bureaucracies, and rules allowed to remove the human touch from our social interactions? We loose opportunities to serve our fellow man. Since man has no intrinsic value other than what we decide to give him (according to secular humanism), when push comes to shove, these floating, man made, values are easily put aside. After all isn't "everything relative?"
"At the present
juncture of history, commitment to all humankind is
the highest
commitment of which we are capable; it transcends the
narrow
allegiances of church, state, party, class, or race in moving toward
a wider vision
of human potentiality. What more daring a goal for human-
kind than for
each person to become, in ideal as well as practice, a citizen
of a world
community. It is a classical vision; we can now give it new
vitality.
Humanism thus interpreted is a moral force that has time on its
side. We believe
that humankind has the potential, intelligence, goodwill,
and cooperative
skill to implement this commitment in the decades
ahead."
This is the end of Humanist Manifesto II. It proclaims the establishment of the brotherhood of humankind. Unfortunately, they do not know that "you cannot establish the brotherhood of man without the Fatherhood of God." (UB 2082) Simple, basic, everyday truth, unappreciated by the closed minds of man. Truth is so very valuable because it can be lived successfully.
Why have so few found such wisdom? Can we find if we do not seek? Do we seek if we are not thirsty for truth? Are we thirsty if we are still satisfied with our own deceptions? Blessed are the meek, for they are not self-satisfied. They are still open to the light of truth. We now return to our discussion of Urantia Book prophecy and the world crisis to come.
We should not become so caught up in looking for the end of the age that we neglect to establish and maintain the Kingdom of Heaven within. For the Master said:
UB 1916 Even you, Thomas, fail to comprehend what I
have been
saying. Have I
not taught you that your connection with the
Kingdom of
Heaven is spiritual and individual, wholly a matter
of personal
experience in the spirit by the faith-realization that
you are a son of
God? What more shall I say