Israel and the Middle East Today

[Stephen]

Israel's position in the Middle East just prior to the Lord's coming judgment and before the invasion of the nation that will take place during the 70th week as described in Ezekiel 38:

Ezekiel
38:2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog [satan], the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

38:3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

38:4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:

38:5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:

38:6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.

38:7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

38:8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.

38:9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.

38:10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:

38:11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,

38:12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

38:13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?

38:14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?

38:15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:

38:16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

38:17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?

38:18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.

38:19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;

38:20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

38:21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother.

38:22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

38:23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.

"Securely" [the Lord's protection] and in "confidence" [at rest]  after centuries of expulsion from the land of Israel. The Lord is protecting the nation from extinction today even though He is not recognized as the nation's Messiah and King yet. This is how Satan [Gog] views Israel's current status today and he plans to invade and destroy the nation. Satan's arrival upon the earth will take place at the beginning of the 70th week decreed for national Israel and he will develop his plan of attack through his human followers and will reach his goal by midweek. His invasion will result in his defeat by the Lord 42 months later at Armageddon. The Book of Revelation does not record any mention of peace in the line up of the events of the 70th week.

At "rest" and dwelling "safely" does not mean unaware and dancing in the streets of Israel with the absence of internal and or external conflicts. All nations have these things. The world in general is not moving toward a time of peace, and neither is the Middle East for sure. Satan and his followers will bring nothing but war and destruction in an attempt to destroy Israel and to rule the planet. His rational for killing and destructive warfare, including the extermination of Israel, will be a "false" promise of peace for those who will follow and worship him as a god. The covenant confirmed in Daniel is not a peace treaty, but the balance of the time frame of the 70 weeks of years to finish. This 70th week is still future, the Lord will execute and finish it, and it will begin suddenly with the Lord's purposeful and devastating judgments against a world of unbelief. This action will not be a "peace" treaty between Israel and the nation's surrounding and sworn enemies that is to last for 7 years. It will be a full 7 years of His unmitigated judgment events with the inclusion of satanic involvement. There will be no peace in the Middle East until the Lord brings it at the end of the 70th week.

Today's current events regarding Israel and the nation's surrounding enemies in the Middle East are the setup for the Lord's coming period of wrath:

Psalms
83:1 Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.

83:2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.

83:3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.

83:4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.

83:5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:

83:6 The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;

83:7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;

83:8 Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.

83:9 Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:

83:10 Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.

83:11 Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:

83:12 Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.

83:13 O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.

83:14 As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;

83:15 So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.

83:16 Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD.

83:17 Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:

83:18 That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.

[Beloved Servant]

Hebrews 4 (Young's Literal Translation)

Hebrews 4

 1We may fear, then, lest a promise being left of entering into His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short,

 2for we also are having good news proclaimed, even as they, but the word heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard,

 3for we do enter into the rest -- we who did believe, as He said, `So I sware in My anger, If they shall enter into My rest -- ;' and yet the works were done from the foundation of the world,

 4for He spake in a certain place concerning the seventh [day] thus: `And God did rest in the seventh day from all His works;'

 5and in this [place] again, `If they shall enter into My rest -- ;'

 6since then, it remaineth for certain to enter into it, and those who did first hear good news entered not in because of unbelief --

 7again He doth limit a certain day, `To-day,' (in David saying, after so long a time,) as it hath been said, `To-day, if His voice ye may hear, ye may not harden your hearts,'

 8for if Joshua had given them rest, He would not concerning another day have spoken after these things;

 9there doth remain, then, a sabbatic rest to the people of God,

 10for he who did enter into his rest, he also rested from his works, as God from His own.

 11May we be diligent, then, to enter into that rest, that no one in the same example of the unbelief may fall,

 12for the reckoning of God is living, and working, and sharp above every two-edged sword, and piercing unto the dividing asunder both of soul and spirit, of joints also and marrow, and a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart;

 13and there is not a created thing not manifest before Him, but all things [are] naked and open to His eyes -- with whom is our reckoning.

 14Having, then, a great chief priest passed through the heavens -- Jesus the Son of God -- may we hold fast the profession,

 15for we have not a chief priest unable to sympathise with our infirmities, but [one] tempted in all things in like manner -- apart from sin;

 16we may come near, then, with freedom, to the throne of the grace, that we may receive kindness, and find grace -- for seasonable help.

[martincisneros]

I can see Ezekiel 38 and 39 genuinely on the horizon, if Jesus in His High Priestly ministry doesn't do something else with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit prior to a physical clash like that.  I just wouldn't hang the 70th week of Daniel to it, since that week has already been fulfilled with the anointing of the Most Holy after the Order of Melchezedec and the bringing in of everlasting righteousness.  Everlasting righteousness isn't what we see out here with our physical eyes, but what grows out of the Word through our hearts and our proclamation of the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit until the Kingdoms of this world that have already been Blood bought experientially become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.  He's coming back to judge the living and the dead according to Daniel 12, John 5, and 2Timothy 4, and many other passages.  He's not bodily coming back prior to that time period to do all that He's told us to do with the discipleship of the nations.  The gates of Hell won't prevail against the Church.  They've already been proven to be nothing before Christ Jesus Himself, but not yet experientially by the Church.  We rule and reign with Him in heavenly places according to Romans 5:17, the whole book of Ephesians, Revelation 1:5-6 and numerous, numerous other passages.  He's been King ever since He rode into Jerusalem, otherwise it would be an absolute impossibility for Him to currently be after the Order of Melchezedec if He were priest only.

[martincisneros]

Christ Jesus is the center piece of Bible prophecy and not Israel, though absolutely all of Israel in the fullest sense shall be saved.

[Stephen]

Keep in mind that the Lord is the Messiah and King of national Israel .... He is an Israelite Himself by His humanity .... these visions are all future events and have never taken place .... there is no comparable record of history

Daniel
12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

12:5 Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.

12:6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?

12:7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.

12:8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?

12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

12:11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

12:12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.

12:13 But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

Matthew
24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

24:17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

24:18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

24:19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Zechariah14:1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

14:2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

14:3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

14:5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

Micah
5:1 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.

5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

5:3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.

5:4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.

5:5 And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.

5:6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.

5:7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.

5:8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.

5:9 Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.

5:10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots:

5:11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds:

5:12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers:

5:13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands.

5:14 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities.

5:15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.

[sheila]

Jerusalem and Israel that is here below at present...

 MUST BE BORN AGAIN FROM ABOVE

   MICHAEL signifies the MELCHEZEDEK PREISTHOOD

    Jesus is also KING OF KINGS..signifying all nations

   And the PRINCE OF PEACE

   

[Stephen]

"Jesus is also KING OF KINGS..signifying all nations

And the PRINCE OF PEACE"

True ... and He will seek to destroy all current national governments upon His return

..... except for His nation

Jeremiah
30:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

30:2 Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.

30:3 For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

30:4 And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.

30:5 For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.

30:6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

30:8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:

30:9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

30:10 Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.

30:11 For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

30:12 For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.

30:13 There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.

30:14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.

30:15 Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.

30:16 Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.

30:17 For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

30:18 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.

30:19 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.

30:20 Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.

30:21 And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD.

30:22 And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

30:23 Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.

30:24 The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he hath done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.

[sheila]

His FAMILY and HIS NATION are those that DO THE WILL

  OF THE FATHER...Or   LISTEN TO HIM.

  He testified to that FACT when He was told..your Mother and

 brothers are outside looking for you. Mark 3;31


   Spiritual DNA [divine nature activated through Holy spirit]

  takes precedence over ALL national,tribal,racial fleshly

  divisions


  THERE ARE TWO KINGDOMS AT VARIANCE....the children of

 LIGHT and the children of DARKNESS...


   SPIRITUAL Israel is the children of LIGHT.......

  the offspring of vipers are the children of darkness

  there is a 'time' for every purpose under heaven....

  a time to scatter and a time to gather togather....

   a time of war and a time of peace....


  all flesh is divided...scattered and at war....whether fleshly

descendants of Israel or any other nation[two tribes of Israel].

  whether of the same nuclear family[daughter against mother-

  in law]

  it is THE SPIRIT THAT GATHERS IN PEACE AND UNINTY AND

   UNION.


    wars and desoations continue til the end..

  Look unto the Lord and be saved all ye ENDS OF THE EARTH


    the flesh profiteth NOTHING AT ALL


  Hebrews 4;12 For the Word of God is sharper than any two-

edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit,

joints and marrow;it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the

heart.


  Rev 1;16 in his right hand he held seven stars,and out of his

mouth came a sharp double-edged sword.


  Rev 2;16 Repent therefore, or I will come to you and war

 against them with the SWORD of my MOUTH


   Ezekiel 37;14  ONE NATION UNDER ONE KING....unity of

SPIRIT...SPIRITUAL ISRAEL...JERUSALEM ABOVE-CHILDREN

  OF LIGHT..OVERCOMERS ON MT ZION SINGING NEW SONG


   Ezekiel 38  Gog and his hordes--YOU AND ALL YOUR TROOPS

  AND MANY NATIONS WITH YOU.


  Rev 20;7 satans doom Satan will be released from his prison

 and will GO OUT TO DECEIVE THE NATIONS[fleshly divisions]

in the four corners of the earth[all mankind divided in flesh as

nations tribes etc] GOG AND MAGOG. Rev 13;14 He ordered

them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was

wounded by the sword and yet lived.


  Genesis 3;24 after he drove the man out,He placed on the

east side of the garden of EDEN cherubim and a flaming sword

[spirit that divides darkness from light] Flashing back and forth

to guard 'the way'[I am the way] to the tree of life


  People fleshly Israel has no prefernce over spiritual Israel

   That death stroke of Jerusalem[fleshly Israel] was

  received back there

  . God honored that covenant with His son when He fulfilled the

    law

   the fleshly Israel was divided from the spiritual  by the

  two edged sword of the spirit. that is the beast that received

 the death stroke....he ordered them to set up an image in

honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived

he was given power to give breath to the image.

  people, theres a corruptible image of God in the flesh and

theres the incorruptible spirit of God that is the reality in the

 heavenly.

   The flesh profiteth nothing in man[Adam] Genesis 3;23 so

  the Lord God banished him from the garden of EDEN,

  TO WORK THE GROUND FROM WHICH HE HAD BEEN TAKEN

[ flesh/Adam/ISRAEL/corruptible image of God/earth]


   After He drove the 'man' out, He placed on the 'east' side

  of the Garden of EDEN cherubim and a flaming sword,flashing

 back and forth to GUARD THE WAY  TO  THE TREE OF LIFE


   Jesus Christ is 'the way' to the tree of life...He that is from

  ABOVE AND THE ATONEMENT AND OUR COVERING.

   Need to get off of this people...thinking that the flesh

profiteth anything. Fleshly Israel having received spiritual

images should have more easily grasped THE reality and

welcomed the Christ when hE CAME TO HER  .. tHAT WAS THE

 ADVANTAGE SHE HAD OVER OTHER NATIONS.  tO BE THE FIRST

  mATTHEW 8;11  i SAY TO YOU,THAT MANY WILL COME FROM

THE EAST AND THE WEST,AND TAKE THEIR PLACES AT THE

FEAST WITH ABRAHAM,ISAAC AND JACOB,IN THE KINGDOM OF

 HEAVEN,BUT THE SUBJECTS OF THE KINGDOM[FLESH ISRAEL]

 WILL BE THROWN OUTSIDE INTO THE DARKNESS,WHERE

THERE WILL BE WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH.


   Now,Israel the nation typifies all of us dwelling in the flesh

[corruptible image of God/sin in flesh/1st Adam/son of

  God/condemned,from below]

and Spiritual Israel typifies spiritual sons of God,born from

 above..descended to earth and born again,returned to God

Christ Jesus,Last Adam,incorruptible REALITY SON OF GOD

   
   

[Cardinal]

  Amen Sheila....... that which is natural is natural and that which is Spirit is Spirit.....Blessings....

[Doug]

Sheila wrote:

His FAMILY and HIS NATION are those that DO THE WILL

  OF THE FATHER...Or   LISTEN TO HIM.

  He testified to that FACT when He was told..your Mother and

 brothers are outside looking for you. Mark 3;31

This is true, and the above scripture can support identifying the mother of the man child (who is Jesus), in Revelation 12:5, with the church.

Paul referred to the church as "the mother of us all," in Galatians 4:26.

Paul's identification of the church with a "mother" and with "Jerusalem" was evidently based on a prophecy in the Old Testament, in Isaiah 66:10-29. Below is a brief commentary on these verses.

Isaiah 66:10
Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:

The New Testament shows that the "Jerusalem" of prophecy is not the earthly city, but the church, which is the bride of Christ, the heavenly Jerusalem, and the "mother of us all." [Galatians 4:26] The earthly city of Jerusalem was a shadow or type of the church of Christ, and a "bondwoman," or a handmaid to the church, who was eventually cast out. [Galatians 4:25, 30-31]

Isaiah 66:11
That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations;
that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.

The "milk" that Isaiah refers to is not literal milk, but the "milk of the word." [1 Peter 2:2]

Isaiah 66:12
For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.

The earthly Jerusalem has no peace. But peace is upon those who are new creations in Christ. This is the Israel of God.

Galatians 6:15-16
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

The "river" Isaiah spoke of is the Spirit of God that Jesus promised to send to the church.

John 7:37-39
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

The river of living water flowing from Jerusalem is also described in Zechariah's prophecy:

Zechariah 14:8-9
And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

Christ is the future "glory of the Gentiles," and their saviour. Jesus said, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." [John 12:32]

Simeon said, when he saw the infant Jesus,

Luke 2:29-32
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

Isaiah 66:13
As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

The church is our "mother." [Galatians 4:26] Those who believe this are comforted.

Isaiah 66:14
And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.

Those who seduce Christians, are among his enemies!

Isaiah 66:15
For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.

All false teachings will be consumed by fire, which is the truth of God's word.

Isaiah 66:16
For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

The fire and sword are both metaphors for God's word.

Isaiah 66:17
They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.

This refers to religious people who rely on their own righteousness. Their attitude is shown in Isaiah 65:3-5: "A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day."

Clearly it is the "holier than thou" attutude that characterized these people.

Isaiah 66:18
For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

God knows what the delusions of men are.

Isaiah 66:19-20
And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.
And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.

This is not referring to the return of Jews to Palestine, but the return of many to the church, which is called "Sion" (or Zion) and "the heavenly Jerusalem."

Hebrews 12:22-23
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

Isaiah 66:21
And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD.

The saints are called a "holy priesthood," in the New Testament.

1 Peter 2:5, 20
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
...
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

Isaiah 66:22-23
For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.
And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.

Christ's kingdom will encompass the earth, and he reigns over all now.

Isaiah 66:24
And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Jesus referred to this as Gehenna. It represents the condition of those who are rejected from his kingdom. Gehenna was the garbage dump of the earthly Jerusalem.

A more complete article is available at: 
http://vinyl2.sentex.ca/%7Etcc/OP/mother.html

Doug

[Doug]

The New Testament shows that the "Jerusalem" of prophecy is not the earthly city, but the church, which is the bride of Christ, the heavenly Jerusalem, and the "mother of us all." [Galatians 4:26] The earthly city of Jerusalem was a shadow or type of the church of Christ, and a "bondwoman," or a handmaid to the church, who was eventually cast out. [Galatians 4:25, 30-31]

Most Bible commentaries popular today were not written from the viewpoint of the gospel, or that of the apostles, such as Peter, who showed that the prophets wrote by "the Spirit of Christ which was in them." [1 Peter 1:11] Instead, they adopt an approach that they share with the Jews and with the critical scholars. But Joseph Addison Alexander's "Isaiah translated and explained" (1852) adopts an approach to Isaiah's prophecies corresponding more nearly to the one approved by Peter, and other New Testament writers. 

http://books.google.ca/books?id=5qMCAAAAQAAJ&dq

In the preface to the above work, Alexander wrote:

The following exposition supposes the main subject of these Prophecies, or rather of this Prophecy, to be the Church or People of God, considered in its members and its head, in its design, its origin, its progress, its vicissitudes, its consummation in its various relations to God and to the world, both as a field of battle and a field of labour, an enemy's country to be conquered and an inheritance to be secured. Within the limits of this general description it is easy to distinguish, as alternate objects of prophetic vision, the two great phases of the Church on earth, its state of bondage and its state of freedom, its ceremonial and its spiritual aspect; in a word, what we usually call the Old and New Economy or Dispensation. Both are continually set before us, but with this observable distinction in the mode of presentation, that the first great period is described by individual specific strokes, the second by its outlines as a definite yet undivided whole. To the great turning point between the two dispensations the prophetic view appears to reach with clear discrimination of the intervening objects, but beyond that to take all in at a single glance. Within the boundaries first mentioned the eye passes with a varied uniformity from one salient point to another; but beyond them it contemplates the end and the beginning, not as distinct pictures, but as necessary elements of one. This difference might naturally be expected in a Prophecy belonging to the Old Dispensation, while in one belonging to the New we should as naturally look for the same definiteness and minuteness as the older prophets used in their descriptions of the older times.

If this be so, it throws a new light on the more specific Prophecies of this part of Isaiah, such as those relating to the Babylonish Exile; which are then to be regarded, not as the main subject of the Prophecy, but only as prominent figures in the great prophetic picture, some of which were to the Prophet's eye already past, and some still future. ln this respect the Prophecy is perfectly in keeping with the History of Israel, in which the Exile or the Restoration stands conspicuously forth as one of the great critical conjunctures which at distant intervals prepared the way for the removal of the ancient system, and yet secured its continued operation till the time of that removal should arrive. How far the same thing may be said of other periods which occupy a like place in the history of the Jews, such as the period of the Maccabees, is a question rendered doubtful by the silence of the Prophecy itself, and by the absence of any indications which are absolutely unambiguous. The specific reference of certain passages to this important epoch has no antecedent probability against it; but we cannot with the same unhesitating confidence assert such an allusion as we can in the case of Babylon and Cyrus, which are mentioned so expressly and repeatedly. It may be that historical discovery, the march of which has been so rapid in our own day, will enable us, or those who shall come after us, to set this question finally at rest. In the meantime it is safest to content ourselves with carefully distinguishing between the old and new economy as represented on the Prophet's canvass, without attempting to determine by conjecture what particular events are predicted even in the former, any further than we have the certain guidance of the Prophecy itself.

As to a similar attempt in reference to the New Dispensation, it is wholly inconsistent with the view which we have taken of the structure of these Prophecies, and which regards them not as particular descriptions of this or that event in later times, but as a general description of the Church in its emancipated state, or of the Reign of the Messiah, not at one time or another, but throughout its whole course, so that the faint light of the dawn is blended with the glow of sunset and the blaze of noon. The form under which the Reign of Christ is here presented to and by the Prophet is that of a glorious emancipation from the bondage and the darkness of the old economy, in representing which he naturally dwells with more minuteness upon that part of the picture which is nearest to himself, while the rest is bathed in a flood of light, to penetrate beyond which, or to discriminate the objects hid beneath its dazzling veil, formed no part of this Prophet's mission, but was reserved for the ulterior revelations of the New Testament.

It is not however merely to the contrast of the two dispensations that the Prophet's eye is here directed. It would indeed have been impossible to bring this contrast clearly into view without a prominent exhibition of the great event by which the transition was effected, and of the great person who effected it. That person is the Servant of Jehovah, elsewhere spoken of as his Anointed or Messiah, and both here and elsewhere represented as combining the prophetic, regal, and sacerdotal characters suggested by that title. The specific relation which he here sustains to the Israel of God, is that of the Head to a living Body; so that in many cases what is said of him appears to be true wholly or in part of them, as forming one complex person, an idea perfectly accordant with the doctrines and the images of the New Testament. It appears to have been first clearly stated in the dictum of an ancient writer quoted by Augustin: "de Christo et Corpore ejus Ecclesia tanquam de una persona in Scriptura saepius mentionem fieri, cui quaedam tribuuntur quae tantum in Caput, quaedam quae tantum in Corpus competunt, quaedam vero in utrumque." There is nothing in these Prophecies more striking or peculiar than the sublime position occupied by this colossal figure, standing between the Church of the Old and that of the New Testament, as a mediator, an interpreter, a bond of union, and a common head.

If this be a correct view of the structure of these prophecies, nothing can be more erroneous or unfriendly to correct interpretation than the idea, which appears to form the basis of some expositions, that the primary object in the Prophet's view is Israel as a race or nation, and that its spiritual or ecclesiastical relations are entirely adventitious and subordinate. The natural result of this erroneous supposition is a constant disposition to give everything a national and local sense. This is especially the case with respect to the names so frequently occurring, Zion, Jerusalem, and Judah; all which, according to this view of the matter, must be understood, wherever it is possible, as meaning nothing more than the hill, the city, and the land, which they originally designate. This error has even been pushed by some to the irrational extreme of making Israel as a race the object of the promises, after their entire separation from the church and their reduction for the time being to the same position with the sons of Ishmael and of Esau. That this view should be taken by the modern Jews, in vindication of their own continued unbelief, is not so strange as its adoption by some Christian writers, even in direct opposition to their own interpretation of former prophecies, almost identical in form and substance. The specifications of this general charge will be fully given in the exposition.

The claim of this mode of interpretation to the praise of strictness and exactness is a false one, if the Israel of prophecy is not the nation as such merely, but the nation as the temporary frame-work of the church, and if the promises addressed to it, in forms derived from this transitory state, were nevertheless meant to be perpetual, and must be therefore independent of all temporary local restrictions. The true sense of the prophecies in this respect cannot be more strongly or explicitly set forth than in the words of the Apostle, when he says that "God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew ;"--"Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it and the rest were blinded;"-- "not as though the word of God hath taken none effect, for they are not all Israel which are of Israel."

Doug