They Have Brought Forth Stubble
Writer Author Sylvia Huffnagle
Christian Article
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Bible Teaching
- Fiction No
Isa: 29:13-16: Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: 14: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. 15: Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? 16: Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
(God is talking to His people--those who say they belong to Him, but do not heed His Word. That would be those who confess that they are a Christian, they might go to church--might even go to church a lot, but they have not put on the full armor of God and they have not protected their heart from harmful content. They have not cultivated their spiritual gardens and they have not put on the Lord Jesus Christ. They have not been careful of what they watch, who they spend time with, nor how they live. They lived Christianity according to their own concept of it.)
17-19: Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? 18: And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. 19: The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
(God promises to deliver a wake up call and straighten this group out.)
20-21: For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: 21: That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.
(Once this group is dealt with, there will be no more man-made Christianity--we will live by God’s precepts. What the Bible says is bad will be bad and what the Bible says is good will be good and what the Bible says is godliness will be godliness and what the Bible says is love will be love.)
22-24: Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. 23: But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. 24: They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
(God says after this housecleaning, the truth will prevail.)
30:1-12: Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: 2: That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! 3: Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. 4: For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. 5: They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. 6: The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them. 7: For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still. 8: Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: 9: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: 10: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: 11: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. 12: Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
(The prophet is addressing the same situation from another angle. God is promising to deal with this group of Christians that are living by their own ideas of Christianity instead of God’s blueprint laid out in the Bible. What does He mean by going down into Egypt? When Christians live by their plan instead of the Lord’s, they get into trouble and have many woes, and then they go to spiritual Egypt for help. In Egypt, a deceptive refuge, they think they can have the best of both worlds. Even though they don’t do the things I mentioned above and they do serve God and mammon and they have not come out of the world and they are not heavenly-minded and their interests super-cede Christ’s interests, they don’t acknowledge that they are out of the will of God and that that is why they are having serious troubles and sickness--no, no, they say their condition is the will of God for the church today. They have many gods and many remedies just as Egypt has.)
13-14: Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. 14: And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
15-16: For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. 16: But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
(God says and will always say, in returning to Him and resting in Him shall you be saved. This group that I am talking about are using their own methods of salivation and their own remedies for hurting situations.)
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 an ensign on an hill.
(Is that not the condition now? Where is the super-natural Spirit and power of God in Christians daily lives, in their witness, or in their congregations?)
18-19: And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. 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; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
(See the Lord’s heart here. This is the One whom the world thinks is a mean guy who wants to spoil their fun and punish them for being human. This group of witnesses are responsible for this false idea of the Lord. As we see here, the heart of the Lord is only gracious even toward this group who have messed things up big time. Just like the father is the story of The Prodigal, God waits to be gracious unto them.)
20-22: And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: 21: And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. 22: Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.
(God is going to deal with this situation and He will bring these people to repentance and then He will teach them the truth and they will cast their idols and man-made teachings aside. And then … Oh happy day!)
23-26: Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. 24: The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan. 25: And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26: Moreover 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 the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27-33: Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire: 28: And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err. 29: Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel. 30: And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. 31: For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod. 32: And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it. 33: For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
(This description of what will take place when He deals with this group is not what is in His heart. His heart longs to be gracious unto them, but first He must let them reap the fruit of their own ways. That’s what is described above as His anger, indignation, and devouring fire. At this point these erring ones will come to the knowledge of the truth, repent, and be candidates for God’s mercy and grace. Note verse 31, He intends to beat down the Assyrian. The Assyrian represents the enemy’s input, intended to bring people into bondage, into modern thinking that has caused the oppression that God is against.)
31:1-9: Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD! 2: Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. 3: Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together. 4: For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof. 5: As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it. 6: Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. 7: For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. 8: Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited. 9: And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.
(Chapter 31 spells out the problem and the answer again, going right along with what I have taught so far.)
32:1-8: Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. 2: And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. 3: And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. 4: The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. 5: The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful. 6: For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. 7: The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. 8: But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.
(This is how it was supposed to be in Christendom. The King was supposed to rules and all was to be well.)
9:-14: Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech. 10: Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come. 11: Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins. 12: They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. 13: Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city: 14: Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
(God says, you are going to be sorry that you tried to have the best of both worlds when He already said, you cannot have both worlds. You must give up your temporal life in order to receive eternal life. Matt: 10:38-39, Jn: 12:25)
15-20: Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. 16: Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. 17: And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. 18: And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places; 19: When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place. 20: Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.
(The answer is always an outpouring of His Spirit. It is never a matter of man trying harder nor a matter of man becoming more inventive in their efforts. The answer is a mighty out-pouring of God’s Spirit--the latter rain. The former rain--that is now in the form of the written Word and the latter rain a mighty outpouring, these two are the only answer to this problem.)
33:1-9: Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee. 2: O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. 3: At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered. 4: And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them. 5: The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness. 6: And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure. 7: Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly. 8: The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man. 9: The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.
(Again God tries to reason with the people)
10-12: Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself. 11: Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you. 12: And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.
(I wanted to include this scripture in this teaching. Now that man has made a complete mess of things and turns to God and cries out to Him the way He has told us to do, He will arise. And look what this compromised witness has brought forth--chaff, stubble. They have not wrought God’s salvation to the earth.)
13-17: Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. 14: The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? 15: He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; 16: He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. 17: Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.
(Who will not be included in this painful correction? Those who walk in righteousness. They watch their mouths, endeavoring to speak things that agree with God’s Word. (Mal: 3) They deal with integrity in all matters. They do not partake of evil, not even in what they read or watch. They refuse to compromise the Word or their Christian walk. They keep their eyes on the King)
Sylvia Huffnagle
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