“In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden,” Isaiah 14:28.
Although I have already touched upon this, please notice the priority Isaiah has given to the future as planned by the Lord!
I. GOD’S WORD IN A DAY OF APOSTASY UNDERSCORES THE PROPHETIC FUTURE AS REVEALED BY HIM
1. Consider the opening verses of Isaiah 14. “For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,” verses 1-3.
Here we have the Lord indicating that a day is coming when He “will have mercy on Jacob.” Furthermore, He “will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land.” See as well that it will be a day of the concession of the Gentile. “The strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.” Please also note that Israel will be assisted by the Gentiles in their return to their own land. “The people shall take them, and bring them to their place.” Especially note that it will be a day of domination by the former downtrodden Israelite! “The house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.”
I can imagine how comforting and encouraging such word would have been to a believing elect amongst the people of Judah back in the evil days of Ahaz!
Likewise, nothing uplifts the spirits of God’s people in these days than an emphasis upon what is set froth in the Bible regard the triumphant future of the saints of God.
Paul the Apostle followed this principle and practice in the days when the church in Thessalonica was troubled and afflicted. “And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost,” 1 Thessalonians 1:6.
Even though Paul was only amongst them for some three Sabbath days, he still taught the recent converts prophetic truth!
“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him,” 1 Thessalonians 5:1-10.
How different were these believers from today’s average Christian! And how different was Paul’s message from today’s weak preaching!
The sad ignorance concerning the ‘latter times’ that features so largely amongst today’s Christians, is the result, chiefly, of preachers failing to preach what the Bible says of this subject or, worse still, promoting the errors of ‘A-millennialism’, which had its beginnings in the depraved mind of that heretic, Origen (c. 185–254).
Please have a look at:
The Rise and Fall of A-Millennialism by James Payne
In days such as these that we are passing through, the Lord would have us understand the day of victory that He has purposed and planned, and have us take heart from that knowledge.
What a sad truth that so many ministers do not do what the Lord commands them to do!
2. Sadly, the sum total of the knowledge of many Christians is that they are saved by the mercy of God and they will see the Lord return one day and be with Him in heaven for ever. Now, to have such knowledge as this is a wonderful thing but the Bible provides us with much more knowledge. A baby has a contented knowledge that it is loved by father and mother, its needs are met when it cries. However, its knowledge increases with its age. It is said of the Saviour: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man,” Luke 2:52.
Surely, at least to some measure, that ought to be the case with us all!
Sadly, all too many are like those Paul wrote to:
“I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” 1 Cors 3:2-3.
“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil,” Hebrews 5:12-14.
Evil days such as these require us to be strong through feeding on the meat of God’s prophetic Word, which entails obeying the command of the Saviour.
“Verily I say unto you, that this generation (Greek, ‘nation’) shall not pass, till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping,” Mark 13:30-36.
Sadly, many are depicted by the Saviour in His parable of the ‘Wise and Foolish Virgins’.
“While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept,” Matthew 25:5.
3. Ignorance of God’s Word has resulted in Christians today becoming caught up in the apostasy of the latter-days and rejecting the warnings of their error. Paul said:
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away,” 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
A careful cataloging of the crimes reported daily in the news, would correspond exactly with these words of the apostle!
And yet, how many believers are aware of this? Numerous professing Christians attend and support ‘ecumenical’ denominations and take great offence when told they are commanded of God to separate from such because they are part of the later day rebellion spoken of in God’s Word.
Worse Still
Even sadder, is the fact that some of those who claim to have obeyed God’s call to separate from today’s religious rebellion, are found mingling on the fringes of that rebellion and excusing and defending their wronging and thus encouraging others to likewise be in defiance of God’s truth!
Amongst God’s separated witness there has been a loss of the awareness, that once was amongst us, of the offensiveness of apostasy!
I recall attending a funeral just down the road from Kilskeery when I was just six months saved, totally unaware that I would spend virtually the rest of my life in this area! At the funeral was the future President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, Dr Hedley Plunkett. He was known to my parents for he worked as a shopboy in Dowlers’ hardware store in Lisnaskea. Of course, he did not know me. A Christian at the graveside called Dr Plunkett over and said, ‘This young fella has been recently saved’. Dr Plunkett was undoubtedly a saved man but he had sadly marred his testimony by his involvement in the ecumenical activities of the Methodist Church. He enthusiastically stretched out his hand and spoke of how glad he was to hear of my conversion.
My reaction was instinctive and based upon the denunciations of Dr Ian Paisley I had heard in Ravenhill Free Presbyterian Church, of Dr Plunkett’s wrong-doings.
I responded to his offered hand by placing both my hands behind my back, and stating, ‘I would not shake hands with you, you’re an apostate!’
Incorrect
Now theologically, I was incorrect in labelling Dr Plunkett as an apostate. He was not, but he was prominent in his mingling and aiding the ecumenical apostasy of the denomination. I was therefore correct in refusing to shake his hand!
That was how Free Presbyterians felt about the apostasy back sixty years ago. Today, there are prominent ministers who happily shake hand and share in religious gatherings with today’s ‘Hedley Plunketts’!
The Lord will make known to latter-day believers just how wrong it is to mingle with the great religious rebellion that we have seen arising in the last century and of the danger that mingling places them in.
“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities,” Revelation 18:1-5.
This takes place on the very brink of the Saviour’s return but still there are believers in the apostasy and in danger of partaking in the consequences of its sins!
Like Lot of old, how many of God’s people cling to today’s religious ’Sodom’ and resist being taken out!
“And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city,” Genesis 19:15-16.
I trust, dear reader, that you are not of the lingering spirit of Lot!
Obey God’s Word today, dear Christian!
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
23rd May 2026