THE APOSTASY
We have a further allusion to this covenant in Isaiah 28:14-2114Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. 15Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: 16Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. 17Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. 18And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. 19From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. 20For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. 21For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. (Isaiah 28:14‑21): “Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves.... And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.”
It is called a covenant with death, and an agreement with hell, because the Roman empire, with the head of which the covenant is made, is, in its last revived phase, energized by Satanic power, the dragon giving him his power, and his seat (or throne), and great authority (Rev. 13:22And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. (Revelation 13:2)). But the unholy compact is broken; the temple of God at Jerusalem, rebuilt in unbelief, is defiled by idolatry; and the execution of the wrath of God comes upon the Jews to the uttermost. Jacob’s trouble is there, (the remnant shall be saved out of it, Jer. 30:77Alas! 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. (Jeremiah 30:7)) the great tribulation. The overflowing scourge, another term for the Assyrian, passes through the land, and the Jews are trodden down by it. Jerusalem will undergo a terrible siege, and shall be taken, “the houses rifled, and the woman 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. Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle. And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives (Zech. 14:22For 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. (Zechariah 14:2)).
Thus far as to the leading features connected with Daniel’s remarkable prophecy of the seventy weeks. Let us now look at a further description of judgments and events that will take place at this terrible crisis in the world’s history, as detailed in the central chapters of the book of the Revelation.
This wonderful book, the church’s prophecy, so little appreciated or understood by many of the children of God; so sadly neglected, notwithstanding the special blessings attached in Revelation 1:33Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. (Revelation 1:3) and 22:7; discloses to us the great effort of the dragon, Satan, to resist the power and authority of God and the rights of His Son in this scene.
In Revelation 4 and 5, as we have already seen, the saints are viewed in heaven in their glorified state around the throne of God, and then the Lamb breaking the seals of the book of God’s counsels and judgments.
Revelation 6 commences the details of these.
Four seals. Various providential judgments.
The first — A great conqueror, overcoming without bloodshed.
The second — Peace taken from the earth, and fearful carnage.
The third — Great scarcity; famine often follows upon warfare.
The fifth — vision of souls of martyrs slain for their testimony. They cry for vengeance, which shows their Jewish character, and are told to wait for others, who would also be slain during the last half-week.
The sixth — terrible convulsion of authorities and powers, so that men prematurely think that the great day of the wrath of the Lamb is come.
(Continued and to be Continued)