I believe that Isaiah 7 and 8 are a prophetic parallel to our day offering insight and wisdom.
For thus the Lord spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, "You are not to say, It is a conspiracy! In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it."It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread."
Isaiah 8:12-13
The people of Judah feared an alliance between Israel's Northern Kingdom and the Syrian King. Isaiah warned them to put their trust in God, but Judah's King would not listen to him and instead trusted in an alliance with Assyria's King. Since the people were in fear and trusted in a man, God warned Isaiah not to be swept up into the idolatry that was overtaking all of the people around him. Sound familiar? An enemy is identified, the people fear, and a "savior" is proffered, and the rest is history. Lots of it. God's dealings with His people revolve around this issue, and somehow, we can't see it. Maybe we too have thought too highly of the "conspiracy" and too little of our God. But God chose Trump, so we are trusting in God, right? Jesus is my Savior and Trump is my president. You doth protest too much! Weren't we warned to watch out for the Devil's schemes? He is subtle, and yet, it's not even that subtle anymore.
(By the way, someone wrote a book called "True Believer" describing this psychological truth. It's actually a very spiritual truth and touches on the crux of the fall. Who's your Daddy? Who will protect you?)
"And I will wait for the Lord who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob: I will even look eagerly for Him."
Isaiah 8:17
Jesus echoed this scripture from Isaiah when he warned us to "look up", when we see all of the wars, earthquakes, and distresses coming to pass. To "look up" means to "trust". Trust is worship. Fear is worship too, and God's people are vulnerable to it when we let His mighty miracles and provisions slip from our hearts though lack of continuous praise.
Idolize or Wait on the Lord
This is an oft repeated phrase in the prophetic scriptures of the tribulation, "They that wait on the Lord" shall be saved. They are also called the "meek" who "wait" on the Lord and "stay" their hopes on Him alone. How many times the Lord has come through gloriously when I cried to Him! Yes, He never fails. One of my favorite scriptures says, "Oh that you would cry to me, and I would save you, and you would praise me". Selah!
The Last Days are like the final answer to the question, "Who do you trust?" Or more specifically, "Who do you really trust?" It makes me tremble too, but God gives more grace (i.e. divine enablement). If we wait on Him and put all of our hope in Him we will mount up with wings of eagles, run, and not be weary, walk and not faint. So, who does faint? Well, Isaiah says that the wicked will grow faint, eventually. God sees their end, and laughs. Think about that.
Idolatry is defined by the things to which we look for help, security, and salvation. All fear that does not take shelter beneath God's wings will eventually lead us into idolatry. This is how the church ended up in our current corrupt position at Donald Trump's feet. This is why we look the other way when he boasts, blasphemes, slanders, and threatens. If you don't know what I mean, you aren't paying attention.
We have a choice; either we will trust in the puffed-up strength of man, in the spirit of Cain and his descendants, or we will trust in God. Either we will trust in Babylon's wealth (and wealth transfer) and military might, or we will trust in God. That is the last days temptation that will separate the wheat from the chaff. Who do you trust? (And we love who we trust for love is built on trust and without trust love cannot exist.) This is thematic all through scripture in God's dealings with His people, and it finds its culmination in the end of days ascendancy of the Antichrist who seeks to usurp God from His throne by offering a better way, and a better day, to all who will believe his life of "peace and security."
Consider the interpretation from my Expositor's Bible Commentary (in red).
"And he exercised all the power of the first beast before him, (comes from Satan) and causes the Earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast (the false prophet is promoting Earth and not Heaven, meaning he will promise Heaven here on Earth.)
Revelation 13:16 Expositor's Study Bible
What's the golden age that everyone is talking about? What about Elon saying we can cure death with AI? Who comes to destroy the last enemy, death? Would that be Elon? You know, the man who has access to all of our government's top-secret information, has power over outer space, and is even now "teaching" his supercomputer (or summoning the demon as Mr. "Dark Gothic MAGA" said to a room full of applauding conservatives) to microchip all of humanity to his one-stop Chinese inspired WeChat ap that will be required to buy and sell. Excuse my diatribe but come one now! This is getting too easy to see, but will we see it? What's getting in our way?
What about the slander, threats, and accusations not to mention the "dark sayings" that he tweets out on "x". And what about all of the x'es! X? XAI? Is anyone paying attention? What about the command to be found "innocent and blameless" in the midst of a perverse generation, shining as light in a world increasingly covered in "gross darkness".
The only true gold that will shine forth in this last hour is the gold that is tried by fire; any other gold will be in the spirit of Belshazzar and Baal. The only gold will be the light shining from the candlestick of the Lord (Zach 4) overflowing with the golden oil of His Spirit! As we await our Lord, will we too be found worshiping the golden calf in this wilderness? Let our answer be a resounding No, we shall wait on the Lord and come forth as gold tried by fire. Let us not be as those who God said, "I brought you through the fire but there was no gold." The only gold that man can give us now is fool's gold.
Will we trust in man's pride, power, and strength (and be cursed), or wait on God, and be saved. (Jer 17).
"Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith."
Hab 2:14
The soul that is lifted up in the power of man is not right, but we shall live by faith in the Lord God who is always with us and will never leave us.
Cain and Abel: The Flesh vs. The Holy Spirit
This morning, I became curious about the meaning of Cain and Abel's names and saw how Trump is moving in the spirit of Cain. The "Abels", in contrast, will not fear what the people fear, nor will they trust in that proud spirit of man.
Cain means to acquire, possess, build, create while Abel means breath or breeze/wind. Isn't that cool!
"Abel, Hevel, seems to represent that which is evanescent, frail, vaporous, ethereal, and transitory. He has no conceit, but he is very vulnerable, someone who permits himself to be in a position where he will be taken advantage of. He is also, as the saying goes, “behind the times.” He lives in the old realm of kairos – a Greek word for non-linear thinking, holy time, with its concomitant spontaneous approach to life. Cain represents quantity, whereas Abel represents quality. Cain represents product, whereas Abel represents process. Cain represents doing, whereas Abel represents being. Cain wants to acquire and possess, whereas his ethereal, “spaced out” brother simply wants to be in the moment."
I can't help but rejoice a little in that last line.
(The above was commentary from a page that I lost, speaking of spaced out. It was a discussion by a Rabbi in regards to the meaning of Cain and Abel. )
Matthew Henry says: Don't skip this one, it's very good! As you read, think of the video that Trump retweeted on his formal platform (can we use such a word in regards to him?). Formal? Anyways, the Trump's Gaza video...
Wordly things, are the only things that carnal, wicked people set their hearts upon, and are most clever and industrious about. So it was with this race of Cain. Here was a father of shepherds, and a father of musicians, but not a father of the faithful. Here is one to teach about brass and iron, but none to teach the good knowledge of the Lord: here are devices how to be rich, and how to be mighty, and how to be merry; but nothing of God, of his fear and service. Present things fill the heads of most. Lamech had enemies, whom he had provoked. He draws a comparison betwixt himself and his ancestor Cain; and flatters himself that he is much less criminal.
You may protest, isn't Trump brining religion back? Exactly. Think about that for a long minute. Maybe consult the New Testament about how that goes. Perhaps consider history and the mixture of politics and religion. Reread 2 Corinthians 3 about the ministry of the law that brings death, and the ministry of the spirit.
Trump trusts in the god of forces just like Lamech from Genesis 4 which prompted his little poem about how great was. But Trump says God saved him. Ok, what God? He mentioned Jesus, but devils recognize Jesus, but they have not made him their Lord and Savior trusting him to wash them of their sins. But all of that about Trump's faith is really not the point at all. It's just smoke and mirrors. What does matter is who are we trusting? Who are we really trusting. And God is fairly intense about drilling down on this issue for he IS a jealous God. He did require Abraham's son to be offered just to make sure his heart was set on God alone. But can the American conservative Christian put his president up on that same altar? If not, why?
Some of these prophets have gone as far as to say that if you don't support Trump, you aren't even a Christian? So now salvation is an issue of politics. Heaven weeps.
This is always the Big Question: Who Will You Look to For Help? They who wait on God for their help shall be saved in the day of the Lord, this truth reaches its pinnacle seduction and temptation in the last hour. Trump trusts his power, the god of forces, just like Cain.
Then they sweep past like the wind and go on— guilty people, whose own strength is their god.” Hab 1:11
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