Isaiah's End Times Timeline - Event #1

While studying The Seven Churches, The Ten Virgins, and The King's Garden, I noticed that I kept returning to the book of Isaiah for certain passages of scripture. The book of Isaiah is known for it's prophecies of Jesus, but to my surprise, I began to see prophecies for Zion (New Jerusalem - the Bride) and her virgins - things that would happen to them in the "last days" or "latter days". Understanding the connection between houses, cities, mothers, women, daughters, virgins, trees, gardens, wells, and water (see my previous blog entries) helped me to see the end times prophecies for Zion in the book of Isaiah.

The Word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: And it shall be in the last days, the mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow into it. And many people shall go and say, Come and let us go up to the mount of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob. And He will teach from His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion the Law will go forth, and the Word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke many people. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war any more. Oh house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of Jehovah. (Isa 2:1-5 LITV)

If I hadn't been reading the book of Isaiah from a "woman's perspective", then I would have missed the outline of events that Isaiah gave to us which would lead us up until the time of the end, or “Day of the Lord”.

Event #1: Times of Refreshing –

Whom shall He teach knowledge? And whom shall He make to understand doctrine? Those weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little; for with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people. To whom He said, This is the rest; cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing. Yet they were not willing to hear. But the Word of Jehovah was to them precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken and snared and taken. (Isa 28:9-13 MKJV)

The Lord planned on teaching us the knowledge of Him and an understanding of His Word "little by little", just like with babies as we gradually transition them from milk to solid food. This is the "time of refreshing" that would come and God would speak to His people “with stammering lips and another tongue”. This first happened in the city of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, but it also happened in spiritual Jerusalem during the Azusa Street Revival. God always does things first in the natural realm to help us understand what He is going to do in the spiritual realm.

But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. (1Co 15:46 ESV)

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Act 3:19-21 KJV)

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians--we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God." And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" But others mocking said, "They are filled with new wine." But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: "'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.' (Act 2:1-21 ESV)

God planned to use these “times of refreshing” before the return of Jesus in order to send His Word (doctrine) out to all people, but many people refused to hear. Unfortunately, during these times, the priests and prophets wound up becoming spiritually “drunk” and erred in vision. Desiring only more of this spiritual wine, they focused their ministry on just that, and they forgot to teach the commandments of God. Then a deep sleep came upon the prophets and they became blind. Their wisdom perished and their understanding was hidden.

But they also have sinned through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way. The priest and the prophet have sinned through drink; they are swallowed up by wine; they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. (Isa 28:7 MKJV)

It shall even be as when a hungry one dreams, and behold, he eats, but he wakes and his soul is empty; or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he drinks; but he awakes, and behold, he is faint and his soul is longing. So shall it be with the multitude of all the nations who fight against mount Zion. Stand still and wonder! Blind your eyes and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For Jehovah has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes; He has covered the prophets and your heads, the seers. And the vision of all has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which they give to one who knows books saying, Please read this; and he says, I cannot, for it is sealed. And the book is delivered to him who does not know books, saying, Please read this; and he says, I do not know books. And Jehovah said, Because this people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the command of men; therefore, behold, I will go on doing among this people, a wonder, even a wonder. For the wisdom of their wise ones shall perish, and the understanding of their intelligent ones shall be hidden. (Isa 29:8-14 MKJV)

Example #1: Hezekiah & Manasseh

The Bible gives us a "natural" example of this in the stories of King Hezekiah and his son, Manasseh. Isaiah was a prophet during King Hezekiah's reign in Jerusalem. You can read their stories in 2 Kings chapters 18-21, and 2 Chronicles chapters 29-33.

Now recently in spiritual Jerusalem, there was a Hezekiah generation that grew up to become Ministers, Pastors, and leaders of the Church. Their purpose was to cleanse and set the service of the house of the Lord in order. There were also from this generation those who helped to restore worship in the Temple of the Lord with songs of David. This brought revivals and new spiritual movements of God within the Church. They did many things to advance the Kingdom of God, but the only problem was that in the midst of their business with setting up their ministries, they forgot or gave low priority to the reading and teaching of the commandments and the Word of God to their children.

They instructed their children to read their Bibles, but many of them didn’t take the time to actually read it to them or train them in it personally, like God commanded. They wound up leaving the training of their children in the hands of others who didn’t really know the Word and who were questioning it themselves. So their children grew up thinking “why do I need to go to Church to worship God?” and many left the Church and started worshipping God and Jesus their own way. This lead to their influence by the world (TV, music, movies, etc.) and some of them started questioning if there really was only one God or if there was a God at all. Like Hezekiah, the parents were really only concerned with their own spiritual peace and security and not about the spiritual captivity that their children would be living under. The Hezekiah generation are these Churches: Sardis, Ephesus, and Thyatira.

So, some of their children became so deeply involved in the ways of the world that they became slaves to it. This is the Manasseh generation and they are theses Churches: Laodicea and Pergamum. This generation got involved in fornication, adultery, violence, witchcraft, wizardry, soothsaying, palm reading, idol worship, pagan worship, and they even caused their own children to die so that they could continue living the way they wanted to live.

There is a generation that curses their father, and does not bless their mother. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their own filth. There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, and their jaw teeth like knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men. (Pro 30:11-14 MKJV)

A great majority of this Manasseh generation is living in America.

Warning #1: Captivity by the King of Assyria

Manasseh didn’t change until God allowed the king of Assyria to come and take him captive to the land of Babylon. That is when he cried out to God and God heard him and brought him back to Jerusalem. So, this is the warning that I hear – the king of Assyria is coming to take the generation of Manasseh captive to Babylon. America is already at war with him, so we had better heed this warning!

How horrible it will be for you Ariel (Jerusalem), Ariel, the city where David camped. Let year after year go by. Let your annual festivals go on. I will torment Ariel, and the city will be filled with people grieving and mourning. The city will become like Ariel. I will set up war camps all around you. I will blockade you with towers. I will put up mounds of dirt around you. When you have fallen, you will speak as you lie on the ground. Your words will be muffled by the dust. Your voice will come out of the ground like that of a ghost. Your words will be whispered from the dust. Your many enemies will be like fine dust. Your many foes will be like husks blown by the wind. All of this will happen suddenly, unexpectedly. The LORD of Armies will punish you with thunder, earthquakes, and loud noises, with windstorms, rainstorms, and fire storms. The armies from all the nations will go to war against Ariel. They will go to war against it, blockade it, and torment it. All of this will be like a dream, like a vision in the night. They will be like hungry people who dream that they're eating and wake up to find they're hungry. They will be like thirsty people who dream that they're drinking and wake up to find they're lightheaded and parched with thirst. This is what will happen to the armies from all the nations that fight against Mount Zion. If you confuse yourselves, you will be confused. If you blind yourselves, you will be blinded. You are drunk, but not from wine. You stagger, but not from liquor. The LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He will shut your eyes. (Your eyes are the prophets.) He will cover your heads. (Your heads are the seers.) (Isa 29:1-10 GW)

Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God and did not keep his testimonies, but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; they twisted like a deceitful bow. For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols. When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel. He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mankind, and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe. He gave his people over to the sword and vented his wrath on his heritage. Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no marriage song. Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation. (Psa 78:56-64 ESV)

Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness? He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?" Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob; his anger rose against Israel, because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power. Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven, and he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven. Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance. He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the south wind; he rained meat on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas; he let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings. And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved. But before they had satisfied their craving, while the food was still in their mouths, the anger of God rose against them, and he killed the strongest of them and laid low the young men of Israel.
(Psa 78:17-31 ESV)

These two generations of the Church are becoming rebellious, demanding, complacent, contentious, deceitful, distrusting, and unthankful - just like how the children of Israel became in the desert. Because of this, fire, sword, and captivity are coming to the Church. We should not be surprised that the Lord is using the Assyrians/Chaldeans once again to bring His sword (His judgment) upon our land (see "The Sword and the Captivity - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4").

The time has come for judgment to begin, and God's own people are the first to be judged. If it starts with us, how will it end with those who do not believe the Good News from God? (1Pe 4:17 GNB)

But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,' and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Mat 24:48-51 ESV)

"How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me and have sworn by those who are no gods. When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of whores. They were well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor's wife. Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD; and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this? "Go up through her vine rows and destroy, but make not a full end; strip away her branches, for they are not the LORD's. For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly treacherous to me, declares the LORD. They have spoken falsely of the LORD and have said, 'He will do nothing; no disaster will come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine. The prophets will become wind; the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them!'" Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts: "Because you have spoken this word, behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them. Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, declares the LORD. It is an enduring nation; it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say. Their quiver is like an open tomb; they are all mighty warriors. They shall eat up your harvest and your food; they shall eat up your sons and your daughters; they shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; your fortified cities in which you trust they shall beat down with the sword." "But even in those days, declares the LORD, I will not make a full end of you. And when your people say, 'Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' you shall say to them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.'" Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah: "Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not. Do you not fear me? declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it. But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away. They do not say in their hearts, 'Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.' Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept good from you. For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men. Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and rich; they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy. Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?" An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes? (Jer 5:7-31 ESV)

IT IS TIME TO REPENT AND PREPARE FOR WHAT IS COMING. PLEASE HEAR THIS WARNING!!